EEA Chapter 25

The two people who got quite wet in the rain had to dry off first before meeting the doctor. Ailea was less wet, but Clint's clothes were completely soaked in the meantime. Ailea, who received a towel from a maid who had hurried over, wrapped Clint's hair with the towel. To dry his hair, she had to stand on her toes. When Ailea stood on her toes, Clint bent his waist to help and asked.

"So, when are you going to grow taller?"

At his joke, Ailea glared at Clint.

"I told you I'm fully grown, didn't I? Why do you keep teasing me?"

"Captain Ron was quite tall. I'm sure you'll grow more. How are your brothers?"

"I haven't seen them since mother passed away, so I don't know. Just Cyril taking care of Yuliana Castle alone was hard enough."

He nodded and pulled down the towel, saying.

"I hear lots of praise about Duke Cyril."

"Really?"

"Let's invite your family first when we arrive at Escalize. Even if Duke Cyril can't come, your younger siblings can come."

At those words, Ailea's expression brightened. She looked at Clint to say thank you, but his hair and even his eyelashes were wet. Just looking at his enchanting face left her speechless, so when Ailea turned her gaze away, Clint grabbed her chin to fix it toward himself and said cheekily.

"You should say 'thank you.'"

"...Thank you?"

When she said what he told her to in bewilderment, Clint laughed, his shoulders shaking. Then he said gently.

"I'm joking. It's not something to be thankful for, it's natural, my lady."

He stroked Ailea's ear with his finger and swept his hot hand over her neck, which was slightly cold from the rain.

"Ah..."

A suggestive sound escaped from Ailea's lips. Her eyes that had closed, and in contrast, her lips that opened to the dizzying sensation.

Clint pushed his fingers from her forehead through her hair, sweeping down her platinum hair. Then he grabbed the middle tightly.

Since returning from the battlefield, he hadn't been able to meet any woman other than Ailea. The young man of twenty-six found it difficult to endure this situation with his wife standing right in front of him. Clint forced a smile.

"But your hair got wet."

"...I'm sorry."

When Ailea apologized for postponing their wedding night, Clint said.

"Don't apologize. It's not something to apologize for, it's something I should apologize for."

"But..."

"I won't touch you until you want me to."

"..."

"I'm not some beast."

Though he said that, it seemed quite torturous for him to have Ailea, wet from the rain, right in front of him, so he hugged her tightly with both arms. He muttered words to no one in particular.

"Right? I'm not a beast."

"Clint... Ah..."

Clint's hot hands wrapped around her back. Ailea's face grew redder and redder in his embrace. She didn't dislike the sound of Clint's roughened breathing touching her ear.

Ailea soaked her body once in warm water and changed into a comfortable dress she wore at home. Though it was comfortable, she missed the maid uniform she used to wear at the outer castle. The rain stopped, and sunset began to arrive. As she was hanging up the flowers she had started drying in the morning at the window, Kaiton, who had returned from Escalize, knocked and said.

"The Captain says everything is ready, so please come down, Lady of Escalize."

At his words, Ailea opened the door and said gently.

"Oh, you must have had a hard time going to Escalize?"

"Yes, it was really hard work."

A pleasant fragrance spread from her room. On Ailea's bed, a cat was sleeping, and flowers were hanging here and there. Kaiton asked, "Uh... why are you hanging the flowers upside down?"

"I want to dry them well and use them as decoration."

"Ah."

"I think it would be pretty to make a bouquet. They'll probably dry prettily by the time we depart for Escalize."

Ailea gathered the hanging roses with both hands and held them out.

"Like this... it would be pretty, wouldn't it?"

The eye-smile she made felt familiar, and thinking about it, it was the same eye-smile Clint made. She seemed to have learned it quickly. At her appearance, Kaiton paused, then asked in shock.

"Were your eyes emerald colored?"

At his words, Ailea stepped back and shook her head in confusion.

"No. It must look that way because of the sunset."

"Ah..."

To be honest, Kaiton hadn't quite understood why Clint, who had always been loved by beautiful women, had accepted marriage so easily. He had convinced himself it was because she was Ron's daughter, but he had also felt that Clint was being overly protective. However, when he saw Ailea studying about the southern region all night, or holding out dried flowers with both hands, he often thought she was lovely. Kaiton led Ailea to the room where the doctor and Clint were.

