Chapter 157

“Eh?”

Dahlia’s back flinched.

Her reaction was so sharp that the mana flowing into the magical tattoo through my hand veered off course and sparked.

It must have hurt quite a bit, but Dahlia didn’t even have the room to show it as she asked,

“You think I would hurt you, Master…? Why would you ask something like that? Did I do something wrong?”

Her face was turned away, so I couldn’t see her expression.

But her voice was frightened and pitiful.

The troublesome thing about the death flag notification system was that you could never tell when the flag would trigger.

It could be five minutes from now…or five years.

In the original Candela of Judgment, Dahlia betrayed Winter Winslet in the third year of the main story, but just because that was the case didn’t mean I could rest easy before then.

Judging by her current attitude, it didn’t seem like something that would happen anytime soon. That was all I could guess.

“If I did something wrong, please tell me. I’ll fix it. Please… I beg you…”

“It’s not that. I only asked because I wondered… if perhaps you resented me.”

“Me… resent you, Master? Why would I?”

“I’m the one who gave you this magical tattoo. Even if it suppresses the symptoms with cold mana, it’s still only a form of life support.”

It required frequent maintenance, and if the mana charge dropped too low, the agony of her burning illness would return.

“Have you never thought about it? That if I had arrived a bit earlier five years ago… or if I had been more skilled, I might’ve healed you completely instead of just prolonging your life like this?”

“Please don’t say such things.”

Dahlia turned around sharply and looked straight into my eyes.

Grabbing my arm with both hands, she spoke clearly and firmly.

“I’m grateful. Truly, I am.”

Her gaze was sincere and also carried a trace of sorrow, like someone anguished that their feelings weren’t being understood.

If this were an act, it would be the kind you’d willingly let yourself be fooled by.

“Then that’s enough.”

I decided to set aside my doubts and worries regarding the death flag hovering over Dahlia.

[Tattoo of Blue Frost]

– Current charge: 216 / 336

Although the synchronization had been interrupted midway and the mana wasn’t fully recharged, I decided to stop the process here since the flow had already been broken.

Considering that fully charging it caused her body to feel cold, maybe this level was just right.

Dahlia straightened her clothes and bowed her head politely.

“Using your mana on someone like me… I’m sorry for being a burden.”

There were truly so many things she apologized for.

If I tried to turn down every single apology, we’d never get anywhere. So I chose to change the subject.

“Do you know that tomorrow is Josephine’s birthday?”

“Yes! I remember.”

Her expression instantly brightened at the mention of a happy topic.

Since the day Josephine got drunk at our house, she and Dahlia had grown quite close.

Even when I wasn’t home, Josephine would drop by and the two would chat casually.

When Dahlia found out about Josephine’s birthday, she said she wanted to prepare a gift as well.

Though she did add, “if it wouldn’t be presumptuous.”

“What did you prepare as a gift?”

“This.”

In Dahlia’s outstretched hand was a hair accessory, made by tying a beautiful ribbon into a decorative knot.

It was crafted with deep navy thread that would go well with Josephine’s silver hair, though the workmanship was a little rough.

Dahlia admitted shyly,

“I actually made it myself. It’s not something expensive… but do you think Miss Josephine will like it?”

“Why not find out for yourself? You’ll give it to her tomorrow, along with mine.”

Saying that, I took out a small gift box from a drawer in the study and handed it to Dahlia.

It was a backup gift I had prepared in case I failed to craft the Wisterium equipment.

Now that the mana recharging was done, it was already late, and I decided to abandon my original plan of making the Wisterium gauntlets for now.

After all, Josephine’s birthday gift was just an excuse. My real goal had been to gain hands-on experience handling Wisterium, so it wasn’t a huge loss.

Dahlia asked hesitantly,

“Still… wouldn’t it be better if you delivered the birthday gift yourself, Master?”

“I’m busy. There are things I need to prepare.”

The academy’s break had begun, and I was planning to visit my family territory, the Winslet County, to uncover the secret behind Winter Winslet’s heart disease.

But the distance from the royal capital of Lambart to the Winslet territory was long, and the round trip alone would take considerable time.

Because of that, I didn’t have much wiggle room.

By tomorrow, I needed to file a long-term leave request with the academy, arrange transportation to the territory, and set off the day after.

One thing that concerned me was the complete lack of replies despite having sent multiple letters expressing my intent to visit.

I had a feeling this trip home wouldn’t go smoothly.

The relationship between Winter Winslet and his family wasn’t deeply explored in the original Candela of Judgment, so I felt a bit uneasy.

That’s why tomorrow I planned to meet Rose Bly, the only person to whom Winter had ever opened up about the matter, and pry into what had happened between him and his household.

