SBTMK Chapter 9

When Flora released the blanket she'd been gripping, Eden gently folded it back and examined the wound.

"The injury is still deep. Don't skip meals, make sure to take your medicine, and sleep whenever you can. You'll recover faster if you rest properly."

Flora watched Eden's face from where he'd drawn close to examine her injured shoulder.

Her heart fluttered, the way new shoots push through the ground toward light. It was because of his words.

In Cenkan, even when she sustained injuries on missions, not a single person had ever worried about her. Not even out of courtesy.

When she was hurt or ill enough to be confined to bed, people would either press the healers on when she would be recovered, or declare her useless and walk away.

So Flora had grown accustomed to concealing her pain, and gradually stopped seeking healers unless the injury was severe. Lying still like this, holding a conversation—that too was unfamiliar. Being unable to maintain proper decorum felt shameful. She felt useless and fragile.

"I will. Healer."

Flora was, genuinely, moved. Sleep whenever you can. Eat every meal. Rest properly.

It might be nothing more than politeness. And yet—even knowing it might be just words—she didn't mind. Awkward and warm in equal measure.

"Please, call me by name. Lady."

Any other time, a form of address like that would have made her shudder with embarrassment. From Eden, it sounded like a pleasant strain of music.

Was this open, unguarded way of approaching strangers a Haenkan quality? Simen came to mind, unbidden.

"...Alright. Eden."

Whether it was the genuinely human warmth she felt from him, or something she couldn't name, Flora found she couldn't refuse. She nodded.

"Relax your shoulder and rest easy."

Magic was truly a wondrous thing. Eden's healing was as gentle and warm as the aura that surrounded him.

The first time light had poured from his hands she'd startled, her heart leaping—but sudden drowsiness had swept over her mid-treatment and she'd fallen asleep.

She slept so deeply that when she opened her eyes, it was already morning.

In Cenkan, five hours had been the most she could manage in a day. Training past midnight, then up before dawn to train again. And whenever she was dispatched to foreign countries on missions, or summoned by Cenkan's royal command, she would become so tense that even permitted sleep hours brought no real rest.

It had been the same after escaping Meryn Castle, of course. When death might arrive at any moment, there was no room to sleep properly.

Nowhere in her life was there a memory of sleeping as comfortably as she had yesterday. Even with someone else in the room.

Her body felt light for it. Her mind, clear.

Flora dutifully ate every meal and dessert Lugaria prepared, and took her medicine without fail. Unable to move much, she had no choice but to lie still in bed—but though the stillness was stifling, she found herself in the best spirits she could remember, wrapped in a coziness she was experiencing for the very first time.

Three days passed this way. Simen had not shown his face since the first day, but Eden came to see her faithfully at fixed hours, morning and evening.

Thanks to him, even the deep wound gradually closed, and the pain that had felt like her entire body was tearing with every movement began to ease.

His healing ability was genuinely remarkable. The injuries had been serious enough that she'd felt them all the way to her bones—and yet they'd improved visibly in just a matter of days.

Whether it was his sacred magical power, or that beautiful face she never grew tired of no matter how many days she looked at it...

"Lady—is this your first time seeing healing magic?"

"Pardon?"

"You always stare at my hands so curiously."

"Oh, yes. It is my first time. If I was being... rude about it, I'm sorry."

Was I looking too obviously? Flora checked his expression, worried she'd been disrupting his concentration. He laughed, briefly, and answered.

"Nothing to apologize for. It's just that you're cute."

Something about that was embarrassing. She resolved to be more careful from now on, and received the rest of the healing in quiet.

"Thank you, Eden. I've improved so much thanks to you."

The healing ended quickly. Eden straightened her clothing and said:

"You mustn't strain yourself yet, Lady. The wound hasn't fully closed—it could reopen."

"Yes. I'll be careful. I can't let your hard work go to waste."

Flora had spent her entire life guarding against others. Suspecting them.

No matter how much warmth someone showed, how much goodwill they offered, she had always assumed they were wearing a mask. In the world she'd lived in until now, giving trust had often come back as betrayal.

But Eden was a little different. In the face of his boundless warmth, every defense simply fell away.

The thought that she shouldn't get close to people too easily—that she shouldn't trust them—would surface without warning, only to dissolve the moment he offered even the smallest word of concern, like pudding in warm water.

It wasn't easy to make someone feel that way with just a few exchanged words. He seemed, she thought, genuinely remarkable.

He seemed like a sacred kind of person. The kind Flora could never become, not in this lifetime or the next.

"Um—later, once my wound has healed, I'd like to visit the temple. Would that be alright?"

"You're most welcome, Lady. I'll escort you there myself."

