After the short break, Vanessa stood before the people again.

Though she felt like livestock in a slaughterhouse about to be bled, she silently accepted it as this was her own choice.

The line of citizens crowding to receive Vanessa’s blessing continued late into the night. The seemingly endless queue finally began to shorten as it approached eleven o’clock.

By the time she bestowed the divine word on the last person, it was already midnight. Vanessa rose from the makeshift chair with a long sigh.

The moment she thought ‘Finally, it’s over,’ her tension released and exhaustion washed over her like a wave. Garcia quickly rushed to support her as she staggered weakly.

He examined her complexion with concern and asked,

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine. More importantly… you both must be tired from staying by my side all day without even eating dinner properly, you should quickly go…”

“There’s no need to worry about us. Your Highness, who has been using the divine word all day, is more concerning. Your face is as white as paper right now.”

Clicking his tongue softly, Garcia muttered “Excuse me” and lifted Vanessa without seeking her permission.

When Vanessa looked at him with wide, surprised eyes, Garcia grinned.

“I’ll carry you to your room like this. Though you must be tired, please take a hot bath, eat, and then rest.”

“But…”

Renee, who quickly caught the hidden meaning in Garcia’s words, promptly headed to the kitchen.

While she went to get food, Vanessa was carried to her room in Garcia’s arms.

Though Garcia and Renee had been taking good care of her, she felt somewhat dazed as she hadn’t expected them to be this attentive.

Perhaps because she fell asleep after one in the morning, having dealt with hunger and taken a bath, she woke up later than usual the next day.

Fortunately, today there weren’t many people crowding to receive Vanessa’s blessing.

After using the divine word on sixteen people in total and returning to the clinic, Vanessa heard good news.

“Duchess! I’ve finally succeeded in creating a cure!”

Jenelly, brightening at the sight of Vanessa, hopped like a rabbit as she delivered the happy news. Vanessa smiled broadly and offered congratulations. It was very fortunate, as with a cure there would be no need to worry even if the plague spread widely.

However, an hour later, the medical staff including Jenelly encountered an unexpected obstacle.

“The cure works for some people but not for others. At this rate… it will be difficult to cure everyone.”

The physician wiped cold sweat and sighed. Deep fatigue was evident on his face after days of hard work.

“Could the plague have mutated in the meantime? Then… we’ll have to modify the cure again…”

Jenelly’s face was equally dark. It was no wonder, as she had spent over a week focused on herb research and alchemy, barely sleeping, to create the cure.

Jenelly rubbed her face with her hands and continued speaking.

“For now, don’t send the cured patients home immediately, as there might be reinfections. I’ll try to improve the cure more…”

That’s when it happened. A nurse came running breathlessly from the right corridor. She was pale as if something terrible had happened. The nurse reached Jenelly and the medical staff and urgently spilled out her words.

“It’s terrible! Mr. Robert, the critical patient…!”

Reading the ominous atmosphere, everyone exchanged silent glances. Then, without anyone taking the lead, they all rushed to the critical care ward.

Upon arrival, they found an elderly man with graying hair coughing painfully and spitting blood. The physician hurriedly examined him and asked in a raised voice.

“How long has he been like this?!”

The nurse attending to the elderly man answered in a voice about to cry.

“Not long, his coughing increased about 3 minutes ago, so I gave him cough medicine and water bit by bit, but about a minute ago he suddenly started coughing up blood…”

The situation was chaotic as the elderly man coughed violently as if about to die, spitting blood. Vanessa suddenly remembered that this elderly man was one of those who had been kind to her from the first day.

[People are foolish, Your Highness. So please don’t worry too much about it…]

The elderly man suddenly stopped coughing and went limp as if his strength had left him. Under his twitching eyelids that wouldn’t close properly, his black pupils were losing their light of life.

‘No…’

In that moment, Vanessa unconsciously desperately wished she had the power to heal this elderly man. If only she could save someone who had shown her warmth this time—

Was it the god responding to the earnest wish that filled her heart?

Along with a massive resonance that pierced her spine, new divine language with new power was etched into her mind.

[The life touched by my hand shall neither suffer nor decay.]

It was the healing divine word.

Vanessa rushed to the elderly man’s side and quickly used the healing divine word.

The elderly man’s breath was still faintly present, and if the healing power worked, there was a high chance he would recover.

‘Please, please…’

Pure snow-white light emanating from Vanessa’s fingertips completely enveloped the elderly man’s entire body.

The elderly man’s unfocused eyes trembled and soon regained their light. He blinked a couple of times, then raised his upper body from the bed and coughed heavily.

“Gasp… Oh, sir!”

“Th-that just now…”

The shocked medical staff glanced between the elderly man, who seemed to have come back from the brink of death, and Vanessa. The elderly man coughed up some remaining blood as if draining it from his body and asked for water in a hoarse voice.

After taking a few sips of the lukewarm water handed by the nurse, the elderly man turned to look at Vanessa with notably improved color. His eyes were wide as if he had witnessed a miracle.

“Your Highness…”

The elderly man called Vanessa in a choked voice, his face gradually crumpling until he finally burst into tears.

“Your Highness saved me. How can I ever repay this kindness… Thank you so much, Your Highness. I am deeply indebted to you.”

Vanessa quietly shook her head as she met the elderly man’s eyes. Her chest swelled with deep relief and profound emotion.

✦ ✦ ✦

News of Vanessa awakening the healing divine word quickly reached Jurgen as well.

Having received reports that the frost monsters’ movements were concerning, he was immersed in military training, even reducing his sleeping hours.

In this powder keg situation where battle could break out at any time, Vanessa gaining the healing divine word should have been good news, but somehow he didn’t feel good about it.

“This is wonderful. Though we’ll need to continue tracking the plague’s cause, now there’s nothing to worry about since Her Highness can heal any new infections.”

“……”

Jurgen’s mood worsened further at Millard’s words, which suggested it was fine to place all the burden on Vanessa alone.

Rationally thinking, using Vanessa, who possessed the blessing of life, to the fullest extent would be the best path for the territory. But… an inexplicable displeasure kept irritating his nerves.

Jurgen left the training grounds and mounted his beloved horse, Alexander. Seemingly happy to run with his master, Alexander’s eyes sparkled as he galloped in sync with Jurgen’s breathing.

The destination was the clinic where Vanessa was.

She was already said to have overexerted herself bestowing the vitality divine word on citizens.

The thought of her now treating patients with an even more taxing power left a dark feeling in his chest.

Arriving at the clinic, Jurgen handed his horse to the stable boy and went straight inside.

People who spotted him greeted him warmly and asked after his well-being, but Jurgen responded perfunctorily while searching only for Vanessa.

“Her Highness is currently in Room 106.”

Jurgen’s steps became urgent as he headed to the room the passing nurse had indicated.

Reaching Room 106, he could see Vanessa using the divine word on a patient lying near the window.

Snow-white light flowed from her fingertips, gently enveloping the patient’s entire body. The patient, who had been clutching their chest in pain, soon relaxed their hand and gradually showed a peaceful expression.

The patient’s family, looking as if they had witnessed a miracle, shed tears while repeatedly expressing their gratitude to Vanessa.

Vanessa smiled as she dissuaded them from bowing repeatedly, then left that spot and approached the doorway where Jurgen stood.

She didn’t seem particularly surprised by his sudden appearance. She merely looked at him with a composed smile, as if she had known he would come.