Chapter 15 - The Denouement

Strings of darkness began to enter and leave the Empress sick body. They all came from a singular source in her body: The heart. The probable thing that happened is a curse was inflicted on her that disrupted her regulation of mana through the rings in her heart.

Mana is a building block in the structure of the human body in this world. The more mana you exhaust, the weaker you will feel and the chances of a critical accident occurring in your body will increase.

'Hmm...?'

I look at the sick Empress once more. Trying to find a glimpse of a certain something... but it is not there. If this was indeed a curse, there should be some magical applications involved in her body that will result in at least a magical seal appearing... But I cannot find any traces of that on her.

Then does that mean that it is truly poison?

No, that is impossible... Even if there is no magical seal, the dark mana surrounding here resembles the mana that the women had after she took the pill.

This may be hypothetical... but this might've been a type of curse that was secreted into a liquid state and is then inhabited into the victim's body upon consumption, making it think that the type of ailment stemming from it is signs of poising but is in fact signs of being cursed.

These two things require different approaches to cure, so the idea is to progressively make the victim suffer as people try to look for ways to treat the so-called poison is the true intention behind the perpetrators scheme...

I looked towards Nilo, who was still in disbelief about what I just said. My claim may be a reach, but I find it hard to believe that there is not any sort of connection between these two cases, especially since they both intertwine because of this strange darkness.

I looked around the room. Maids and doctors still trying to ascertain the situation before them while juggling multitudes of task in their hands. I stroked my chin and contemplated for a moment before looking at where the Mage and August were standing.

I walked towards them quietly. Once I could hear their voices, I stopped and stood in there in silence to not interrupt their conversation.

"... How is she, Lord Marcus..."

The Mage sentimentally shakes his head before looking down at the sick Empress.

"... I cannot say for sure what would happen here on out... I have never encountered such a vile poison that not even I can figure out about..."

"I see..." August takes a deep breath before looking up at the ceiling remorsefully, and then back at the Empress. "Is healing magic not an option?"

"I have tried with multitudes of priests. You know that healing magic is reserved for those with light affinity and strong holy power. For the moment, I requested for priests of the sixth ring or higher... If worse comes to be-"

"We will have to ask the High Priestess in the Holy Empire. The one with the Blessing of the Light..."

I flinched at his words. The High Priestess...

Before I could contemplate what they talked about in their conversation, August turned his head around and found me standing behind them. He immediately turned his body around and walked towards me hurriedly. "Sorry Lys, I was just preoccupied with the Empress condition that I left you and Sir Nilo standing around-"

I shook my head before looking at him and them at the Mage. "I should be more worried about you; it seems everything is stacking up against your shoulder at the moment..."

Upon hearing my words, August chuckled for a bit before bitterly smiling. "Indeed... but I need to stay strong..."

Maybe it was because of his bitter smile, or what he said, but my heart began to ache for him. I slowly looked away before my gaze shifted towards the sick empress once again.

What can I do to help save the Empress?

Curses are not simple things that can be dispelled... You must figure out its magical structure, analyze it, and then sever the bond between the magic and the bearer. The stronger the curse, the more dangerous and complicated it becomes to dispel it.

Still, if I am correct, then maybe I can figure out the structure if I closely analyze the queen and let the Head Mage Marcus do the dispelling... But I must inform them of my thought process first to do that.

"...There is no need to contact the High Priestess." I stopped briefly; I placed my hand near my chest before speaking once more "...I have a possible way of saving her."

Both August and the Mage showed a surprised expression. I shifted my gaze from them towards the Empress once more.

It is not a lie, yet merely a fraction of what I said is the truth... The rest will depend on whether my power can really find the magical structure that I could not see before and find a way to dispel it without any sort of danger involved.

I look at them again "... Do you have a dosage of the so-called poison given to the Empress...?"

