Despite taking fever medicine and lying down, the fever didn’t subside. Waking up at dawn, she barely managed to raise her upper body with trembling arms.

“Haa…”

With each exhale, it felt like hot air was escaping from her mouth. Her vision was blurry, and her body ached as if she had been beaten.

She reached for the water bottle on the bedside table. She was terribly thirsty. Her body was so hot that she wanted to cool her throat at least.

Gulp, gulp, she drank all the water in the bottle, but strangely, her thirst didn’t disappear.

“Hnngh…”

The more she tried to regain her senses, the more her body ached. She was in pain from the fever, yet her body shivered from the cold.

“…Is it a bad cold?”

In that short moment, her voice had become hoarse. Aer wanted to lie down again, but she couldn’t. With no one to take care of her, she had to look after herself.

Staggering, she went to where she kept the first-aid kit. With her vision unfocused, she struggled to find the medicine.

Rummaging through the medicines haphazardly, she finally found the cold medicine, threw it into her mouth, and crawled back into bed.

Hoping she would feel better in the morning, she tried to fall asleep.

With Astin’s help, Louis slipped out of the imperial palace. They were heading to the academy to meet Aer in a carriage Astin had secretly prepared.

“I heard the Empress called for you again.”

“…She called yesterday, so it should be quiet for a few days.”

The Empress openly tormented Louis to flaunt her power and keep him in check.

Sometimes she would call him to tea time with noble ladies and treat him like a sack of grain, or deliberately drop a teacup and make him clean it up.

By treating the prince arbitrarily, she showed off her power to her minions and made him acutely aware of his insignificant position.

“Hmph, I never liked her. She judges someone who wouldn’t be greedy even if left alone by her own standards. No wonder the world seems so frightening and narrow to her.”

The carriage Astin made was of a different class than the one sent from the palace. The ride was very comfortable, and it was incredibly fast.

“Did you make this carriage too?”

“Yes, my lord. Do you like it?”

Although he didn’t know much about Astin’s ability, he felt a bit envious every time he saw things like this. His own ability was merely reading others’ thoughts or brainwashing them…

“I envy your ability.”

“My goodness, what are you saying? I only deal with objects.”

“What use is knowing the inner thoughts of humans?”

“Isn’t manipulating humans even more of a forbidden ability? You’re doing what only God should be able to do. It’s a forbidden ability, but one allowed only to you, my lord. A beautiful ability.”

Astin rambled on. Whenever he did this, Louis found his nickname a bit amusing.

‘Slow in speech, but not in action.’

Surely, the image he showed to others must be fabricated. Louis could now understand a bit about Astin. He had quite a meticulous personality.

“We’ve arrived, my lord. It might get complicated if we enter officially, so I’ll open a hole for you.”

“Alright.”

“Oh, since it’s an entrance for you, my lord, I’ll omit the word ‘dog’.”

“…”

Louis thought of Aer, whom he hadn’t seen for two weeks already. Right after parting, it was just a simple longing, but as time passed, he couldn’t bear how much he missed her.

Playing chess alone was lonely, and the abandoned palace was silent all day.

Remembering Aer chattering away as they sat together on a bench, he thought he had seen illusions a few times.

Or perhaps it was just delusions.

“Well then, I’ll be going.”

“Yes, I’ll be waiting here.”

Louis passed through the wall surrounding the spring dormitory. He entered the building where Aer’s room was located. He climbed the stairs without hesitation.

Louis carefully knocked on Aer’s door on the third floor.

As he pondered how to answer if she asked how he found her, there was no response.

Knock knock.

He knocked a bit harder than the first time. But Aer didn’t come out.

He hadn’t considered that she might not be in the dormitory.

He had deliberately come after dinner time. Even if she had been out, she should have returned by now.

As Louis lingered in front of the room, he turned the doorknob on a whim.

Standing in front of the door that opened smoothly, he hesitated again. Should he enter without the owner’s permission, or should he come back another time?

Opportunities to sneak out, deceiving not only the Empress but also the Emperor, were rare.

Louis closed his eyes tightly for a moment and secretly invaded Aer’s room.

Louis entered the bedroom without hesitation, knowing that all dormitory rooms had the same layout and not seeing her in the small reception room cum study.

