Kapitel 89: [Chapter 89] Don't Go Today
Megara looked at her own flushed face with rising blisters.
Her flawless ivory skin was nowhere to be seen. The swollen, reddened face, larger than usual, with new blisters popping up even at this moment, resembled a monster from ancient tales.
She suddenly threw the hand mirror.
The expensive glass shattered into pieces. The maids attending Megara felt their hearts sink. To destroy the most cherished item. The noble lady seemed to have turned into someone else all of a sudden.
Megara always took pride in her beautiful and delicate face. It was the first time in her life that such a face had been marred.
Moreover, what? Who is the queen?
Her condition was so bad that she had to leave the banquet hall in a hurry, but Megara couldn't imagine that 'Neris Trude' would become the queen.
Since Isette wasn't chosen as the queen, she thought it might be someone from her graduating class or maybe Valentine.
Of course, if that wicked Valentine were chosen as the queen of the ball instead of Megara, she would have been naturally displeased. However, in that case, Megara would have quietly suppressed her anger, preparing to show Valentine her true colors at the next year's graduation ball.
But how dare such a lowly commoner!
The anger didn't subside.
"Lady, the priest has arrived."
The maid closest to Megara said with a worried face. Megara quickly composed her expression.
"Please bring him in."
Finally, the priest entered the luxurious reception room used by Megara as a dormitory.
"Mistress Megara."
Instead of a resident doctor or an apprentice priest who attended to students, the high-ranking priest who came specifically for treatment, for a hefty sum, looked genuinely sympathetic at Megara's face.
He had known Megara from before. The girl who had been such a striking beauty was now pitifully entangled in an unsightly affair on a night when her peers should have been enjoying themselves.
"Father, like this... I apologize for requesting your presence at such a late hour. But really, I'm in so much pain..."
Damn Valentine Elendria. While cursing internally, Megara appealed with a serene face.
It wasn't just that her skin looked grotesque on the surface, but it was also hot and blistered. If she were any other teenage girl, she would have been frantically scratching her face by now.
The priest indeed examined Megara's skin with a compassionate expression. However, no matter how pitiful, even if the lady before him came from a very wealthy family, the eyes of the high priest, who had lived a life seeing only good things, trembled slightly at the sight of the repulsive scene.
Soon, a white radiance flowed from the priest's hands. Megara closed her eyes, hoping to return to normal.
It took a moment to realize that the itching sensation didn't subside.
Slowly, Megara opened her eyes. The priest, with a bewildered expression in his firm eyes, put away the dazzling sacred power in his hands and said,
"It seems like this is not poison, Mistress Megara."
"Yes?"
It was a bolt from the blue.
"Sacred power purifies toxins that harm the body... but... some types of toxins, instead of directly harming the body, are designed to make the body attack itself. Among the ancient poisons held by old families, there are many of that kind."
- Is this what they call the Elendria family's vision poison?
Using the family's poison just for a school ball? Megara found it hard to believe.
It didn't mean Valentine wouldn't dare to do such a thing. Of course, that wicked girl would use poison if she had it.
But in that case, the Elendria family wouldn't have given her the poison. Even if she was their beloved youngest daughter! Isn't the seriousness of the matter different?
Megara's mind became tangled. The priest advised awkwardly.
"Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be any other health issues... You should call a doctor for this. It seems like it needs treatment with medicine."
Considering that ordinary priests look at doctors with disdain, this priest's advice was conscientious. However, Megara didn't feel like admiring the conscience of the last conscience of this era.
Annoyed, Megara sent the priest away with a grimace. A maid approached and asked,
"Shall I request the doctor to come now, my lady?"
"Hurry!"
Megara shouted nervously. The fastest footman in the mansion quickly ran out.
It was all just infuriating.
Megara thought with gritted teeth. The sudden itching on her hands and face... led her, without any other thoughts, to the women's restroom, amidst the stares of the entire ballroom and the suggestion of having lice in her hair.
Specifically, from using the comb and water in the restroom.
In preparation for fixing makeup or arranging hair during the ball, the restroom was equipped with various tools and clean water. And anyone wandering into the restroom could conspire.
Yet, the reason the culprit was identified as Valentine was because Delma, the lady-in-waiting, had peeked into the women's restroom to check on Megara's condition.
The excuse was good. She came to look for her lady's gloves that were missing. Some zealous attendants even prepared extra gloves for their mistress in case she entered the dormitory late at night.
But why were those gloves suddenly in the restroom during the ball?
And why did those gloves start disappearing right after Megara was hit by the damn 'poison'?
When Megara saw the slightly reddened blisters on Delma's hand, she was convinced. Feeling her face swelling rapidly, she gestured to Alekto, who had been with her until then.
Alekto made up an excuse and slapped Delma's cheek. There was a crisp sound, but Megara thought it wasn't enough. She pondered how to punish Delma so that Valentine would feel the pain in her heart, but at that moment, Valentine herself appeared.
After that... arguments, insults, obvious excuses... Eventually, the exhausted Megara entered the dormitory before gathering more attention.
Neris Trude must be wearing the queen's crown right now, triumphant!
