The Rosaian military had been on close terms with the Ascart Fiefdom ever since the latter aided them in their fight against the Austine Empire. In fact, a key reason behind their support for Charlotte as the successor was her close relationship with Roel.
Unsurprisingly, the Rosaian military warmly welcomed Roel when he arrived at Rosa.
The welcome banquet they held for him had a relaxed and joyous atmosphere that didn’t leave him feeling restrained. He was also relieved to hear that Charlotte had remained in good condition after parting ways with him. He felt like he had finally accomplished his mission here.
Rosa was an unimaginably wealthy country. They had a top-tier medical team and countless talented individuals. As the successor of the Sorofya House, Charlotte would receive comprehensive treatment from state-of-the-art facilities. The doctors would also know how to treat her given their prior experience with Bruce’s curse.
For that reason, Roel wasn’t too worried that night.
After the banquet concluded, Roel returned to the highest-class hotel located in the heart of Rosa’s commercial district and soon fell asleep. He had to refrain from going into a deep sleep over the past half a month so as to ensure that he could respond right away if anything happened to Charlotte, so it was inevitable for him to have built up significant fatigue.
He was strong enough to be able to withstand physical fatigue without affecting his fighting prowess, but the same couldn’t be said about his mental fatigue. He needed to rest soon, and Rosa’s central district was a place he knew he could rest at ease.
Unexpectedly, his belated rest after the long journey wasn’t too peaceful. He was forcefully awoken in the midst of his sleep.
“Lord Roel! I am Grace! There are urgent matters I need to inform you of! Lord Roel!”
Before the sun could even rise, knocking sounds and the familiar voice of a maid echoed outside Roel’s room. Roel was surprised to learn that the person causing the ruckus was Grace, but more than that, it spurred a bad feeling in his heart.
His premonition was right.
Grace had come at this unholy hour to deliver a piece of shocking news: Charlotte was in a critical state. Roel could hardly believe it when he heard those words, but the maid’s anxious expression told him that it was no lie.
Roel immediately rushed toward Charlotte’s residence.
The sun was barely peeking from the eastern horizon when he arrived at the Hundred Birds Gallery. For some reason, he felt an inexplicable chill as he looked at the familiar building basked in the light of the nascent sun.
By then, he had already heard about the situation from Grace, who had accompanied him along the way. According to her, Charlotte was still in good condition when she parted ways with Roel to undergo a full-body checkup. After undergoing a series of tests, the Sorofyas’ medical team concluded that she was fine although her body was a little weak.
In view of the checkup results, Charlotte didn’t take a rest but instead attended two urgent meetings to resolve the problems concerning the funding to the frontlines.
After the International Crisis Management Symposium, Bruce Sorofya had headed to the frontlines and hadn’t returned yet. This meant that his successor, Charlotte, would be in charge of all internal affairs for the time being. Rest was a luxury for someone with that much responsibility on her shoulders.
After the meetings, she attended a welcome banquet as per their usual custom.
She hadn’t displayed any anomaly up to this point, but she still opted to leave the banquet early so that she could have a good rest. It was during her rest that her affliction suddenly relapsed, and the severity of which far surpassed the previous cases. Within moments, she was already suffering from a severe deterioration of her life force.
“It’s fortunate that our medical team here is well-equipped and prepared for any emergencies. If it had happened during the journey, our young miss might have already…”
“…”
Grace’s body was trembling as she spoke. The happenings last night had traumatized her.
Roel had a grim expression on his face as he pondered upon the situation. He didn’t utter a single word throughout the entire journey until the carriage arrived at the residence. He followed the maids into a familiar bedroom, where a sleeping beauty laid to the encirclement of a magician order.
“Charlotte…”
His quiet murmur was reminiscent of a prayer asking to be answered.
He could hardly recognize her at all because her complexion was completely different from how it was when they parted the previous day.
Her face was as pale as a sheet of paper, and an aura of death gloomed around her. Her life force was visibly waning. She was still like a ravishing flower blooming under the nourishment of love the day before, but in less than a day, she had become a withering cherry blossom that had run out of time.
Roel’s mind went completely blank.
Irrepressible pain and rage assaulted his heart. His hands tightened around the Nine-headed Serpent Staff. His body turned cold at the worry and fear that she might leave him.
“Lord Roel, our young miss is safe. You may come closer…” Grace told the black-haired man who was agitated beyond words.
