Chapter 20

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 21

Chapter Title: The Golden Lion's Treasure and the Polluted Water (5)

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Arsen, who had stepped out briefly and returned, approached Floyd and whispered in his ear.

“There's still no damage outside the Grand Duke's palace. Even within the palace, only the Lily Palace has been affected, so it seems the water there is the only thing contaminated.”

“How could something like this happen?”

“It's just a guess, but the magical beast seems remarkably clever. It probably snuck into the most splendid place in the capital and contaminated only the water before fleeing.”

“For what purpose?”

“For a moment like this.”

Floyd took a deep breath and surveyed his surroundings. The unexpected attack had left not only him but all the knight captains rattled. The ministers and servants outside the treatment room must have been plunged into even greater chaos.

If he didn't keep his wits about him, stopping whatever the magical beast was up to would only grow harder.

Floyd irritably swept his hair back.

“If it snuck in last night, it couldn't have gone far. Select the best trackers and form a subjugation unit. We need to burn that damned beast right now.”

It was always they who approached her first. Roxiana had never once tried to initiate contact.

Because of that, she had no idea how to call out to them.

“Please.”

Roxiana whispered desperately.

“Please answer me. Please let me hear your voices.”

The voices that chattered endlessly when she didn't want them to were silent today.

Had the contaminated water driven them away too? Was she too late? Would she be powerless again this time?

Come to think of it, Jewelry had no connection to Roxiana at all. No one had asked Roxiana to ensure the child's safety, and the girl herself probably expected nothing from her.

No one would blame her for being unable to help.

—“There's nothing the princess can do.”

No one expected Roxiana to accomplish anything anyway.

Yet Roxiana couldn't give up. She couldn't abandon Jewelry, who had smiled so brightly at her, or Dennis, who had looked up at her blinking his eyes.

If Jewelry died, Dennis, unable to protect his sister, would sink into despair from which he might never escape—just like Roxiana now, drowning in guilt and hopelessness for failing her family, in sorrow and defeat.

‘You chatter so much usually!’

Roxiana cried out inwardly.

‘You squabble annoyingly! Why are you silent now? Why! Why!’

—It's because we can't grant what you want, Roti.

A faint, thin voice, unlike their usual chatter, reached her. Roxiana's grip tightened on the flower vase.

‘The child... the child's dying. Please help me. You can help me, right?’

—We can't. The magical beast snuck into the Lily Palace last night.

—Before we could do anything, it contaminated the water. It's small and quick.

—All our friends from the pond have left. Only we're left, and we're too weak.

—Even if we borrowed your body, we couldn't do anything with our power. The water inside a human body is beyond our reach.

Her hands went slack at the hopeless explanation, but Roxiana quickly snapped out of it and clutched the vase before it could fall.

‘Then there's nothing I can do? I'm powerless again? Is it because you hate humans? You're spirits, aren't you? And you still can't?’

—We're not gods, Roti. We're just low-rank spirits born in water and drifting along it.

Spirits.

The name had become unspeakable on the continent, and as it faded from mention, people gradually forgot it. Yet, no matter the persecution, spirit mages who could communicate with them continued to be born steadily.

Angelia, Roxiana's mother, had been one, and so was her daughter, Roxiana.

—We can keep this flower alive for you for a long time.

—We can make the water you drink taste even better.

—We can help make your bathwater soften your skin.

—But treating a human tainted by magic is beyond our power. We're just low-rank spirits.

—But Lady Undine could...

—No, Roti is too weak. Accepting Lady Undine would severely damage Roti's body. She might even die.

Undine.

Long ago, Roxiana seemed to recall hearing that name. But that wasn't important now.

‘How do I summon her? How do I accept her?’

The spirits stirred. They seemed displeased, worried, whispering among themselves for a while. Roxiana waited in prayer for their answer.

—We're worried you'll die, Roti.

Roxiana hugged the vase tightly and whispered.

“It's okay. I wanted to die anyway.”

So saving the child and dying would be fine too.

By the time Roxiana arrived at the treatment room with Petria and stood before the door, steadying her breath, the door burst open and Floyd emerged with the knight captains.

The scorching heat surrounding Floyd vanished in an instant. Only then did he notice Roxiana standing in the corridor.

The knight captains, who had found the sudden cooling of the intense heat odd, also spotted Roxiana clutching the vase tightly in the hallway.

‘What's this? Paying a visit to the sick? Does she have no sense of the atmosphere?’

Adrian's mood soured further at Roxiana arriving oblivious with flowers in hand.

‘She looks like she might collapse... She was by the pond earlier; is she okay? No water splashed on her, right?’

Kain worried over Roxiana's pallor, while Arsen just wanted to hurry off to subjugate the beast.

Then Floyd asked in a rough voice.

“Why are you here? I told you to stay in your room.”

“I want to help.”

“There's nothing for a princess to do here. We don't need help, so go back. Don't get tainted by the magic too.”

Kain couldn't understand why Floyd was speaking so angrily.

‘The princess seems to have come with good intentions. Couldn't we gently send her away? And why isn't our lord's heat rising when he's this furious?’

Most people feared Floyd's rough speech and actions, but Roxiana showed no sign of fear. Dressed in a white dress, with a face even paler than the fabric, she simply looked up at him and said.

“A child's dying. I heard many servants have collapsed too. Shouldn't we try something? Let me try to do something.”

Floyd scowled fiercely and strode toward Roxiana, grabbing her arm roughly. In that instant, a stinging pain like an electric shock lashed his palm.

Floyd released her arm and glared down at her, growling.

“Try something. Is that the excuse you've come up with this time? Think I don't know your intentions, Princess? You want to go in there and die together. Right? No Adelia flowers in the treatment room—perfect for dying.”

Roxiana stared at Floyd's furious face, then took a subtle step. The movement was as fluid as flowing water, and Floyd didn't realize she'd brushed past him until it was too late.

By the time he assessed the situation, Roxiana was already inside the treatment room.

The room buzzed with activity. Doctors and pharmacists moved frantically, desperate to do something for the patients groaning in agony, even if there was truly nothing they could do.

Roxiana spotted Jewelry lying on a bed. Even unconscious, the girl grimaced in pain, tears streaming from her eyes.

The rash had worsened since before, making her face look grotesquely swollen and red. She gasped for breath now and then, coughing weakly at times.

And Hexston guarded his dying daughter's side. With gloved hands, he gently held hers, repeatedly calling, “Jewelry. Jewelry.”

He hunched over, his broad back shrinking small as he murmured her name like a prayer.

“If you've seen enough, leave. There's nothing for the princess to help with.”

Floyd placed a hand on Roxiana's shoulder, only to feel the sting again and pull away.

‘What the hell?’

He could dismiss the first as coincidence, but twice was no accident. Something within Roxiana was rejecting his touch.

No, not rejecting—scolding him, like a slap on the palm.

‘It happened before too.’

Even in her bedroom, when he'd cornered her, a wind like a smack had blown at him repeatedly, despite the closed doors.

“Stop being so stubborn. Can't you see everyone's busy?”

As Floyd paused, staring at his palm, Adrian stepped forward. At the sight of Adrian roughly yanking Roxiana's arm, Floyd's eyes widened in fury.

“Let go of her this instant!”

His voice boomed so loudly that even Hexston, lost in grief, startled and turned around. Adrian blinked, then quickly raised both hands.

“Ah, yes. My apologies, my lord.”

Roxiana was the only one unsurprised.

As even the doctors halted their work, eyeing Floyd anxiously, only Roxiana moved calmly toward Hexston as if nothing had happened.