"Really?"

"Yes. Really."

If she could, she wanted to become friends with him. She had the feeling Eden would always treat her as an equal, regardless of who she was.

"...Annoying. Get out."

"Annoying or not, it can't be helped."

"Do it tomorrow. Rest today. You love skiving off."

"That would be Your Majesty. I'd appreciate not having your crimes pinned on me."

"I'm genuinely tired today. Don't touch me."

"Then please go to sleep earlier."

"...Won't yield a single word. Insufferable."

"And when has that ever been news."

With the bickering concluded, Eden smiled pleasantly and pulled back Simen's blanket.

The emperor's form, clad only in a thin robe, was immediately plain to see. Hit by a sudden chill, Simen crumpled his face with irritation.

Eden ignored this entirely and set about his work as the emperor's healer.

The first thing Eden examined was the emperor's leg. The wound had fully healed—it no longer required any attention.

He then checked the emperor's overall condition a few more times with his healing power.

Aside from accumulated fatigue, it was an entirely healthy body. Eden nodded, apparently satisfied.

"Nothing seems abnormal... is there anywhere you're uncomfortable?"

"No. Don't you ever get tired of asking that?"

"Your Majesty seems to think of me every single day. I only check Your Majesty's condition once a week. If that's what you truly desire, I find it somewhat inconvenient, but I could begin stopping by every morning—"

"Don't say such horrifying things and get out."

Simen turned sharply away from Eden and pulled the blanket over himself. The sound of poorly suppressed laughter drifted from behind him.

"But—what exactly have you brought home?"

"...What?"

Simen turned his head back to look at Eden. Eden tilted his head, as if picturing someone.

"The Lady with the rare silver hair. Small and cute as a puppy."

"Ah."

Simen recognized immediately who he meant.

"How is she doing?"

"Much improved. She still seems uncomfortable using her arm, though."

"Is that so."

Simen had been so busy he'd briefly let Flora slip from his mind.

When had he last seen her. If her condition had improved that much from that serious state, several days must have already passed. Living a life of working at night and sleeping or idling through the day—his sense of time had a way of disappearing entirely.

"Every time I see her my heart just breaks. What kind of ruthless bastards would do that to someone so delicate she looks like she'd snap with a touch—"

Simen clicked his tongue at the useless commentary. Eden paused, then muttered again:

"By the way—are there still bastards among mages these days who do human experiments?"

"...What do you mean?"

"When she was first brought in, I was too overwhelmed to mention it, but the Lady's skin is in a terrible state. Those aren't simple cuts from a blade. They're tear marks."

"..."

"And you felt it too, didn't you. That she has magical power."

Simen nodded. That had been one of the reasons Flora had caught his interest.

An enormous quantity of magical power scattered throughout her body. And with combat ability at that level, she was near Master rank—

"She can't use the magical power at all."

"She might not have awakened yet, or she might simply never have learned magic. I can't tell which. For now she seems to find it fascinating. Every time I do the healing she stares so fixedly at my hands..."

"..."

"Ah—she's so adorable. Like a rabbit."

"I see."

Simen answered absently and closed his eyes.

"If you're done talking, go ahead and leave."

"What. You won't tell me where you found her? Don't tell me you're trying to fill Riviére's vacant position in the magic tower—"

Anyone who'd seen her fight would think Grand Mage was too tame for her.

There was no need to explain. Simen simply turned his back on Eden, shutting the conversation down.

"Leave. Before I call Erne."

Eden pursed his lips at the finality in Simen's voice.

"Then rest well, Your Majesty. You've seemed very tired lately, so I'll be back soon. May the grace of Arzeka always attend you..."

A quiet promise to himself to be even more annoying next time.

The right shoulder injury had been severe. Flora could feel that herself. At first she'd barely been able to move a finger; now it was considerably easier. This morning at breakfast she'd been able to hold a fork.

'I'm basically fully healed.'

Her shoulder still ached when she pushed herself, but that level of pain was nothing.

"Um... Eden."

"Yes, Lady."

Eden's magical power against her shoulder not only drove away the pain—it lifted her mood entirely. The way warm sunlight feels when it falls on bare skin; something that moved through her before she could think to name it.

She watched him carefully as he focused on the healing, then opened her mouth.

"I held a fork with my right hand this morning."

"Well done. Did it hurt when you kept repeating the movement?"

"...No. It was fine."

"That's a relief. You've improved so much from when you first arrived."

Eden smiled, bright and easy. Seeing that pleased, approving expression—her eyes were content, but something in her felt oddly unsettled.

It wasn't as though she'd said it hoping to be praised. She'd somehow become a child, without quite meaning to.