Behind her, a group of maids silently wept.
It had been a long-awaited reunion, and the two of them had advanced their feelings over the long journey. All that was left for them was to fulfill their fairytale-like ending. Yet, it all came crashing when Charlotte’s affliction abruptly worsened.
This was an unbearable tragedy for the maids, lest to say, Roel.
Roel took a deep breath to calm his ragged breathing before he took heavy steps toward the bed.
Charlotte had always commanded a powerful presence. She was neither ostentatious nor outspoken, but she was always the center of attention. Yet, her presence felt thinner than ever as she lay debilitated on the bed. It felt as if she would suddenly vanish in a puff.
Roel felt as if countless knives were cutting up his heart.
Standing by the bed, he stared at her unmovingly for a long while. Perhaps sensing his familiar aura, Charlotte regained consciousness as well.
“… Roel?”
“Charlotte! How are you feeling?”
“What happened to me…”
“Young miss!”
Charlotte’s sudden awakening sent a commotion rippling across the room. The medical team and clergymen quickly verified her condition with their spells whereas the maids quickly rushed off to inform relevant personnel.
Charlotte looked at Roel’s worried face, and a gentle smile formed on her lips.
“Darling, I didn’t think that I would see you again so quickly… I’m sorry, I fell ill again.”
“Why are you apologizing? It’s not like you wanted this to happen.”
“You’re right, but my affliction keeps causing you more and more trouble… and I didn’t want you to make such an expression either,” Charlotte said with a bitter smile.
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“…”
Worried sick but trying his darndest to remain composed—that was an expression that Charlotte had never seen from Roel before.
Even when he was faced with calamitous monsters or enemies far stronger than himself, he had never shown such panic or even terror on his face before. She never thought that she would be the one to leave him feeling so uneasy.
Darling, I’m fine…”
“You aren’t fine at all.”
“… The relapse was much more severe this time. I’m still feeling weak even at this point… But for some reason, I feel much better now that you’re with me.”
“…”
Charlotte had spoken those words with the intent to reassure, but Roel slowly widened his eyes instead. He had just thought of a possibility. Charlotte saw his contemplative look, and her eyes also turned serious.
“Could it be that…” she murmured in realization as she recalled everything that had happened.
Charlotte had been suffering attacks from her affliction throughout the journey, but her condition started turning for the better when Roel caught up with her. In the period of time afterward, the two of them were practically glued to each other, and she hadn’t suffered any attacks ever since then.
And this attack happened only after the two of them parted ways, albeit just for a single night.
Even if the two cases above could be reasoned out as an extreme case of coincidence, what about her waking up shortly after Roel arrived at the scene?
In fact, it was with this inkling of suspicion in mind that Grace chose to leave Charlotte’s side and call Roel over. She had a weird feeling that Charlotte’s recovery had something to do with him.
The reason was still unbeknownst to them, but it was likely that Roel’s presence had the effect of suppressing the affliction. It might even be possible that the unprecedented severity of the earlier attack was the affliction’s rebound from having been suppressed for a prolonged period of time.
Roel instinctively turned his gaze to Grace. The latter immediately stepped forward to report on Charlotte’s condition.
“Young miss. According to the mana graphs, your condition showed a significant improvement upon Lord Roel’s arrival.”
“To think that’s really the case…” Charlotte murmured in shock.
Roel spent a moment in deep thought before he finally posed a question.
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“Charlotte, did you notice any anomalies last night?”
“Not at all. Ah! I’m not sure if this counts as an anomaly, but I vaguely recall having a weird nightmare.”
“A nightmare?”
“I can’t recall the exact details anymore, but it had something to do with darkness,” Charlotte clutched her forehead in an attempt to recall the details as she replied.
Roel nodded in response. He leaned in and gently caressed her forehead with a reassuring smile.
“I think I have a grasp on your situation now. There are still many things that I’m unsure of, but I have a clue as to what I need to do.”
“Darling, you…”
“It looks like we’ll have to be glued to each other for the time being. I hope our Miss Charlotte isn’t sick of me yet.”
“That’s not possible,” Charlotte replied with a smile.
She reached out for Roel’s hand and interlocked her fingers with his. However, she soon thought of something that made her frown.
“But darling, don’t you have work to do as well? Rose of Dawn would have many important missions at a time like this, no?”
