Chapter 70

“Hee…….”

Elan carefully placed both hands upon his knees. At his delicate manner, Reinel stepped closer and looked down at him.

Indeed, Elan was a vividly colored beautiful boy, like a beautifully sculpted statue. The shining blue eyes beneath his golden hair and his dusky skin harmonized well, giving him even a subtle decadent beauty that suggested what a handsome man he would become when he grew older.

But to Reinel as she was now, Elan was still only a child. Elan fidgeted with his fingers, then rose from his seat. Reinel, who had been looking at Elan from very close up, at nearly the same height as herself, stepped back one pace so that his movements would not be hindered.

“Let us eat first. We can meet while having dinner. The researcher staying here, his name is Gisle Ignot. He will come down from the temporarily assigned laboratory at dinner time, so if you meet him and talk then, you will be able to hear in detail about how the Criashers flower can be used for treatment.”

“Thank you. I will study hard the method by which patients can be helped, and I will help the patients suffering from Clay Disease.”

Smiling faintly, Reinel looked at Elan. Feeling that gentle gaze, Elan also wore a slight smile as he looked at Reinel. Seeing that Elan hardly showed any sign of being hurt despite receiving such cold treatment from the royal family, Reinel felt as though she could understand what his mother must be like.

The attitude of not doubting people and properly accepting them. No matter that he had grown up in the slums, it was pleasant to see how he did not bristle with thorns and adapted without difficulty to any environment.

“Then shall we go to the dining room.”

“Yes.”

Elan trailed after Reinel as she went ahead first. As he walked, admiring the paintings hanging one after another along the corridor and following behind at a certain distance, his behavior too was that of a curious boy.

Observing the maids bustling back and forth outside the dining room, Elan entered it. A man who appeared to be Reinel’s father was seated at the place of honor, and two grown men sat side by side to his right.

Reinel went to the left side and sat facing the two men, and Elan took a seat beside her.

As soon as the two sat down, Lyle’s eyes curved and he smiled brightly.

“Welcome to Estrid Mansion. I am Lyle Estrid, the head of this household. Prince Elan. Please make yourself comfortable.”

“Thank you for welcoming me. I will learn well during my stay.”

Still wearing a broad smile, Lyle looked toward Reinel. Her bright, smiling expression was pleasing to see, and it was easy to tell that things had gone well between her and Prince Elan.

“These are my sons, Seiden and Keiden Estrid. And the child you have already met is my youngest, Reinel Estrid.”

“Ah…… I understand. Thank you for introducing them.”

“It is nothing at all. Ah, if you have any questions, please ask at any time. All three of them will answer you well.”

“I understand.”

When the maids set the dishes upon the table, Lyle was the first to pick up his fork and knife. Taking him as the cue, the others also took up their utensils.

“I hope you will enjoy it fully.”

“Yes. Ah, it is so delicious!”

Elan particularly liked the steak. Even though he could not possibly have been used to using a fork and knife, the skill with which he handled them and brought the food into his mouth seemed to prove just how quickly he adapted.

They were eating and exchanging simple conversation like that when the dining room door swung wide open.

“I am sorry. I am late……!”

Gisle Ignot appeared, sweat beading on his forehead as though he had come running in haste. Lyle, wearing a faint smile, said, “It is all right. Please make yourself comfortable, Doctor Ignot.”

At the appearance of a new person, Elan’s eyes widened round, but his ears pricked at the surname ‘Ignot.’ The way he did that was so cute that a smile naturally formed at the corner of Reinel’s lips, but Elan did not notice it.

‘So this person is Gisle Ignot……!’

Elan’s gaze, full of lively interest, landed upon Gisle’s face. Wearing a monocle over his left eye and something like a stethoscope around his neck, Gisle looked every bit the researcher. At a glance, yellow pollen was all over his sleeves, as though he had come straight from his research.

“Prince, this person here is Gisle Ignot. He is one of the top five researchers at the Academy as well.”

“How do you do. I am Gisle Ignot. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“I am glad to meet you too, Gisle. I am Elan Yurud. I came from Yurud to learn how to treat Clay Disease with the Criashers flower.”

To the courteous boy’s introduction, Gisle Ignot replied.

“It is an honor to meet you like this.”

The boy smiled brightly and added, “I am glad to meet you too.”

“But is what is on your sleeve pollen from the Criashers flower?”

