Returning to the present at the Station Square on the day the Rovenne couple and Schord arrived at the Royal Capital.
Randy promptly suggested that they hold a banquet, calling every influential person from the Dosperior territory, and announce his sister’s survival on the joyous occasion.
However, Cecilia refused this suggestion.
"Our Rovenne family is a local of the Dragoon territory first before anything else. It would be a travesty to join another noble's banquet before even greeting Her Excellency. There's an order to everything."
Hearing Cecilia speaking so resolutely, Meria's expression, which was twisted in bitterness, promptly glowed up.
"Now this is why I prefer you, Cecilia! Of course, as someone I have recognized, you know how to progress with the situation."
She said as she sent a sharp glare in Randy's direction. Randy shrugged his shoulders.
"Haa. My sole reason for rushing here was to confirm Cecilia's wellbeing. It was impossible for me to sit still after what we had been through, so rest assured that my actions weren't meant to antagonize you, Lady Meria.
A couple more days’ delay is hardly a problem. In fact, it'll be much better for us since I’ll have enough time to prepare a grand banquet—”
Before Randy could finish, Cecilia shook her head once more.
"My time for extravagant banquets has long passed. The kids are the new stars of this generation. The future of our Rovenne family will be in their capable hands. This is the policy Bell has decided for our Rovenne family."
She gently placed her hands on the shoulders of Allen and Rose.
'Of course, that shifty dad of mine would throw this sort of rubbish to us,' was Allen's thought, unsurprisingly. Meanwhile, Randy was at loss for words at the unapproachable attitude of Cecilia as he glanced at her face which still had that adorable smile she used to show him.
"......I did guess that there must be some kind of special circumstance when you didn't even send word of your survival. No matter, as I had Allen tell you, I won't ask you to assume your duties as one of the Dosperior. I'm just— your brother is beyond happy to see you alive.
So... at the very least, would you not tell me everything? Why was there no word from you all these years? What was the reason?”
Now that Cecilia’s survival had been confirmed, Randy, as the head of the Dosperior family, needed to accurately grasp the facts and prepare an explanation that could be used both internally and externally.
Cecilia briefly lowered her gaze with a hint of sadness, then turned to Meria.
"...As long as you're following the formalities, there's no need to stand on ceremony for every single thing."
Meria declared, not yet fully informed about the situation.
“I understand. However, this isn’t something that can be discussed here. Tomorrow, I will visit Her Excellency with Bell to officially offer our greetings. If you could come to our house the day after tomorrow, I’ll explain everything then. I would appreciate it if you could make the visit unofficial so that it doesn’t become too much of a formal matter.”
Cecilia said.
...Randy's initial plan was to invite them to the Dosperior Estate, but Cecilia's words made him doubt, and he ultimately swallowed his complaint when he saw her resolute gaze.
It seemed that there was some kind of reason behind all this.
“I understand. I’ll contact you again about the details and the timing.”
With the situation between the nobles temporarily settled, the crowd of onlookers, which had been growing noisy and excited, was dismissed as well for the time being.
◆◆◆
It was when I was aimless traveling to the south while following the highway that I realized I would no longer be a person by the time spring arrived.
I made a stop at a certain, inconspicuous countryside governed by Viscount Moonlit, when a rumor reached my ear. Apparently there was a vast, virgin forest — the Claubia mountain forest range — beyond the mountain adjacent to the inn town.
I had no particular reason why it caught my interest. Perhaps I felt the tug of destiny when I heard that the forest had been there since ancient times, still held a nearly untouched habitat, and was home to many extraordinary lifeforms.
...I believed that the forest was a suitable place for my deathbed.
But—
In that beautiful forest, I met Bell.
I’ll leave the details for later, but Bell served me a medicinal soup made from various ingredients found in the Claubia forest, which was said to have nourishing properties.
Thanks to that, I managed to survive the winter and made it through to summer. Then one day, Bell and I discovered something—well, stumbled on to it would be a better description.
We learned that was a certain vegetable that rarely grew in the summer which was... effective against the Mana Collapse disease.
Bell went through all the past records of the Rovenne house and gathered all the ingredients for me. He then processed them into various forms, such as salted and powdered, so that I could take them regularly.
Following the sudden discovery along with Bell's care, my illness was almost completely healed by the next summer.
...I immediately thought of writing a letter to you. I wanted to inform you of the miracle that happened to me, and dispel the gloom of the Dosperior house.
But, we encountered a problem the next summer. The ingredient meant to cure me was extremely hard to find. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it was an endangered species.
It was clear that the overharvesting done to save my life had caused this.
After that, Bell imposed strict limits on the collection of this particular ingredient.
The effort had indeed helped salvage the situation, and now their number had reached the previous distribution range.
In the end, I decided to keep the matter a secret.
In my case, I was fortunate enough that the ingredient didn’t become extinct, but there was no telling what would happen the second time around.
Even if it was just within the Kingdom, hundreds of children die every year from this disease. If we include the other nations, the number of victims would undoubtedly be even higher.
If the existence of a cure became widely known, it would undoubtedly be traded at an astronomical price. And once that happened, there was no way to stop the overharvesting of this ingredient.
You couldn't bring something back once it was lost. This was why I kept my survival a secret.
At the time when my disease was said to be incurable, my survival would be noted as something more than just a miracle. It would be followed by an extensive investigation for sure. After all, this was a disease for which there was no known cure.
◆◆◆
"At present, Bell is doing all that he can to grow the ingredient artificially."
With these words, Cecilia concluded her story.
E/N - Interesting. So that's why they're so obsessed with that mountain range. What do you guys think about Cecilia's story? Personally, the fact that she didn't even secretly inform her family of her survival showed just how little she trusted them.
T/N - Well, the intricate circumstances. Next chapter will solve it why she didn't tell them. Though, I guess yeah. Treatment seems a bit cold.