I had been about to suggest that we have a conversation together, but the Saintess suddenly asked if she could hold my hand.

“Pardon?”
I asked again, thinking I might have misheard her.

“Oh, would that be too forward of me? I just wanted to hold your hand, even if it’s just for a moment.”
“My hand? Why?”

In the brief seconds that followed, countless hypotheses flashed through my mind.
Perhaps the wounds from her earlier conversation with the priest were so deep that she wanted to find comfort in holding someone else’s hand. Or maybe my hand carried some sort of sacred energy that only the Saintess could sense. Or perhaps she wanted to use her divine power to check if I had overheard her conversation with the priest.

But no matter how many theories I came up with, there was no clear reason to refuse her request.

“It will only take a moment.”
“Well… alright.”

Why does it have to be my hand? A sense of unease welled up inside me, but I couldn’t think of a way out.
Reluctantly, I held out my right hand to her.

The Saintess quietly stared at my outstretched hand before carefully reaching out. Her pale, slender fingers lightly touched my palm.

Rather than holding my hand, it felt more like she had placed hers on top of mine. From a distance, it might have looked like I was receiving something from her.

The Saintess briefly closed her eyes, appearing to focus.

What is she doing?

My fingers twitched slightly, an unconscious reaction reflecting my desire to pull my hand away from hers.
Thankfully, the Saintess soon withdrew her hand.

“I apologize for the imposition, Duchess. Thank you for granting my selfish request.”
“It’s nothing.”

“Duchess, aside from the festival period and the annual oracle ceremonies, I rarely have opportunities to interact with the citizens of the Empire.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“So, during this time, I wish to connect with the people of the Empire, even if only briefly. It may be greedy of me as the Saintess, but…”

Hmm…?
Connecting with people was what I had intended to say, so why was the Saintess saying it instead?

“Still, you seem like a good person, Duchess, so I’d like to get to know you better. Would you care to join me for tea, even if just for a little while?”

This was supposed to be my line.
According to my original plan, I would have happily accepted her invitation, seeing it as a chance to arrange a meeting between her and the Crown Prince.

But… why did something feel off?

The fact that she remembered me, the request to hold my hand, the sudden invitation for tea—it all felt strange.
For some reason, I felt like I shouldn’t accept.

After hesitating for a moment, I opened my mouth.
What I said was the exact opposite of what I had planned.

“Thank you for the invitation, but if someone were to see us chatting, especially the priests, it might reflect poorly on you, Saintess.”

I quickly abandoned my original plan.

The Saintess’s brows furrowed slightly at my words.
“Oh… so you’re declining.”
“Perhaps there will be another, better opportunity in the future.”

An inexplicable sense of caution had led me to refuse her.

“Well then, I’ll be on my way.”
I turned away from her first and left.

My steps quickened as I walked away. Since I couldn’t use teleportation magic in front of her, I hurried out of the narrow alley on foot.

Her request to hold my hand had been strange. The fact that she spoke to me first was strange too.
It seemed like a good idea to avoid the Saintess and tread carefully for the time being.

***

It was the day for Kyron to attend the puppet show and for me to receive my test results.

“Don’t fall asleep during the puppet show, alright?”
“I won’t.”
“And try not to think it’s boring. Just enjoy it. As His Majesty said, you could use a bit of emotional refinement.”
“…Alright.”

Of course, I knew Kyron wasn’t the type to daydream while sitting next to the Emperor.

We rode the carriage together to the front of the Imperial Palace. After disembarking, I headed toward the palace while Kyron went to meet the Emperor.

The Emperor’s personal physician had summoned me to his laboratory. Since he resided in the palace, his lab was located in an annex attached to the palace.

“Welcome, Duchess.”

His laboratory occupied one of the many rooms in the annex. The other rooms were usually empty but could be used to accommodate guests as needed.

The laboratory was larger than I had imagined. It felt like a completely different world within the palace.

The high ceiling seemed to combine two floors into one, and the walls were lined with bookshelves filled with books. A ladder for accessing the higher shelves, like in a library, was attached to the wall.

Next to the bookshelves were several workbenches. The various experimental tools on them spoke to how dedicated the physician was to his research.

“This space is entirely devoted to research! I never imagined such a place existed in the palace.”

The physician smiled faintly at my admiration.
“This space wasn’t originally designed as a laboratory. When the annex was first built, it had a different purpose.”
“What purpose was that?”
“I heard it was meant for royal rituals, but I don’t know the full details.”

He ended the conversation about the laboratory there and began explaining my test results.

“As you know, we conducted several tests related to your health.”
“Yes.”
“However, none of the tests revealed any identifiable cause.”

It was exactly what I had expected to hear.

“The other doctors said the same thing.”
“That’s why I began to question something fundamental.”
“Something fundamental…?”
“I wondered if your symptoms could truly be classified as a ‘disease’ with a clear cause-and-effect relationship.”
“What… what do you mean by that?”

“Do you see all the books in this laboratory? Not all of them are mine. Some were left behind by the previous occupant of this space.”

What does this have to do with cause and effect? Why is he suddenly talking about books?

“And?”
“Among them, I found this book.”

The physician pushed a book on his desk toward me.

<Disease: The Curse of Divine Power>

“It’s an ancient text translated into the Imperial language. I initially read it because of its title, but I soon realized it wasn’t related to medicine, so I lost interest.”

The title caught my eye, and I examined it closely.

“Are you showing me this because… you think my illness might be a curse?”

“I don’t want to jump to conclusions. If word got out that your condition might be a curse, it could harm your reputation. However…”

He spoke in a serious yet firm tone.

“I think it’s wise to consider all possibilities.”

***

I left the Emperor’s physician’s laboratory feeling unsteady.

The physician had also prepared a detailed letter explaining the test results for Kyron. The letter made no mention of curses—it was a considerate gesture on his part. After all, he had merely suggested a “possibility.”

If my illness was indeed a curse, it would explain some of the questions I had.
Why were all my test results normal, yet I continued to experience symptoms?

But if I considered the possibility of a curse, new questions arose.
I had this illness in my past life as well. So who was cursed—me or Ekette?

The unresolved questions gave me a headache.

I had asked the physician if I could borrow the book he had shown me, but he shook his head. The annex’s books were not allowed to be taken outside.

Disappointed, I gave up on reading the book and left the annex.

The annex, despite its name, was quite large. Most of the rooms were empty except for the physician’s laboratory.