Chapter 42
“Alfred, you don’t look well. Are you still sick?”
After Izana and the others left for Elahi, only Alfred and Lottie were left in the large mansion.
Lottie was busy taking care of Alfred.
“I feel bad that we let the young lady go to Elahi. She’s still so young… And that disease is spreading there. Even the Archduke is only fifteen. I think we made a mistake.”
Lottie, hearing that, thought to herself, “Is that all?”
After all, wasn’t Izana the [Materia]?
Lottie no longer doubted Izana’s identity.
“She brought Alfred to me.”
Alfred was from a noble family, kind, sincere, and too good for someone like her.
So she had never imagined she’d have someone like him.
“Lottie, why are you crying?”
Izana had given him to her—someone she thought she could never be with.
She saved her. So to Lottie, Izana was truly a savior.
Even if she wasn’t [Materia], she still saved her heart.
“You’re my goddess, my lady. I’ll follow you forever.”
It was the start of a deep and strong belief.
Lottie wiped her tears and smiled.
“Don’t worry, Alfred. My lady is strong. And the Archduke is even stronger. Instead of worrying, you should focus on getting better so you can help her later.”
She wiped his sweaty forehead with a towel and smiled again.
“I’ll go get you something to eat and drink. You’ve lost so much weight! No wonder you’re not recovering fast.”
“…Wonder whose fault that is.”
“Ehehe~”
Lottie giggled and left the room.
“Humming~”
She started humming happily.
“Maybe I should cook something for my lady when she returns. Using a few ingredients won’t hurt.”
With a spring in her step, Lottie explored the big house.
It was just her and Alfred, and it felt like everything in the house belonged to her. It was strangely fun.
After grabbing food and water, she headed back to Alfred’s room.
But then she froze.
Far down the hallway, she saw unfamiliar men.
Crash!
The food and water she was carrying fell from her hands.
“That’s her. Red hair, freckles.”
“Were we told to kill the girl?”
“Yeah. Kill the girl and burn the house. Make sure the painting in the lobby and the safe on the fifth floor are destroyed too.”
The men were dressed in black with black masks. They didn’t even try to hide the swords in their hands.
“The lady told me to stay here…”
But Lottie wasn’t too scared.
Because her little lady—the young prophet—had told her to stay.
***
In a small village called Elahi in the Rohia territory…
The village was usually peaceful. The most exciting thing was when a baby was born.
But today, cries of mourning filled the air.
“Oh no… How could this happen…”
An old woman whispered in shock.
Her husband, the village chief Robenin, was lying on the ground bleeding.
“Step back.”
A cold voice stabbed through them.
The old woman rushed to help her husband.
Behind them, the villagers were lined up with heavy bags.
They wanted to leave the village.
But soldiers were blocking their way.
With huge shields in one hand and long spears in the other, they pushed and stabbed to keep everyone inside.
“You can’t cross this line. Go back.”
The old woman begged, “Are you telling us to die here…?”
“Stay in your homes. Lock the doors. For your safety and everyone else’s.”
“Please, at least let the children go. Adults can stay… Please…”
Bang!
The soldiers all slammed their shields on the ground.
There was no way out.
From early morning, the smell of dead bodies had spread.
The old woman closed her eyes.
Tears slowly ran down her wrinkled face.
***
“Ugh… Mmph…”
I quickly covered my mouth with my hand to stop myself from throwing up.
My legs were shaking.
I was flying through the sky.
“This is worse than Doraemon! Who rides something like a bamboo helicopter?!”
Okay, it wasn’t a bamboo helicopter—it was a dragon.
To be exact, it was Winter Orsheus, the Archduke, in dragon form.
His white scales were smooth and shiny.
…Too smooth. I kept slipping off!
“Archduke… Can you fly a bit slower…?”
“If I move my wings any slower, we’ll fall. And dying from a fall is painful.”
Lena ran away the moment she realized Winter would fly us to Elahi.
She probably couldn’t ask him to carry her too, so she just disappeared.
Now I had no one to share this horrible experience with.
“There. That’s Elahi.”
I opened my eyes slowly.
Below us, I saw a small village between the forest and the sea.
“We need to land in the forest. The villagers mustn’t see the Archduke’s true form.”
So we landed in a large forest near Elahi.
“Kyaaah!”
As soon as Winter landed, I screamed.
The dragon vanished into thin air—and I fell.
Thankfully, I only fell about the height of a tall man before Winter caught me.
He gently held me in the air.
“You’re really scared of me, aren’t you?”
He looked like a burned mannequin from a destroyed mall.
My fake smile faded.
“…I’m just scared of heights.”
Winter walked over and said calmly,
“Do you know what fear smells like?”
“…No?”
“It smells like a swamp. Just like you now.”
I shrugged, trying to act playful.
“It’s rude to say that to a lady.”
“I used to like that smell. I still kind of do.”
His eyes had a strange light.
Wait… his eyes were always like that.
“People who smelled like that usually didn’t cause me trouble. They died quickly.”
I couldn’t say a word.
“That’s why your scent worries me.”
***
One hour later.
I was sitting alone in a forest clearing near Elahi.
Winter told me not to leave this spot, or I’d get infected by evil.
“I hope he’s doing okay…”
Winter went to evacuate the villagers.
In the original story, he used a violent method—destroying part of the village so people would run away.
Since people couldn’t live in an infected area anyway, it made sense.
But I suggested a different plan this time.
Winter’s public image was already bad.
To help fix that, I asked him to evacuate people without revealing himself.
Rumble.
A strange noise came from the beach area.
I listened carefully.
And then—
“YOU FOOL!”
“Holy crap!”
A random old man jumped out and scared me!
And I believe in respecting elders!
But not when they sneak up like that!
“Hehe, that was a loud scream.”
I turned around and saw a white-haired old man smiling.
“…Grandpa?!”
It was Herdez Ferres, the royal physician sent by the Emperor.
Why on earth was he hiding in the forest?!
