chapter 18
18. reunion (1)
The meeting room of the Grand Duke of the North.
The Grand Duke of the North, who sits in the most prestigious seat, opens his mouth heavily.
“… The vassals, report the condition of Arlot.”
“… ”
Arlott’s weekly report meeting.
In the meeting room, where reports from attendants would normally have been carried out in order… Only silence fell.
Everyone just looked into each other’s eyes.
“… ha.”
The Grand Duke of the North shook his head and bowed his head.
There was no more appearance of him that never lost his charisma and grace.
The beard, which had been neatly trimmed, was growing jagged and unsightly, as if it had given up management.
The sharp eyes lost their anticipation and turned into a sharp look.
It took less than a month for all of that to change.
“… Bondi treatment depends on the will of the patient. Princess… It seems that he has already lost the will to live.”
The family doctor, who was sitting in one corner of the conference room, mustered up the courage to cut off the start.
The doctor closed his eyes as soon as he finished speaking.
If I were to be honest about the state of the princess, it was because she had been constantly bombarded with verbal abuse and things because of her incompetence.
“… ?”
However, there was no verbal abuse or the sound of objects flying.
Feeling strange, the doctor gently opened his eyes.
“… Go on.”
The Grand Duke of the North, who would have been angry as usual…
I just stayed still with my head down.
He even waited for other vassals to say, ‘Continue’.
Others in the meeting room who were watching him began to open their mouths little by little.
“The princess rarely eats meals. I make a beautiful sound and put it in my mouth… Even half of that is thrown away.”
Those were the words of the maid in charge of Arlott’s meals.
She made a blunt effort to feed Arlot, who did not move, but…
It was a situation where no one else could replace the meal.
“The Princess’s arms and legs are beyond thin, and now you can see the bones. I haven’t been able to do strenuous exercise since I was born, but now I really don’t move at all… ”
This time another maid opened her mouth.
She is in charge of Arlot’s Bath.
Arlott’s body that he encounters every time he takes a bath.
Arlott’s body she looked at… It was almost the same as that of the invoice I bought.
“I used to do laundry often, but now I’m washing Princess’s clothes and bedding dozens of times a day. It’s hard for us too, but… The frequency of the princess complaining of pain has increased dramatically.”
The man who raised his hand was in charge of managing the laundry in the mansion.
Arlott’s clothes soiled by seizures are immediately replaced with new ones, so he is always busy working.
As such, he was able to report the frequency of Arlott’s suffering due to the amount of laundry.
“I am in charge of cleaning. Princess-”
“Princess-”
“That is-“
All the people gathered in the meeting room were attendants related to Arlot.
They all spoke in unison.
The words of those who have been silenced for so long… Like a flood, it poured into the ears of the Grand Duke of the North.
“… ha.”
The Grand Duke of the North… I just listened to them.
He didn’t even have the energy to get angry, so after all, the report of the attendants was disastrous.
The Grand Duke of the North let go of his emotions with a sigh.
‘Even Arlott is going.’
In the harsh North, his family was dwindling.
Arlott lost his wife and was the last remaining family member and only daughter…
The spark of life that the daughter had been embracing was gradually going out.
“Northern Grand Duke, let me tell you one last thing.”
An old gentleman dressed neatly in a suit got up from his chair and headed to the side of the Grand Duke of the North.
It was Waltz Sebas, who was the chief attendant in charge of the mansion’s attendants, and Schmitz’s grandfather.
“…Sebas?”
The Grand Duke of the North, who was lowering his head as if he were dead, reacted for the first time.
Sebas always brought solutions to problems from an objective perspective.
That’s why the Grand Duke of the North harbored a ray of hope when Sebas spoke to him.
‘…okay.’
If it was Sebas, he would have known a way out of this situation.
You should know how to save Arlot.
Maybe you know how to cure your illness.
Sebas finally opened his mouth.
“The princess said she wanted to see the rose garden.”
“… Huh, what a sudden… ”
Arlott wants to see the rose garden.
what is that all of a sudden
That meaning was contained in Sebas’ subsequent words.
