Chapter 106
“See? I told you not to overexert yourself going around.”
As I looked at Prince Kalian lying limply on the bed, a sigh escaped me.
I put strength into my fingertips and pulled out the mana gnawing away at the prince's body.
The blackened, dead mana clumped together on my fingers.
“Haaah...”
Even when I try not to sigh, I can't help it.
By now, I should have arrived at my room in Linea Hall, snuggled beneath a warm blanket on the new bed, and been sleeping soundly.
But instead, Vice Commander Albert suddenly barged into the academy and practically dragged me here, and I have no idea what I'm even doing.
Honestly. What am I even doing here?
...Still, what could I do? Someone was apparently on the verge of death.
If someone can be saved, saving them first is the right thing to do.
Ignoring him because it was bothersome, only to lie awake at night feeling unsettled, would be an even bigger loss.
“Whew...”
Once I extracted the last handful of mana residue from Prince Kalian's body, color slowly returned to his deathly pale face.
Soon, the prince slowly sat up.
“How are you feeling?”
“Remarkable. I definitely feel much better.”
Prince Kalian exclaimed as he lightly rolled his shoulders.
At the same time, a faint chorus of “Ooh...” rose from the people holding their breath around the room.
“You just got better. Why are you throwing your body around like that?”
I really can't stop myself from frowning.
“Be more careful from now on.”
“Haha. My apologies.”
Prince Kalian smiled sheepishly.
“It's just been so long since I've been able to walk around freely like this. I suppose I got a little carried away without realizing it.”
“...”
That slick way of speaking and those smirking lips—I really don't like them.
If he weren't royalty, I would have given him a satisfying flick on the forehead.
“At the very least, couldn't you have periodically gotten rid of the mana building up in your body? How long could it take? A few minutes?”
I tossed the black clump of mana gathered at my fingertips to Arke, who was floating behind me.
It eagerly gobbled up the mana as though it had been waiting for it.
Unlike certain people, it doesn't discriminate when it comes to food.
“Lady Lunaris, there's something I need to say about that.”
Prince Kalian broached the subject as though he had been waiting for the chance.
“It seems other mages can't extract mana from my body.”
“...Huh?”
Now that I looked around, I realized there weren't only nobles in the room.
An imperial mage in a white robe also stood out.
In fact, the person who had brought me here was Uncle Albert, the acting commander of the Imperial Mage Corps.
With so many people here, there isn't anyone who knows how to extract mana from the prince's body?
“Why can't you do this? It's really nothing.”
I asked back blankly.
Silence fell over the room.
Awkward coughs rose here and there.
Puzzled, I glanced around the room, only to find everyone avoiding my gaze and pretending to be interested in something else.
“It's not that you couldn't do it. You just didn't because you were afraid something might go wrong, right?”
“Haha, that's right. These people draw such salaries and can't even do something this simple.”
While the other mages lowered their heads, Vice Commander Albert, who had been standing quietly to the side, let out a low sigh and stepped forward.
“Your Highness, didn't I tell you yesterday? This is something only Miss Lunaris can do.”
“Haha. I know. I was just teasing.”
“...Huh?”
I tilted my head to the side without meaning to at the vice commander's words.
“No, I told you this is really nothing. You just draw the mana out through the pores, that's all. You know, it's kind of like straining muddy water through a sieve—just swish and flick...”
“Lady Lunaris, most mages can't even perceive that the muddy water exists in the first place.”
Vice Commander Albert pressed his temples as he continued.
“To begin with, moving the mana residing inside someone else's body according to your own will is impossible.”
“...Huh?”
“Only someone like you, who can freely control the mana in the air—in other words, nature mana—can do it.”
Uh... Is that how it works?
As I blinked with a blank expression, Vice Commander Albert let out another sigh.
“Haaah. Lady Lunaris, you really need to realize how special you are.”
“Haha, you see? It's not that I refused treatment because I didn't want it.”
Prince Kalian laughed as he picked up on the vice commander's words.
“It seems this isn't as simple a problem as Lady Lunaris makes it sound. Isn't that right?”
The prince looked at me with a meaningful smile.
This feels like it's becoming troublesome...
An ominous premonition began creeping over me.
“Could everyone step outside for a moment?”
Prince Kalian dismissed everyone with a smile.
“I have something to discuss privately with Lady Lunaris.”
“Y-Your Highness! Are you sure that's all right?”
A nobleman spoke up in a worried voice.
“Lady Lunaris is an archmage who has yet to register her mana with the imperial household. If she harmed Your Highness during your private meeting and fled, there would be no way to—”
“Haha. What an overprotective lot.”
Prince Kalian let out a short laugh.
“My life is already in her hands, so why worry about it now? And...”
The prince glanced toward me and added in a confident voice,
“If she had decided to harm me, she wouldn't have come to the imperial palace to treat me in the first place. Isn't that right?”
The prince looked toward me as he spoke.
“Well... that's true.”
When I answered with a reluctant expression, the nobleman who had raised the objection groaned and backed down.
