CH 25

Bilt was vaguely aware that Cedric had no sense of taste.

“But I never dreamed it would be real.” He said in an emotional voice as he watched Cedric empty out the potato pancakes.

Calib was shocked that Cedric had lost his sense of smell and taste.

“Really… So there is a curse going on.”

“Yes. But now I can taste it. I can even smell the savory scent.” Cedric said so and comforted Calib.

He looked at Cedric with a complicated expression, then slowly closed and opened his eyes.

“If that’s the case, then I’m glad. It’d be good… if you feel it a lot.”

Judging by the way he said it, he seemed to have accepted Cedric’s condition. Thankfully, Calib understood well, but at the same time, the tip of his tongue was bitter.

As expected, Calib is too mature.

To the extent that adults lean back against his matureness.

Cedric finished five large potato pancakes and packed the leftovers, said. “I will eat the food you cooked while working.”

“Ah, you’re too much. I want to eat too!”

“Let’s go to the office together, then.”

Thanks to the potato pancakes, the brothers headed side by side to Cedric’s office.

Back in my room, I buried my nose in my sleeve and muttered.

“Sniff, it smells like oil.”

“Because you’ve been in front of the fire pit for a long time.”

Olivia said as she poured water into the bathtub.

“Didn’t you get hurt from the oil splatter?”

“Ah, yes. That’s fine.”

A few drops were splashed, but it’s not that bad of a wound.

I immersed myself in the tub with the fragrant bath salt.

“Hm, smells good…”

I scooped up a little water and smelled it, when I suddenly had a question.

“But Olivia, before that. When I first came to the Grand Duke’s Castle.”

She brought the pack and looked at me.

“What did you put on me back then? Well, grapefruit or peach… I’m talking about scents like that.”

Cedric said that I emitted such a fresh scent.

Is this really because I’m the cursing fairy, or is there some other reason…

I had to check it properly.

She gave me a puzzled look at my question.

“No, I haven’t used anything with a fruity scent yet. People will either like it or hate it, and in the case of peaches, you may have an allergy.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

“Did other people say that Miss Ellia smells like that?”

“Ah, well… Yes.” I laughed awkwardly.

Olivia said, tilting her head.

“How fascinating. I can only smell herbs…”

“Ah, really?”

“Yes. Some of the bath products that I have dissolved in the water now have a herbal scent, but it usually smells closer to nature than fruit.”

“A scent close to nature?”

“Yes, forests, trees, grass… It’s such a relaxing scent.”

That’s why, she added, she chose herbal baths that are less like fruit and less prone to allergic reactions.

Because from me, it will go better with my natural scent.

I shook my head at Olivia’s words.

Apparently, only Cedric, who had lost his sense of smell, smelled such a scent.

Hmm, as expected, is it because I’m a fairy and it has some influences on Cedric?

The taste of potato pancakes earlier may be an extension of that.

By any chance… is this the key to break the curse, or something like that?

I narrowed my forehead and thought deeply.

Olivia slowly applied the perfume to my droopy hair.

Brush, brush, the sound of my hair combing between her fingers sounded peaceful.

***

That evening, Cedric stared indifferently at the sumptuous table.

He wasn’t hungry today because he ate a lot of potato pancakes that Ellia had made during the day.

But he said he had something to check, so he would come by for dinner.

And the confirmation was finished as soon as he took his seat.

‘As expected.’

Cedric stood up as he watched the steaming food.

“Sir Cedric?”

Bilt called him, yet he didn’t look back.

He said only one thing as he left the dining room.

“I can’t smell it.”

Clack, the door to the dining room was closed.

Bilt looked at the closed door with a confused face and sighed as he looked at the luxuriously prepared table.

Cedric thought as he went up to his office.

‘I have already checked once with black tea.’

To be honest, he still couldn’t smell the Earl Gray scent.

But Ellia’s scent still lingered faintly on the tip of his nose.