“My last wish… Shouldn’t you listen?”
“… … … ”
‘… Last wish… ‘
The Grand Duke of the North chewed on the word ‘last wish’.
It’s a presumptuous statement that doesn’t fit the status of a chamberlain, but at the same time
… It was an advice I had to give as a loyalist.
Realizing that, the Grand Duke of the North suddenly stood up and said.
“Open the door of Arlott that was hung. Prepare for Arlott’s outing-”
Tears welled up in the eyes of the Grand Duke of the North.
“I don’t know if it will be soon… Prepare Arlott’s funeral.”
* * *
“… … ”
In the rose garden located in the backyard of the Grand Duke of the North, there was a woman.
He is fiddling with roses while in a wheelchair…
It was Erral de Arlot, daughter of the Grand Duke of the North.
Bassrock-
Arlott touched the petals of the rose.
Having lost her sight, she was able to have a more delicate sense of touch.
The petals of the rose were helplessly crumbling, leaving only ooze behind.
It was because the rose had long since bloomed and withered.
‘…Schmitz.’
Arlott thought of Schmitz through the rose.
Because it was the only medium through which I could recall my relationship with him who had left.
All she could do was touch the rose like this.
“Princess? Go in now, it’s cold.”
“… … … ”
“ha… really.”
Suddenly, a voice mixed with annoyance came from behind her.
It was the female attendant who brought Arlott to the garden with the wheelchair.
‘… scared.’
Arlott was uncomfortable with her.
This attendant harassed and neglected Arlott in an unnoticed place.
If it was an ordinary aristocratic lady, she would have immediately cornered the attendant, but Arlott did not.
A punishment given to himself for missing Schmitz.
Arlott was accepting the bullying of the city as a reward.
-Basrock
So Arlott said nothing and only touched the rose.
No matter what the attendant said, it was heard through one ear and flowed out of the other.
The most precious thing to her now was the rose.
“You should eat lunch. Aren’t you hungry?”
“… ”
“The Princess is thin and won’t be very hungry, but I’m cold and hungry now.”
An attendant who poured out rude words and actions once.
Before long, the wheelchair began to rotate against Arlott’s will.
The attendant holding the handle of the wheelchair moved the wheelchair.
‘…no.’
Arlott didn’t want to leave yet.
A little more of the roses left by Schmitz… I wanted to feel his warmth.
So, for the first time, he decided to rebel against the attendant.
Snuggle Geek!
“Oh, no, princess!”
With a terrible noise, the wheelchair came to a sudden stop.
It was because Arlott grabbed the wheel of the wheelchair with his hand.
Confirming that, I heard the shrill scream of the attendant.
I could feel the heat in my fingers.
My heart was pounding and my fingers were beating fast.
It must have been that his hand was rubbed while he was trying to stop it.
“… Get your hands off me. I won’t say it many times.”
“… … … ”
Despite the rude servant’s bluff, Arlott held on to the wheel and did not open his mouth.
The attendant, who had been watching the scene, crouched down and whispered in Arlott’s ear.
“There are no eyes in the backyard? Even if I harm the princess, they think it’s because she has a seizure. I have a pretty good reputation in this mansion.”
The servant’s voice was softer than anyone else’s, but the content made Arlott shrink.
“Do you know why I claimed to be the princess’s attendant?”
Arlott knew the inside of this attendant.
The reason why she takes care of Arlott’s attendant work that no one else does.
It was to release her stress to Arlot, who didn’t say anything.
“… … ”
But Arlott was stubborn.
Even if blood flowed from his fingers, he never took his hand off the wheel of the wheelchair.
Before long, he could feel the presence of the attendant moving away from Arlot.
“Well, if the Princess is like that… ”
The voice of the attendant could be heard from quite a distance.
It was in the direction of the rose garden.
Arlott’s heart felt like it was sinking with anxiety that I didn’t know.
“All the flowers are withering, one by one. I’m withering… to the point where I would believe it even if it was cut off.”
– Tuduk
“… !”
The sound of blades of grass being torn.
Arlott was able to notice what the attendant was doing by the thick grass smell that he felt before long.
