“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!”
My chest tightened at the pleading look in Cerulean’s eyes.
Ten years was a long time. For that entire duration, Cerulean and Lloyd had lived in constant worry, each day praying that it would be the one Colette finally woke up while simultaneously fearing it would be the one she passed away. It was only right that I helped ease their worries.
“Sure! I’ll pick out the best rose petal for you, one that’ll wake Colette right up!” I replied.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Kurtis bite his lip, but surely he could let this go, right? Besides…
“If Colette’s really asleep because of the Spirit Lord’s Blessing, then we can’t be sure she’ll wake up even if we do find a rose petal with the right effect.”
I said this because not even I could do anything about the Spirit Lord’s Curse that afflicted Cerulean. The Spirit Lord’s magic was powerful and fundamentally different from ours. There would be no dispelling anything cast by them unless they specifically meant for a human to be able to dispel it.
Colette’s deep sleep was a result of the Spirit Lord freezing her time in response to Cerulean’s wish for her not to die, so as long as the Spirit Lord deemed she would live, it should be possible to dispel her sleep status.
“…Cerulean trying to wake Colette might be enough for the Spirit Lord to consider the conditions met,” I mumbled, saying what came to mind.
Cerulean rubbed at his tears and nodded. “You bring up a good point, Fia. The biggest problem we face is the fact that the one who cast the status ailment on Colette is the Spirit Lord. But like you say, as I’m the one who made the wish, there’s a high chance we can dispel the effect if I wish it as well. However…” He paused, seeming troubled. “Things are never so simple when the Spirit Lord is involved. Though they responded to my desperate wish and put Colette to sleep, they won’t respond to my desperate wish for her to wake up. After finding the Rose of the Great Saint, I finally understand. The Great Saint has also inherited the Spirit Lord’s blood, so her rose must be the key we’ve been waiting for. If we can pick out the correct petal and use it, we should be able to wake up Colette, I’m certain.”
It was all rather optimistic, but the royal family was descended from the first Spirit Lord and a human, so they all had the Spirit Lord’s blood running through them. I could only hope that meant things would go well.
Cerulean scowled and said, “To show it’s my wish for Colette to wake up, I’m thinking of giving her black tea made with the Rose of the Great Saint, but…Fia, I’m sorry to be selfish, but do you mind if it’s just Lloyd, Colette, and me when we do it?”
“Huh?” I’d assumed they’d want me around for that.
I’d noticed a recent trend where the effects of the rose petals changed depending on what I was thinking as I gave them my mana. For example, when I thought about how paralysis worked, my petals made people’s bodies twitch uncontrollably, and when I thought about how everyone always looked so serious and how nice it would be if there was magic that made everything seem funny, my petals caused just that. But I didn’t recall thinking about something as specific as dispelling the sleep status effect when I made all of the current Roses of the Great Saint, so there weren’t any petals that did that right now. That’s why I planned to choose a random harmless petal for Colette and discreetly use my status-ailment-dispelling magic on her as they gave her the tea, but…
“Colette’s body is at its limit. She’s so thin that even the slightest exertion might push her over the edge. That’s why…I want it to just be the three of us. Just in case.”
I closed my mouth at the look on his face. He was already bracing for the worst. If she did die, he wanted it to happen in private, where outsiders couldn’t intrude. Colette was just that dear to him.
“…Colette’s time was frozen when she was in a poor state, right? Won’t you need the head saint here to heal her as soon as she wakes up?” I recalled him mentioning she was on her deathbed.
Eyes downcast, he said, “I was thinking of having the head saint on standby in the neighboring room. That way we can call her over if Colette wakes.”
“In that case, could I be on standby as well? I swear I won’t come over until you say it’s okay, and I promise not to peek!” Plus, I was a saint as well, so I wanted to do what I could. “You know I have lots of holy stones, right? It might be worthwhile to keep me around as a spare in case something happens with the head saint.”
Apologetically, he replied, “Can we really ask so much of you?”
“It’s fine! We should do everything we can to save Colette. And you should rely on people more. Not only do you bear the Spirit Lord’s Curse, but you’re also paying the cost of the Spirit Lord’s Blessing. You shouldn’t be trying to do everything alone.”
Cerulean was in no condition to push himself like this. The Spirit Lord of three hundred years ago cursed him, and meanwhile he was paying for the first Spirit Lord’s Blessing by having his life slowly shaved away.
“When you put it like that, I guess you might be right…” He frowned as if only just now remembering his condition.
My, what a carefree king we have. But if Cerulean’s curse and blessing were both a result of the royal family bloodline, wouldn’t it affect Saviz as well? The Spirit Lord’s Blessing probably wouldn’t come into play if he didn’t wish hard for something, but apparently past members of royalty also had the curse of the Spirit Lord from three hundred years ago. Did it only affect the king? Or did it affect Saviz too?
…No, it definitely didn’t. I’d met with Saviz many times. I would definitely have noticed if he were cursed. Well, that was a relief.
Cerulean, looking more cheerful than before, interrupted my musing. “Fia, thank you for accepting our request! And thank you for offering to help even further.”
Lloyd thanked me as well, emotion shining in his eyes. “Fia, I thank you from the bottom of my heart as well. No matter what comes to pass, I’m grateful for your help.”
I’d never seen these two so serious. Colette was clearly so dear to them. I swore once again I would do anything I could to help.
Apologetically, Cerulean said, “It’s gotten late. Sorry I’ve kept you so long.”
Only then did I realize how much time had passed. Darkness pressed thick against the window, pierced by a sliver of moon that spoke to the late hour.
“You must be tired after everything that happened today,” Cerulean said. “Let’s leave things here for tonight and talk further tomorrow. Our request was a bit impulsive, so please allow Lloyd and me to hash things out and get back to you.”
“All right,” I said.
Kurtis and I left so they could talk.