The Mage coughed before talking, seemingly to regain his thought process. "We were able to find one of the maids with a dosage in her after a wide inspection..." He reaches for his back pocket, "I took hold of it in case the true perpetrator wanted to retrieve it. "He looked at me hesitantly. "... but what do you intend to use it for...?"

He holds out the small bottle of poison in his hand. Colored black with a tint of purple. Looking closely at it, it bears the same animosity surrounding the Empress. Upon closer inspection, tiny pieces of black matter float within the bottle, just like sand in water...

I remember hearing Leo and Veda say something to father about the crystal pill that the women took.

"Even after ingestion, the pill remained solidified within her after we dissected her... Yet, it is easily breakable and able to turn into dust like matter... but will regain its whole form if left as it is. It can especially be lethal if people without the dark affinity consumes it... Furthermore, the side-effect after consumption strangely indicates resembles a curse, rather than a physical enhancement..."

I continued to stare at the bottle before speaking.

"... As I expected, this vital liquid is filled with condensed particles..." I shifted my gaze from the bottle to August and the Mage. "... This isn't poison, but a type of curse I am afraid..."

Both showed a perplexed expression once more. The mage's mouth quivered for a bit before responding. "... So, we were dealing with the symptoms in the wrong direction this whole time...?"

"... I'm afraid so..."

"Wait! How can, you be sure?!" August looked at me with a hint of doubt. I cannot blame him, the symptoms shown are indeed what you will typically see in poisoned patients. That is what is making this matter difficult to deal with. How exactly can a curse function like this?

"... I have seen this before, back in the estate..." I closed my eyes before looking back at August, his expression showing confusion once more.

"... When I was two, mercenaries and assassins came to our estate to try and assassinate my mother. One of the assassins used the same particles in this liquid to physically enhance themself via curses."

"Wait, this is too much information to handle..." He placed one of his hands near the cabinet that he was standing behind while placing his palm over his eyes. "You said this was a curse, yet the assassin was able to use that to enhance herself?"

Nilo walked towards us and stood behind me. "It is as the Young Master said. Though it was reported to the Empress in the past, there was no indication of similar cases until now..." He looks at me for a moment before looking back at August, who was still trying to process the information. "The pill mentioned can be crushed into a dust-like state and is only used for people with dark affinity. Others who do not possess the affinity will inevitably experience effects such as the Empress is experiencing now..."

The Mage took a step forward. "If what you say is true... then we have to negate the curse that is dwelling on the Empress..." He closes his eyes, burrowing his brows with frustration. "... But even then, figuring out what type of curse this is will take even longer..." He looks at the Empress once again. "... and it may be too late..."

August squeezes his hand and forms a fist. "No! We must at least try something..."

"What about my eye? Do you think it will be able to find the magical structure of the curse?"

The Mage tenses his body before stroking his beard. Thinking before meeting my gaze. "The Blessing of the Mana... Yes, it might be possible indeed. Finding and figuring out the structure of the curse can take days, or even weeks depending on the complexity. But we might shorten the process with your help..." He looks at Nilo. "... That is, if you are willing to help us out..."

Nilo looks at Mage's worried face before closing his eyes. "I am just a guard at the moment, it is up for the Young Master to decide how he wishes to proceed with this."

I look at Nilo before looking at the Mage once more. "I came here with the intention of helping the Empress. So, I do not mind, if it means that it can help save her." Once he heard my response, his expression softened "Thank you, Lord Lysander. I will begin to escort everyone out of the room so we can begin the analysis."

The Mage coughed and looked towards every person in the room before heading out. Soon, all the maids and doctors followed him and exited the room. I look around to see where August might have been. He sits on one of the couches in the room, looking down at the floor solemnly.

I made my way to where he was. Slowly walking while trying to make the minimal noise that I can make to not disturb him. I quietly sat in the seat next to him, and just looked forward.

Despite his frightening keen senses, he does not notice me sitting next to him.

No, maybe he does. But his focus is somewhere else. Many things are piling up against him, that is even surprising how calm he is.

