At the news that Saya had finally woken, Nagi ran to her room in a hurry. Dimitri and Jubilia were already inside.
“Nagi,” Saya muttered quietly.
Her complexion was poor, and her white skin almost looked blue. Even haggard as she was now, there was a beauty about her that hadn’t been there before. Nagi was arrested by the image of a flower which could only bloom for a single night, but put such thoughts to an end.
“Lady Saya, you must rest,” Jubilia said, stopping Saya from sitting up.
“But Nagi is here.”
Jubilia’s decision was correct. Just the attempt had Saya breathing raggedly. Her silver hair spilled over her forehead. Seeing this made pity and love overflow in Nagi’s heart.
“Saya, are you okay?!”
He ran over to her bed, but was blocked by Dimitri. “Hang on; stop right there. It’d be bad for you to touch her, Commoner’s Hero.”
“What’s with that?”
“You don’t know? You are the Commoner’s Hero who saved Lady Saya from the Forbidden Garden all on your own. The lot from Cobalt have spread the news of your exploits quite enthusiastically.”
Nagi didn’t really care about such things. He met Saya’s eyes, and her pallid cheeks turned the slightest tinge of red as she averted her gaze.
“So, how’s she doing?” Nagi asked.
“Do you know that Lady Saya collapsed because of the burden on her body from activating the royal caliber?”
“I know, I was there.”
“How envious! To be able to witness the awakening of the royal caliber in close proximity! I would’ve loved to be there!”
“Is this guy okay?” Nagi said, pointing at the excited professor.
Jubilia shook her head. “He’s a strange man, but there’s nobody out there more well-informed about why Saya collapsed. Gratos may have known more, though.”
“Obviously. It wasn’t possible to research the Sovereign’s Blood openly. That’s why I got thrown into jail. There’s no way anyone out there knows more than me.”
“Cut to the chase already,” Nagi said in frustration. “Focus on Saya’s condition. How do we heal her?”
“Lady Saya collapsed because the royal caliber is far too powerful, consuming a tremendous amount of the Sovereign’s Blood’s power. Surprisingly, what had been accumulating for centuries was pretty much all used up in a single activation. However, it could be said to be good fortune that the royal caliber stopped like that.”
What could possibly be good about Saya collapsing? Nagi wondered.
“If it didn’t stop, all of the knights there would’ve dried up completely and died, just like those two who died from its previous, limited activations. You were there both times, too. How envious...”
He was likely referring to the Forbidden Garden’s guard and Ivara.
“Lady Saya’s royal caliber interferes with the blood in others,” Dimitri continued. “A commoner touched by this will lose control of their body and pass out. It’s much like losing consciousness from hypoxia, though the specifics are somewhat different.”
Nagi thought back to the sight of all those bodies collapsing one after another at the touch of the scarlet butterflies.
“There’s more to it than that, too,” Dimitri said. “Upon touching a noble, it halts the effect of Amrita. It makes sense, considering Amrita comes from the Sovereign’s Blood. As a result, a noble’s blood caliber will no longer be able to maintain itself, and their prolonged lifespans will be lost.”
Nagi recalled the corpses of the Forbidden Garden’s guard and Ivara. Both of them had shriveled up.
“But that didn’t happen. Lady Saya lost consciousness, and the royal caliber deactivated.”
Nagi could now understand why this was good fortune. There were a great number of nobles in that battle. All of them were on the verge of becoming desiccated corpses, including Jubilia and all their other allies. Saya had been moments away from making this happen. Nagi’s gaze fell upon Saya, who avoided his eyes. She knew of this and regretted it.
“So, how do we heal Saya?” Nagi asked, getting the topic quickly back on the important matter at hand.
“The only thing we can do is wait for her to recover naturally.”
“You mean she’ll get better with rest?”
“Yes, but I don’t know how long it will take. It could be a year, or ten, or a hundred, or maybe even longer than that. It could take eternity itself.”
“What?”
Nagi couldn’t get a proper grasp on what Dimitri was saying.
“I plan on advancing my research to shorten this time span, but things don’t look good right now.”
“Hang on, does that mean Saya will be like this forever?”
“For now.”
Nag felt like his vision was shaking.
“Sorry, Nagi,” Saya said in a feeble voice.
“Saya...”
Nagi tried to walk over to her bed once more on impulse, but was blocked by Dimitri again.
“Wait, I forgot to mention the most important part. You mustn’t come close to ‘Lady Saya,’” Dimitri added, clearing out his throat. “There’s no mistaking you were a factor in awakening her royal caliber. If she were to end up using it once more, it would be a genuine threat to her life. I would like you to take care in keeping your distance.”
“No way...”
I can’t meet her anymore? I can’t see Saya again? he thought to himself. He had confessed his love for her on that battlefield and Saya had responded in kind, but he couldn’t see her anymore.
“It should be fine for them to meet once in a while, Dimitri, much like now,” Jubilia said, throwing them a lifeline.
“Well, this much should be fine...” Dimitri reluctantly agreed. “But bodily contact is strictly off limits.”
“Nagi, what do you plan on doing? Will you be living in the capital?” Jubilia asked.
“I thought of it, but... Me being here actually means Saya’s condition will worsen, right?”
“To put it simply, yes,” Dimitri replied bluntly.
“She’ll get better one day?”
“I don’t know when. It’s possible you’ll reach the end of your lifespan before that happens.”
“Dimitri!” Jubilia yelled reproachfully, but the man in question didn’t seem to know what was wrong about his statement. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like Saya really heard him.
“Sorry. I’m definitely going to get better, so...” she said with a feeble smile.
“Yeah, I know. I’m going to stay in Garuga Village for a while. They say they prepared a house for me there. I thought of turning them down, but I’m going to take them up on it after all. In truth, I wanted you to come live with me there, though.”
“That sounds nice,” Saya replied with a rapt and near-silent voice.
Jubilia felt her chest contract. She knew Saya was being serious.
“It would be difficult for Lady Saya to leave the palace,” Jubilia added sadly.
“I at least know that much. That’s why I planned on staying in the capital. If that will make Saya’s condition worse, though, I’ll keep my distance. I’d end up wanting to come see her all the time if I lived close by.”
“I see,” Saya muttered. It was surely painful for her to speak too much. “But you’ll come visit... once in a while, right?”
“Of course. Garuga Village is right outside the capital. We’ve walked from there together, remember?”
“Mm.”
“So, get some rest and get better soon. When you’re recovered, I’ll come by every day.”
“Mm...”
“Jubilia, take care of Saya. Not that you need me to ask you.”
“Please leave it to me. I swear by my sword... well, I suppose I’m not a knight anymore, so I’ll swear by our friendship.”
“Our friendship?”
“Aren’t we? Lady Saya and I are now friends, so I thought we were as well.”
“I see. Friends, huh? Got it. I’ll trust in my friend.”
“I won’t let you down.”
The two of them exchanged nods.
“Nagi, until next time,” Saya said reluctantly.
“Yeah, see you later.”
Nagi turned on his heel. Saya couldn’t see his face anymore. His vision was blurred with tears. He left the palace in a rush, as if to make sure his tears wouldn’t spill. He ran wholeheartedly, the world around him a complete haze. Just how much cruelty did this world hide? His hand went to clasp the necklace at his chest, just like when he sought to reunite with her before.