117.
“No, why did that come off? And so suddenly……”
“Haha, well.”
It was the same gentle answer as always, but I felt an inexplicable sense that something was off and looked closely again at the bracelet in his hand.
“……!”
Then I shot upright.
“Uh, what’s wrong with this?”
“It isn’t much of a problem.”
The bracelet in Prien’s hand differed from my memory in one way. The color of the transparent jewel that should have been embedded in the center of the silver bracelet was……
It had changed to an opaque jade green.
“Baron, it’s all right. I was by your side the whole time……”
In the end, Prien smiled with a slightly troubled expression.
“Mm. In any case, it’s a good thing that it can be returned to you.”
“……The more I hear, the more I think this isn’t a good thing at all!”
My head suddenly spun, and my vision dimmed. When I held my forehead, Prien quickly laid me back down.
Is this really…… a situation where it’s okay for me to be lying down……?
Even as I stared at the ceiling slowly spinning, I was worried.
“First, you need to rest. I’ll say it again, it isn’t much of a problem.”
I replied gloomily.
“I’d like to hear an explanation about that problem that supposedly isn’t much of a problem……”
“It seems the power contained within the artifact has completely disappeared.”
“……”
“In other words, this can now be considered an ordinary bracelet.”
“If the people of the temple find out, may I ask what sort of reaction…… you think they’ll have……?”
“I doubt any of them will be particularly pleased.”
“……”
Feeling dizzy all over again, I lifted both hands and covered my face. It felt as if the fever that had barely gone down was rising again.
Then I heard a low laugh by my ear.
You can laugh in this situation? When I might be dragged off to some secluded place deep in the temple and made to take responsibility for this?
Even when I lowered my hands and glared at him with a touch of resentment, Prien could not stop laughing right away.
“Ah, I apologize.”
He smiled one last time and added.
“The temple will likely be able to make a more accurate judgment because of this incident. There have been divided opinions internally all this time over how you managed to shatter the crystal.”
“Was shattering the crystal really that difficult?”
“At the very least, no one had ever managed it until now.”
It was to that extent?
“That’s why everyone has been quite interested in you, Baron, whether openly or not. But now this will explain it.”
Only after hearing that did my mind slowly begin to turn.
Prien was saying that the bracelet’s power had acted upon the crystal and shattered it.
Considering the sacrificial offering incident last time and this situation, it was a perfectly reasonable inference.
“Since the bracelet’s power has served its purpose, this is a problem the temple should willingly bear.”
Only then did I understand the circumstances and let out a sigh of relief.
“Couldn’t you have told me the conclusion first? You scared me.”
“……”
Prien’s answer was subtly delayed. When I belatedly realized he had been teasing me from the start and glared, Prien spoke first.
“Baron, I told you from the beginning that it was all right.”
“Is this something you do to someone who just collapsed? I just woke up, you know? That’s completely rude, rude!”
“Oh dear, getting worked up isn’t good for your body. I was wrong, so please calm down, Baron.”
With a faint, gentle smile, Prien patted my shoulder as if soothing a child.
“Ah, forget it.”
Then Prien’s expression grew slightly serious.
“And as for the temple, I will take proper measures so that nothing happens, however unlikely, but……”
When I immediately shut my mouth and looked at him, swallowing hard, Prien, whose expression nearly collapsed for a moment, asked again with seriousness.
“From now on, could you also think a little about your own safety, Baron?”
He wasn’t wrong.
It was only natural that he could think that way.
“If you promise me that you will.”
“……”
“I will make a promise to you as well, Baron.”
“What promise?”
“That if it is something you give me, I will drink it, whatever it may be.”
“……”
“Even if it is an antidote, I will do so gladly. Since this is the only bargain I can make for your sake.”
Prien set the bracelet down on the bedside table, then picked up the wooden box beside it.
After quietly placing it in my hand, Prien said.
“Congratulations on obtaining the ‘Heart of Merinis,’ Baron.”
I lowered my gaze and looked at the wooden box in my hand.
Just one more.
Now, if I could only obtain the ‘Lawson Leaf’……
As my hand naturally tightened around the wooden box, Prien’s hand covered it.
