023 - Loss And New Hope (2)
Faerie could only lie down on her comfortable bed after feeling satisfied, no, after feeling that her tears would not bring her precious guarantee back into her arms.
Faerie looked around with her swollen and aching eyes.
"..."
Perhaps because this mansion is located at the foot of the mountain, surrounded by forests and numerous cliffs, and the enormous ocean that surrounds this secluded island. Faerie felt a peculiar yet unusual serenity that was also quite warm to her.
Is it something she's used to? She has no idea. She only wanted to enjoy the peace to soothe her anxious feelings.
Thus, Faerie decided to accept this seemingly everlasting silence.
"... Goddess. Can't I call you without 'God's Blessing'?" Faerie murmured, her gaze drawn to the ceiling of her room, which had the embossed unique carvings that drew her attention.
The ceiling of the room that she had seen for the last few days, but she still felt strange the ceiling, no, Faerie was unfamiliar with this elegant European-style chamber.
'I feel like I'm in a movie set in the Middle Ages...'
While contemplating this, Faerie spoke of her room's empty ceiling once more. "Goddess, are you truly unable to respond to me?"
Faerie shuddered, her lips trembling. The need to blame her negligence and foolishness returned once more.
"Aaaaaargh! Oh, Faerie, you dumbass!" Faerie punched mercilessly on the plush pillow.
"Cough-cough!" Faerie coughed for a little moment before stopping.
That's because the palm she used to cover her mouth as coughing leaked something red.
"Uh-oh?" Faerie couldn't say anything. She simply froze as she noticed the red liquid in her palm.
"... Did I just vomit blood?"
Faerie, who wanted to touch to see whether the liquid coming out of her mouth was blood, became out of breath.
"Haah... Haah W-What?" Faerie was confused and gasping for air. She suddenly struggled to breathe. Not only that, but she felt agony in her chest as if millions of needles were thrusting into her chest.
"Ugh! What exactly is this pain?"
Faerie's body trembled fiercely, causing her to convulse.
'What is this?' Faerie held her stomach, which was in pain as well.
"Is this an ulcer?" Faerie wanted to think that way, but she remembered coughing up the blood she had spat before. That isn't an ulcer symptom.
"...Don't tell me this body is also sick?"
"Hahahahahahahahahahaha....!" Faerie couldn't stop laughing.
She was feeling very crazy right now.
The first reason she was enjoying this poor Princess's living was that the Princess was in good health.
While Faerie has had a weak body since childhood, no, since the accident.
Faerie was fed up with her arrhythmia, which required her to continually contact the cardiologist, who was always busy and difficult to find, so she needed to arrange an appointment well in advance.
So she is looking forward to enjoying this temporary living with a healthy body.
'... But that isn't the case.'
"GODDESSSSSSSS! WHY DO YOU KEEP TESTING MY EMOTIONS?!" Faerie shrieked before coughing again.
Thankfully, no more blood came out of Faerie's cough, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief.
Faerie gazed up at the ceiling, exhausted. She was hesitant to sleep in such a critical condition.
"At least, this poor princess should take some medication, or anything, to stop the progression of her illness." Faerie pondered. She felt both sadness and sympathy for a girl who was still in her teens but had to suffer from an illness.
It was because Faerie thought the two of them had a lot in common.
'From a name to a diseased body, isn't that world quite evil, Princess Faerie?'
Faerie struggled to get out of the king-size bed, which was soft and exceedingly comfy and made anyone lying there instantly go asleep as if it had been magically placed on it.
"Uuuuuu...."
Faerie moved like a zombie, with no strength left. Faerie thanked her numerous times for her legs' ability to stand and sustain her body even as she swayed left and right.
Faerie's hands shook as she attempted to turn the doorknob. Faerie sighed as she realized she had to exert much effort merely to unlock the door. It's a shame.
"Aahh…" Faerie breathed a sigh of relief as the door opened after her effort, and sweat began to drop freely.
'Doesn't this seem exaggerated?' Faerie was about to complain when she noticed a metal tray set on the table outside the door.
"What is it?" Faerie lifted the tray's lid to see a bowl of clear soup.
When the soup is still heated, it looks great. Unfortunately, the soup in Faerie's hands was cold and did not appeal to her appetite.
And…
"!!" When Faerie smelled the cold soup, she felt sick to her stomach.
Fortunately, she had not filled her stomach with food, so she only vomited air.
"...Seriously, what's wrong with this body?"
Faerie wished to curse whoever had put this poor Princess in such a pathetic condition.
But she couldn't do it now because her stomach felt like it was twisting around something invisible.
"Arrrghhh!!!" While groaning in pain, Faerie immediately remembered the maids' statements, especially the maids' overreaction when Faerie, that is, this body, began eating the food they had been given.
It was too late for Faerie to realize. She did, however, feel as if she didn't have much of an appetite today.
'It seems that this body has a disorder to the point of refusing to eat food...'
"Seriously....?" Faerie slumped against the chilly wall, hoping that the aching in her chest, stomach, or somewhere else would ease just a little.
First, she lost a guarantee worth more than her life.
Second, she discovered, far too late, that the body was unhealthy.
Will there be a third and fourth?
Just thinking about that made Faerie want to give up on finishing this contract.
'I might go insane...' Faerie shut her eyes.
-"At least once a day, drink tea made from these leaves."
-"This tea leaf may calm an unstable human's emotions."
She finally understood why the Goddess had given her tea leaves after the tea party, which Faerie had dismissed as pointless.
Also, the reason why the Goddess made her finish all of the food and drink she gave her without any leftovers. Even offering her tea leaves with ridiculous excuses.
It was to temporarily alleviate the pain.
'Did the Goddess foresee this happening?'
"...At the very least, you still have empathy," Faerie murmured.
Faerie scanned the thin screen with the words
Her face was deathly pale, and her lips quivered as if she was shivering from the cold, but she smiled brightly as if she was looking at something really valuable in front of her.
'Any item from the Goddess must be useful...'
She needed to drink this leaf again for the unknown ache to go away.
"Ah."
"I have lots of stairs to come down..."
Faerie's smile faded as she imagined having to suffer again because she was on the third floor and the kitchen was on the first.
***
"HEL-"
Faerie's mouth was covered by a soft foreign palm coated in calluses and scars, which made it seem a touch harsh.
"Hummpphh...!"
Faerie wanted to scream as loud as she could since she assumed the figure that had frightened her was a strange man trying to get into the mansion.
'... This hand...'
But when Faerie touched her small palm, she discovered that the culprit who was covering her lips was a woman.
In this mansion, only one woman would have calluses and scars on her hands.
'I was quite unlucky today....'
'Not only did I drop a precious guarantee on one of the main character's best friend knights, but I also stumbled across a dangerous person I shouldn't have met alone.' Faerie grumbled in her head.
Faerie tapped the hands that had loosened, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief instead of feeling constricted. The palm gently released from her mouth, as though recognizing the significance of Faerie's finger tapping.
"…" Faerie took a step back so she could see the person who had frightened her and covered her mouth. And she was right.
"What are you doing in the kitchen at this hour?"
It was Melanie. A cold-hearted sword master who pretended to be a maid on an island in the middle of nowhere to keep an eye on her master's daughter.