Estelle’s body wobbled.
There was what seemed to be a cushion under her head, but whatever she felt against her whole back was awfully hard. It was as though someone had laid her down directly on a wooden floor. On top of that, said floor shook constantly, forcing her to put up with the vibrations.
It hurt all over. Estelle’s left hand hurt particularly badly. She must’ve hurt it when shooting at the dragon because she’d put it over her right one, holding the mana pistol with both hands to improve aim.
The dragon.
That’s right, I shot a dragon, recalled Estelle. And when she’d pulled the trigger, the recoil had been so terrible that it had sent her flying backward.
She didn’t remember anything after that, so she’d probably lost consciousness from the impact.
Estelle slowly opened her eyes, at which point a white cloth roof came into view. Its rounded shape, the sound of hoof steps outside, and the vibration she felt made Estelle realize she was in a covered wagon.
“Ngh...” Estelle groaned as she tried to move and it hurt badly.
Then, May’s face appeared before her. “Lady Estelle, you’re awake! I’m so glad...”
She looked terribly haggard. Unusually for someone as typically calm as her, she had tears in her eyes.
“You’re alive... Are you hurt...?” asked Estelle.
“I’m all right. It’s all thanks to you bringing down that dragon...”
“So it worked...” Estelle quietly uttered, feeling relieved.
As May nodded, tears began to stream from her eyes. “I couldn’t do anything—just like back then...”
“It was a dragon... What could you d—”
Estelle began to cough as she spoke. May hurriedly raised Estelle to a half-sitting position and brought a flask to her mouth. The mana-based flask retained heat, and it had tea in it, which was appropriately warm.
“I-It’s okay now,” said Estelle once her throat was no longer parched.
May carefully laid Estelle’s head on the cushion, returning her to her previous position.
“The shaking bothers you, doesn’t it?” said May. “My apologies. The coach we took to the forest has broken, so we could only arrange a wagon like this...”
Estelle shook her head. It was true that her back and her buttocks hurt, but she was grateful to get to lie down at all as she was being transported.
Having finally calmed down a little, she took a closer look at May and saw she was battered. There were bandages on her head and arms, making Estelle realize she’d lied about being unhurt.
“What about everyone else?” asked Estelle, afraid as she was that she might not get a truthful answer to this question.
“Out of those who were with us in the pavilion, Neville was hurt badly. I still don’t know the extent of his injuries... As for the rest...Neil and Lady Sierra have light injuries.”
“And His Highness Prince Liedis...?”
“I saw His Highness carried out on a stretcher, but I don’t know how badly he was hurt... He was fully conscious, however. His Highness is a member of royalty, so I’m sure he’ll recover right away.”
“I suppose so. He is royalty.”
He had the same astounding capacity for regeneration as Arcrayne.
“I never expected him to save me,” added Estelle.
She’d managed to shoot the dragon’s heart because Liedis had protected her with his power. Had it not been for that telekinetic barrier, she wouldn’t have had the chance to take aim.
A memory of him hurting May appeared at the back of Estelle’s mind. May herself had a faint smile on her face, as though she didn’t particularly care about what he’d done to her.
“I don’t know His Highness’s thought process, but we were saved as a result,” uttered May. “You were able to shoot the dragon because he protected you, which saved the rest of us too.”
It was just as she said. Estelle nodded.
“What about the other participants? Were they all right?” asked Estelle.
“I don’t know. Our pavilion wasn’t the only one that collapsed... Fortunately, nobody died at the pavilion of the Libra Palace, but I can’t speak for the rest.”
“I see...”
“When His Highness Prince Arcrayne returned from the forest, he got right down to bringing the situation under control. His Majesty collapsed and Her Majesty was terrified...”
It was true that, in such a situation, only Arcrayne could take command.
“His Highness asked me to tell you he’s sorry he couldn’t be by your side.”
“Nothing can be done about that, considering his position.” Estelle smiled limply.
It was a little sad not to have him there with her, but when she thought how, in the earldom of Flozeth, her brother would be the one swamped with work in situations like this, she could accept it.
“What happened to my hand...?” asked Estelle, looking over to her badly aching left hand.
It was covered in white bandages from her fingertips to the wrist, so she couldn’t tell what was going on underneath.
There was throbbing pain in her head too. This was probably a symptom of her mana being depleted.
“When you shot the dragon, the gun barrel broke, and numerous fragments were lodged into your hand,” explained May. “You’ve only received first aid for now, so a doctor will have to look at it to tell you more. The doctor who’d come to the hunting contest couldn’t spare the time...”
“He’d have to prioritize those with more grave injuries,” replied Estelle with a smile.
May’s expression remained dark, however.
“When the pavilion collapsed, it felt like something burst on my chest. Is my ‘good-luck charm’ undamaged?”
“No, there’s a crack... Would you like to see it?”
Estelle nodded.
“Excuse me.”
With that preamble, May removed the brooch from the chest area of Estelle’s dress and showed it to her. Both the decoration and the bezel indeed had small cracks in them.
“Good thing the cameo was changed...” said Estelle.
This mana-based brooch belonged to the late Miriallia. The cameo had been swapped to a nacre of rather low value. Arcrayne had given it to Estelle, prefacing it with “even if it does its job and breaks, you don’t have to worry.”
“Lady Estelle... I must tell you that this brooch wasn’t the only thing that broke...”
Tears spilled from May’s eyes again, causing Estelle’s own eyes to widen.
“What’s the matter, May...?”
“Y-Your ring... There are cracks in it... The mana-based one is undamaged, but the wedding ring...”
Trembling, May took out a handkerchief from a pocket of her work uniform. The handkerchief seemed to be wrapped around something. May carefully unfolded it, taking out the rhodolite garden ring from the inside.
The stone and the metal base both had large cracks in them. Estelle always wore it, so the fragments of the broken mana pistol must’ve hit it.
✦ ✦ ✦
“It will probably have to be recut...” said May.
“It’s sad, but there’s no helping this either... I should be grateful I’m still alive.”
Estelle thought she felt that way from the bottom of her heart, and yet...
Tears spilled from her eyes.