“Because you would not believe me, Baron, if I promised that even after drinking the antidote, I would still be on your side.”
“Still, thank you for saying that. Mm, I’ll promise too. ……That I’ll be careful from now on.”
It felt as if a grudge I hadn’t even known existed between us was dissolving.
Only then did I realize anew that both he and I had come to know each other well enough that even with our hands touching, I could feel this at ease.
Peering into another person’s memories was, in truth, an extremely painful thing for me as well.
So painful that it would not have been strange if I had given up midway.
Even so, not for a single moment did I reverse my decision to shatter the crystal. I only thought that I had to do it, no matter what.
Because three people had been frozen unconscious behind me.
In truth, there was nothing one could newly call a clearly defined relationship between them and me.
We merely shared a rather inadequate position, difficult to put forward openly, to the point that we had even had to pretend to be a false married couple.
Yet I thought that perhaps, later on, I might miss this inexplicable bond that had accumulated over time.
Perhaps in this world, it isn’t only clear relationships that hold meaning.
So in the end, perhaps they had come to hold at least a little meaning in my life.
Whether that was a good thing for me or a bad thing, I still could not readily decide.
* * *
Bella’s complexion was not very good. Even so, her expression was brighter than ever.
“Are you leaving now, then?”
“I’m planning to depart early tomorrow morning.”
So this meeting today could be considered, in a manner of speaking, a farewell.
As if she realized that, all sorts of emotions seemed to cross Bella’s face.
“Perhaps I simply didn’t have the courage to ask Karl myself.”
“I understand. Once you become the person involved, even things you could see become invisible, and even simple problems feel complicated.”
“Somehow, you sound like you’ve experienced that before.”
I shrugged and smiled.
“It’s a little late, but thank you. For saving me back then.”
“It was nothing.”
“And I heard there was a small accident at the place I told you about? Karl told me.”
“Mm, it wasn’t anything serious. What did he say?”
Because I couldn’t know how much Bella knew, I had to choose my words sparingly. As if Bella guessed as much, she gave a slight nod.
“He seemed reluctant to talk about it, so I didn’t ask any further. And it seems you wish for the same, Baron.”
This time too, I merely smiled.
“Even if you heard it, it wouldn’t have been a very pleasant story.”
As if Bella had already thought it through, she immediately brought up the next topic.
“For several days after I met you that day, Baron, I kept thinking about it. I couldn’t remember where I’d seen the fact that ‘the heart of Merinis is used as an ingredient in the antidote.’”
Then again, even in the capital, it hadn’t been easy to gather materials on the antidote.
Bella, who must have lived here all her life, couldn’t possibly have known enough about the antidote to recall it at once just from overhearing our conversation.
“So, did you remember?”
“Yes. I’d read it in Karl’s secret study.”
Bella placed a book on the table.
“I found it there. As you know, the late former Viscount Paraton was an extraordinary collector, so all sorts of incredibly rare things would pop up out of nowhere.”
I carefully turned the faded, worn cover of the book, whose title was no longer properly legible.
There were already bookmarks inserted in several passages.
“I marked them in case they might help. There were mentions of the antidote.”
At Bella’s words, I immediately turned my gaze to those passages.
“……The propositions to be judged on this basis are as follows. First, all affection can be erased by a greater affection. Second, the purpose of the antidote’s ingredients is to awaken the subject’s free will, including the autonomy, subjectivity, and independence inherent within the target……”
Research materials focused on the antidote rather than the potion were extremely rare, so I read on with interest.
And when I reached a certain sentence, I suddenly stopped reading.
“……Lastly, I append to the main text one rumor concerning the antidote.
There is a way to completely escape the effects of the potion without taking the antidote.
The method is very simple. One need only love someone other than the potion’s intended target.
A yearning so fierce and pure that even the potion cannot break it,
a love that does not fade even under a curse, can save oneself.”
I let out a faint laugh.
‘Nonsense.’
I closed the book with an audible snap and looked at Bella. As though she had been waiting, Bella spoke.
“Take it with you, Baron. It’s my farewell gift to you.”
“Thank you.”
I grinned.