MHHC Chapter 11

Greta let out a devastating groan.

'It's already figured it out. It already recognized Adelheid as its own...'

Where did it start listening from? How much does it know? Had their entire plan been exposed?

If the being before her eyes was the 'Shadow' or the 'Dragon,' she wouldn't have dared. The 'sleep' it enjoyed while recovering its strength followed a trajectory completely different from the sleep humans knew. It would have been completely cut off from its surroundings, unable to be conscious of anything.

...But. If there was even the slightest chance. If from the very beginning it wasn't 'sleep' but a trap.

"Hic, hiccup..."

Crack, crunch. Beneath their movements, sounds that shouldn't have been audible could be heard. If her neck had been broken, she should have died. But the suffocating pain continued. Several incomprehensible twists followed. What had happened to her bones?

She would rather have died. If that wasn't possible, she would rather have gone mad.

The strength gradually drained from her arms and legs that had been struggling and thrashing. Her completely blocked airways were agonizing. As her breathing became labored, her thoughts soon began to roll sluggishly.

Eventually, her consciousness sank into deep darkness.

"His Grace is recovering very smoothly."

The healer who had been examining Valentin with passionate intensity, even flipping back his eyelids, finally straightened his posture and spoke. Adelheid, who had been clasping her hands together and worrying, finally exhaled the breath she had been holding deeply.

"Thank goodness."

"Of course, he was within the normal range before, but now, how should I put it..."

The healer stroked his chin several times, searching for the right words.

"He could cross swords with well-trained knights and not be outmatched. Starting today, there would be no particular restrictions on his movement."

"Then I won't need to stay by his side day and night like this?"

"Until now, I told you to never leave him alone for even a moment and to pay careful attention since we didn't know when his health might deteriorate again, but... Yes, you shouldn't need to do that anymore."

Adelheid let out another sigh of relief. Ever since the Grand Duke had awakened, she had kept watch at his bedside every night. At first, she had taken turns with Hermann, but since the Grand Duke disliked servants so much, at some point she had taken on the responsibility entirely.

After all, she couldn't leave someone who might 'freeze' again alone through the night.

Worried that his condition might worsen, she spent several sleepless nights, and her fatigue accumulated considerably. Sometimes, she would fall asleep as if fainting while sitting in a chair. When she opened her eyes, she would invariably find herself on the Grand Duke's bed.

Each time, Adelheid would scramble out of the bed in shock. Whether she had climbed up herself or her husband had placed her there, either way it was problematic.

She didn't want to face such an awkward situation ever again. Moreover, Valentin, he was...

Adelheid cut off her lengthening thoughts and asked cautiously.

"Then. When might His Grace's memory return?"

"Memory?"

At that moment, Valentin, who had been sitting in the chair, suddenly stood up and wrapped his arms around Adelheid's waist from behind. At that intimate contact, Adelheid's face turned as red as a tomato.

Although he had been behaving this way frequently lately, to do this even in front of the healer!

She glanced furtively at the healer and made excuses.

"Re, recently... he's been doing things he absolutely never did before. Surely when his memory returns, he'll regret it..."

However, the healer himself seemed completely unconcerned. Without even batting an eyelash, he rubbed his chin and replied.

"Well. No one can know when His Grace's memory will return."

"But..."

"Having watched from beside him, wouldn't Your Grace know better than I do?"

Adelheid started to answer but bit her lips instead.

Because Valentin, who had placed his chin on top of her head, had gradually moved to begin nibbling gently at the nape of her neck. As if protesting that she was looking at another person. His attitude seemed to ask whether she would continue ignoring him and conversing with someone else.

When Adelheid's face could not possibly turn any redder, he laughed quietly and released her.

"Until now, he hasn't even recognized the butler who has served him his entire life, and his speech is still..., and his etiquette... As you can see, he seems to have completely forgotten."

"Hmm."

