I looked Prince Edgar in the eye. “I would like to speak with the Great Sage Elios. If you have a means of contacting him, would you please ask him to grant me an audience?”
Of course, it was possible that he didn’t have any way to connect with him, and even if he did, it was also possible that he would refuse. In those cases, I would negotiate for information instead and rethink the plan later.
“Oh? I’m surprised you know about Mr. Elios,” Prince Edgar replied nonchalantly. “I thought he’d be excluded from the curriculum for those marrying into the royal family.”
His words confirmed Lord Felix’s suspicion that information had been withheld from my princess training. And judging by the way he spoke, it seemed extremely likely that Prince Edgar had a connection to the great sage!
Please let me meet him!
“What a timely request, though,” the prince continued. “He happens to be at the castle right now. If you’re not in a hurry, perhaps you could meet him before returning to Leeuwenhoek?”
His response far exceeded my expectations.
Wait, what? Huuuh?! I thought the great sage hardly ever shows his face to the masses. Should you really be letting me meet him so easily?!
“Um, I heard that the Great Sage Elios rarely makes public appearances,” I said. My source of information was my dear friend, Lady Alice, who was obsessed with the Champions of Destiny. She’d said it was a famous story, so I’d assumed it was common knowledge.
Prince Edgar nodded. “That’s right. The royal family has been aware of his whereabouts and movements, but he never wished to meet with us until now. For some reason, he seems to have taken an interest in the disease. It was also he who helped us determine that Lady Mina Noreit’s curse was the cause.”
What?! The collaborator he mentioned was Great Sage Elios all along?!
“He’s still at the castle now, though?” I asked.
“Yes. I suppose it’d be better to tell you everything. I didn’t mention it earlier out of consideration for Bernard; it would’ve been too cruel. However, the truth is that Miss Noreit hasn’t been able to appear in public because the curse rebounded on her. She’s currently being confined within the castle. The target of her curse was you, Miss Lucille.”
“What?!”
M-Me? Lady Mina was trying to curse me?
A rebound was when the user of a curse ended up suffering the curse’s effects themselves, either because they failed to cast it or because the curse had been lifted and had backfired on them.
My best guess was that Lady Mina’s curse had rebounded because Saint Clarissa’s magic protected me from minor curses. Not only that, but considering that the disease was the result of Lady Mina not having enough mana to compensate for the curse’s cost, there was simply no way she could have overcome Saint Clarissa’s power. Lady Mina must have carelessly tried to use the curse despite not knowing how it worked.
Still, why had she wanted to curse me? I’d already been sent to the borderlands, and Prince Bernard hated me with a passion. She was never going to see me again anyway, so she could have just left me alone.
As if reading my mind, Prince Edgar continued, “It seems she heard you were enjoying your new life in Leeuwenhoek and couldn’t allow it.”
“Um... Even though it was happening in a place that had nothing to do with her?”
I had indeed been enjoying myself, but why would that have mattered to Lady Mina at all?
“I doubt Miss Noreit seriously had feelings for Bernard,” Prince Edgar explained. “She was probably just jealous of you. That’s why she got close to your fiancé and tried to frame you with false allegations. Once you were gone, she ran off with another man. Such foolishness.”
I tilted my head in confusion.
Lady Mina was beautiful, glamorous, and bubbly. At social gatherings, she’d always been surrounded by people, and I’d heard that she was cherished by her parents. As the daughter of a baron, her status might not have been that high, but that seemed like a trivial matter in the grand scheme of things.
So what could she possibly have envied about me? Sure, my life was good now, but I didn’t think I’d been particularly happy before I’d regained Lilybell’s memories.
“You see, people who are truly happy aren’t distracted by the happiness of others,” Prince Edgar said. “They devote their time to treasuring their own happiness and aren’t concerned with finding things to envy in other people. When I look at you, I’m reminded of that fact.”
Hmm, is he trying to say something like “You seem happy, and that’s all that matters”? If so, I can say with confidence, “Yes, I am!”
Lady Mina probably had circumstances that only she could understand. I wasn’t her, so it was only natural that I didn’t know why she had done such a thing. I only hoped that she could have someone by her side who truly knew her heart. Since she obviously wouldn’t want me to fulfil that role, all I could do was leave her to solve her own problems.
I wouldn’t be thinking that if she’d really succeeded, though. I can only let this slide because I didn’t even realize she was trying to curse me.
Prince Edgar cleared his throat. “Anyway, the great sage agreed to lift the curse on Miss Noreit.”
“Huh? He can lift curses?” I should’ve expected as much from someone called a great sage!
Prince Edgar explained that since Sir Elios was already at the castle, we could speak with him as long as we kept our visit short.
“But even if he’s making an exception to help you, he doesn’t normally like to be seen, does he? Would he be okay with having a sudden meeting with me and Lord Felix?”
“Yes, it should be fine. He showed interest in the person who created the medicine, so I imagine he’d be happy to meet with you. Actually, if I asked but he whined and said no, it’d be problematic, so it’d be better for you to just go see him without prior notice.”
Is it really okay to do that to someone so renowned? Also, “whined”? Prince Edgar makes him sound like a selfish little child.
Puzzled, I inquired further about Sir Elios’s temperament.
However, all Prince Edgar said was a mischievous “Look forward to it. I’m sure he’ll surprise you.”
Just what kind of person is the Great Sage Elios?