At the boy’s question, Gisle seemed to realize it only then and said, “Ah……,” as he lifted his sleeve.

“That is correct. I was on my way back from conducting an experiment in which I had honeybees gather the pollen.”

“Oh……. Have you discovered some new property in the pollen?”

At Elan’s words, Gisle opened his mouth.

“I was researching whether it might be effective to make lumps from the pollen of the Criashers flower and have patients with Clay Disease ingest them, but as there are no patients with Clay Disease here, I was writing down the expected results in advance.”

“What sort of results do you think would appear?”

“I expect that ingesting the pollen would have the effect of treating the sand-turned internal organs of patients suffering from Clay Disease. Of course, a small amount would not be enough. It would likely have to be done by forming at least three pellets and having them taken regularly after meals.”

Ah……! Reinel and Keiden looked surprised.

“I had no idea such an effect could be expected. If it were tested directly, more accurate results would appear, of course……. but for you to even be able to predict in advance what would happen if someone with Clay Disease ate this is impressive, Gisle.”

“It is nothing. It is only in the realm of speculation.”

The sight of Gisle shyly scratching the back of his head looked, no matter how one saw it, like nothing more than that of a researcher. Elan watched Gisle with interest, then lowered the hand with which he had been cutting his steak.

At some point the main course had ended, and dessert, green grape sherbet, was brought onto the table. As he tasted the sherbet filled with the chef’s devotion, Elan asked Gisle a few things he was curious about.

“In your paper, you wrote that since the Criashers flower is a flower that generates magic stones, it creates magic stones and grows large and lush with the magic extracted from the patient, but in that process is there any harm done to the patient?”

“Since Clay Disease is an illness caused by having too much magic, extracting it through the Criashers flower is rather safe. The Criashers flower absorbs magic, but if the amount is less than what is normal, it does not absorb magic.”

“Ahha…….”

“Therefore, you may rest assured regarding the safety of the Criashers flower. In no case will the patient ever be in danger.”

“I understand. Thank you for telling me.”

“It is nothing at all. I am only all the more pleased that I was able to tell you.”

After exchanging that conversation, Elan focused on his sherbet. As it was nearly gone, Reinel and Keiden lightly began speaking about Luin. There were guests present, but since the last time Keiden had seen Reinel, Luin had often come to the Estrid mansion.

“It does seem that Luin has taken a liking to you…….”

At Keiden’s words, Reinel let out a small laugh and set down her spoon.

“That would not be in a romantic sense, but rather as a conversation partner, would it? He seemed interested in the fact that I graduated from the Academy as second-ranked. He was also curious about the knowledge that can be learned at the Academy. Mainly things such as the Demon King who appears in mythology.”

“That is true……. But even so, it feels as though he comes by too often…… Reinel, are you really all right with that?”

“He is your friend, Brother, and as a conversation partner he is a fine person, so I am quite all right with it. Besides, Luin does not speak with me unless you and I are together. He knows very well that I would feel burdened meeting alone with him, and he is quite considerate because of that. So I also find it easy to talk with him. I also like that he only asks me about the knowledge I know.”

“I see…….”

For a moment, he wondered how the First Prince would react if he learned about Luin, but since Reinel was only acting as a conversation partner, he did not think the man would show anything like jealousy.

‘Even so, I should not say anything. Just in case…….’

He did not think Luin would desire Reinel, who had already become the fiancée of the First Prince Bain. Although he came by almost every day, Luin’s manner was far too plain and restrained for someone who had fallen for another person.

Judging from the way he looked at Reinel and the tone with which he spoke, Luin seemed to have only a great curiosity about the Demon King who appeared in mythology, and no interest in Reinel’s charms as a woman. Of course, Reinel was beautiful. But rather than praising the beauty of Reinel, who was Bain’s fiancée, Luin was coming to her with scholarly curiosity.

“Dinner is almost over now, so what would you like to do, Your Highness Elan? Would you like to practice with Doctor Ignot using the Criashers flower to make flowers bloom on a temporary dummy for patients?”

“A temporary dummy for patients?”

Elan opened his eyes wide and asked back. Reinel answered with the elegant curve of her golden eyes.

“Yes. Since this is not Yurud, there are no people here suffering from Clay Disease. Therefore, a dummy will be made to temporarily resemble the condition of a patient, and you will practice by resolving the problems of that dummy, Your Highness Elan. Is that not right, Doctor?”