“...Understood. Then we'll wait outside.”
Led by him, the nobles streamed out of the room.
The mages who had been watching the situation followed them outside.
“Thank you for coming along without complaint, even though we practically dragged you here.”
Vice Commander Albert patted me on the shoulder as he was the last to leave.
Clunk, the door closed.
The spacious bedroom was left with only Prince Kalian and me.
*
“I owe you my life once again.”
“You can skip the thanks.”
I said as I carelessly perched on the chair beside the bed.
With neither Vice Commander Albert nor any stodgy nobles who might scold me around, it should be fine to act a little more casually.
“It's not as though I can come here every time to draw out your mana.”
“Haha, I suppose not.”
I have a schedule too.
I have academy classes to attend, time to laze around in bed, and sleep as much as I want.
“Has it been about a month since the investiture ceremony...”
The prince gave a wry smile and fidgeted with his wrist.
“I suppose I'll be calling you at about this frequency. Would it really be that much trouble?”
“What? Once a month?”
I shook my head in horror.
“That sounds like an awful lot of trouble.”
Honestly, even once a year would be annoying.
Once every ten years or so would be about right.
Better yet, it would be wonderful if I never had to see him again.
“I'll compensate you handsomely for the house calls.”
“I'm earning enough that money isn't an issue.”
Not merely enough, either. I was earning more than I could possibly need.
“More importantly, Your Highness, if you simply stayed carefully inside your room, you'd be fine for not just a month, but a year—or even ten years, wouldn't you?”
I advised the prince sincerely.
“You're getting into trouble because you keep going outside and letting mana touch your body. Artifacts aren't omnipotent.”
Prince Kalian was briefly left speechless by my words.
He repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fist before slowly opening his mouth.
“...For well over twenty years, I lived like little more than a walking corpse.”
The prince raised his head and met my eyes directly.
A cold flame flickered deep within his kind-looking eyes.
“I know it's greed. I also know it's more than someone like me deserves. But...”
His gaunt hand gripped the blanket tightly.
The knuckles of his pale hand trembled.
“I don't want to live such a wretched life anymore.”
His gentle, dignified voice was filled with emotion.
“Do you know how I felt when my arms and legs moved properly, when breathing in was no longer difficult?”
His cracked lips twisted faintly.
“It felt exactly like being born again. A world that had been pitch-black looked bright for the first time.”
Just as if he were intoxicated by something.
“There are so many things I want to do.”
Prince Kalian reached a hand toward the air.
“I want to walk barefoot through a garden that smells of rain. I want to lie beneath a tree trunk and feel the wind. I want to ride a horse across this continent, and dance all night in a ballroom.”
The prince's wishes did not end there.
“I want to go to the hunting grounds and cut a beast's throat. I want to cross swords with the knights who looked at me with pity, and attend meetings so I can knock the arrogance out of nobles with nothing but my silver tongue.”
The heat and madness in his voice grew increasingly intense.
“I want to pay my respects to His Majesty and tell him how hard he's worked. I want to embrace my mother and apologize for worrying her. And I want to prove that I'm still alive and well to my siblings who mocked my frailty.”
Prince Kalian slowly clenched the hand he had extended.
“Above all, I want to impress my name upon the countless people of the empire who have forgotten me.”
So, I...
“I want to become the master of this empire—of Belhart.”
From the highest place, where everyone looks up to me, in the most resplendent form.
“I want to burn this miraculous life I've been given in a blaze of glory.”
“...”
I stared blankly at Prince Kalian.
An eerie light glimmered in his gleaming eyes.
Figures. He is royalty, after all.
This prince is pretty crazy too.
“How should I put it... I can't really relate.”
That sounds exhausting.
That was my honest assessment.
Especially since I was busy wasting my newly acquired life by being as lazy as possible.
“Living in a constant struggle while chasing ambition sounds suffocating just thinking about it.”
“Haha, is that so?”
Prince Kalian showed no sign of taking offense at my indifferent response.
Instead, he studied me intently, as though he could see straight through me.
“It's not that I don't understand. You were born with far too much, weren't you, Lady Lunaris?”
“...?”
“Overwhelming talent... and power no one can approach.”
The prince leaned forward.
“Since you can obtain anything you want without making any effort, life must seem dull and boring.”
The prince's face suddenly came right up to my nose.
“But I am different.”
A hand was suddenly extended toward me.
“I have to claw my way up from the bottom.”
It wasn't a hand asking for help.
“Won't you stay by my side and watch? Lady Lunaris.”
Rather, it was a hand offering to help me in return.
“I'll be the stimulus in your dull, laziness-filled life. With me by your side, you'll never have a chance to be bored.”
The prince whispered to me with confident eyes.
“I'll show you a future you'll find interesting.”
Become my person.
“...”
This person seems to be under a serious misconception.
“I don't exactly find my current life boring.”
I'm just tired.
I merely realized that even if you live fiercely, all that remains in the end is fatigue, with nothing to show for it.