That’s why he said that he wanted to have dinner as he thought it would be a little different for the food.

‘I think I have told him clearly to make it simple.’

He felt sorry for Bilt, but is it because he ate a lot of fragrant potato pancakes?

He didn’t want to eat food that was tasteless and odorless.

Sitting alone in the office after Edwin had done his work, Cedric sniffed his coat.

Calib said that the smell of oil had permeated his clothes.

It must have been the same for Cedric.

But now his nose could only smell the fresh grapefruit and sweet peach.

“It’s really strange…”

In a world where everything has been erased, he could only feel the traces of a person named Ellia.

Cedric muttered as he looked out the window, where the rain had stopped.

“Calib… definitely changed after he met Ellia.”

Cedric suddenly recalled the shock of a sudden lightning strike.

“That… is clearly the weather magic.”

It was Cedric who restored the once lost weather magic.

And he taught this difficult magic only to Calib.

[I can’t, Brother I can’t do this.]

[No. Calib. I believe in you. You can use this magic.]

[I’m not a genius like Brother. How can I learn the weather magic?]

[Calib…]

[I can’t. I’ll just keep failing, Brother.]

However, Calib had a very low self-esteem, so the learning process was slow. 

Difficult magic like weather magic had to be followed with boldness.

Even if he failed, he had to have the confidence to be in control. That way, he’d have the courage to draw bigger formulas.

Therefore, Calib, who had only been conscious of the situation in the Grand Duke’s Castle, had no choice but to fail every time.

“That Calib caused a thunderstorm during the day today.”

Weather magic was theoretically similar to causing a natural disaster.

The principle was to control the surrounding temperature or to create and remove clouds with powerful magical power.

Creating thunderclouds with lightning belonged to the highest level.

“It was even for hours, and it went on and on.”

It didn’t take any effort, and he continued to create lightning while concentrating on Ellia.

“Didn’t he attend the meeting to help Ellia, and he asked me for help… He even succeeded in weather magic.”

What did Ellia do to make Calib have such courage?

Cedric touched the window covered with water droplets.

“And the scent that I could only smell from her…”

That fresh scent constantly stimulated Cedric’s nose.

It was more frightening than he thought to lose the senses of his body one by one, and to continue to lose it.

Because he felt his own body dying in real time.

So Cedric became more numb and numb.

As if he were preparing himself for the death that would come one day.

However, when he was with Ellia, he realized that he was alive.

“I can smell it. I can taste it.”

It just felt like he had regained the joy of his life.

While walking through the dark abyss, the scent of Ellia and the taste of potato pancakes were just a ray of light.

Cedric touched his lips with the hand that overlapped his window.

“What’s the reason?”

Why is Ellia able to awaken his senses?

What kind of trick is she doing?

What is she doing to them brothers?

She’s a woman who has no memory of herself, why is she so special?

Who is Ellia really?

To Cedric, Ellia was a mysterious person.

He stared blankly out the dimmed window.

***

Daphne Marinenest, the heroine of [I Won’t Put You To Sleep This Time], was meeting Renoir at the flower garden of the Imperial Palace.

“Daphne is beautiful today as well.”

A six-year-old boy smiled shyly, fiddling with Daphne’s neatly braided hair.

It was certainly a kind and warm remark.

His voice was sweet, too.

Yet he didn’t impress Daphne much.

She shut her mouth for a moment because she was too lazy to answer, and then, out of courtesy, she smiled and spoke.

“Thank you. The Prince is kind today as well.”

“Really? Am I kind?”

Renoir blushed shyly on his cheeks, and next he smiled happily. Then he carefully kissed the tip of Daphne’s hair.

Daphne looked at him with a reluctant look and smiled shyly when their eyes met. Renoir rejoiced again and chattered away at the unanswered words.

No matter what he said, Daphne’s reluctant expression didn’t go away.

Aside from being a topic of conversation that a six-year-old would bring up, her mental age itself didn’t match.

Since Daphne had regressed.