She was furious, as if going crazy. Megara started sobbing on the bed.
***
Even as Neris got on Cledwyn's carriage, she still couldn't believe it. She placed the queen's crown on her lap and kept staring at it.
"Why was this given to me?"
"Because everyone has eyes to see."
Earlier, she repeated what she said, and Cledwyn chuckled.
Even though the awards ceremony was over, she couldn't understand the situation.
Being the queen of the ball was a word she had no connection with throughout her life. Very, very vaguely in her childhood, like other students of her age, she had dreamt, but that was truly a very long time ago.
During her long school life in her previous existence, she became unconditionally terrified of the attention of other students. And after becoming an adult, she occupied a prominent seat formally in a position far more important than a school ball.
The queen's crown meant nothing to her now. No, it should have meant nothing.
The jewels embedded in the crown sparkled as they caught the moonlight filtering through the carriage window. Neris suddenly smiled at it.
"...Did you see Valentine's expression?"
From right after the awards ceremony until the end of the ball, Valentine kept staring at Neris. It seemed frustrating and unjust, to the point that anyone seeing it might have thought Neris had stolen Valentine's husband.
Childish as it may be, there was nothing she could do. Initially, the queen's position, which had been annoying and burdensome, became enjoyable thanks to Valentine's attitude.
Even today, the purpose of doing such a thing to Megara was probably related to this crown. If left as it was, Megara would have become the queen.
Even as Megara entered the dormitory, between the embarrassment they caused each other, upon hearing the news that Neris had become the queen, Valentine would probably be even more furious than before.
Honestly, it felt refreshing.
However, after revealing such mischievous thoughts, she felt a bit embarrassed. Neris quickly managed her expression, hoping the darkness of the night would somewhat conceal her smile. Her eyes, slightly tired due to fatigue, looked fresher than usual.
Cledwyn didn't miss the change in her expression. A smile appeared on his face.
"I saw it. Probably everyone did."
And it would take a few days for the scandal that happened today to spread even to the high society.
If Valentine had put on a show in front of important figures in society, then having that mask forcibly removed was no different.
Neris put the queen's crown back in the storage box. She then silently watched the slowly moving scenery outside the window for a while.
Since the students poured out all at once after the ball, the carriage could barely move, and its speed was very slow.
Unlike Diane's dormitory, which was the starting point of today, Neris's dormitory, where the carriage was heading now, was relatively far from the ball venue, so it would take a long time to return.
Having stayed up for several nights, the carriage was dark and quiet. Unintentionally, Neris began to doze off.
Occasionally opening her eyes, as if she had never slept, she stretched her waist and tilted her head, eventually closing her eyes completely.
"Wait."
Cledwyn tapped the coach seat lightly and whispered. The carriage slowly veered off the road.
It happened to be near a lake that Carten boasted about. The moonlight poured around the water's surface, and the green branches rustled.
If seen during the day, the scent of lilacs, which would have turned purple, wafted through the quiet mountain breeze.
Inside the carriage stopped by the lakeside, Cledwyn quietly gazed out the window.
Neris, who had fallen asleep, shuddered slightly. Cledwyn knew this and took off his jacket to cover her.
He couldn't help but smile bitterly. She would be very embarrassed when she woke up.
"If I hadn't been here, would you have slept outside like this? You're such a careless lady."
"Yeah..."
It was a perfect sleep talk. Cledwyn listened carefully, thinking Neris might have woken up, but when she only let out a steady breath for a while, he chuckled again.
"What happened?"
After the two danced, Neris kept glancing at Megara with a strange look. She herself might not have realized it.
How could he not know that there was something wrong between Neris and Megara?
But throughout their school days, Neris never showed emotions to Megara. Even though she didn't see that little girl as pretty, Neris always seemed calm, and even if she were to sow discord among Megara and other noble children, every step was skillfully taken as if following a long-prepared procedure.
But today was different.
As if seeing something terrifying, something dreadful.
While pretending not to, Neris was conscious of Megara. As she did so, she sipped water as if drinking alcohol.
He asked, but Cledwyn didn't expect an answer from the sleeping Neris.
He was just more satisfied now than any moment he had lived in the past few years.
Neris flinched again. Then, with her eyes closed, she murmured in a light voice like a gentle breeze.
"Where... are we...?"
"In the carriage. Go back to sleep. We haven't arrived yet."
It was a brazen answer. However, Neris murmured as if understanding, "Ah..." softly.
The murmur didn't end powerfully and turned into a breath in her closed mouth.
Would she be uncomfortable? Cledwyn wondered.
He had stopped the carriage not to take her to the room quickly but because he was worried she might get tired if the carriage continued to sway. Also, if the carriage stood on the road with other carriages, it would be noisy.
He had planned to quietly take her to the room through the back path once she fell completely asleep. But it seemed she couldn't fall asleep properly.
As he pondered what to do, a gentle voice, like a gentle breeze, brushed past his ear again.
"Today... don't go. Please... just for today..."
What did she say?
Cledwyn looked at Neris in shock. And soon realized.
She was sleep talking.
With very faint tears streaming down her face.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein