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Meanwhile, in a room within the royal palace...
“What? An angel?” Prince Bernard, who had been in a constant state of annoyance as of late, found the report suspicious.
“Y-Yes, Your Highness! Rumor has it that a woman with angelic beauty and grace has been passing through regions on her way to the capital, curing the ill with a miraculous remedy as she travels.”
“Hmph! If that’s true, she should be brought here right this instant!” the prince yelled, triggering a bout of violent coughing.
✦ ✦ ✦
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After what happened in that town, we decided to make a stop in every inhabited area on our journey to the capital. Perhaps it would’ve been more effective to go straight to our destination and have the royal family distribute the medicine to the population, but since we were passing by these places anyway, reducing the time the afflicted spent suffering was surely the right thing to do, even if their symptoms weren’t life-threatening.
“Oh! You must be the one from the rumor!” a townsperson exclaimed.
A few towns reacted with wariness and suspicion like the first one had, but as we neared the capital, we began to receive warm welcomes wherever we went, as if the people had been eagerly awaiting our arrival.
“I wonder why?” I mused.
Obviously it was better to be met with warmth over doubt, and I was happy that our visits were going smoothly. But I couldn’t help but find it strange. Wouldn’t city dwellers normally be less trusting than people in rural areas? I’d expected it to take longer to convince people the closer we got to the capital, but in reality it was the opposite.
Sir Kain, who had been speaking with each town’s residents, answered my question. “Aha ha! It seems like rumors about you are spreading like wildfire, Lu.”
“Rumors?” Come to think of it, the person earlier had also mentioned as much.
“Yup. They say an angel has been going around curing the disease with a wonder drug.”
“What?!”
I was not expecting that!
Until now, the rumors surrounding me—that I was foolish and ugly, a wicked woman, haughty and selfish, incompetent yet prideful—had been nothing but slander concocted by Prince Bernard. I did have to wonder if he’d simply listed every negative descriptor he could think of.
But now people were calling me an angel? Perhaps that boy’s cute misunderstanding had become the basis for this rumor.
“Well, it’s not entirely false,” Lord Felix said nonchalantly.
True... Even if I’m not an angel, I am going around curing the disease with my panacea.
It wasn’t some new innovation; it was simply a medicine I’d made by following an existing formula. But if the people who were suffering believed it was a miracle cure, then it must’ve been wondrously effective. I was happy to have been able to help them.
“Indeed, it’s true that I’m curing the disease with the panacea,” I said in agreement.
“Yes, but the part about you being an angel is also—”
“Oh! But they’re giving me all of the credit, even though I was only able to make and distribute the medicine because you allowed me to harvest the raspweed in Leeuwenhoek! Wait, what were you saying just now?”
“Well...the credit belongs to you anyway, so don’t worry about it.”
“Pfft!” Sir Kain snorted. “Ha ha ha! I feel so bad for Felix these days. Poor guy!”
Huh?! Sir Kain’s words startled me. But...it’s true that it isn’t fair to Lord Felix for me to take all the credit, even if Sir Kain finds it amusing.
That said, it wasn’t easy to change a rumor that had already become gospel. Unfortunately, the best I could do was apologize and express my appreciation for Lord Felix’s help, perhaps with a gift after this was all over.
“Hey, Sarah, what do you think would make Lord Felix happy?” I whispered, beginning my research.
“As long as it’s coming from you with love, even verbal abuse would be a reward in his eyes!”
That can’t possibly be true, can it? It’s not like he’s some kind of deviant.
While I struggled with the difficulty of choosing a present, Sir Kain took notice of Lord Felix’s glare and paused laughing to provide some additional information.
“Also, it looks like the disease is only affecting regions located between Leeuwenhoek and the capital,” he said. “It’s true that the capital has the most cases, though.”
Oh, is that so?
My father’s letter had made it sound as if the disease had spread all over the country, but that didn’t appear to be the case. I didn’t know why it had limited reach, but at least this meant we wouldn’t need to make any detours on our way to the capital.
And so, we continued on our way, distributing medicine and being welcomed everywhere we went. Before I knew it, we’d reached the capital.
✦ ✦ ✦
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The peaceful journey left me woefully unprepared for the reception I received at the capital.
As soon as I stepped out of the carriage for the entry inspection, I was surrounded by several stern-looking knights.
“Lady Lucille Gustelanola! You’re under arrest!”
Wait, why?
I unconsciously stiffened. Lord Felix intervened to guard me, and the knights’ glares faltered slightly.
Ohhh! Lord Felix really is dashing!
Regaining Lilybell’s memories had revived a little bit of my animalistic instinct, which compelled in me an attraction to this strong male before me.
I’d noticed this when we’d first met, but Lord Felix was very tall, much taller than the royal knights—and I’d come to know that he was just as strong and intimidating as he appeared. His murderous glare was breathtaking, and when those cold eyes relaxed into a smile, he was surprisingly cute. His unexpected sensitive side was cute too—all in all, he was a shining specimen! Also, I personally found great appeal in the fact that he seemed to be in good health despite his curse.
Wait, why am I suddenly raving about him?!
I thought I’d grown immune to Lord Felix’s charms by now, but moments like these made me conscious of how he was perfectly my type. Honestly, I couldn’t blame my prophetic dream version of me for being jealous of Elvira, and, by extension, I couldn’t fault Elvira for falling in love with him either.
But this is definitely not the time for such excitement.
Regaining my composure, I tapped Lord Felix on his back to let him know that I would be fine handling this by myself. He glanced at me and nodded.
Oh my! We’re communicating with eye contact alone! Will our relationship be upgraded from “friends” to “best friends” soon?!
Lord Felix turned back to the knights and declared, “If you wish to take Lucille Gustelanola with you, you must be prepared to kill me first.” He looked ready to draw his sword at any moment.
H-Huh?! That wasn’t what I meant at all! Communication failure!
The knights were cowering in the face of the icy aura radiating from Lord Felix’s body.
“L-Lord Felix!” I rushed to stop him. “Please calm down. It’ll be fine, okay? Relax, relax!”
“L-Lady Gustelanola!” the knights exclaimed in a pleading tone.
See? They were glaring at me before, but now they’re looking at me as if I’m their savior! You can hear their voices trembling!
Lord Felix immediately retracted his murderous aura and stepped back. For some reason, vague disappointment played over his features.
Perhaps he was tired from the long carriage journey and wanted to use the knights as exercise partners?
“Pfft, ha ha! There goes his attempt to show off in front of Lu,” Sir Kain muttered, snickering.
“Sir Kain, don’t just laugh and mumble to yourself—you should’ve helped me stop Lord Felix!”
“Aha ha! Sorry, my bad.”
However, while the knights’ attitude had mellowed, they still had to do their job. In the end, I caved to the pressure and let them lead me away. Lord Felix said I didn’t need to, but I didn’t want to cause any issues by refusing. It didn’t seem like they were going to hurt me, after all.
If I’d been alone, I could’ve simply fled the capital and lived the rest of my life happily in solitude somewhere far away, but Lord Felix and Sir Kain were here too, which canceled out that option. I didn’t want them to take the blame for my break for freedom.
Besides, the knights wouldn’t be able to harm me easily, either physically or mentally, so I didn’t mind going along with them. Not to mention, keeping my objective in mind, being uncooperative wouldn’t be wise.