“I do have work to do… but none of those are more important than your safety,” Roel revealed his true thoughts with a composed tone.
“!”
Charlotte’s emerald eyes widened. She glanced at the doctors and clergymen in the room before averting her eyes in embarrassment, though she could hardly conceal the blissful smile on her face at all.
“You’re exaggerating it too much… How could my life possibly compare to the entirety of humankind?”
“That’s hard to say. Aren’t there plenty of rulers who commit all kinds of atrocities just to bring a smile onto a beauty’s face?”
“Heh. You make it sound as if I’m a vixen.”
“You do have the looks for that.”
Roel gently planted a kiss on Charlotte’s cheeks, bringing a bright blush to the latter’s flustered face. Her reaction brought a smile to his face.
“I won’t leave your side until you make a full recovery. You can be certain of that,” Roel said determinedly.
“Darling…”
Moved, Charlotte held onto Roel’s hand tightly.
The two of them chatted for a little longer before Charlotte succumbed to her exhaustion and fell asleep. It was also then that Roel’s smile finally receded, replaced by graveness.
Despite the leisurely tone he had used when conversing with Charlotte earlier, the truth was that his heart was already completely filled with worry. He had only appeared positive and optimistic so as to inspire confidence in her.
He knew that she was afraid as well. Hiding behind her calm demeanor were her trembling hands. She couldn’t appear weak when there were doctors and maids in the room with them, but how could she not be afraid when an unknown illness was threatening to take her life?
It pained him to see her in such a state.
What was fortunate was that he already had a clue about the affliction.
Charlotte Sorofya, as the successor to the Rosa Merchant Confederacy, was a crucial figure to the stability of the human world. Her responsibility of managing the logistics for the united army could also easily affect the war against the deviants. There was no doubt about her importance to humankind.
Most would have assumed that an attack on her was an act of aggression against either Rosa of the entirety of humankind.
However, Roel thought that there was another possibility here.
The culprits might have just been after Charlotte as an individual, or to be more exact, her lofty Primordial High Elf Bloodline. Taking that into consideration with the fact that Roel’s presence had the effect of alleviating her affliction, there was only one possibility he could think of.
Those ancient monsters…
Roel’s golden eyes glowed with killing intent.
The Rosaian military had been on close terms with the Ascart Fiefdom ever since the latter aided them in their fight against the Austine Empire. In fact, a key reason behind their support for Charlotte as the successor was her close relationship with Roel.
Unsurprisingly, the Rosaian military warmly welcomed Roel when he arrived at Rosa.
The welcome banquet they held for him had a relaxed and joyous atmosphere that didn’t leave him feeling restrained. He was also relieved to hear that Charlotte had remained in good condition after parting ways with him. He felt like he had finally accomplished his mission here.
Rosa was an unimaginably wealthy country. They had a top-tier medical team and countless talented individuals. As the successor of the Sorofya House, Charlotte would receive comprehensive treatment from state-of-the-art facilities. The doctors would also know how to treat her given their prior experience with Bruce’s curse.
For that reason, Roel wasn’t too worried that night.
After the banquet concluded, Roel returned to the highest-class hotel located in the heart of Rosa’s commercial district and soon fell asleep. He had to refrain from going into a deep sleep over the past half a month so as to ensure that he could respond right away if anything happened to Charlotte, so it was inevitable for him to have built up significant fatigue.
He was strong enough to be able to withstand physical fatigue without affecting his fighting prowess, but the same couldn’t be said about his mental fatigue. He needed to rest soon, and Rosa’s central district was a place he knew he could rest at ease.
Unexpectedly, his belated rest after the long journey wasn’t too peaceful. He was forcefully awoken in the midst of his sleep.
“Lord Roel! I am Grace! There are urgent matters I need to inform you of! Lord Roel!”
Before the sun could even rise, knocking sounds and the familiar voice of a maid echoed outside Roel’s room. Roel was surprised to learn that the person causing the ruckus was Grace, but more than that, it spurred a bad feeling in his heart.
His premonition was right.
Grace had come at this unholy hour to deliver a piece of shocking news: Charlotte was in a critical state. Roel could hardly believe it when he heard those words, but the maid’s anxious expression told him that it was no lie.
Roel immediately rushed toward Charlotte’s residence.
The sun was barely peeking from the eastern horizon when he arrived at the Hundred Birds Gallery. For some reason, he felt an inexplicable chill as he looked at the familiar building basked in the light of the nascent sun.
