“For your sister? But isn’t she…?” I thought she died ten years ago, but I didn’t want to say that out loud and remind him of it.
Lloyd understood regardless. “I did say my sister Colette passed away ten years ago, but that wasn’t entirely accurate… My sister isn’t dead.”
“Huh?!” I exclaimed. I could swear it wasn’t just Lloyd who’d spoken of Colette’s passing. Fabian had said something as well. It was public knowledge that Colette had died, and from what I gathered, there hadn’t been any rumors challenging that fact or any reason to doubt her death in the past ten years.
…Was she actually alive?
I blinked, struggling to comprehend the situation. Lloyd grimaced as he said, “My sister isn’t dead, but…she isn’t exactly alive either. She’s been asleep for the past ten years. We can still make her drink water from time to time, but she hasn’t opened her eyes or moved once.”
That gave me more clarity about her condition. Lloyd’s sister must have been afflicted with the sleep status ailment. I would need to see her for myself to be certain, but Red, Blue, and Green’s younger sister had once bore the same curse with the same symptoms. The only outlier was the fact that Colette would still drink water.
Cerulean interrupted my whirling thoughts. “Fia, Colette is asleep because of the Spirit Lord’s power that I’ve inherited.”
“Huh? What do you mean by that?”
With a pained frown, he continued. “I was there when she was on the brink of death and prayed as hard as I could for her to survive. The Spirit Lord’s blood running through my veins responded to grant my wish. But instead of curing her, it put her into a state of eternal sleep.”
“I… What?”
“Ten years ago,” he said, “Colette was extremely sick. We all thought she would die. So I wished for time to stop for her, hoping she could sleep until a saint appeared who could heal her.”
“…I see. That must’ve been difficult.” I didn’t really know what to say. This was way more complicated than I first thought.
Magic that could stop time for someone was beyond the realm of man—only the Spirit Lord could enact such a thing. As a member of the royal family, Cerulean carried a bit of the Spirit Lord’s blood within him. The Spirit Lord could, therefore, lend some of their power to grant his wish, but…
“I understand time has stopped for Colette for ten years, but where is the energy to maintain that coming from?” I said. “No spell should be able to last that long without an energy source.”
Impressed, Cerulean cocked an eyebrow. “You’re really something, Fia. I can’t believe you know how the Spirit Lord’s power works to such a degree.”
I braced, hoping against hope that he wasn’t about to answer my question the way I thought he was.
“The energy comes from my life force,” Cerulean said. “The moment I prayed for her to survive, Colette and I became linked. Since she’s not truly alive, the maintenance is thankfully minimal. I merely become a year younger for every year she remains frozen in time.”
He said it so casually, so indifferently, like it was nothing, but this was far from nothing. Cerulean was shaving away his own life to keep Colette alive.
Normal magic used mana as payment, but thanks to the Spirit Lord’s involvement, this magic came at a special price. Thus, Cerulean’s life slowly drained away every year he remained connected to Colette, and his time stopped alongside hers. The cost was far too great, and I couldn’t let that go…
“Cerulean, why would you go so far for Colette?” I asked. He may be close to Lloyd, but that didn’t explain such a tremendous sacrifice.
“Because she was to be my queen,” he said simply.
“Oh!”
All at once, the pieces fit together. If that was the case, of course he’d try to save her, even at the cost of his own life.
I thought back to Lloyd’s earlier request. “So, what’s this about wanting me to pick a Rose of the Great Saint?”
“That’s, well… We wish to bet our future on you,” Cerulean said.
“…Uh, okay. Definitely need you to elaborate on that one.”
I really wanted to agree to help them, especially now that I fully understood the situation, but first I had to understand what they wanted from me.
“Fia, do you remember how Saviz requested you pick out some flowers to offer to a saint?” Cerulean said. “The one who originally made that request was me, and the one the flowers were for was Colette. I’ve been regularly giving flowers to my ‘Sleeping Beauty’ for a while now… But never did I expect you would bring her the Rose of the Great Saint for me.”
As I understood it, the king regularly offered flowers at the grave of a saint. Saviz therefore frequently asked others to procure those flowers. Wanting to pick the best flowers possible for a fellow saint, I’d decided to use the roses in the castle garden to remake the Rose of the Great Saint when Saviz asked me to perform this duty. I guess those flowers had made their way to Colette in the end.
“I haven’t thanked you yet for that, have I? Thank you, Fia, for finding such wonderful flowers for me. Colette has always admired the Great Saint. I’m sure she would be honored to receive the rose named after her,” Cerulean paused for a moment, then said, “I remember thinking it was the best parting gift imaginable for her, now that she doesn’t have much longer. But that was before I knew about the special effect the rose had.”
He met my eyes solemnly.
“Her Holiness the Great Saint truly was extraordinary. There were a myriad of spells only she could use. She saved so many… But with her death, the world assumed it had lost those spells. Assumed.
“It was not until the captains’ tea party that we discovered an incredible fact,” he continued. “We knew drinking black tea containing petals from the Rose of the Great Saint could induce various effects, but we always believed those effects did not surpass the magic of any ordinary saint. However…at that tea party, Cyril’s strength was enhanced, and Desmond and Zackary suffered a paralysis status ailment.”
Ah… Yeah, that did all happen, I thought. I was a bit irritated during the tea party, so I’d poured my magic into the petals used for the tea, which enhanced their innate effects. This resulted in some amusing results for me, if not the captains, but why was he bringing this up now?
Tears welled in Cerulean’s eyes, threatening to overflow. “Can you believe it? The magic of the Great Saint, thought to be lost three hundred years ago, was rediscovered through the petals of her rose.”
“Oh. Right.”
I see. I suppose that’s one way to look at it.
“Her magic is exactly what Lloyd and I have been hoping for these past ten years. We had just about given up when, in our darkest hour, a glimmer of hope appeared…”
Emotion overwhelmed Cerulean, and Lloyd picked up where he left off. “Tomorrow morning, all of the churches in the kingdom will receive a notice declaring that the selection process for a new saint has begun. The selection itself will take place two weeks later, after which we will have ourselves a new head saint. We’re confident the newly selected head saint will be able to heal Colette, so long as we can wake her from her sleep.”
“…I see.” I wasn’t sure what to make of this. Cerulean and Lloyd had to know the holy stones I held could heal someone at death’s door, but they skipped right over that. Perhaps they hesitated to ask more of me when they’d already given me such a difficult request. I clutched at my chest, my heart aching for them.
Cerulean suddenly lifted his head. Tears spilled down his cheeks as he raised his voice to say, “That’s why we need your help, Fia!”
He made no move to wipe away his tears as he implored me. “Each petal from a Rose of the Great Saint produces a different effect, so, please…pick out a petal that will awaken Colette from her sleep!”