TGHB 47

Chapter – 47

Due to fainting from using my ability, I didn’t know what had happened to the tree.
Whether it had been properly fixed.
Or if it had failed.

“Onabeoni. What happened to the tree?”
“Well, about that-“

“It lived.”
A deep voice interrupted and cut off Louis’s words.

I looked up at the former Duke, my eyes sparkling.
“Really? It lived?”
“Yes. I went to check the spot where you collapsed, just in case. The tree that was dying had turned a vivid green and come back to life.”

The former Duke paused for a moment, his gaze drifting into the air.
As if looking at something far, far away.

“It was a tree that definitely wouldn’t budge no matter what we tried. And now… it’s alive and green, just like when it was healthy… like when my wife was still alive.”

Soon, his gaze, which had been fixed on the air, returned to me.

“Fluffy Candy.”
“…Yeth?”
“I heard you revived that tree for me. Knowing it was a tree precious to me.”

I rolled my eyes and then slowly nodded.
‘Strictly speaking, I wanted to comfort Louis more…’
But it was also true that part of it was because I knew the tree was cherished by the former Duke.

“Yeth. Because Harabujji’s tree was precious, and Louith Onabeoni told me tho.”
“I see. So it was for me…”

Trailing off, he ruffled my head vigorously with his large hand.
My white hair scattered messily, tickling my forehead.
As I was going “ooph-ooph” for a while, the Duke thwacked and grabbed his father’s hand.

“That’s enough. Someone might think you’re grooming a horse.”
“What did you say?”
“Are your eyes so dim you’re mistaking the child for a beast?”
“Hoh, listen to this guy talk! My eyes are perfectly fine, you rascal! And I wasn’t even petting her that hard. Tsk, tsk.”

Grumbling and complaining, the former Duke withdrew his hand from my head.
The Duke, who had pushed him away, smoothed down my disheveled hair.

“You look like a complete little bandit.”
Though his words weren’t the least bit delicate.

“A… a bandith?”
“No. Not a bandit, more like a pirate?”
…What’s the difference?

That night.
A room lit by a single faint candle.

Contiare left the room, listening to the sound of the sleeping child’s breathing.
Creak, thud.
He closed the door quietly and leaned his back against it.

“Phew.”
The sigh he let out was deep.

Dragging his reluctant feet back to his own room, he found an unwelcome person standing stubbornly at the door.

“About time you showed up.”
“She just fell asleep now.”

Contiare answered dryly and entered the room.
Carlos naturally followed him in.

“Hmph. With you watching over her with eyes wide open, the kid probably felt too burdened to sleep, didn’t she?”
“I’m not in the mood to argue. Just go and get some rest.”

Contiare, seeming tired, plopped down on the sofa.
A profound fatigue emanated from his head thrown back against it.

Carlos, who had been silently standing and watching him, twitched an eyebrow.

“…You’re more serious than I thought.”
“About what?”
“That child. You seem to genuinely consider her your daughter.”

At Carlos’s words, Contiare flinched.
He closed his eyes and smiled bitterly.

“I told you from the beginning I was serious.”

But, well.
‘I didn’t know I would become this serious, though.’

My heart is still pounding.
My hands and feet also still feel tingly.

“…What? What did you just say?”
“The young lady… she collapsed.”

He hadn’t been in his right mind since the moment he heard Meloni’s news.
A feeling of his head going blank in an instant.
He didn’t even remember how he made it to the child’s room.

“…Meloni. Marshmallow.”
“……”
“Come to your senses, my daughter.”

Labella’s face seemed to overlap over the child’s quietly closed eyes.
He urgently called for a doctor.
One wasn’t enough; he called for four.
The doctors all said the child was perfectly fine.

But.

“Then why isn’t she waking up? If she’s fine, why won’t she wake up?”

It was a full four hours.
During the four hours the child’s eyes remained closed, he felt like he was going mad.
It felt like being trapped in an endless hell.

Fortunately, the child opened her eyes.
Just as the doctors said, she was perfectly fine, without a single ailment. Only then could Contiare catch his breath.
It was only then he realized he had been holding his breath the whole time.

“Anyone seeing you would think you were the one who collapsed. You’ve gone utterly pale.”
“I said I’m not in the mood to argue.”
“Tsk. Brat.”

Carlos shook his head and gazed intently at his son with closed eyes.
‘…It’s been four years since I’ve seen him like that.’
Seeing his ever-smooth, annoyingly nonchalant son looking so unraveled like that.
It’s the first time since hearing the news of Labella and Sienna’s accident.

‘…When did that child become such an existence?’
It hasn’t been long since he met and brought that child home.
When did he give his heart to her to this extent?

On one hand, it was a relief; on the other, it was unsettling.
It seemed his son, who had been living meaninglessly after Labella’s death, had found meaning in life again.

But.
‘If something were to happen to that child as well, then this time…’

Shudder.
Carlos, his body trembling, furrowed his brow.

The town area of the Duchy.
Four tired men sat around a table in a small tavern, drinking.
All four were the doctors who had been summoned to the Ducal residence today.

“Whew… I’m alive, what a relief… Sniffle.”
“That was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. I hope I never have to go to the Ducal residence again.”
“Me too. I really thought today was the day of my memorial service.”
“All I can do is thank the Young Lady. For opening her eyes perfectly fine, and for protecting us when we were being berated. She really… is an angel beyond compare.”
“That’s right, absolutely!”
“Hear, hear!”

Everyone raised their glasses and shouted in agreement with the ‘Young Lady Angel Theory.’
The slightly tipsy gathering broke up after repeating the toasts about five times.

“Ah, I think we should be going now.”
“Right. I have patients tomorrow…”
“I’m not! Huh?! I’m not, I absholutely won’t become the ducal family’s dedicated doctor! I won’t dooo it…!”
“Whoa, this one is thoroughly drunk.”

Two doctors supported the heavily intoxicated doctor.
Another doctor, who had subtly slipped to the back, bowed to the three.

“My apologies, but I have a secondary appointment, you see. Haha. I’ll leave Lord Velte in your care.”
“My, look at this traitor!”
“Haha. Please forgive me just this once. I’ll treat you all to a meal next time instead.”
“Well then, just this once. Dylan, you’ll definitely buy us a meal next time, right?”
“Yes. I will.”

Only after extracting the promise repeatedly did the three stagger away.
The smile on Dylan’s face vanished, replaced by a cold expression.
After glancing around, he pulled up his hood and entered an alleyway.

After walking through the winding alley for a while, he arrived at a shabby restaurant.

“Welcome.”
“I’m here to meet someone. He should already be here.”
“Yes. You can go this way.”

The restaurant owner pointed to a wardrobe.
Dylan exchanged a glance with him and opened the wardrobe door.
Pushing the inner wall of the wardrobe aside revealed a staircase.
Dylan walked down the stairs familiarly.

The basement he soon arrived at was a small space that could barely fit three people.
On the empty wall, a single large mirror hung conspicuously.

“Phew.”

He let out a breath mixed with tension and sat in front of the mirror.
Not long after, the mirror rippled and someone’s figure appeared.

“What is the matter, Dylan?”
“I pay my respects to our Great Archbishop.”
“We’ve dispensed with greetings, so could you state your business?”

The man’s tone was polite but cold.
Dylan opened his mouth, his face tense.

“I visited the Pantheibe Ducal residence today.”

Instantly, the air changed.