“I’ll wait until tomorrow before I go outside. Be sure to prepare my breakfast early. I want to see mother and father off.”
“Very well, Young Mistress.”
I was unsure how she received my words, but Lynokis smiled with a crease between her brows. “You’re...certainly much more considerate of a person than myself,” she added.
Hm?
“Is this not normal?” I asked her. Even children could show consideration for their parents.
“If that was normal, then my position...”
So that was it. Lynokis was lacking in consideration, was she? “I heard that girls who can’t show consideration for others aren’t popular.”
“Those are not the words I expected to be faced with from a child less than half my age...”
Lynokis was aghast, but I cared not. I was busy with my own fight.
And so another morning came without any notable events.
My breakfast came early as I had requested, and after finishing, I was helped into a wheelchair. Thankfully, my body no longer rejected the food as it used to. I didn’t feel nauseous either. The volume of the food could be a little bit of a problem, though.
Every meal had the tiniest bit more added. Slowly but surely, spoonful by spoonful, my stomach’s capacity was growing. However, I would take whatever I was given as this body needed it.
Lynokis wheeled me out of the room, and we continued down a carpeted hallway towards the entrance hall. An elderly butler was standing at the end, waiting by the stairs that led down to the first floor.
He was a butler who had long served this family, so tall and thin that he looked like a withered tree. But there was no way for me to miss the well-trained muscles hiding underneath his uniform. Even at this age, he was strong.
Though it was plain to see he was past his prime, he had undoubtedly been many times stronger at his peak.
Things may have been different when he was younger, but as this butler is now, I could take him down easily with just my pinky finger from my wheelchair. In fact, even if he were at his peak, just my left arm would be enough. That is the extent of his abilities.
The old butler gave us a nod as we exited my bedroom, and then he made his way down the stairs. He must have gone ahead to make any final preparations.
When we made it far enough that we could overlook the entrance, my mother and father, cleaned up and dressed in well-fitting suits, swiftly made their way to the door.
“Father, mother!”
I raised my voice as much as my tiny little body would allow. Despite the effort, the volume was only slightly raised, not even a yell. Regardless, my call reached the two people rushing out the door.
“Nia!”
They were both surprised when they turned round and saw I had come to see them off.
It may be a small step, but for Nia, this hopefully serves as a suitable act of love towards her parents.
After a week of this, seeing Nia’s parents off in the morning had become routine. Seven days of wishing them well meant it had been two weeks since I had become Nia.
“It should be about time...” I muttered under my breath as I finished the meal that was still slightly increasing in volume each day.
“Pardon?”
“There’s no need for you to watch over me at night anymore,” I told Lynokis, who stood at attention by my side.
“What?”
Every night, Lynokis would remain just outside my room as I slept, so she could immediately respond were I to require assistance. During those early days when my coughs were constant, she would make sure to check in every time, so she could assist me before it was too late. But there was no need for that any longer.
“I don’t cough as much as I used to, so I think I’m fine now. I can even go to the bathroom by myself.” I had been gradually breaking down the devil’s offensive with my chi, but I was still far from a full recovery. I was in this for the long haul, but for now, at least, I’d crossed the biggest hurdle: the shadow of the grim reaper had disappeared.
I could now confidently make the judgment that the possibility I would suffer a sudden death was gone.
“I can’t deny that you’re doing well. Your appetite has gotten so much better over the past few days too, so I do agree that your condition is stable.”
“While we’re on the topic, you’ve slowly been adding more and more food to my meals, haven’t you?”
She ignored my question and continued, “I will go call on Jayes so we can discuss any new possible arrangements.”
“But the food—”
She was already zooming off before I could finish.
That was absolutely the look of someone who knew about the increasing portions and kept quiet about it. In fact, she may have even been the one behind it. Not that it was a big deal.
My stomach may hurt a little after each meal, but it was absolutely a necessary form of sustenance. There was no harm in making my body take in a little more of it.
And despite me noticing the portions were getting larger, it wasn’t by an unreasonable amount. Personally, the portions I was eating were still too small. A child Nia’s age would usually be eating more, after all.
