SS: Alatia’s gentle side
"My lady?! Isn't that..." The healer who was curing Kyle gasped upon seeing the ruby droplet Alatia was holding between her fingers and extending it toward Kyle's mouth.
The Tears of Phoenix was worth several million gold coins which could only be bought through foreign trade and only the Emperor had the right to import them.
The Phoenix Tear she held could easily afford the ration for a month for a whole town and the scarcity of the medicine has always kept Pheonix Tears in high demand.
And Alatia was going to use it on a measly ex-noble servant?
There was more than enough reason for the church resident to raise the objection.
However, Altia didn't think twice before feeding Kyle the Tear as some words escaped her lips, "With the pace you are healing him, it would take more than a week for him to regain consciousness. And I couldn't continue my daily life without him."
The nun, who rushed to the mansion upon Alatia's summon, raised her brows in pure shock. For the Princess to be so dependent on a single servant...to the point she was spending such a valuable medicine?
Once Kyle gulped down the Tear, Alatia turned to look at the nun before asking, "I don't find any use of yours anymore."
The older one gulped, finding those cold violet eyes weighing down her whole person before she bowed to the young girl and rushed out of the room.
Alatia didn't say anything after that and turned her attention back to Kyle.
His face had already healed up and so had all his internal injuries—thanks to the healer who stabilized his condition and Phoenix Tear she just ingested him.
Seeing his complexion recovering, Alatia sighed as her hand subconsciously reached for his head.
It was then,
"Excuse me, Your Highness." The voice of Knight Commander disturbed Alatia's calming mood before she turned to look at him.
The tall man with a slanted scar on his face was the security chief and also the Captain of the battalion under Alatia's command—Commander Rollen Schrinshoff.
There was a person in Rollen's hold, who seemed to be pretty thrashed and torn. This was the same man who knew about Kyle's imprisonment and also the fact that Kyle hadn't escaped the prison. However, he didn't say anything to the authorities and kept his mouth shut. And now that his other comrades had died, he was also planning to abscond—only to get caught by the patrolling unit.
The gleam in her eyes shifted from annoyance to murderous.
The captive flinched before raising his head. His body trembled under the immense bloodlust Alatia was permeating.
Rollen coldly hurled the captive to the ground before stepping back. His duty was fulfilled in delivering the accused alive; now, everything rested on Alatia.
"Y-Young Lady....p-please have mercy...I swear to god...I didn't know...P-Please tru-..."
**KHLANK**
Not even twice did she think before creating four ice pincers and stabbing the man to death.
Her control over magic and the precision she used to hit all his vital spots, greatly surprised Rollen, as he saw the accused's blood spreading nearing his boot.
Looking back at the young lady, who has already turned toward the patient, Collen called out, "Your Highness, I beg you to take some rest. You have recently recovered and if you fall sick again, Your Imperial Majesty might call you back."
Rollen's concern stemmed not from her health but from the possibility of a direct order from the Emperor for Alatia to withdraw and not attend the Academy.
Alatia remained silent for a moment—seemingly, contemplating.
A moment later, she mumbled, "Send Maria. "
Collen took a deep breath. His gaze lingered on Alatia's back for another moment before he retreated.
*****
Since that night Alatia has been staying in Kyle's room most of the time without bothering to sleep even for a moment.
The head maid Maria was accompanying the young girl and reminded Alatia that a human needs to eat and rest from time to time as well.
Currently, Maria was changing cooling pads and draping a new one on Kyle's flaming head. He was suffering from high fever—an effect of using Phoenix Tear. It burns every wound, disease, and unwanted impurities from the body thoroughly.
"Mmh...ah....n-no...stop....STOPPPP!" Before Maria could have reacted, suddenly, Kyle jumped on his feet and began running toward the door with a horrified expression.
Maria stood up on her feet in shock however she didn't need to move to stop him as Alatia appeared before Kyle and embraced him tightly.
"Let me go! LET ME GO!!" Kyle shouted at her, flailed his body, and tried pushing her away but Alatia remained strong at her spot and held him firmly in her arms.
"It's okay, Kyle...everything is fine...no one will hurt you anymore...please calm down..."
It was the first time for the maid to see such a tender side of her lady, whispering such comforting words to Kyle and trying to calm him down so patiently.
No one even in her family has received such gentle and careful treatment from the lady.
As Maria thought, Kyle had a very special spot in her heart.
*****
It has been two days since that incident.
Kyle was awake now, but extremely weak. His body was recovering at a gradual pace and now, proper nutrition and regular medication would help him get back in shape.
Currently, in his room, only one person apart from Kyle, could be seen.
Naturally, it was his mistress, Alatia.
She currently was feeding Kyle some porridge which had every required vegetable and some meat mixed in small chunks. And given the cook was none other than the head maid, the porridge was destined to be delicious.
However, Kyle wasn't able to enjoy the meal to the fullest since the way he was eating it, didn't allow him to rest well.
"Umm...my lady...I can lift the spoon-mmm.." Before he could have finished saying those words, Alatia stuffed his mouth with a spoonful of porridge and glared at him.
"Chew it properly."
Kyle inwardly sighed before nodding. His mouth moved as he chewed the vegetables and gulped them down diligently.
"How are you feeling? Any pain or discomfort eating food?"
Kyle shook his head, even though he was unsure how this was possible.
His innards were all mashed up by those two bastards to the point where Kyle believed that he might puke out whatever he ate. However, now, not only he was not feeling any kind of pain, but his digestive system seemed to be working quite well.
Later that day, he would hear from Maria about the reason behind his miraculous recovery.
Once Kyle finished eating, Alatia got up from the chair, intending to leave the room—when suddenly, Kyle called out,
"My lady...for saving my life and for everything you have done for me, I thank you from the depth of my heart."
Alatia remained silent hearing such a sincere voice coming from that person who always remained hateful toward her...
Looking over her shoulder, she assessed his hue...and felt troubled seeing only gratification surrounding his aura.
'Strange...'
This small change in the plot would lead to something that Kyle could have never anticipated...
*****
A/N:- Small changes make a massive impact on the future. And for Kyle to not be in love with Alatia was that small change.