He couldn’t bring himself to enter the bedroom freely, so he knocked. If she asked how he got in, he planned to answer honestly.

But again, there was no response.

Could she not have returned yet?

According to Astin, she had been visiting the shop frequently these days, so it was possible.

For a brief moment, he felt frustrated at not being able to hear her thoughts.

As Louis lingered, unsure what to do, he heard a very faint sound.

It was so soft that it could have been missed, but he immediately recognized it as her voice.

“…Aer?”

Louis grabbed the bedroom doorknob and called out once. After staring silently at the still unresponsive door for a moment, he closed his eyes tightly and opened the bedroom door.

As the door opened slightly, the sound became clearer. Hearing the groaning, Louis flung the door wide open and rushed inside.

“Aer?”

Louis’s heart seemed to drop to his feet when he discovered her, drenched in sweat and unable to open her eyes.

He quickly surveyed the area around the bed. Medicine bottles were piled on the bedside table, and an empty water bottle had fallen to the floor.

He reached out with a trembling hand and touched her forehead.

It was burning hot, as if he might get scalded.

“…”

Louis stood still for a moment as if broken, then suddenly got up and went outside.

Taking off the glasses he was wearing and tossing them aside, Louis went down to the dormitory’s dining hall and brainwashed all the servants he encountered.

“Prepare fresh fruit cut into bite-sized pieces, bring the patient’s soup, and bring up cool water immediately.”

After giving orders to those he had brainwashed, he hurriedly returned to her room. He carefully wrapped Aer in bedding and then briefly ventilated the bedroom.

Meanwhile, the dining hall servants, with hazy eyes, brought fruit, soup, and a water bottle to Aer’s room.

“Leave them here, and bring new bedding and wet towels.”

The people who heard his words moved immediately instead of answering.

“…Aer. Excuse me for a moment.”

He raised her, who could barely open her eyes, and sat her up against the headboard. He immediately poured water into a glass and held it to her lips.

“Here, it’s water. You need to drink.”

As if hearing his words, Aer parted her lips.

Although she still couldn’t open her eyes, she drank the water as if knowing she could quench her long-held thirst.

Gulp, gulp, when she finished drinking a glass of water, the servants brought the bedding. Louis turned his head to meet their eyes and ordered:

“Return to your posts. When you return to your places, you won’t remember what happened here.”

The three servants nodded slowly and then went outside.

Only after they disappeared could Louis relax a little.

For a moment, his head spun.

It was the first time he had brainwashed three people simultaneously. Fortunately, the dizziness subsided quickly.

He observed Aer’s complexion and then held a small piece of cut fruit to her lips.

“Aer, you need to eat.”

How long had she been sick?

Since she had been visiting the shop almost daily, he planned to ask Astin to find out when he went outside.

Perhaps she sensed his impatience and worry?

Even though Aer was still not fully conscious, she opened her lips to accept the fruit.

Watching her chew very slowly, Louis continued to bring fruit and soup to Aer’s mouth bit by bit.

Finally, after giving her fever medicine, he wiped his sweat and sighed softly.

Now he was about to change her bedding, as she must have felt uncomfortable from sweating so much. Louis lifted Aer into his arms and laid her temporarily on the sofa.

After hurriedly changing the bedding, he quickly brought her back so she wouldn’t get cold from the cooling sweat.

As he laid Aer inside the new bedding, the neck of the negligee she was wearing opened slightly.

Louis turned his gaze upward with a bright red face, but the familiar mark that momentarily entered his vision made him look down again involuntarily.

“…”

Though similar to his own yet subtly different, he knew well what this mark was.

“…Could it be, healer manifestation?”

The mark clearly engraved on Aer’s collarbone looked like flower petals.

Although he didn’t know what qualities this mark entailed, he felt inexplicably drawn to it. Louis reached out his fingertip as if entranced.

Before he could feel her soft skin, he experienced a shock that pierced his mind.

A dizzying shock, or intense peace.

His whole body became languid, while conversely, tension began to build.

“Ah…”

The healers Astin had brought couldn’t heal him. There weren’t many, but none had ever succeeded.

And yet…

Aer had healed him without even regaining consciousness.