The healer pondered something thoughtfully, then opened his mouth.

"Then how about starting with words?"

"Starting with words?"

"Since memory is closely connected to language, if he regains speech, wouldn't his memory gradually return as well?"

She mulled over the healer's words carefully. It made sense. If there were no physical problems, the likelihood of it being a mental issue was high. War always leaves invisible wounds on people's souls...

Adelheid suddenly realized that the healer was wearing robes and carrying a staff. It was exactly the same attire as when he had first been brought into the castle by the guards.

"Ah, come to think of it. You said you were leaving today? I've been particularly scattered today..."

"Yes. I've stayed in Bitzleben as long as I should, so I plan to return to Falkenhaim via Bayern and Velo."

Adelheid nodded. It was regrettable, but what had originally been asked for just two days had already stretched beyond a week, so it couldn't be helped.

The healer scratched the back of his head and added.

"I'd like to stay longer if I could, but I only have one year left of my pilgrimage period."

Healers from the Dawn Tower of Falkenhaim travel to various regions of the continent under the name of 'pilgrimage' once they reach a certain level. Afterward, it was common for them to return to the tower and devote themselves to scholarship.

Unless they were personally employed by a lord who paid massive amounts annually, they could never again set foot outside Falkenhaim. So they couldn't stay too long in one place.

"Then I can't very well hold you back. You've been such a great help."

"It was a good experience for me as well."

Adelheid hesitated for a moment. She gripped her trembling fingertips tightly from anxiety and opened her mouth.

"Ah, come to think of it, I was supposed to gather the money for you, wasn't I? I've been so scattered today that I forgot... and left it in my room."

"Ah, well. Thanks to this, I've gained experience, so it's fine if you don't give it to me."

"I, I can't do that!"

Adelheid cried out urgently, then seeing the healer's widened eyes, added like an excuse.

"A, a promise must be kept, right? It's not far from here, you know. It's on the way out of the castle too... It'll just take a moment."

"If you insist that much. Let's do that then."

The healer answered willingly without much suspicion. Valentin narrowed his golden eyes slightly as if somewhat displeased, but didn't stop Adelheid. This was different from his past behavior when he would even resort to self-harm if she wasn't in front of him.

Was his memory gradually returning? If so, that would be fortunate. Despite his recovery being remarkably smooth, Adelheid sometimes felt an inexplicable anxiety when facing Valentin.

Deliberately, she avoided Valentin's persistent gaze.

"Then, Your Grace. Please rest. I'll be back soon."

"This way."

The Grand Duchess hurriedly crossed the dim corridor. At first she at least pretended to be calm, but gradually quickened her pace until near the end she was almost running. The healer followed behind Adelheid, bewildered and flustered, not understanding what was happening.

"Your Grace?"

"There's someone you absolutely must examine before you leave. It's urgent."

The Grand Duchess whispered in a hushed voice without glancing to the side. Her lips were colorless. Seeing this, he roughly scratched the back of his head.

"...I don't know what the matter is, but as long as you pay properly, I'll do anything."

They crossed the banquet hall and kitchen, coming down to the ground floor where the servants stayed.

The maids passing through the corridors bowed their heads as if accustomed to seeing the Grand Duchess. It seemed they all naturally accepted that someone who was no less than the mistress of the house would come and go to the ground floor.

'Well. There were many rumors about this marriage in the north.'

Eventually the Grand Duchess stopped in front of an old door. She looked around before opening it. After confirming no one was passing by, she carefully unlocked it.

The door opened with a creaking noise.

It was a dim room without a single ray of light entering. The healer was startled. Strange sounds were coming from inside. It sounded like air escaping, or fingernails scratching iron.

Just as he was about to hesitate at the eeriness, the Grand Duchess looked back at him from beyond the door.

"Come in."

The healer barely managed to pull himself together and crossed the threshold. A bed was placed on one side of the room, and on it could be seen a human figure trembling under covers. When the Grand Duchess threw open the curtains covering the window, light poured brightly into the room.

