***
An hour later, the old Lady’s complexion looked far better than it had at first.
Chael smiled brightly and explained kindly.
“Ta-da. The basic treatment is finished!”
Leaning against the bed, the grandmother lightly moved her hand.
Someone who had needed time just to sit up now looked recovered enough to move freely.
At the clearly improved sight, Hedmilton’s eyes widened.
“Wow, this is bad. Seeing strength back in my grandma’s arm, my father is as good as dead now.”
“You little brat. Watch your mouth in front of guests.”
Tap. His grandmother lightly smacked Hedmilton on the forehead, then, as if nothing had happened, smiled demurely toward Liselotte.
“I apologize for this lacking grandson of mine causing you trouble.”
Having finished the treatment, Chael and the priests were busily preparing to leave.
One of the priests beside Chael checked the time, then startled and shouted,
“High Priest. We need to leave now or we will be late for the next treatment.”
“Oh, where is the next one?”
“Just a moment, if you look here…”
The priest rummaged through his robes, pulled out a piece of parchment, and explained something to him.
Chael merely listened with a constant grin on his face.
Among the priests hurriedly getting ready to depart, Priest Wat kept glancing back several times, as if reluctant to leave.
It had been so hard to secure a date. Judging by this, his claim that he was truly busy and had kept postponing appointments had not been a lie after all.
It was fortunate that they had been able to squeeze in even this empty slot early.
‘The power of a tenfold donation…’
As Liselotte let out a quiet breath inwardly, Chael approached and suddenly leaned his head in.
“I am leaving.”
As the priests showed signs of departing, Lady Rovans opened the drawer of the small bedside table next to the bed.
Inside was a religious token identical to the ones the priests were carrying.
She clasped the holy object tightly and bowed her head.
“I offer my thanks to the representative of the God Donia.”
As everyone began to rise from their seats, Chael lifted both hands and slowly waved them as if pressing down on the air.
“It is fine. More importantly, the Grandmother’s treatment is complete, but muscles do not recover through divine power. You will need to exercise and have a priest check on you regularly.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than a middle-aged priest who had been waiting raised his hand high.
“Grandma, I will visit you every week! My divine power is tiny, but I do have some!”
“Then Priest Wat will be in charge of you from now on.”
Chael agreed readily, smiling as he gathered his disheveled hair over one shoulder.
Seeing how visibly improved his grandmother looked, Hedmilton also offered his thanks with his usual blank expression.
“Thank you, High Priest.”
“It was all thanks to God. The treatment was paid by Princess Liselotte… no, wait. Um… now it was paid by Her Highness the Grand Duchess.”
The carelessness with which he even got her title wrong in the middle of all this was astonishing.
Behind him, Priest Wat hovered.
Quietly stepping forward to stand in front of Chael, he bowed deeply.
“Um, High Priest… if it is not presumptuous, I would like to stay behind today and check on Grandma’s condition… if it would not interfere with your next schedule…”
“Of course. You said she is like family to you, did you not? Then you should stay.”
At the readily given permission, the priest bowed deeply.
“Thank you, High Priest! I will follow the schedule properly starting tomorrow!”
“Since it is almost evening anyway, there is not much left on the schedule.”
Watching him hand over the belongings he had been packing entirely to a colleague, Chael spun around and greeted everyone.
“Then may the blessing of the god Donia be with you. See you again, Your Highness.”
After offering the formal farewell, Chael even went out of his way to give Liselotte a small wave.
The gesture was friendly enough to make her suspicious.
‘There is no one in this world who is kind without a reason except scammers…’
With an inexplicable sense of unease, Liselotte tilted her head.
Once Priest Wat and Ail went out to see Chael off, the room grew quiet.
Unlike before, Lady Rovans cleared her throat with a voice that now carried strength and slowly straightened herself up.
Someone who had not been able to rise without Hedmilton’s support now sat upright on her own.
