“What’s wrong?”
“Something seems strange with Her Highness.”
“What?”
“Her body is so hot, it’s impossible to touch.”
I hurriedly turned around and entered Isabelle’s room.
“Y-Your Highness.”
The maid was holding her burned hand. I quickly sent the maid to fetch a physician.
“She seemed fine until just now.”
“Yes, we heard her groaning suddenly, and when we checked on her……”
At Anna’s words, I looked at the sleeping Isabelle.
‘Has the price begun?’
I carefully reached out and placed my hand on Isabelle’s forehead.
“Ugh.”
She was burning so hot that even I could barely keep my hand there.
“Your Highness!”
Rien quickly left Isabelle’s room and returned with an ice pack. She quickly wrapped it around my hand to cool the burn.
“I-I’ll bring water and towels right away to bring down the fever.”
After Anna left, I pulled back the blanket covering Isabelle.
Looking closely, her body was trembling slightly. Yet her expression was so peaceful, she looked almost like a dead person.
‘So peaceful.’
They said she had been groaning in pain earlier…… but now there was no sound at all.
Isabelle’s body was burning too hot to touch.
Soon after, the maids brought several towels in a silver basin to bring down the fever. They partially undressed Isabelle to make her more comfortable.
“It’s hard to hold her properly, so we should try not to touch her too much. We don’t want anyone getting burned.”
“Don’t worry and go rest! Your Highness needs to take it easy!”
Though I tried to stay to help, the maids’ insistence finally drove me out.
“Kiiiing.” (Looks like the price has begun.)
“When did you come back?”
“Woowoowoo! Woof!” (I just came by because of all the commotion.)
“She’s too hot to touch. Her expression is peaceful, like a doll that’s just breathing.”
“Woof! Woof, wooooof!” (Who knows how long it will last, but she’s going to suffer quite a bit. That’s what happens when you use power so recklessly.)
Zeno snorted and wagged his tail.
“She’s too hot to be just sleeping. Will she be alright?”
“Woof, wooooof. Woof.” (Though she looks peaceful, who knows what’s happening in her dreams. The power condensed in her body is probably going berserk.)
“……That’s not good, right?”
“Woof!” (You’re worried because she’s family?)
“If her power is going berserk, doesn’t that mean Father will sense it?”
“……”
This is chilling. Things seem to be going wrong.
Zeno and I both looked toward Isabelle’s room at the same time.
“Isn’t there anything we can do?”
“Grrrr.” (How am I supposed to stop a power surge? I’m not even her contractor.)
“If we leave her like this, Father will come straight to the mansion.”
Suddenly I remembered something I had forgotten.
“I think I can stop it.”
“Woof?” (……You, Master? I don’t remember giving you that ability.)
“Listen. Humans are animals too, right? I have the ability to heal animals, so shouldn’t it work on Isabelle too?”
The reason I say this is because I had the same thought and acted on it when the Grand Duke was caught in the monster trap.
And his injuries had healed completely. Though Zeno seemed like he wanted to stop me, I couldn’t just do nothing.
I turned around and went back into Isabelle’s room.
“Your Highness?”
Anna and the maid looked at me in surprise. I approached the bed and looked down at Isabelle while taking a deep breath.
I carefully reached out and placed my hand on Isabelle’s forehead, and it burned like I would get scalded.
“Ugh!”
As I bit my lip hard and placed my other hand on Isabelle’s body, my vision blurred with a ping.
As my swaying body was about to fall sideways, someone’s hand stopped me.
“Claire.”
My body trembled at the slightly angry voice. When I turned my head, a pair of blue eyes were glinting.
“……It would be troublesome if Father found out.”
“That’s no reason to let your hands get like this!”
Cedric ran his hand through his hair, suppressing his anger. Despite his words, I didn’t remove my hands from Isabelle.
When I endured through the extreme pain without pulling away, the Grand Duke finally grabbed my wrist, unable to watch any longer.
“It’s okay. I can heal her so just a little longer……”
The heat seemed to be cooling down bit by bit. However, due to Cedric’s intervention, my hands finally came away from Isabelle’s body.
“Ah……”
“Your Highness! The fever seems to have gone down!”
At Anna’s words, just as I felt relief, the forgotten pain in my palms came rushing back.