After Kaiton closed the door and came out, he found the knights gathered and chatting. Shante said,

"But about the Captain. At first I was worried because he was being forced to marry by imperial decree, but lately it doesn't seem like it was forced. The first thing he did was call for a doctor."

"Oh, that's right? I thought so too."

When Louison agreed with Shante's words, Tarren said from the side.

"Well, seeing them today, it looked like the two of them were dating or something."

Hearing that, Kaiton grumbled.

"What are you talking about? It just looks like the Captain is doing his best."

"He's not drinking much lately either. And he's not meeting other women."

"He must be physically tired."

"...The Captain?"

"Ah, anyway, no! Dating, really. It's just because Lady Ailea... ah, no, because my lady is kind, that's why it looks that way."

When Kaiton grumbled and left, Tarren tilted his head.

"...Why is that guy acting like that?"

Ailea saw the doctor and shrank back. He wasn't the kind of doctor she had expected. He was a young man who looked weak himself and didn't seem trustworthy. Moreover, since he had been captured as a prisoner when they recaptured Escalize, he was wearing shackles on both ankles.

When he coughed, Ailea didn't know what to do. Then Clint made a displeased expression and kicked a chair.

"Stop being sickly, Joaquin."

"Oh my, I'm dying! Torturing a hostage, Your Highness is also rooted in the Kanna Empire, aren't you!"

Joaquin dramatically exaggerated his suffering. Clint smacked the back of his head to shut him up and said to Ailea.

"He may not look trustworthy, but he's the most famous doctor in the region we recaptured. Since the Kanna Empire's medical skills are far superior to Teniac's, trust..."

As Clint was explaining, he looked at the whimpering Joaquin, clicked his tongue, and said.

"...never mind trusting him, should I just kill him and bring a new one? The doctor is whimpering too much."

"No! I'm healthy, Your Highness!"

Joaquin urgently spoke and took out a small tube, then grabbed Ailea's arm.

"My lady, when did these black spots start appearing?"

"From the winter when I was sixteen."

The spots had started spreading little by little from her thigh. At the time, she didn't think much of it, but a little later they appeared on her back and arms, and after her seventeenth birthday, the spots had spread to her face as well.

The doctor asked.

"His Highness said he took some of the poison?"

"Yes. My left hand... Ah!"

Ailea let out a small scream.

While she was trying to remember, Joaquin had suddenly stuck the tube he was holding into Ailea's arm without asking. Blood filled the tube completely. Ailea had good patience, so after being surprised only briefly at first, she calmly watched the scene.

Rather, it was Clint who couldn't look properly and pretended to look out the window. Though he was someone who had killed countless people on the battlefield, he somehow couldn't bear to watch the scene of blood being drawn from his wife's delicate arm.

Joaquin checked the toxic components in the blood using several reagents he had. However, the result was the same as Clint's previous one. There was a high probability that no poison was mixed in her blood.

Joaquin said.

"I hate to say this myself, but I'm quite an excellent doctor even in the Kanna Empire. This is likely not just poison."

"If it's not poison, how could it transfer to my hand with detoxification magic?"

"The basic detoxification magic Your Highness mentioned is physical, so it can bring over things that aren't poison too. For example, it could bring over the ink used to draw a tattoo from someone who has a tattoo."

"What are you talking about?"

"Have you tried using detoxification magic again since then?"

"Yes, when Ailea was sleeping."

At his words, Ailea's eyes widened and she asked.

"When, when I was sleeping?"

"If I did it when you were awake, you'd obviously stop me. But it didn't work anymore."

Disregarding Ailea's worry, he spoke nonchalantly, then suddenly asked her.

"But two years ago... didn't you have sleepwalking?"

"Sleepwalking? Me?"

"You didn't know? Two years ago when I came to find you at night, you fell down the stairs and hurt your knee. You were walking around while asleep and fell, so I climbed over the wall."

At that time, she had been so shocked seeing Clint's hand that she hadn't properly heard his words. Joaquin, who had been listening to their conversation, said,

"Isn't it a cur..."

The moment Joaquin mentioned the word curse, his spine went cold. As soon as he brought up the word curse, a cold blade came toward his neck.

"Say that again."

Clint's chilling voice was heard. At the word curse, he had immediately drawn his sword and brought it to Joaquin's neck. Joaquin's body trembled at that chilling terror.

