“Darling, I’m fine…”
“You aren’t fine at all.”
“… The relapse was much more severe this time. I’m still feeling weak even at this point… But for some reason, I feel much better now that you’re with me.”
“…”
Charlotte had spoken those words with the intent to reassure, but Roel slowly widened his eyes instead. He had just thought of a possibility. Charlotte saw his contemplative look, and her eyes also turned serious.
“Could it be that…” she murmured in realization as she recalled everything that had happened.
Charlotte had been suffering attacks from her affliction throughout the journey, but her condition started turning for the better when Roel caught up with her. In the period of time afterward, the two of them were practically glued to each other, and she hadn’t suffered any attacks ever since then.
And this attack happened only after the two of them parted ways, albeit just for a single night.
Even if the two cases above could be reasoned out as an extreme case of coincidence, what about her waking up shortly after Roel arrived at the scene?
In fact, it was with this inkling of suspicion in mind that Grace chose to leave Charlotte’s side and call Roel over. She had a weird feeling that Charlotte’s recovery had something to do with him.
The reason was still unbeknownst to them, but it was likely that Roel’s presence had the effect of suppressing the affliction. It might even be possible that the unprecedented severity of the earlier attack was the affliction’s rebound from having been suppressed for a prolonged period of time.
Roel instinctively turned his gaze to Grace. The latter immediately stepped forward to report on Charlotte’s condition.
“Young miss. According to the mana graphs, your condition showed a significant improvement upon Lord Roel’s arrival.”
“To think that’s really the case…” Charlotte murmured in shock.
Roel spent a moment in deep thought before he finally posed a question.
“Charlotte, did you notice any anomalies last night?”
“Not at all. Ah! I’m not sure if this counts as an anomaly, but I vaguely recall having a weird nightmare.”
“A nightmare?”
“I can’t recall the exact details anymore, but it had something to do with darkness,” Charlotte clutched her forehead in an attempt to recall the details as she replied.
Roel nodded in response. He leaned in and gently caressed her forehead with a reassuring smile.
“I think I have a grasp on your situation now. There are still many things that I’m unsure of, but I have a clue as to what I need to do.”
“Darling, you…”
“It looks like we’ll have to be glued to each other for the time being. I hope our Miss Charlotte isn’t sick of me yet.”
“That’s not possible,” Charlotte replied with a smile.
She reached out for Roel’s hand and interlocked her fingers with his. However, she soon thought of something that made her frown.
“But darling, don’t you have work to do as well? Rose of Dawn would have many important missions at a time like this, no?”
“I do have work to do… but none of those are more important than your safety,” Roel revealed his true thoughts with a composed tone.
“!”
Charlotte’s emerald eyes widened. She glanced at the doctors and clergymen in the room before averting her eyes in embarrassment, though she could hardly conceal the blissful smile on her face at all.
“You’re exaggerating it too much… How could my life possibly compare to the entirety of humankind?”
“That’s hard to say. Aren’t there plenty of rulers who commit all kinds of atrocities just to bring a smile onto a beauty’s face?”
“Heh. You make it sound as if I’m a vixen.”
“You do have the looks for that.”
Roel gently planted a kiss on Charlotte’s cheeks, bringing a bright blush to the latter’s flustered face. Her reaction brought a smile to his face.
“I won’t leave your side until you make a full recovery. You can be certain of that,” Roel said determinedly.
“Darling…”
Moved, Charlotte held onto Roel’s hand tightly.
The two of them chatted for a little longer before Charlotte succumbed to her exhaustion and fell asleep. It was also then that Roel’s smile finally receded, replaced by graveness.
Despite the leisurely tone he had used when conversing with Charlotte earlier, the truth was that his heart was already completely filled with worry. He had only appeared positive and optimistic so as to inspire confidence in her.
He knew that she was afraid as well. Hiding behind her calm demeanor were her trembling hands. She couldn’t appear weak when there were doctors and maids in the room with them, but how could she not be afraid when an unknown illness was threatening to take her life?
It pained him to see her in such a state.
What was fortunate was that he already had a clue about the affliction.
Charlotte Sorofya, as the successor to the Rosa Merchant Confederacy, was a crucial figure to the stability of the human world. Her responsibility of managing the logistics for the united army could also easily affect the war against the deviants. There was no doubt about her importance to humankind.
Most would have assumed that an attack on her was an act of aggression against either Rosa of the entirety of humankind.
However, Roel thought that there was another possibility here.
The culprits might have just been after Charlotte as an individual, or to be more exact, her lofty Primordial High Elf Bloodline. Taking that into consideration with the fact that Roel’s presence had the effect of alleviating her affliction, there was only one possibility he could think of.
Those ancient monsters…
Roel’s golden eyes glowed with killing intent.