Chapter 43

✿

“Now… If let it go.”

After I let go of his hand, another ten minutes later.

“…I feel like a sick chicken.”

It felt like I ran out of coffee just because I was away for a while.

I’ve never felt this way before.

“…No matter how much I think about it, it’s weird. At first, I definitely thought it was a temporary imprint.”

He quietly nodded his head.

“There’s no such thing as a temporary imprint symptom.”

Knowing that, I asked him about the feeling of being separated, with the creeping anxiety.

“Then… Shouldn’t we get a diagnosis from the doctor again?”

“The doctor probably doesn’t know anything.”

It was a strangely convincing tone.

“But still. It’s a good thing to have two minds discussing.”

“If you want…”

At that time, the Duke, who smiled as if it was natural, gently pulled the string.

✿

The doctor arrived quickly to the spire.

Even though he breathed as if he had jumped up in a hurry, he didn’t forget his duty and immediately began the examination.

“Gasp, gasp… Definitely, gasp, gasp… The imprint has become more unstable than before. Sighs…”

Astel asked the doctor in a trembling voice.

“Is it because we’ve been apart for a long time? During that time, I’ve been a little dizzy.”

“I’m always out of breath and my heart keeps pounding.”

“I also feel sleepy.”

The Doctor, who had been quietly listening to the Duke and Astel, gazed faintly at the sleet beyond the spire.

“Maybe it’s because you’ve been away for a while, but what’s certain is that…”

“What?”

“Even if you’re apart, you seem to share pain, fatigue, and other sensations…”

“What’s that?”

“In a word, it’s a symptom of ‘over-connection’, which is a side effect of the imprint.”

Over-connection?

It was the first time I heard of it, neither in library books nor in clinic.

“It sounds like you two were over-connected.”

Astell rolled her eyes.

“The reason Astel feels sleepy even after sleeping for a long time was because his Excellency was overworked.”

“…”

“The reason your heart’s pounding is because Astel’s heart is beating… It might be. Usually, imprinting doesn’t share and connect all senses to that extent, so it’s classified as a side effect.”

“It’s a side effect…”

Astel shrugged and mumbled.

“…I don’t know for sure. Only if it’s a side effect.”

The Doctor’s expression darkened very deeply. Astel stared at him with sweat in his hands.

“The only sure way to eliminate the side effects is to increase intimacy. You have to keep that in mind.”

He was trying to spin the wheel, but the answer was actually obvious.

“So… Do you mean holding hand’s not enough?”

Astel’s cheeks turned red like ripe apples.

The face of the doctor sitting in front of the two, Duke Anais and Astel, was vague.

But maybe that wasn’t the end, he kept muttering something.

“If there was a wizard, I would ask for confirmation.”

He seemed to have a scholarly agony.

“Doctor, why do you look like that? Are there any more serious problems?”

“No, in this case, a great wizard would know well, but there hasn’t been such a wizard lately. I heard there was one, but it was destroyed. If there were still, I would have asked for cooperation, but it’s a shame. It’s ruined.”

As soon as she heard those words, Astel’s expression hardened.

“…If you’re from a family of magicians.”

“Was it the Count of Vietry, or the humans?”

Duke Anais glanced at Astel’s stiff expression and frowned at the Doctor.

“I really don’t want to hear unnecessary assumptions, I don’t need it.”

At those words, Astel and the Doctor stopped and trembled.

Of course, there was another reason why the Doctor panicked.

Because the Duke who was sitting next to Astel spoke to the Doctor.

“Get out.”

“That…”

No, I think he needs to make a certain diagnosis and prescribe some kind of medicine…!

The Doctor, thinking of his mission as a therapist, clenched his fists.

“Then lastly, measure the heat…”

“Astel, it sounds like the Doctor’s busy.”

The Duke smiled sweetly at Astel.

After seeing that smile, the Doctor’s resolution broke like a sand castle.

He had a serious thought that if he stayed here longer, it wouldn’t look good.

The Doctor nodded his head in vain, feeling as if he had been sucked into the bay.

“Oh, yes. That’s right. I’m busy.”

Then Astel, who had frozen, fixed her expression with difficulty and muttered.

“Really…”

“Fortunately, the two of us could heal on our own.”

So, the Doctor left with a blank face, and the two remained.

Astel held the Duke’s hand, remembering the Doctor’s last advice to be as intimate as possible.

The Duke of Anais held Astel’s hand again and again.

Astel didn’t think his hand was holding too tight, but she felt the warmth of his hand, so she didn’t bother to dissuade him.

Soon Astel carefully opened her lips with a rabbit-like expression.

Even then, I could only touch my lips for a while, but couldn’t get the words out.

I was very anxious, contemplating whether or not to speak now.

“Uhm… Duke. I have a small favor to ask of you.”

“Yes.”

“That, I know. As the Duke suggested last time… My Fri-, I want to bring my friend to the Duke’s Castle.”

He smiled and kissed briefly the back of my nose. It was a little more natural than before.

“Yes, as much as you want.”

I slowly reach out with my other hand towards him anxiously.

Duke Anais’ eyes narrowed slightly as he tried to act hard, but it felt as if he was hiding something.

“Are you making a promise?”

“Yes, promise.”

He obediently placed his hand over my hand, and our hands overlapped.

Each, and every finger got entangled, and the tips of our thumbs met and signed a promise.

Thump, thump…

Then my heart started pounding hard again.

Taking a deep breath like a person that had been running for a long time.

“Because he’s a bit of a picky guy, I can’t change the Duke’s mind, so first we sign the contract…”

The Duke kissed Astel briefly again on the back of her hand.

He felt her breathing in rapidly.

“Yes, I’ll sign it.” He said, still staring at Astel.

“This! It isn’t a sign!”

Her face was red, but it seemed as if the awkwardness had diminished from before, and he could see a slight smile hanging from her lips.

Thinking that her heart seems to be opening day by day, he smiled along with her.

✿

Perhaps it was not long before I could tell Astel the secret that I had been hiding.

If that happens…

“Please, give me a kiss.”

“Yes? Wha-what?”

“In my forehead, Astel.”

“Do you have a fever again? I think it’s me who has a fever…”

Astel’s moist lips landed like a butterfly on his forehead.

He never felt ‘happy‘, and never wondered what it felt like, but he felt pretty happy at this moment.

Maybe…

Sooner or later, all the truth may be revealed, and everything may return to its place.

While being inspired by such thoughts, Astel made a serious declaration in his ear.

“Hey, that’s it. But I can’t kiss your lips though.”

“…”

“Uhmm, it’s my first kiss. I decided to do it with the person I love.”

The Duke’s lips hardened at her whisper.

“With someone you love?”

“Yes! And the first kiss for the Duke should be with his loved one. There’s nothing else I could do about it. But the first kiss shouldn’t be frivolous.”

Astel sternly glared as if she couldn’t yield this much.

Duke Anais whispered quietly during the drowsy day.

“You promised, a long time ago.”

“…Yes?”

Astel, who didn’t hear the Duke muttering, asked back.