Volume 1 - CH 1

Volume 1: The Light

To be able to live a normal life is bliss.

I thought to myself as I endured the constant pain.

“Ugh…!”

It felt like every pore in my body was being pierced by needles. So much so that my head would start ringing.

My mind felt like it was being torn into pieces and I can’t stop vomiting from the pain.

Such is the daily life of I, Callus Ladyzweisen.

I was born as the Third Prince of a kingdom.

You might think that being born as the Third Prince, I would be enjoying a comfortable life.

Alas, I was born with a cursed body, an “abomination.”

Because of this, I could not even walk properly, let alone exercise, and I have only been outside a few times.

Every day, every inch of my body would ache in constant pain. I even have trouble sleeping because of it, hence the dark circles under my eyes never go away.

“Are you all right, Callus-sama? Magician-sama will be here soon, please bear with it a little longer!”

My maid Shizuku held my hand.

She’s such an angel, but now her gentle face is painted with sadness. She’s suffering because of my uselessness.

(I’m sorry, I’m in such a body.)

I look at my body lying on the bed. It was skinny and covered with black tattoo-like pus.

This is my curse.

The cause of the curse is unknown.

Many doctors and magicians have examined my body, but they have been unable to cure it, only temporarily suppress the pain.

Thanks to my family and Shizuku doing everything they could, I was able to reach my tenth birthday without dying. However, I know better than anyone that the road ahead was not long.

I have six months at most. I don’t think I’ll last a year for sure.

“Callus-sama, Magician-sama is here!”

Hearing this, I moved my eyes and saw an old man with a magnificent beard.

With an expensive-looking navy blue robe and pointy hat, one could tell he’s a magician, a great-looking one.

He looked at me carefully, then shifted his gaze to my face and spoke to me in a gentle tone.

“How do you do, Your Highness? I am Gory the Wise (Sage). If I may, I would like to touch you for an examination.”

He then placed his hand on my left chest, where black pus has accumulated.

“Healing Light.”

The next moment, after chanting this, a beautiful light appeared from Gory’s hand and melted into the pus.

The pain that had been raging inside my body then suddenly disappeared.

Amazing……!

I’ve tried all kinds of medicines and magic, but I’ve never felt so much relief.

“What is this magic …?”

“This is Light Magic. It’s the only magic that can exorcise darkness.”

“Light Magic …”

Meanwhile, the Light Magic was making the pus that was eating away at my body smaller and smaller, until finally it was only about five centimeters. It was now about one-tenth its original size!

“Let’s observe your condition for the time being. Maid, I have some tea leaves that I grew with Light Magic, have His Highness drink them. You should be able to sleep well tonight.”

“Really? Thank you very much! How can I thank you for your kindness?”

“Fufu~ I can’t refuse from His Majesty’s request. We will continue tomorrow, get some rest for the time being.”

“Hai~! We have a guest room nearby. Magician-sama, I will guide you there.”

Shizuku then left the room with Gory.

“… This warmth, gentle and reassuring.”

I always thought thay magic was for fighting, who would’ve thought that there would be such a gentle magic.

“Light magic, huh?”

I suddenly began to feel an intense attraction to this magic that I had never heard of before.

This may be the first time I have ever wanted to know or learn something. Until now, all I could think about was when I would die.

“It’s fascinating….”

–—This was my first encounter with Light Magic.

At the time, I had no idea that I would spend the rest of my life dealing with Light Magic.

•×•×•×•

The next day, I woke up feeling good for the first time in who knows how many years.

It’s usually a splitting headache that would greet me as soon as I wake up. But today there was not even a hint of it, what a pleasant morning!

“Good morning, Your Highness. How are you feeling?”

I wonder how long he’s been here, but Magician Gory was already sitting in a chair next to the bed.

“Good morning, Mr. Gory. Thanks to you, I’m feeling very well.”

“I’m glad to hear that. You hungry?”

“Hmm, I suppose.”

I put my hand on my belly and consulted its opinion directly.

Normally, my head hurt so much that I couldn’t eat breakfast, but not today.

""

“Then please eat this. It’s porridge made with water with Light Magic dissolved in it. It was cooked by your maid, though.”

“If it’s Shizuku… Then it must be good.”