A few minutes passed in silence. August continued to look down on the floor. "... Sorry..."

The words he uttered made me turn my gaze towards him. "Why are you apologizing?"

He fixed his posture, then shifted his gaze at me. "I doubted your words..."

"Ah..." I scratched my cheek and looked away for a moment before looking back. "Do not be. It might be even more weird if you were to believe everything that I say..." I placed my hand down and showed a subtle smile. "You don't have to trust everything I say... Knowing when to doubt, that is what makes us human."

He continued to stare at me before bitterly smiling back. "... Even then, everything you tend to say is the truth. So, doubting you, for some reason, makes me feel like I did something wrong..."

I gently grabbed his hand. "It is fine. I said all those things because I want to save the Empress. I want to save her, so you do not have to suffer."

He intertwined his fingers among mines as he heard those words. He then brough my hand near him, let go, and placed my palm on his cheek while placing his hand over mines. "... Everything you do is so kind.... that sometimes I just feel like it is not real..."

My whole body froze.

No... This feeling is real. I am not faking it. I am truly not faking it... Every action that I am doing is genuine from my heart... Everything I do is to make sure that August remains happy like he always is...

I took a deep breath before slowly responding to his response with a smile. "Just know that is real... All my actions so far were truly genuine. I will always be by your side."

He looked at me with my hand still placed in his cheek with awe, before smiling brightly, just like his usual self. "Yes... my feelings... they too are genuine..."

I tilted my head at his response. "Your feelings?"

He closed his eyes and gently shook his head with my hands still on his cheek. "Is nothing. I am also content with being by your side as a friend too." He moves his other hand and gently hold my wrist "Your hand is so warm..."

I let out a small chuckle before smiling. "It may be sings that you just need to rest."

He chuckled before opening his eyes and looking right at mine. "Just talking to you is making me feel better..."

Standing near the two boys who continued to talk among each other, Nilo continued his stoic expression as he overheard their conversations.

"... So, one of them knows..."

The doors once again opened, and the Mage appeared once more alone.

"Thank you for waiting, Lord Lysander... We shall proceed with the analysis now."

August gently removed my hand from his cheek and looked at the Mage nervously. I stood up and began to walk towards where the Empress was. I stood near the bed and saw the sick Empress still in a deep sleep as she was sweating a lot. August soon followed as he walked towards where I was and stood next to me.

The Mage then began to walk towards us and stood on the opposite side of the bed, carrying a huge wooden staff in front of him.

"... We shall begin the analysis now..."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

Analysis magic. Just like its name entails, it is used to analyze the structure of magic and its formulation. Though it is simple magic, it becomes versatile as you further understand each magical structure. The more you know, the more this particular magic can help in situations just like this.

Analyzing an unknown type of magic, just like this curse, will take days or even weeks of constant analyzing, figuring out the structure, and figuring out what exactly the effects are and how to dispel.

If I can successfully find out the structure of the curse, then we will be able to completely take away the first hurdle: Time.

I look at August. His worried eyes as he looked towards the Empress weights on my mind. I gently grabbed his hand and intertwined my fingers with his. He looks at my hand and then looks at me with a slightly confused face.

"... Do not worry. We will surely succeed and save her."

His confused expression soon turned determined as he nodded before looking ahead, still holding my hand. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before looking at the Mage.

"... Are you ready now?"

I nodded.

Once again, I will surely change the plot of this novel.

But soon before we were about to begin the analysis, heavy footsteps began running through the hall. Soon, the doors open wide, showing a young girl with wavy, waist-length chestnut hair with hazel eyes.

She is heavily breathing as she is out of breath. August looked at her with a shocked face before he hurriedly walked to where she was.

She looks to be around Seraphina age and height.... Those features, it can only be one person...

Summer Rutherford. The younger sister of Augustus Rutherford, and the only Imperial Princess of the Izora Empire, and Seraphina's future best friend.