CH 53

Is that why he told me to tell him if I needed any help? Wait, how did he know? Elusiana, who had been moving her legs a few times, let out a low sigh. She didn’t know what had happened, but it was as if her feet didn’t feel like hers. Just like he said, she didn’t think she could take a step off alone.

It’s not like I’m under any kind of magic. No way…! Is it really magic?! Other than that, there was nothing logically convincing about the current situation. But why would the grand duke play such a low-quality prank?

Right, that’s a far-fetched idea. If you stand for a long time, you may lose sensation in your legs, and you can’t move them because they are stiff… It must be like that.

Elusiana, who was looking at the grand duke’s gaze, carefully brought her words out. “Excuse me, Your Excellency? Can’t I just stand here?”

“Do you want me to feel bad?”

“N-no. That’s now what I meant…”

“Then sit on the sofa, Elusiana. My mind is not at ease.”

His firm answer left Elusiana speechless for a moment. He said it out of concern for her, but what was this pressure that she would be in big trouble if she refused? Elusiana couldn’t help but cry inside at the grand duke.

“Your Highness, I’m sorry, but… c-can you help me?”

Aster smiled and said indifferently, “Help you?”

Elusiana’s expression hardened. As expected, he knew it. That I won’t be able to move. Concealing her innermost thoughts, she nodded her head gently.

“…Yes. Strangely, I can’t move my feet.”

“Sometimes it happens when you stand for a long time. You’re not feeling well, so even if you overdo yourself a little, it will end up like that. As if being paralyzed.”

“Ah.”

A look of bewilderment appeared on Elusiana’s face as she recalled the previous day’s events. Could it be that he was unable to move from the room, and that’s why he shouted out my name?  The guild she had tried to cover up burst out as she thought about it.

“Here, take my hand.”

In the meantime, Aster rose from his seat and reached out his hand in front of her.

“…I’m sorry for troubling you, Your Excellency.”

“That’s a funny thing to say, Elusiana. You’re the one who helped me first.”

Aster, who said so, stretched out his arm and wrapped Elusiana’s shoulder. She flinched and trembled when his larger-than-expected hand touched.

…What is this? Elusiana glanced at the grand duke beside her, paying attention to his shrunken shoulder. She didn’t notice it when he was sitting, but when she saw him standing next to her, he seemed taller than her by a couple of heads. Besides, his arms—

I thought they were skinny, but they’re surprisingly strong. Elusiana’s earlobes, as she admired him involuntarily, turned red as if they were burning.

“Don’t stay away from me like that and lean on me.”

“Hmhm. Yes. Excuse me, but please don’t use honorifics. I’m His Excellency’s maid, so it’s a little burdensome when you speak so formally to me.”

“I will try to change that gradually. It’s because I’m not used to it.”

Elusiana tilted her head. Huh? Didn’t he treat the butler like that? Just in time, Aster pulled Elusiana’s shoulders tightly and hugged her.

“Would you like to take a walk?”

“Ah, yes. Yes!”

Following Aster’s instructions, she put one of her feet forward. Fortunately, one foot moved without difficulty. But for some reason, the other feet wouldn’t budge, no matter how hard she tried.

“How is it?”

“I-it’s not moving.”

It was a mess. Why is my foot not moving? Did someone put glue on the sole of my foot?

Aster patted her on the shoulder as if to soothe her whining.

“If it’s hard, you don’t have to overdo it. You don’t have to walk on your own.”

“What does Your Excellency mean… by don’t have to walk on my own…?”

For a moment before she questioned him, the familiar red eyes curled softly with gold rings.

“It’s literally, Elusiana.”

“…Pardon?”

Aster, who seemed to bend down, suddenly put his hand behind her knee. And in an instant, he lifted her up.

“Kyaak!”

Elusiana’s arms fluttered in the air as she let out a scream. It was her instinct as she was being lifted up like that. Her body reacted before thinking with her head. Her arms were swinging wildly.