When Lynokis called Jayes, the elderly butler, to my room, we discussed what I had mentioned to Lynokis, about no longer needing someone to watch over me at night.
“I see... If you believe the Young Mistress to be of fit enough health, then allow me to discuss it with the master and mistress.”
Jayes was ever the gentleman. Though his face was pulled down in unhidden worry, he listened to my request and acknowledged it.
“However, I will have Lynokis moved into the neighboring room. Should you need anything, ring the bell and call for her. Do you understand? Can you promise me that?”
“Yes, I promise.” I couldn’t see the occasion to ring the bell ever arriving, though. And even if it did, I had no reason to try and act tough about it. A simple promise to make if it means letting me be free of Lynokis’s constant nightly supervision.
I saw off my parents yet again and then returned to my room.
“I will be taking my break now, Young Mistress. Please call one of the maids if you are in need of anything.”
Lynokis would now nap... No, completely sleep until noon.
She had spent nights awake for my sake in case I required her assistance. Though it was something she was paid for, I kneeled to her dedication. At least she would be able to sleep at more regular times now.
Now then.
With Lynokis gone, I had time for myself.
Nia’s routine was simple. Usually, she would eat, have her medicine, and then rest, and that cycle would repeat. Rest was especially important, and no one would come unless I called for them. While I had been out the room to see my parents off, the maids had taken the window of opportunity to make my bed and do some simple cleaning.
To not interrupt my rest, I would be left alone until Lynokis arrived with my lunch.
It’s a very convenient routine for me.
I lowered my legs down over the bed and let my feet softly sink into the carpet. With my body still as weak and thin as it was, even standing was painful. I could manage slow steps, but generally I would move around in my wheelchair or by being carried by Lynokis.
That would all start to change.
“Nope, never mind, this still isn’t feasible.”
I tried stretching a little, but even that was difficult. If I bent my knees all the way down, I had no confidence I could stand myself back up. At the moment, this body didn’t have enough muscle. This problem was beyond just needing to exercise; it seemed like it would still take a bit more time before I could walk normally.
At this rate, I won’t be able to pierce even those pesky orcs with just a spearhand strike. Lopping its head off with a knifehand would be the best I could manage.
Well, whatever. Dealing with my disease came before the issue of my muscles.
So I couldn’t be seen should someone suddenly come in, I made my way to the side of the bed where I wouldn’t be visible from the doorway and sat on the floor. I didn’t think anyone would interrupt, but better safe than sorry.
Being seen wouldn’t necessarily be a problem, but it would be unnatural for a girl as young and sheltered as Nia to know of what I was about to practice.
I sat with my knees open, legs and feet crossed; spread my arms lightly to the left and right; and gently hovered my hands above my knees, palms upwards.
“Perfect.”
As I expected, chi flowed around the body much easier while in the lotus position, a pose primed for meditation.
It flowed from the left hand, to the left leg, to the right leg, from the right leg to the right hand, passing up through the right shoulder to the head. Then it would flow through the left shoulder, back down to the left hand again.
The chi was circulating through my body much more smoothly and vigorously than when I was confined to my bed. Though this was the weakened body of a child, chi still circulated through its pathways, and I cultivated it with much care.
There was still a disease sitting in the center of this body. Its channels were still stained with that devil, but the chi was slowly but surely chipping away at it, melting it down.
It was greatly important that I spend my long nights like this.
I’d only need a week before I would be ready for the next step.
Incidentally, what even is meditation?
My memories were still missing. I instinctively knew what to do, but I still had not remembered where I had learned this or why I even knew of it in the first place.
But there’s no use thinking about it now.
If the memories were vital enough, I would remember them in due time.
“Now, you wretched devil. Let’s fight for real, shall we?”
I would not succumb to disease, just as I had not in my previous life. As hazy as my memories were, I remembered that much.
“I should’ve killed you right from the start. Let me be clear: there is no longer a way for you to achieve victory.” And that would be the case now too.
My second death might one day slay me, but disease would never be the killing blow.