“Um, Grand Duke……?”
Cedric’s expression gradually hardened as he saw my ruined palms. Then he suddenly picked me up.
“Forget everything you saw today.”
“We understand.”
“Watch over Princess Isabelle and report immediately if anything happens.”
Cedric left the room without even waiting for a response. I was carried away in his arms.
“Woowoowoowoo.” (What, you really did it?)
Zeno followed behind, slinking along. His mumbling voice was full of doubt.
I shrugged my shoulders while showing him my palms.
“Woof?” (But why are Master’s hands……)
“If you’re going to follow, follow quietly.”
Cedric glanced back and spoke to Zeno. My mouth went dry at the anger in his voice.
‘He’s angry. He’s definitely angry.’
“Woowoof.” (Of course he is. You tend to be too reckless with your body, Master.)
‘You’re supposed to be on my side!’
Zeno stopped following and turned around sharply. I called out to him in disbelief, but Zeno didn’t look back.
“Wife, you’ll hurt yourself if you move like that.”
“……Grand Duke, are you very angry?”
“I’m not angry.”
But he is. Anyone could see his angry expression and hear it in his voice.
“I’m really fine. I can heal my palms myself.”
That’s actually a lie. My ability only works on others, not myself. Even when Father slapped me, I couldn’t reduce the swelling in my cheek.
‘Well, it makes sense since I’m not a proper healer.’
This was the first time my ability had manifested as healing, so there was no information. Even the original work didn’t cover it properly.
I too was learning bit by bit.
“Your Highness! Are you alright?”
“Vahalla, I’m fine. Just a slight burn.”
The butler shook his head and immediately went to call a physician. The Grand Duke entered the room, sat me down on a soft sofa, and began examining my hands.
“The wounds are deeper than expected. There are many herbs in the North, so it shouldn’t take too long.”
“The North seems to have everything.”
I said with a grin. My palms still burned from the heat damage, but they no longer felt painful.
“I’m really fine now.”
“Never do anything dangerous again. You need to rest, don’t you?”
The Grand Duke let out a deep sigh. When there was a knock, I looked at the door with an expression that said ‘saved.’
“Come in quickly!”
Come in quickly. I can’t stand this atmosphere.
The physician entered with Vahalla. I showed my palms and quietly received treatment.
‘It stings, but I can’t show it.’
If I made a fuss, Cedric’s blue eyes would turn toward me. I shuddered thinking of those blue eyes glinting like they would devour me.
“Your Highness, please bear with it a little longer. Once we apply the herbs, it should feel better.”
Healing priests did exist on the continent, but they required imperial permission.
“Since we can’t call a healing priest, please don’t do anything for at least a week.”
“……A whole week?”
How can I do nothing for a whole week! My body already felt stiff just thinking about it.
“Wife, you heard him, so please rest for a while.”
While healing priests required imperial permission, there were always unofficial ones around.
“It’s fine if I heal quickly, right?”
“……”
A gleam appeared in Cedric’s blue eyes. I slowly turned my head away from his gaze that seemed to know exactly what I was thinking.
‘I know there are healing priests in the North too.’
Whenever famous craftsmen or talented people appeared in the North, Father snatched them away.
Because he couldn’t stand seeing Cedric having better talent than himself. Father tried to take everything from him.
Until Isabelle became his wife, he tried to take everything and corner him.
That’s why Cedric couldn’t take Claire more to heart. On the other hand, it was different when Isabelle seduced him to keep him by her side.
She embraced Cedric with the kindest face of all. Just because his wife had changed.
The problem was how to quietly bring them in. What to do.
Having secrets between spouses only leads to more misunderstandings. At times like this, it was better to be honest.
“Grand Duke, I have a favor to ask.”
“I’ll grant whatever my wife asks.”
“Then please find someone for me.”
“A person?”
I nodded. From now on, I planned to defend against everything Father tried to take away.
Her name was…… Serina, Serina……
“Serina Adel. She has silver hair. She’s someone I really need right now.”
“It seems my wife needs quite a lot of people.”
At his somewhat subdued voice, I blinked. For some reason he seemed angry, so I reached out and grabbed the hem of his clothes.
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I must say Clare is extremely reckless all her behaviour is that of someone that literally has forgotten that on top of everything she is meant to be pregnant.