By then, he had already heard about the situation from Grace, who had accompanied him along the way. According to her, Charlotte was still in good condition when she parted ways with Roel to undergo a full-body checkup. After undergoing a series of tests, the Sorofyas’ medical team concluded that she was fine although her body was a little weak.
In view of the checkup results, Charlotte didn’t take a rest but instead attended two urgent meetings to resolve the problems concerning the funding to the frontlines.
After the International Crisis Management Symposium, Bruce Sorofya had headed to the frontlines and hadn’t returned yet. This meant that his successor, Charlotte, would be in charge of all internal affairs for the time being. Rest was a luxury for someone with that much responsibility on her shoulders.
After the meetings, she attended a welcome banquet as per their usual custom.
She hadn’t displayed any anomaly up to this point, but she still opted to leave the banquet early so that she could have a good rest. It was during her rest that her affliction suddenly relapsed, and the severity of which far surpassed the previous cases. Within moments, she was already suffering from a severe deterioration of her life force.
“It’s fortunate that our medical team here is well-equipped and prepared for any emergencies. If it had happened during the journey, our young miss might have already…”
“…”
Grace’s body was trembling as she spoke. The happenings last night had traumatized her.
Roel had a grim expression on his face as he pondered upon the situation. He didn’t utter a single word throughout the entire journey until the carriage arrived at the residence. He followed the maids into a familiar bedroom, where a sleeping beauty laid to the encirclement of a magician order.
“Charlotte…”
His quiet murmur was reminiscent of a prayer asking to be answered.
He could hardly recognize her at all because her complexion was completely different from how it was when they parted the previous day.
Her face was as pale as a sheet of paper, and an aura of death gloomed around her. Her life force was visibly waning. She was still like a ravishing flower blooming under the nourishment of love the day before, but in less than a day, she had become a withering cherry blossom that had run out of time.
Roel’s mind went completely blank.
Irrepressible pain and rage assaulted his heart. His hands tightened around the Nine-headed Serpent Staff. His body turned cold at the worry and fear that she might leave him.
“Lord Roel, our young miss is safe. You may come closer…” Grace told the black-haired man who was agitated beyond words.
Behind her, a group of maids silently wept.
It had been a long-awaited reunion, and the two of them had advanced their feelings over the long journey. All that was left for them was to fulfill their fairytale-like ending. Yet, it all came crashing when Charlotte’s affliction abruptly worsened.
This was an unbearable tragedy for the maids, lest to say, Roel.
Roel took a deep breath to calm his ragged breathing before he took heavy steps toward the bed.
Charlotte had always commanded a powerful presence. She was neither ostentatious nor outspoken, but she was always the center of attention. Yet, her presence felt thinner than ever as she lay debilitated on the bed. It felt as if she would suddenly vanish in a puff.
Roel felt as if countless knives were cutting up his heart.
Standing by the bed, he stared at her unmovingly for a long while. Perhaps sensing his familiar aura, Charlotte regained consciousness as well.
“… Roel?”
“Charlotte! How are you feeling?”
“What happened to me…”
“Young miss!”
Charlotte’s sudden awakening sent a commotion rippling across the room. The medical team and clergymen quickly verified her condition with their spells whereas the maids quickly rushed off to inform relevant personnel.
Charlotte looked at Roel’s worried face, and a gentle smile formed on her lips.
“Darling, I didn’t think that I would see you again so quickly… I’m sorry, I fell ill again.”
“Why are you apologizing? It’s not like you wanted this to happen.”
“You’re right, but my affliction keeps causing you more and more trouble… and I didn’t want you to make such an expression either,” Charlotte said with a bitter smile.
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“…”
Worried sick but trying his darndest to remain composed—that was an expression that Charlotte had never seen from Roel before.
Even when he was faced with calamitous monsters or enemies far stronger than himself, he had never shown such panic or even terror on his face before. She never thought that she would be the one to leave him feeling so uneasy.
Darling, I’m fine…”
“You aren’t fine at all.”
“… The relapse was much more severe this time. I’m still feeling weak even at this point… But for some reason, I feel much better now that you’re with me.”
“…”
Charlotte had spoken those words with the intent to reassure, but Roel slowly widened his eyes instead. He had just thought of a possibility. Charlotte saw his contemplative look, and her eyes also turned serious.