While he slowly blinked his dazzled eyes, the Grand Duchess picked up a blanket that had fallen to the floor and shook it out. She worriedly wrapped it around the shoulders of the trembling old woman and asked.

"Greta. How is your body?"

"Heu... hic..."

"Oh no, what shall we do... Her throat is more swollen than this morning. Please hurry."

At the Grand Duchess's anxious urging, the healer finally seemed to come to his senses and approached the bed.

"Let me have a look."

The maid retreated to the corner of the bed with wary eyes, as if suspicious even of the healer. Bloodshot eyes, lips crusted with scabs, disheveled hair and colorful moaning. And her throat...

The moment he checked her throat, he unconsciously let out a groan.

"Dear God."

Her entire throat had turned not just black and blue, but purple. As if it had been strongly compressed by something. For the healer, these weren't entirely unfamiliar marks. They were traces commonly seen on corpses who had hanged themselves.

"What on earth... What happened?"

"I don't know either. When I came to find her this morning, she was like this. Please examine in detail what happened. As for money, I'll give you everything I can use..."

The healer took diagnostic tools from his bag, pressed down Greta's tongue and examined the inside of her throat. Eventually he shook his head and straightened his bent back.

"This is a problem I cannot solve."

"Cannot solve? If even a healer finds it difficult to solve, then what kind of..."

"It's not physical damage, but a curse."

"A curse?"

"Her voice has been stolen."

Adelheid blinked blankly, stunned. Those words could only mean one thing. It meant that a demon powerful enough to steal voices was brazenly roaming around Ansgar castle.

But it made absolutely no sense. Ansgar's main castle was protected above all by Morig's powerful barrier.

Even those expensive glass windows in the reception room...

'Dear God.'

Come to think of it, recently all the glass windows in the reception room had been damaged. She had completely forgotten about it with her head in a jumble over the Grand Duke's revival. Adelheid barely managed to swallow her shock.

'So it really is related to demons.'

At that moment, she remembered Greta's desperate face from a few days ago. How she had begged with uncharacteristic anxiety. So that was definitely it.

'The Dragon of Bitzleben.'

A thread of fear cast itself over Adelheid's light green eyes. Could that really be true?

"This level of powerful curse is my first time seeing, but demon attacks are not uncommon in the north. Two or three victims appear each season."

"......"

"Without exception, if they're even grazed by claws imbued with curses, they bleed or have seizures. Well, one or two people come up every year. Usually... with injuries this severe, it wouldn't be strange if they had died."

Adelheid raised her head sharply.

"How do you know northern affairs so well?"

"Ah. Lingen is my hometown. My family has farmed there for generations."

"Lingen... That's not far from Ansgar territory."

If it was a family that had lived in Bitzleben for generations, they would know about 'that' too. At least more than she herself did... Adelheid hesitated a bit before speaking.

Perhaps just bringing this legend to her lips would mark her as a madwoman. Even in the north where demons attacked day in and day out, no one seriously believed in 'that.' A god served by soulless demons.

However.

"Then have you ever heard of the 'Shadow'?"

"...Shadow?"

"I wondered if this incident might have some connection to that demon..."

The longer her words went on, the more peculiar the healer's expression became. Adelheid, feeling guilty in advance, hurriedly waved her hands.

"Ne, never mind. So many strange things have been happening one after another, I'm worrying about all sorts of rumors..."

"Surely not, Your Grace. Are you speaking of the Dragon of Bitzleben?"

As soon as the healer uttered those words, there was a reaction nearby. Greta, who had been crouched on the bed, trembled and covered her ears with her hands. Hiss, hiss. The sound of escaping air became irritatingly loud.

Adelheid was startled and hurriedly stroked Greta's back. The healer watching this sight slowly opened his mouth.

"...Actually, it's not something I experienced directly."