Chapter 28
“It’s cold.”
Tessarion pulled my cloak tighter around me. I glanced around nervously and gently pushed his hand away, stepping back.
“Is your stomach feeling better?”
“Yes.”
“The Crown Prince is the type to hold grudges. We were lucky this time, but next time, even if he draws his sword, do not step in.”
“……”
I lowered my head and didn’t reply. Tessarion lifted my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze.
“I said, don’t step in.”
His order was sharp and final. I pressed my lips together and answered softly, reluctantly.
“……Understood.”
“Good.”
He patted my shoulder, then turned toward the Black Wolf Knights, who were unpacking to prepare for camping. I followed behind him.
I could feel the burning stares on the back of my head. It was the First Imperial Knights, unpacking their gear by the river. Right in their midst stood Heliote, eyes bloodshot with rage, grinding his teeth furiously.
“Duke, may I go apologize to His Highness?”
I asked Tessarion. He glanced toward the river, then pulled me to his other side so Heliote couldn’t see me.
“Ignore him.”
Heliote clicked his tongue in disbelief. He sneered, mouthing something I couldn’t hear but could read clearly.
‘How very… interesting.’
Even though it was such a typical villain line, it sent chills down my spine.
Heliote wasn’t jealous because of Berieta. His words were aimed at Tessarion, who refused to let me out of his sight.
“Haa……”
My stomach began churning again. I swallowed hard, lowering my head.
Drip, drip.
Raindrops began to fall.
The first spring rain had come.
It should have been joyous news that winter was finally ending, but it also meant the mountain roads to Claremont Castle would turn into muddy swamps, and the melting snow could cause floods.
I couldn’t sleep. Once Tessarion had fallen deeply asleep, I quietly slipped out of the tent. The knight on watch jumped in surprise.
“……”
I bit down hard on my lip as I stared at Berieta’s tent. It was set up near the river, and faint pained cries were leaking out.
“Is Her Highness very unwell?”
Unlike Heliote’s hangover or my motion sickness, Berieta’s pain was different. Whenever the weather turned bad, her old leg injury flared up terribly.
The knight frowned and sighed.
“The painkillers aren’t working. They’ve poured crates of holy water from the capital on her, and still nothing. Cursed, they say. That’s why there are rumors Demon Guenters isn’t really dead…”
Another knight clicked his tongue.
“Sending a cursed woman to marry the Duke and bear an heir… the Emperor has completely abandoned the North.”
“Abandoned? He’s the one who assassinated the previous Duke.”
“They covered up the investigation so fast. Peace? Don’t make me laugh… tsk.”
The northern knights loyal to Claremont spat out their words with hatred.
As expected from the original plot.
I let out a quiet sigh of relief. Even if things were unfolding as I knew them, my chest still felt unbearably heavy.
“Hey, the Duke said you shouldn’t go there…”
The knight tried to stop me, but I pulled up my hood and strode out into the rain.
“Haa… ah… ugh…”
Berieta’s cries grew louder, mixed with sobs. I frowned as I saw how swollen the river had become.
“What’s going on?” a knight guarding her tent asked warily.
“Do you have any mana stones?”
“What?”
“If you lend me one for a moment, I can ease Her Highness’s pain.”
I spoke bluntly. The knight circled around me, eyeing me suspiciously. It didn’t look like he planned to move aside.
“Not prayer, but a mana stone? So you can use magic too, huh?”
“Yes. A little.”
“Oh? You can, huh?”
He scoffed at me with a mocking laugh, but I replied shamelessly.
“If I use a limited area heat spell, the rain around her tent will dry up. If I inscribe the spell circle with the Holy Sword, it will carry divine energy as well. She’ll rest easier tonight.”
The knight scoffed again but eventually pulled a small green mana stone from his pouch and handed it over.
“Thank you.”
It was small, but the quality was decent. Its weight and glow told me it held enough power to last through the night.
I summoned the Holy Sword engraved on the back of my hand. Ash-grey wings spread out, casting a soft light around me.
The Imperial knights raised their weapons warily. I approached slowly and carved a magic circle into a large tree beside Berieta’s tent.
When I placed the mana stone in the center, the tree lit up with a warm orange glow, like flipping a switch.
Warm air spread out, and the rain around her tent weakened.
“Roy…”
Berieta called to me from inside. I needed to return before Tessarion woke, but my feet wouldn’t move.
“Thank you, Roy…”
Her gentle, faint voice brought up old, buried emotions.
I remembered my third life, when I first met Berieta and secretly admired her.
Back then, I thought of her only as a political sacrifice, a pawn to soothe the empire’s unstable situation.
But Berieta had never simply accepted her fate. She worked tirelessly to be recognized as Duchess despite the cold treatment she received.
She cared for the families of impoverished servants, visited widows and orphans who had lost loved ones in the war, and sought ways to support them.
As a vitality mage, she couldn’t ignore people suffering from sadness or depression.
…But despite all the time and love she poured out, she was never repaid.
One time, a widow came to curse her for not curing her illness, calling her a false saint. Even though Berieta had never promised healing.
She bowed her head to that woman and said:
“I’m sorry. I’m no saint, nor a healing mage. I’m a mage of vitality. All I can do is give you the strength to endure your pain and keep moving forward.”
A vitality mage.
A mage who couldn’t heal her own disability, nor cure anyone else’s sickness.
People called her useless, a hypocrite wearing an angel’s mask, a cursed crippled princess.
But to me, she was a dazzlingly bright and beautiful person.
During my eighth life, when I was Tessarion’s squire, I once fell asleep in a library corner while calculating teleport coordinates to return to Earth.
“Are you calculating universal coordinates?”
I awoke to find Berieta there, eyes sparkling as she read my notes.
“How fascinating. Could I learn this too?”
From my fifth to eighth life, I’d been trapped trying to master space-time magic. I failed again and again, loop after loop, despairing against an impossible wall. Her curiosity and hope gave me a reason to keep living each day.
I swallowed down the bittersweet memories. A supporting male lead who could never end up with the heroine had no right to speak to her casually.
‘It’s nothing. Don’t mention it.’
I bowed deeply and began walking back to Tessarion’s tent.
Piiiii—BOOM!
A sudden crimson flash exploded in the dark forest. All the knights jumped to their feet, weapons raised.
Between the sound of soft rain, I heard quick rustling and breaking branches approaching fast.
【KRAH! KRAKRAKRAK!】
“Monsters! Monsters… AARGH!”
The scout who’d been running back vanished in an instant.
A chilling silence fell.
The tree I had enchanted flickered like an emergency beacon. Clutching my aching left hand, I frowned deeply.
“Monsters…?”
