chapter 18
18 – Past and Future
At the request of the princess, the guards hurriedly summoned a nearby doctor. The doctor rushed to the mansion, shocked by Jenial’s condition, but performed first aid quickly and steadily.
After being transferred to the hospital, Jenial was surrounded by reputable doctors and underwent surgery.
It was also thanks to the mana inherent in Jenial’s body that desperately prevented the poison from spreading. However, the recovery of the body and the recovery of the mind exposed to intense pain were two different things.
Despite the successful completion of the operation, Jenny Earl did not open her eyes for two days, and Seryl, who was worse than that, took her brother to the Malaig Mansion to nurse her.
Three more days have passed since then…… Unfortunately, it didn’t happen that Jeniel came to his senses and opened his eyes.
“You are sleeping soundly today as well. It’s not like an older brother…….”
Sitting on a chair in front of Jenial’s bed, Seryl jokes in a low tone. But, of course, there was no answer coming back.
Seril, who suffered from that, bit his lower lip softly as he closed his hand on his lap. He was on the verge of tears, but Seryl held it back by raising his head.
“…… Do you wake up now to stop sleeping late? Because I don’t want to use this spacious mansion alone. So, let’s stop playing these nasty jokes, shall we? Huh?”
He tried to hold it in, but the tears welling up in his eyes trickled down. He had already cried so many times that he thought his tear ducts had dried up, but that didn’t seem to be the case again.
Seryl, who wiped away his tears with her hand, takes a long breath to hold back his tears. Seryl, barely breathing, took hold of his heart and reached out his hand towards Jenny Earl.
Seryl puts her hands on her bare skin after unbuttoning several of the top buttons of Jeniel’s hospital gown. Seryl’s hand immediately created a blue aura and assimilated with Jenial’s body.
As it is impossible for an unconscious person to naturally generate mana, they followed the doctor’s advice that an immediate family member with similar properties of mana should directly infuse mana into their body.
“Hey, is there another uproar in the imperial palace because of your brother? It seems more serious than before. Originally, the high-ranking officials were not inspected, but this time the scope has been widened. It seems that His Majesty the Emperor himself gave the order.”
Tell the patient as many stories as possible to induce him to regain consciousness. Since this was also the doctor’s advice, Seryl continued to talk while holding back the feeling that she was about to cry.
“The funny thing is that my brother was also included in the investigation process, and circumstances came out that my brother deliberately entered Count Mandel’s mansion with Her Highness the Princess. However, Her Highness the Princess went to visit Her Majesty herself and begged her brother to be forgiven since he was innocent.”
Her proud tomboyish princess, coming out of her lotus palace, will fall to her knees and see her father, whom she fears the most. That made Cheryl feel complicated.
“…… In fact, I might have wanted Your Highness to appear recklessly. Then there will be people to resent. It won’t be necessary for him to be obsessed with the loss of his brother like this. I mean, what a bad b*tch, isn’t it?”
The blue aura disappears from Seryl’s hands with a self-help smile. He blew all his chimana today, so he didn’t have to be like this anymore.
Seryl removed her hand from Jenny Earl’s chest, unbuttoned his shirt, and bit him. Seryl looked down at Jenny Earl, who was lying on the bed with her eyes closed, and then stood up after wiping her eyes.
“I will go to work now. I don’t want to leave the office unoccupied for too long. After all, I’m a pretty famous detective in the islands…… There are many people who depend on me.”
I really have to go now, but for some reason I can’t move. After hesitating for a while, Seryl smiled awkwardly.
“So brother…… Can you say just one word to say goodbye?”
She always had no answer coming back. The silence was terribly frightening, so Cheryl turned and ran out of the room as if to run away.
Seryl came out into the hallway and tried to move her steps toward the central stairway, but hesitated. It was because he could see the people of Lotus Palace walking, starting with the princess, on the other side of the hallway.
Among them, the meaning was also visible, so it was clear what Irea had in mind for visiting Malaig Mansion.
But it was the first time he had seen the princess up close. As Seryl stood still, not knowing what to say, Irea, who had come nearby, stopped her and opened her mouth.
“…… Is she the professor’s sister?”
Seril, who finally came to his senses, put his hand on his chest and bowed. For the imperial princess to open her mouth first could, in a way, be regarded as disrespect for her family.
“Meet Her Highness, the Princess.”
“There is no need to be polite. I just…… It’s because I came to visit you.”
Seryl’s nerves are on edge at the word “Visit.” He couldn’t express his displeasure in words, but Seryl’s expression hardened.
Even Irea didn’t know that. If she knew that Jeniel had reached that point while trying to protect others, Irea would have reacted similarly to Seryl now.
“…… Sorry.”