The most important thing to remember is that the best way to get the most out of your home is to be a good friend.

My personal maid, Shizuku, is an excellent maid who was very skilled at all household chores, including cooking.

She usually seems cool and cold, but when I am in pain, she can be the gentlest person who would always hold my hand and encourages me.

“Un… Delicious.”

As I took a bite of the porridge, I feel warmth from the core of my body.

The power of Light Magic feels great, it’s as if I have a normal body.

I quickly finished the porridge and shifted my gaze to Mr. Gory.

Currently, there’s no one around, it’s only me and Mr. Gory. This is the perfect time to ask him about what ‘that.’

“Excuse me, Mr. Gory, can you answer my question honestly?

“Hmm… if I can answer it, why not?”

“Thank you, then I ask you…”

I was afraid to say the word, but I have to ask.

“How long do I have left to live?”

“……!”

Gory’s eyes widened in surprise at my question.

I know that this was an unpleasant question to ask, however I can’t keep running away from it. I have to know and accept what’s to come while I’m still in decent health.

After a few seconds of silence, Gory finally opened his mouth.

“…… Your Highness Callus, you are a wise man. You will naturally realize that I am lying even if I put up a bunch of deceptive words.”

“So let me be clear, Your Highness’ body has been under a curse for so many years that it is almost a miracle that you are still alive and able to talk like this.”

“In three months, it will be difficult for you to speak, and in… half a year, you will probably pass on.”

“So that’s… it, huh?

Six months to live. That was all I had left.

Even though I should have been prepared for it, I can’t stop myself from crying.

I wanted to live longer.

I wanted to repay my family.

Alas…. This is bound to never happen.

“My magic can prolong your life. But it only prolongs the time of suffering.”

“If I could stay by your side all the time and cast Light Magic, then it would be a different story, but… such a life will not last forever.”

Indeed, Mr. Gory is right.

I don’t always have Mr. Gory by my side all the time. As a magician, a sage, he has other things to do than be my babysitter.

“I am truly sorry, if only I am good enough to cure Your Highness…”

“No, no, no, don’t apologize! I’m happy just to have the time to spend peacefully like this!”

I wasn’t spouting flattery, I indeed think so.

After all, what a wonderful thing it was to be able to live life without being in pain.

‘I wish I could do more things, like go to school and study like a normal person. It would be fun to learn about magic…’

I thought, but then I felt a tug in my head.

I felt like I was on the verge of discovering something, something very important.

“School? No…. Study?”

It’s not that either.

Ah yes, it was “magic.”

Learning magic.

But why did this one catch my attention?

‘I want to learn Light Magic!’

The moment I arrived at that answer, all the fuzziness in my head disappeared.

‘Yes, that’s right! If I learn Light Magic myself, I should be able to keep the curse at bay! And while I’m suppressing it, I can study more and figure out a way to completely eliminate the curse!

I know it’s not an easy road, but I’ll die anyway.

Since that’s the case, I want to choose a path that I have no regrets about.

“Mr. Gory! Please teach me magic!”

I then kneeled on the bed, while bowing my head.

However, Gory wore a troubled face, saying “But…”

“I can only stay here for two weeks. And Light Magic has few users, which basically means it is ‘difficult’ to learn. Even if I had two years, I don’t know if I would be able to learn it.”

“It doesn’t matter. It is much better than simply waiting for my death.”

I looked at Mr. Gory straight in the eye, before bowing my head again.

He said, “I understand. I know it’s a long shot, but let’s do it.”

“Really? Thank you!”

“But let me warn you, I don’t do things half-assed.”

“No problem, please be as strict as possible.”

“Then I’ll be as strict as I can. Now, I’ll me go and talk to your father, His Majesty the King, first. The lesson will start around this evening. Until then, please rest.”

“Yes, I understand.”

–—This is how I became an apprentice of Sage Gory.

My goal was to learn Light Magic and to be able to control the curse by myself.

The deadline is… only two weeks.

However, I will definitely learn it.

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[T/N: (DISCLAIMER) This is machine translated using multiple mtls to cross reference, as well as individually looking up the words in the dictionary. I also only tl Chinese novels prior to this and this is my first time doing a japanese project. This is by no means 100% accurate, so if you find anything wrong, please let me know in the comments or foxaholic discord.