“Thank you, Your Highness. I do not know how I could ever repay this kindness…”
Liselotte hurriedly straightened the woman’s shoulders as she bowed too deeply.
“It’s all right. Even aside from your situation, I had been checking the High Priest’s schedule anyway. We were just lucky.”
Her gaze was drawn to the religious token clutched in the woman’s hand.
The object, shaped more like a plus sign than a cross, had four pillars made of silver, with green crystals set in the center and at the tips.
It seemed she had worn it as a necklace; a thin, shimmering green thread was looped through the single ring on one side.
Overall, it bore clear signs of use, worn smooth by time and touch.
To steer away from the excessive gratitude, Liselotte asked lightly,
“The priests’ ones had silver with green crystals too. But yours looks a bit different?”
At that moment, a sharp light flared in Eren’s eyes.
The intensity was so ominous that the old Lady’s shoulders trembled slightly.
Caught off guard by his reaction, Liselotte was momentarily bewildered.
Unable to ignore the pressure of it, her gaze was naturally drawn to Eren.
Weakened though she was, the woman tightened her grip on the holy object and asked him,
“W-Why, what is the matter? If this old woman was foolish and made a mistake, please forgive me…”
“That thread. Where did you get it?”
“Huh?”
“I am asking about that green thread attached to the religious token.”
Only then did Liselotte notice the green thread.
It was nothing particularly special at a glance.
Just a thin thread twisted together several times, yet it was fine and shimmering, enough to suggest it was not a cheap material.
Surprisingly, it was a material Liselotte remembered.
“It’s World Tree thread. Right?”
Lady Rovans quietly nodded.
For the woman who had only just risen from her sickbed, Liselotte tightly held Eren’s hand and continued explaining.
“It was a thread that was briefly popular when I was young. It was made from a monster’s fur, but sales were quickly discontinued when the species went extinct.”
It was not an actual World Tree thread, just a name given to it.
It did not wear down, and the shimmer was beautiful, so many young ladies wanted to use it for dress embroidery.
But it was hard to obtain, and no one ever succeeded.
It had only enjoyed a very brief surge in popularity.
Because it appeared and disappeared over such a short period, not many people remembered it now.
Eren asked her with a fairly serious expression.
“You know this thread. Where was it sold? Who distributed it?”
“Uh…”
As she searched her memory, Lady Rovans answered instead.
“A very long time ago, it was sold by House Gloria.”
“House Gloria? Are you certain?”
The low tone of Eren’s voice as he pressed the question was so vicious it sounded as though he might kill someone.
So there was something to this.
Perhaps sensing it as well, Lady Rovans untied the string from the religious token and neatly placed it on the bed.
“I owe my life to House Keilos. I do not know the reason, but if this is something you need, I will give it to you. If there is anything you wish to ask, please do.”
“Fifteen years ago. Someone came carrying something made from this thread.”
There was no detailed explanation, but everyone in the room recalled a single incident.
‘The day shadows launched a surprise attack on Grand Duke Keilos’ estate.’
Lady Rovans rubbed her arms, goosebumps rising, and swallowed her dry saliva.
Eren, suppressing his anger as much as he could, asked quietly,
“Was it a monster that appeared only in the East?”
“Yes. At the time, the Rovans merchant guild also tried to distribute it, but House Gloria allowed distribution only to a very small number of close associates. We tried every possible way, but even I could only barely obtain this much and never secured enough quantity to sell.”
“Hah. An Eastern monster that went extinct, so it would have been difficult for the North to know about it.”
Eren let out a short, scornful laugh.
Listening silently to the conversation, LiseLotte pressed her lips together.
‘So it was House Gloria that carried out the attack?’
At the very least, someone connected to them was clearly involved.
Eren seemed to be thinking the same, his golden eyes sinking heavily.
“They were already an eyesore. This works out well.”
The atmosphere was ominous enough that even Hedmilton, who usually blurted out offbeat remarks, kept his mouth shut.