Meeting my mistress on my fiancée’s birthday… it felt like a trash move.

Well, let’s be honest….it was a trash move.

But hey, a guy’s gotta do what he’s gotta do to survive.

Dahlia spoke up.

“I’ll do as you said. But… may I ask what gift you prepared, Master? I’m just curious.”

“I don’t know either.”

“You… don’t know?”

I nodded.

Because it was Rose Bly who picked out the gift.

She had said confidently, “Any woman would be happy to receive this from you.”

I could’ve opened the box, but I didn’t want to ruin the neatly tied decorative ribbon.

And really, it probably wasn’t anything special.

Judging by the lightness of the box, it was probably some kind of jewelry.

***

The next day.

As usual, Josephine was spending time with Princess Estelle at Isola Palace when she heard that a visitor had come for her. Her face lit up with joy as she stepped outside.

A short while later, when she returned to the tearoom, Josephine’s face carried a mix of happiness and disappointment.

Estelle, noticing a new accessory adorning Josephine’s silky silver hair, looked on with curiosity.

“Oh my, Josephine. It suits you so well. That hairpiece is beautiful. Is it a birthday gift from the Baron?”

“No. It’s from Dahlia.”

“If you mean Dahlia, the cute girl who came earlier…yes, I saw her through the window. Is she from a noble family?”

“Dahlia isn’t a noble. She’s Winter’s maid.”

“A maid? She didn’t look like one at all.”

As Estelle said this, she suddenly seemed to realize something and let out a soft, “Ah.”

“But if the baron’s maid came by, that means…”

“It seems he couldn’t come today. So he sent the gift through Dahlia.”

Only then did Estelle understand why Josephine’s face had carried a trace of disappointment.

“The baron must be very busy.”

“According to Dahlia, he’s preparing for a trip. During the academy’s break, he plans to visit the Winslet territory.”

Estelle’s eyes widened.

“The Winslet territory…?”

“Yes. His family home.”

“I heard that the baron cut ties with his father. That’s why the heir title was passed on to his younger sister.”

“That’s correct.”

“But for him to return to such a place… something serious must be happening, don’t you think?”

“I’m not sure either.”

Estelle fell into deep thought for a moment and then suddenly exclaimed,

“Ah!”

“What is it?”

“I figured it out.”

“…Huh? Figured out what?”

“The reason the baron is visiting the father he’d severed ties with. There’s only one explanation.”

“And that is…?”

“The wedding!”

Estelle said excitedly.

“It’s tradition for both families to attend the wedding….to bless the couple! So the baron is swallowing his pride and going to ask his estranged father to attend the ceremony. For your sake, Josephine!”

“…What?”

Josephine’s mouth fell open.

It was something she hadn’t even considered.

Estelle clapped her hands together in excitement.

“Oh my gosh. That’s it. That has to be it! Then… could the gift from the baron also be…?”

“No way.”

“A ring, maybe!”

“I doubt it. …Probably.”

Despite what she said, Josephine’s eyes gleamed with quiet anticipation.

Estelle whispered eagerly,

“Josephine, hurry and open the present.”

“…Alright.”

Gulp.

Josephine swallowed dryly and began untying the ribbon on the gift box with great care.

Her hands trembled slightly with expectation.

At last, she finished untying the knot and opened the box only to shut the lid again in a hurry.

Then she looked over at Estelle.

“Huh? What is it? What’s inside?”

Josephine couldn’t answer and just opened and closed her mouth soundlessly for a while.

It was only after Estelle grabbed her arm and begged her that Josephine finally spoke.

“Clothes… It’s clothing.”

“Clothing?”

Estelle tilted her head in confusion.

The gift box had looked too small to contain something like a dress or gown.

“Come on, show me.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because… Just, no.”

The moment Estelle saw the flustered look on Josephine’s face, something sharp awakened inside her.

It was the instinct she’d honed through years of teasing Josephine. An instinct for spotting weaknesses.

“It’s a royal command.”

“……”

Reluctantly, Josephine lifted the lid of the box again under her superior’s pressure.

Estelle leaned in to check the contents and let out a gasp before she could stop herself.

“Wow…”

She wanted to tease Josephine more by saying something about the nature of the gift,

But no words came to mind. So she just let out another exclamation.

“Wow!”

“Please… stop. This is so embarrassing…”

“Josephine, this is, you know… one of those things, right? Like a signal between lovers or something… a heads-up? Or maybe even a declaration of intent?”

“I-I don’t really know myself… I have no idea why he’d send something like this…”

“Well, I may not know everything, but one thing’s clear.”

“…What is it?”

With a sly smile, Estelle covered her mouth and said,

“Baron Winslet has a bolder taste than I expected.”

Josephine finally shut her eyes tight with her face now bright red.