So, Irea bowed her head, conveying her sincere apology. She was the princess of the empire, asking for forgiveness from the daughter of the Duke of Malay in front of everyone.
That embarrassed Seril. How could he criticize the princess in front of him when he had come this far? Since she had many eyes to add, according to the rites, she had to receive the princess’s apology.
I really don’t like it. But…… It was hard to see that the apology Irea was handing over was calculating.
Those haggard eyes and trembling voice proved that the current apology was sincere.
Thanks to that, Seryl decided to forgive Irea, at least temporarily. He didn’t even have time to be arguing, as he has to go to work soon anyway.
“Your Highness does not need to ask me for forgiveness. And…… If it were her brother, she probably would have told her not to feel guilty because it wasn’t Her Highness’s fault.”
“But I… ….”
“As I said just now, there is no need to apologize to me. If you are visiting the hospital, you can go into the room I left.”
Ireah, wondering if there was anything else to say, just nodded her head. She refused again and again, saying she didn’t need to apologize, but she couldn’t keep asking for her forgiveness.
As Seryl got out of the way, Irea bowed lightly and entered the room. Followed by the ladies-in-waiting brought by Irea, the royal doctor, and the escort knight Luinel.
As soon as the doctor entered the room, he took out her medical equipment and began examining her, but Irea couldn’t move as if she was nailed to her seat.
“Professor… ….”
Jeniel, who was lying on the bed while protecting himself, was lying comfortably as if he had just fallen into a deep sleep. It was as if she would say that at any moment she would get up and start her class.
But she knew very well that such a miracle would not happen easily. If she’d been lying down for five days, anyone would know that it wasn’t a situation that could happen easily.
“The condition has improved, but… ….”
The doctor muttered while examining her, put her medical equipment back in her bag, stood up and looked back at Ireah. The doctor, who lowered his head lightly, spoke of the examination results.
“Your Highness the Princess. From a small person’s point of view, the recovery of the body appears to be almost complete. Maybe it’s because the lady of the Mallaig family took care of her with utmost sincerity. However, even the small person does not know exactly when he will come to his senses. It depends on your will…….”
Her father earnestly asked her to bring a doctor, but it was no different from other doctors’ examinations. So, when Ireah glanced at it, the eoui lowered her head even more deeply as if in awe.
Ireah, who had been like that for a while, let out a low sigh. She couldn’t tell her to do something she couldn’t do even if she was the best doctor in the empire.
“…… All right. Then everyone else, please leave. I have something to say to the professor. Ruinel? Please wait outside too.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
After reading the atmosphere, Ruinel bowed her head politely, then took the royal doctor and her ladies-in-waiting and swarmed out of the room and shut the door.
Thanks to that, there were only two people left in the spacious bedroom, Jeniel and Irea. Ireah, who hesitated for a moment, approached Jennie Earl, moving her steps that did not fall.
She doesn’t even think to sit down in a chair and Irea, who is on her knees, examines Jenial’s face. His face looked like he was sleeping peacefully, but for some reason he didn’t feel alive.
“…… Sorry.”
She made Jenny Earl look like this. Jeniel told her not to feel guilty, but one side of Irea’s heart was already pierced with guilt for Jeniel.
I wanted to ask for forgiveness somehow. However, if Jenny Earl does not wake up forever, no matter how much he asks for forgiveness, he will end up in his self-satisfaction.
I feel sad about that, so I shed tears for no reason. After silently sobbing for a moment, Ireah raises her hand and grabs Jenial’s hand. Even at this point, it was still a big, warm hand.
“I beg you, please stand up. If you do that, the professor will give you everything you want. If you want money, I will provide it by selling my jewelry. If you want a position, I’ll tell my father myself and ask him to be an executive.”
But Jeniel didn’t even move. Even knowing that, Irea couldn’t stop giving her words to Jennie Earl.
“I will listen to the class diligently. I have the confidence to pay attention and listen to a class taught by a professor. If I’m wrong, it’s okay to scold me. I can’t help but feel bad, but if the professor scolds me, I can tolerate it. Therefore… ….”
Even after talking to him one after another, Jenial was still lying like a wooden stone. That made Irea’s heart ache even more.
Jeniel risked his life twice for Irea. Didn’t he throw himself to wipe out the gang related to Baldure and save himself in her mansion?
Even so, the lord couldn’t do anything. That was sobering Even though she was so incompetent, she hated her so much that it was hard to believe that she was the imperial princess.
Tears welled up in her eyes and dripped down. As Ireah tightened her hand that held her Jenny Earl, she flirted with her one last time.
“You said you would protect it. I promise to protect me from any danger…….”
Ironically, at that moment, Jeniel’s little finger twitched weakly.