She immediately turned the wheels of her wheelchair and approached the attendant.
“Oh, I can’t see, so it seems you managed to notice, right?”
The attendant’s voice was full of laughter.
Arlot barely followed the direction of the voice and moved the wheelchair…
Even when I stretched out my hand where the attendant was supposed to be, the attendant was nowhere to be seen.
Soon, the voice of the attendant was heard again from the far left of Arlot.
“I’m bored, so let’s play tag. If you catch me, the princess wins, if you can’t catch me… ”
Dududuk-!
A terrible roar echoed again.
“I will take care of all the rose gardens that the princess cherishes so much.”
A cold sweat ran down Arlott’s back.
She desperately moved the wheelchair.
“Hahaha, here it is!”
The servants ran from place to place and made fun of Arlot.
Arlott moved the wheelchair diligently, ignoring the pain he felt in his fingers…
With blind eyes and even a wheelchair, he was unable to catch the attendant.
how much time has passed
I felt the pain squeezing my lungs from the sudden movement,
The hand holding the wheel was a mess and it was impossible to even move it.
Arlott was still unable to capture the attendant.
“There is only one last rose left. Lady Gong.”
Desperate words came from far away.
The last medium that reminds me of Schmitz.
Arlott didn’t want to lose it
So she got out of the wheelchair.
Borrowing his upper body, which still had some strength left, he crawled miserably toward the source of the sound.
The messed up hand was washed away on the cold dirt floor, adding to the pain…
From the distance not far away, the attendant’s wicked laugh was heard.
“Puff… late.”
“Ah, ah… no, no-”
Arlott collapsed in a crushed rose garden full of thorns.
Belatedly, he threw himself into an attempt to snatch the attendant, but it was all because it had become meaningless.
Rose thorns that did not lose their spirits penetrated her whole body.
Even in that situation… Arlott did not have the strength to get up.
“Oh my gosh, he suddenly jumped out of his wheelchair… and had another seizure, right?”
The servant naturally blames all causes on himself.
Arlott fell for her trick and lost all the roses.
Because it was Schmitz who left without leaving anything behind
The only way to remember him was a rose…
I just lost it all.
At that, Arlott felt as if he had lost the strength to live on.
The cold inside my body is eating away at me day by day,
The reason to endure it any longer is gone.
Could I just die like this?
When her emotions went beyond resignation and headed for ‘death’
Then something started to change.
“Ugh… ”
In the distance, I could hear the attendant moaning in pain.
It was strange. If it was her usual, she would have whispered in my ear and played with me again.
Has anyone seen this sight?
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Jerk- jerk-
As I lay on the ground, I felt the sound of someone approaching and the vibration getting louder.
It was just coming towards itself.
Was it Sebas, the chamberlain, or was it his own father, the Grand Duke of the North?
chin-
“… ?”
Someone grabbed Arlott’s arm with strong force.
The feeling of the hand holding the arm… It was really ‘bare hands’, with or without gloves.
A normal person would have pulled his hand away in shock as soon as he was touched.
But the hand that held her surprisingly naturally-
‘… Is it warm?’
Warm heat seeped into Arlott’s arm from the hand that held him.
It was impossible.
Rather, heat is transmitted through someone’s physical contact.
For the first time in his life, Arlott was led straight by a mysterious hand-
As the hand guided him, Arlott settled back into the wheelchair.
Eventually, along with the sound of grass crunching in front of me, I felt someone squatting down.
The one in front of your eyes… Who the hell are you?
‘… ‘
Arlott felt his heart pounding involuntarily.
It was because the touch reminded me of someone.
Someone who reached out to him without any magical measures or tools.
… Someone who wrapped her hands in every painful moment.
Arlott slowly stretched out his trembling hand.
The skin touched the hand.
The soft eyes, the high nose, the soft lips, and the slightly frizzy hair unlike before.
Arlott, who swept away everything with his hands…
“Sorry for being late, Princess.”
As soon as I heard Schmitz’s voice, which I had dreamed of, I immediately jumped into his arms.