CH 26

“Princess!”

Just as I was thinking of that as an accident that seemed like it would never break, I heard an urgent but loud voice from somewhere.

It was that man. The wizard who was the observer, the man who looked at me with slightly cold eyes.

Over Lewis’ shoulder, he approached me before I knew it, and he looked at me and asked me in a strong tone.

“What did you see?”

“Hey……!”

“Princess. Please answer exactly what you saw. Where and what did you see?”

This bastard…….

I stared at him helplessly, unable to speak because of lack of strength.

I thought he was just a typical wizard because he was silent. It was just like them, pushing me with their slightly bloodshot eyes.

Those who tried to drive us into unknown creatures, and not as humans.

“Princess, this is important. Please answer me straight before your memory fades.”

Then, with a chilling sound of metal, Lewis blocked me as if he were protecting me from the man’s gaze. Finally, my brother drew his sword.

“You’re crazy, wizard. Even looking at Liddell’s condition right now…… Did you think you could treat Catlan’s bloodline like this and still get out of this mansion without a hitch?”

“Young Lord, calm down. This is just a mandatory check. I am under the royal family’s command……”

To be honest, I wished Lewis had scolded him a little more, but apart from that, I opened my mouth to make a record.

“Brother……”

It wasn’t because the wizard in front of me was pretty, nor was it because he had great loyalty to the royal family.

I just have to throw the bait and pass out so they won’t bother me until I wake up.

Responding to my small call, Lewis quickly turned to me.

“Prophecy…….”

I put words in my mouth that they would be most interested in.

“I said it was a prophecy.”

And then I lost my consciousness.

I repeatedly opened and closed my eyes.

Sometimes I had my father by my side, sometimes with Lewis, and sometimes the maids were taking care of me.

Every time I saw my family, the two men would unfailingly hold my hand and close their eyes as if to share the pain.

When I saw them like that, I willed myself to open my eyes quickly. I came to my senses the next day barely enough to communicate.

When I opened my eyes, my father, who I seemed to have occasionally seen in my state of vague awakening, was not present, and only Lewis, who had a calm expression as always, was by my side.

However, his face was full of depth enough to be noticed only by those close to him.

When he saw that I had opened my eyes, he jumped up and grabbed my hand.

“Liddell.”

“…… Brother.”

Lewis frowned even more as I opened my mouth in a deep, hoarse voice.

“How are you feeling?”

“Um…….”

I rolled my eyes.

“I’m dying more than usual.”

And I smiled as I told the truth. Then, Lewis scolded me for laughing even in this situation.

However, his expression was a little more relaxed than before, so that alone achieved my intended purpose.

Lewis plopped down in his chair as if relieved to see my smile.

“How are your eyes?”

“I’m fine. I can see well in the distance, ……I can also see our brother’s handsomeness.”

“…… Your husband has been contacted. First of all…… I didn’t tell him when you were coming back and just said you were a little busy without going into details. Do you want me to prepare for you to contact him?”

Lewis said so, ignoring my joke.

“No. How haggard must I be right now. Hisch would be worried.”

“I think you wish for your husband to be worried.”

Is that so? Maybe, but on the contrary, I didn’t want to see Hisch feel heartbroken when he saw me.

In fact, although my body was still heavy, I didn’t feel much pain, and compared to the fuss of tears of blood, I felt like I could move after two days of recuperation as usual.

Lewis looked somber as I shook my head.

After a moment of silence, he opened his mouth.

“……he was kicked out. I formally protested to the tower and sent a letter to the royal family.”

I could tell who he was without having him explain.

Before I collapsed, the sequence of events somehow seemed to be someone else’s business. The voice of a man who urged me. Those eyes that focused on me.

Perhaps he was a member of a faction that once advocated conducting experiments to uncover the source of the power of those with abilities.

With such suspicions, I opened my mouth.

“That person…… He was different from the wizards I usually see.”

Lewis nodded.

“I thought the wizard whom the Royal Family dispatched to us was sending people to go, though.”

“……Isn’t His Majesty bedridden?”

Ah. That made everything make sense.

The 16-year-old prince is now unable to properly control various organizations.

“The reason he did such a rude thing to you…… I……”

Lewis held his breath once, trying to suppress his anger, but he still spoke in a heated tone.

“He said he did it because he was afraid you’d die as you are.”

Haha……. You die when you die, but you have to give away what you saw, that’s what you’re telling me, huh.

However, the Duke and Lewis’ anger seemed to be great when they heard the story.

In the past, Liddell had collapsed and, for a brief moment, was declared dead by the physician.

Shortly after that, I was breathing again, whether it was because I possessed her body or something.

Therefore, talking about the death of their only daughter or sister in front of them was like touching their reverse scale.

“In my heart, I would like to suggest execution, but it is probably difficult with the authority of the prince. But my father is making every possible means, and he will make him pay for it, no matter what.”

However…… Wizards were rare.

Being able to see mana was an innate talent, and there weren’t many people who could handle magic.

In addition, with the rapid development of magic technology, the value of wizards who could use magic stones to make various lives convenient only increased.

As an organization of such wizards, the tower established itself as a powerful interest group.

Therefore, although they were not treated like high-ranking nobles, they became a special class that was highly treated in society.

However, they are trying to set a sharp edge against such forces, and it seems like they are very angry.

“Umm…… A price, for example?”

“Actually, the talk is almost over. By breaking the circle around that bastard’s heart.”

That…… From the outside, he looked quite young, but it was still a ring of mana that he had accumulated throughout his life, and it would be destroyed.

I wondered a little whether the wizard would still think that he was fortunate to have survived, or that he would think that it was better to die than to live as a waste.

“The royal family has also sent a formal letter of apology. For the time being, they won’t be looking for you because of your abilities.”

I felt strange.

The Catlan were known for being the most loyal to the royal family, and I am embarrassed to think that it was purely because of me that such a family was protesting so strongly against the royal family.

Well, more precisely, they’re getting angry on behalf of the real Liddell Catlan, not me.

“…… Thank you, brother. I should thank my father, too.”

“Is this something to be thanked for? As a family, it’s natural.”

Lewis cut me off strongly. I just smiled and blinked my eyes.

Even though I had recovered enough to speak, I was still tired. Lewis, noticing my mood, said as he prepared to get up.

“Anyway, rest well for now, Liddell. You don’t have to worry about the aftermath.”

He said so purely out of consideration for me.

There would be a lot of things he wanted to ask. Perhaps the kingdom, the tower, and the family were curious.

How could I ‘hear’ the voice of a prophecy when I only had the ability to ‘see’ into the distance?

And what did the prophecy mean?

I was told to rest in peace, but I will say I didn’t know much about it as soon as I recovered.

But there were some things I couldn’t say.

That the voice questioned the existence of ‘I’ for some reason.

“Good night.”

Lewis fixed my duvet, stroked my hair a few times, and turned around. I could vaguely hear him closing the door and leaving. My consciousness was fading.

Let’s rest for a while.

I hope Hisch doesn’t worry too much.

When I wake up, I’ll try to figure out what the prophecy was……

With those thoughts, I fell back into a coma.

I decided to rummage through Evertail’s diary while I laid in bed.

Since there was only so much I could do lying down, I decided to read even those materials whose reliability was questionable as a pastime.

I didn’t know how old Evertail Piaget was when he wrote this, but I didn’t have the strength to read it, so I read a line, looked into the air, read a line, gave strength to my hand, and repeated it.

It was that serious.

[Ugh, even today the power is pressing down on me…… What the hell is this power? What is God asking of me?]

[Ah, God. If there is a Supreme Being named You, please give me the reason for my cursed life as an oracle.]