Chapter 48
“Me, a curse?”
“Did you receive a curse from a black sorcerer?”
The knights each exclaimed in shock.
It was a well-known fact throughout the empire that Daphne Akion’s health was poor.
Rumors said she had an incurable disease, and there were even talks that she had a limited time left.
That’s why more people were surprised when she prevented the bomb terror, and why more people worried when she joined this subjugation team.
However…….
‘It was a curse?’
The knights, having learned an unexpected fact, pursed their lips and tried to choose their words carefully.
“I didn’t intend to reveal this fact…….”
Daphne took the opportunity to speak.
“Because I received the curse, I became a body that can control the death energy of black sorcerers. That’s what I did just now.”
“Oh my god…….”
The knights’ jaws, wide open, showed no sign of closing. When Daphne glanced at the jaws moving with clacking sounds like castanets, one knight stepped forward and opened his mouth as if in awe of her.
“Then, did you really manipulate the death energy?”
“The repulsion with life must have been tremendous……!”
What repulsion.
I ate it very deliciously. With this, my mana will record an even higher value.
Hehe. Daphne, smiling contentedly, now thought that this incident was completely resolved.
“But right now, the young lady looks a bit fine, doesn’t she?”
“Is it really accepted? No, in the first place, if cursed, can you accept death energy?”
Until she heard the whispers of a few knights.
That’s right.
If being cursed allows absorbing death energy, then this body’s mother wouldn’t have died in the first place.
In fact, the action Daphne showed now was something that shouldn’t happen. Something unheard of.
They say it’s human nature to suspect first when facing something unfamiliar.
The knights who were about to believe Daphne’s words began to sprout seeds of doubt little by little.
The moment their murmurs reached Daphne.
“Cough!”
Really timely, the side effect from Tate’s medicine came up.
Dark red blood gushed out from between Daphne’s teeth.
“Eek! Young lady!”
“Are you okay?”
“Cough! Ack, kek!”
“Elf! Elfff!”
As if they had never suspected Daphne, horror appeared on people’s faces.
They supported Daphne and hurriedly looked for Tate.
“I…… am fine.”
Daphne, held in one knight’s arms, said with a low laugh.
“I’m really fine…….”
Because I gained mana, I can endure vomiting blood as a side effect…… Daphne smiled happily and slowly closed her eyes.
“What did I say! I said there would be repulsion with life energy!”
“Damn! Young lady! Stay with us!”
“You can’t die!”
Hearing the horrified people’s shouts, Daphne fell slowly into sleep with a satisfied smile on her lips.
It was a very long-awaited sweet sleep.
***
The subjugation team packed up the camp and moved their luggage to a nearby village.
It was to treat the injured and allow proper rest.
They were a subjugation team that achieved tremendous merit by catching three black sorcerers just two days after departing.
Moreover, there were no fatalities.
Everyone had injuries, but with proper treatment, their lives wouldn’t be in danger.
However, the atmosphere wasn’t very good.
It was because of Daphne Akion.
Daphne, the youngest and weakest, yet rushed into the battlefield.
And after accepting all the death energy from the three black sorcerers, she wandered between life and death.
The child who threw herself to save us is dying.
In such a situation, how could they raise a toast to victory.
The knights gathered in the inn’s first-floor
restaurant each had gloomy faces, creating a somber atmosphere.
“By any chance.”
Guardian, Nike spoke up.
“What if something goes wrong and the young lady passes away?”
“Nike sir! Don’t say that!”
“No…… You saw it earlier. The young lady really looked in pain.”
The knights, unaware that it was just a side effect of the medicine and nothing would go wrong, were full of worry.
“A thought that suddenly came to me.”
One of the Rose Knights quietly spoke up.
He had a face much paler than before.
“Perhaps the Grand Duke anticipated this and sent the young lady?”
“What do you mean?”
“If a dangerous situation arises, maybe he sent her to step in…… I wonder.”
It’s a plausible assumption.
The knights who heard his words turned their heads one by one and stared at Lache, who was squatting against the wall blankly.
Rache slowly lifted his head that had been bowed low. The dark shadows under his eyes were hollow, starkly revealing his condition.
“Why do you think that?”
The knight hesitated before answering.
“After all, the young lady suddenly joined the subjugation team. I thought maybe the Grand Duke, knowing about that ability from the curse, placed her as a safety measure…….”
Lache smirked.
“If you force such a speculation, does it relieve you of the guilt that the young lady got hurt because you were weak?”
He replied in an unusually cold manner.
“His Grace is not that kind of person.”
To be precise, it meant he wasn’t the type to care for others enough to give such an order, but well. It’s fine. No need to explain.
“…….”
The knights fell silent again.
Because Lache’s words were true.
If they said the Grand Duke forcibly ordered Daphne’s dispatch, it would lessen the guilt over Daphne getting hurt, so they made an unnecessary assumption.
The knight who spoke first flushed red and abruptly stood up to leave.
There were colleagues following that knight, but Lache ignored them.
He just pressed his bandaged cheek with his palm and blankly stared at the top of the landing.
-You don’t hate me?
-You hate me, so why did you save me?
It’s really ridiculous.
To ask such a question in that situation.
No, and it made me feel bad. Do I look like such a bad person? Was I that untrustworthy?
“Haa…….”
Rache tilted his head back and leaned it against the wall.
I hate Daphne.
I hate that people’s attitudes change just because she changed.
How much did I suffer! Daphne is a bad child. Definitely a bad child!
So,
I hope Daphne doesn’t die so I can continue to hate her.
If she dies, I can’t hate her anymore.
Rache tightly closed his eyes. He tried hard to erase the bad imaginations that kept rising.
It was then.
“Huh?”
“Uh uh?”
Murmurs came from the landing. Rache opened his eyes wide.
“Young lady!”
“Are you okay?”
Right then, Daphne descending the stairs came into view.
Her face, pale without any blood, informed that Daphne had really been in a lot of pain, tearing not only Rache’s but all the knights’ hearts.
Daphne walked down the stairs without answering anyone.
Her steps were staggering, but strangely firm.
Perhaps it looked that way because of the tremendous scene she showed earlier.
Gulp.
The sound of someone swallowing dryly echoed.
And Daphne stopped in front of Rache, who was squatting.
“……Daphne?”
Rache never imagined Daphne would come to him. He looked up at Daphne with a bewildered face.
“I came again, dragging my sick body, because I think I didn’t say something earlier.”
“What didn’t you say?”
Daphne looked at Rache with a sullen face.
“You.”
And she recalls.
The action of saving Daphne as if it were natural, the voice worrying about Daphne’s safety even though he was hurt.
In her entire life, she had never received such direct protection.
So Daphne decided she must convey what she felt straightforwardly.
“You were a really awesome big brother.”
This was the only praise she could give to Rache, who had an admirable magnanimity that she couldn’t even imitate.
“Thank you.”
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By Anna 💓