The Clint that Joaquin had seen on the battlefield was not human. At that moment, Joaquin truly desperately sought God. You seem to have missed one demon, God... he thought.

The sight of him holding a long sword dripping with blood after killing all the resisters. The sight of Clint and his knights entering Escalize Castle, where no armed men remained, grumbling that they would die from overwork, was a nightmare, an eternal nightmare he never wanted to repeat. Fortunately, he was quite gentle to those who didn't resist.

Joaquin said calmly to preserve his life.

"I repeat, Your Highness, a doctor with broad knowledge in various fields like me would be hard to find even in the Kanna Empire. If you kill me here, it will be difficult to treat my lady's illness."

Since Joaquin's words made sense, Clint lowered his sword. When Clint held a sword, he became a completely different person. Ailea felt as oppressed by that dark aura as Joaquin did.

Sometimes, she felt that the Clint she knew was only one aspect of him. It wasn't that she disliked it, but rather it was frustrating. That she couldn't know more about him. Sometimes she felt greedy to know more, deeper about him.

While she was thinking briefly, Joaquin said.

"Honestly speaking, the detoxification magic Your Highness used is so elementary that even a child could master it. But my lady's symptoms don't seem like they would respond to such rudimentary magic. Basic spells like that only work when a curse is in a weakened state—typically when you manage to interfere while the curse ritual is still being performed."

Joaquin turned back to Clint with an aggrieved expression and said defensively.

"Someone has been cursing my lady, and that curse ritual was carried out, but Your Highness appears to have used the detoxification magic before the curse could fully settle into effect. That's what I was attempting to explain before you decided to threaten me with that blade."

"...Ritual?"

"Yes. When you said my lady showed sleepwalking symptoms, I had such suspicions. Someone with strong magical power would have performed a curse ritual."

"..."

"Of course, we can't know for certain until we check for poison symptoms using other reagents. It could be a rare poison. Moreover, even if it is a curse, finding out who did it is nearly impossible. No, proving that it's a curse in the first place is impossible. And curses are very difficult to resolve unless you catch the person performing the ritual."

At the word impossible, Ailea hung her head. Then the doctor continued.

"However, it would be good to at least think about who would benefit if my lady showed such symptoms. If such a curse ritual were to be performed again, that situation could become a weakness and provide some information. Like how the basic detoxification magic worked. Well, women who admire Your Highness, or those killed by the infamous Ron Elgar Yuliana in the Kanna Empire. Aren't there many?"

Clint, who had been listening quietly, slowly closed his eyes, then opened them slowly and said.

"Or someone who wants to become Empress?"

"...Empress?"

Joaquin asked back. Clint answered.

"You don't need to know."

"If the attending physician doesn't know, who should know?"

"...Since when have you been my wife's attending physician?"

"What? Isn't that why you brought me here?"

Joaquin asked so shamelessly. Ailea, who had been listening quietly, asked Joaquin.

"Then it's not an illness?"

"Yes, that's quite likely."

"And if we find the person who cast the curse, there's a possibility I could get better?"

"It's nearly impossible, but if you two have someone in mind."

When Joaquin paused briefly, Clint said, "And if we provoke that specific person to perform the curse ritual again, and counter-attack in that gap, my wife could return to normal?"

"It's a possibility, Your Highness."

Clint slowly walked over and leaned against the window. He seemed to have trouble standing straight, so Ailea's gaze turned to him. He was someone who rarely got tired, but he looked unusually drained, so Ailea stood up from her seat. She looked down quietly at Clint's left hand and said.

"Your hand... it must be difficult to treat."

Since she rarely touched other people, Clint sometimes felt upset. Even when he wanted to hold her and raised both hands, he would lower them worrying the other person might dislike it.

Clint said.

"Since there's no evidence, we can suspect but can't act."

"Of course."

"But if what you've suffered through wasn't a naturally acquired illness, but something someone did artificially."

"..."

"How should I make them compensate for that."

Murderous intent flowed from Clint's eyes, which were naturally half-closed without any force. He was like a hunting wolf. Like a predator quietly watching its prey.

Clint soon recalled something.

The only maid who had been at Ailea's castle.

He thought that maid might know exactly about Ailea's sleepwalking.

That evening, Clint had Shante search for the whereabouts of Cathy, who had been Ailea's maid.