Elusiana’s arm, which gave a shrill scream, fluttered in the air. It was an instinct that even she did not recognize that her arms, which had been shaking arbitrarily, suddenly became tense.

Pow! At that moment, Aster’s body tilted rapidly with a strong punch sound.

* * *

Aster smoothed his throbbing cheekbones. He just touched it, but he felt a heavy, sharp pain. Maybe there was a crack in it.

I wonder if it went well. If she worried about him, she would only focus on her until this wound healed. It seemed that it was a failure to bind her feet with magic and use that as an excuse to satisfy his greed. Aster thought filling her greed like this wouldn’t be too bad.

Elusiana was a woman who was constantly kind to those who were infinitely weaker. If he pretended to be sick, she would do anything for him.

“Gasp! Your Excellency! A-are you okay?”

“I’m… okay.”

“But you hit your head on the floor. T-the sound was quite loud, and something sounded like broke—”

“I think this cheekbone hurts more than my head.”

“Gasp! What should I do? Y-your cheeks are swollen!”

Elusiana, who had become contemplative, looked anxious and cried. As if it wasn’t enough to punch the grand duke who tried to ‘carry her like a princess,’ she even put her weight on it and pressed him down. As a result, the grand duke fell backward at once like a stiff piece of wood, and the shock applied to the back of his head, including his cheekbones, caused him to lose consciousness for a moment. Therefore, in common sense, the sickly grand duke, who would have been shocked, couldn’t be okay.

“My head is fine. Fortunately, it seems that my back touched the floor first.”

“Really? Fyuu— That’s a relief. But please lie down on the sofa. I will bring the doctor.”

Relieved by Aster’s words, Elusiana swept her chest.

“…Urg.”

Surprised by the sudden groan, she came close to him.

“Y-Your Excellency?”

The wrinkles between Aster’s forehead continued to deepen. Anyone could see he was forcibly enduring the pain, so Elusiana’s heart sank. Look at this. There’s no way he will be okay! He even lost consciousness. How could he be okay!

It was her duty to assist the grand duke, but she rather put him in danger. Elusiana rose again, blaming her complacency. Then Aster grabbed her by the wrist.

“You don’t need to call the doctor. I know my body well. It’s just a minor bruise.”

When Aster smiled lightly while saying so, Elusiana instantly remembered something. Astein, who suddenly disappeared a long time ago, said the same thing.

“Don’t worry, Lusi. I will get well soon. I know my body best.”

That didn’t mean the pain went away. How could everyone be so stubborn?

“I’m sorry, but I have to call the doctor, Your Excellency. At least you need to take some medicine. It’s my job to assist you!”

As Elusiana shouted angrily, Aster reluctantly released the wrist he grabbed. He then spoke in a weak voice. “…If it’s medicine, I already have it. It’s a pretty effective ointment, and I will be fine after applying it.”

Elusiana, who was about to call the doctor, was tempted by the words ‘effective ointment.’ It was because she suddenly remembered the ‘special ointment’ she used to airlift from the temple when she was young.

“Where is it?”

“It’s in the desk drawer.”

Elusiana moved to his desk.

“The drawer on the right should be at the innermost.”

Elusiana pulled the drawer all the way out, thrust her hand into the innermost part, and got something in her hand, then took it out right away. It was a blue bottle the size of her palm.

It’s really a special ointment! Elusiana swept the surface of the blue bottle as if she were reminiscent. In the past, Astein also had been beaten, which made her eyes swollen looking at him like that. What she used at that time was this special ointment from the temple. At that time, she said there was no better treatment than the ointment from the temple.

“I got it from the temple. They say it’s precious.”

“If it’s ointment from the temple, I’m sure Your Excellency doesn’t need a doctor’s treatment.”

Elusiana sat quietly on Aster’s side and said, “I will apply it for you.”

“…Then, please.”

Elusiana, with her head slightly lowered, opened the lid of the blue bottle. Holding a small stick attached to the inside of the lid in her opposite hand, she scooped out a generous amount of solid white ointment.

Looking at the ointment, Aster’s body suddenly trembled.