“Could it be that…” she murmured in realization as she recalled everything that had happened.
Charlotte had been suffering attacks from her affliction throughout the journey, but her condition started turning for the better when Roel caught up with her. In the period of time afterward, the two of them were practically glued to each other, and she hadn’t suffered any attacks ever since then.
And this attack happened only after the two of them parted ways, albeit just for a single night.
Even if the two cases above could be reasoned out as an extreme case of coincidence, what about her waking up shortly after Roel arrived at the scene?
In fact, it was with this inkling of suspicion in mind that Grace chose to leave Charlotte’s side and call Roel over. She had a weird feeling that Charlotte’s recovery had something to do with him.
The reason was still unbeknownst to them, but it was likely that Roel’s presence had the effect of suppressing the affliction. It might even be possible that the unprecedented severity of the earlier attack was the affliction’s rebound from having been suppressed for a prolonged period of time.
Roel instinctively turned his gaze to Grace. The latter immediately stepped forward to report on Charlotte’s condition.
“Young miss. According to the mana graphs, your condition showed a significant improvement upon Lord Roel’s arrival.”
“To think that’s really the case…” Charlotte murmured in shock.
Roel spent a moment in deep thought before he finally posed a question.
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“Charlotte, did you notice any anomalies last night?”
“Not at all. Ah! I’m not sure if this counts as an anomaly, but I vaguely recall having a weird nightmare.”
“A nightmare?”
“I can’t recall the exact details anymore, but it had something to do with darkness,” Charlotte clutched her forehead in an attempt to recall the details as she replied.
Roel nodded in response. He leaned in and gently caressed her forehead with a reassuring smile.
“I think I have a grasp on your situation now. There are still many things that I’m unsure of, but I have a clue as to what I need to do.”
“Darling, you…”
“It looks like we’ll have to be glued to each other for the time being. I hope our Miss Charlotte isn’t sick of me yet.”
“That’s not possible,” Charlotte replied with a smile.
She reached out for Roel’s hand and interlocked her fingers with his. However, she soon thought of something that made her frown.
“But darling, don’t you have work to do as well? Rose of Dawn would have many important missions at a time like this, no?”
“I do have work to do… but none of those are more important than your safety,” Roel revealed his true thoughts with a composed tone.
“!”
Charlotte’s emerald eyes widened. She glanced at the doctors and clergymen in the room before averting her eyes in embarrassment, though she could hardly conceal the blissful smile on her face at all.
“You’re exaggerating it too much… How could my life possibly compare to the entirety of humankind?”
“That’s hard to say. Aren’t there plenty of rulers who commit all kinds of atrocities just to bring a smile onto a beauty’s face?”
“Heh. You make it sound as if I’m a vixen.”
“You do have the looks for that.”
Roel gently planted a kiss on Charlotte’s cheeks, bringing a bright blush to the latter’s flustered face. Her reaction brought a smile to his face.
“I won’t leave your side until you make a full recovery. You can be certain of that,” Roel said determinedly.
“Darling…”
Moved, Charlotte held onto Roel’s hand tightly.
The two of them chatted for a little longer before Charlotte succumbed to her exhaustion and fell asleep. It was also then that Roel’s smile finally receded, replaced by graveness.
Despite the leisurely tone he had used when conversing with Charlotte earlier, the truth was that his heart was already completely filled with worry. He had only appeared positive and optimistic so as to inspire confidence in her.
He knew that she was afraid as well. Hiding behind her calm demeanor were her trembling hands. She couldn’t appear weak when there were doctors and maids in the room with them, but how could she not be afraid when an unknown illness was threatening to take her life?
It pained him to see her in such a state.
What was fortunate was that he already had a clue about the affliction.
Charlotte Sorofya, as the successor to the Rosa Merchant Confederacy, was a crucial figure to the stability of the human world. Her responsibility of managing the logistics for the united army could also easily affect the war against the deviants. There was no doubt about her importance to humankind.
Most would have assumed that an attack on her was an act of aggression against either Rosa of the entirety of humankind.
However, Roel thought that there was another possibility here.
The culprits might have just been after Charlotte as an individual, or to be more exact, her lofty Primordial High Elf Bloodline. Taking that into consideration with the fact that Roel’s presence had the effect of alleviating her affliction, there was only one possibility he could think of.
Those ancient monsters…
Roel’s golden eyes glowed with killing intent.
