The Lady Only Deals With the Real Ones - Chapter 179

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The lights were off, and the furniture was so dark that even with my eyes open, everything felt hazy like I was in a dream.

“…Sob, hic. Elisha…”

Chloe’s voice, crying as if it were her own pain, echoed in my ears.

“…Mental shock combined with accumulated fatigue caused a brief fainting spell…”

The voices of the Duke’s Residence doctor and Stefan also rang faintly in my ears.

I had been sitting quietly at the edge of the bed, but I got up and started walking.

I wanted to go somewhere open yet quiet.

As I walked, the place I arrived at was.

‘This place… was nice.’

It was the bell tower where the night sky filled with twinkling stars poured down on me.

As if enchanted, I climbed the stairs leading to the bell tower, wanting to see the stars closer, and tried to approach the railing.

Just then,

“Elisha!”

Grab.

My shoulder was caught, and I collided with something warm yet solid.

The person who pulled me into a tight embrace without giving me a chance to breathe was.

“Duke?”

“What are you trying to do right now… No. No, Elisha.”

It was Tesagh.

His trembling breath and scent wafted over me.

It felt familiar somehow, and thinking about it, the sensation when he supported me when I fainted must have been just like this.

His fierce heartbeat, holding me as if he would never let me go, slowly brought me back to reality.

I struggled to lift my head and opened my mouth.

“I came here because I wanted to see the stars.”

“You can see stars plenty of other places. Why did you have to come here, to this high place with no one around at this late hour…”

Ah.

I think I know what Tesagh was thinking.

I said awkwardly.

“I don’t know anywhere else besides here. You haven’t introduced me to other good places for stargazing yet, have you?”

“…”

“And the railing is high, so even if I lean against it, there shouldn’t be any risk of an accident, I think… By the way, I’m starting to suffocate.”

Only then did the solid arms that had been confining me loosen.

Tesagh, who had been examining my face intently while holding it, finally let out a sigh of relief after a long while.

“I called you but you didn’t respond. …I thought you were, having dark thoughts.”

Tesagh’s neck showed veins as he barely managed to speak.

His face showed that even putting the thought into words was horrifying.

“Oh, you called me?”

“Continuously since you left my room.”

“Huh, you were there?”

At my surprised response, Tesagh made an expression as if he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“There’s no way I would leave you alone after you collapsed.”

If I couldn’t hear his calls or see him, I must have been half out of my mind.

Whether it was the aftermath of fainting or because of the news I received before fainting.

Tesagh, seemingly worried about leaving me like this, said ‘Wait a moment’ and took my hand, leading me down from the bell tower.

Then he brought cocoa that seemed prepared to give me when I woke up, along with a thick mat and blanket.

He returned to the bell tower, spread them out, and declared.

“Now look at the stars to your heart’s content.”

“Are you going to stay?”

“…Where would I go, leaving you behind.”

Tesagh, who laughed hollowly and spoke as if it were obvious, was still holding one of my hands.

His body temperature was warm. Like cocoa.

I decided to stargaze beside him.

“What about Chloe?”

“After crying for a long time, she said she wanted to help you and went to the Magic Tower. She’s probably researching with the eccentrics at the Magic Tower by now.”

“…Could my holy power…cause harm to Chloe, Emma, or the mages at the Magic Tower?”

I felt Tesagh’s gaze, but I only looked at the stars.

He sighed softly and answered.

“They said brief encounters shouldn’t have any effect. The mages’ magic power is in a much more refined form.”

“…”

“And for Chloe, healing black magic is the priority, so staying by your side actually helps her situation. So don’t think such thoughts.”

I listened to Tesagh’s low voice with my ears while examining the sky with my eyes.

That particularly bright star must be Venus.

Grandfather had told me about it once.

In some distant land, that star symbolizes both life and death.

“Venus periodically disappears and reappears, and people say it’s because the god dwelling in that star goes to the underworld and is reborn.”

“Rebirth? Then gods die too? Even though they’re gods? Don’t gods live forever?”

When I asked, what did Grandfather answer?

“Well, there might be gods who find living difficult too, don’t you think?”

I think that’s what he said.

‘That wasn’t really an appropriate story for a child.’

Since my expression looked bad, he gave me a lengthy explanation saying ‘Actually, it’s because of the orbital period…’ but I don’t remember it well.

Anyway, recalling that strange educational policy, I pondered over the conversations I had with Grandfather and everything that had happened so far.

“Perhaps I wanted to turn away from it.”

The words came out without me realizing.

After hesitating, I continued speaking as thoughts came to mind.

“I knew that Grandfather had kept ‘Root of Blindness’ by his side from long ago without my knowledge.”

That’s why I could easily obtain that supposedly hard-to-find medicinal herb through Stefan.

Grandfather must have obtained it in advance and entrusted it to him.

“It’s also strange now that I think about it – Grandfather, who kept refusing treatment, readily agreed to be treated as soon as he met a doctor he knew.”

Why would someone who ate bland oatmeal well ask me to get lemon water just because medicine was a little bitter?

It must have been because he needed to coordinate with Stefan without my knowledge.

“After going to the nursing home, Grandfather’s condition only improved, but it worsened on the very day I visited. …I should have thought that was strange.”

I put down the now-cold cocoa cup and hugged my knees.

“But I couldn’t. I didn’t want to know.”

I had easily accepted the fact that I possessed divine-level holy power.

“It’s the same with holy power.”

Was it because I had experience briefly suspecting I might have holy power while healing Ailren’s magic poisoning?

No. I think I understand now.

“The magic tools I use breaking unusually easily, Chloe’s black magic healing noticeably, and especially my ability to see holy power – all of these were clues.”

Not only that.

The unknown voice coming from the ruby tablet.

The magic detector showing a different light only for me when entering the Imperial Palace.

…Perhaps the fact that Eivor only circles around me but can’t directly touch me was also a clue.

I hadn’t thought about the possibility that I might have holy power since the incident with Ailren.

Why?

“…Even if I have holy power, the fact that Grandfather’s illness, which I so desperately wish to cure, won’t be healed.”

It would only mean that mysterious illness is because of me.

…The reason Grandfather, who shouldn’t be exposed to holy power, is sick would only lead to the conclusion that it’s because he kept me by his side.

Then I would never be able to see Grandfather for the rest of my life….

“I was afraid to acknowledge it. That I was the cause. …Cowardly as it was.”

It felt like I had seen the bottom of myself.

Was my own peace of mind ultimately what mattered most to me?

My insides burned hot while my head felt cold as if someone had poured ice water over it.

Just as I was about to drop my head onto my knees while muttering in a daze.

My body tilted.

“It’s not your fault.”

Tesagh, who carefully pulled me into his arms, whispered softly once more.

“It’s not your fault, Elisha.”

I said quietly.

“Anyone can see that I’m the cause. I appreciate your words, but….”

“…If you had known this fact and just stayed still, then yes. You could say that. But this is what I’m saying as someone who has watched what you’ve done.”

A large hand settled on my back.

Clumsy and rough, but,

“Your past days prove it—running around busily to find a cure, not hesitating even to take on dangerous tasks to get even the slightest clue about medicinal herbs. …You did your best.”

It was a weighty comfort.

“You don’t need to struggle and worry alone anymore. The people you helped will now help you.”

“….”

“…You’ve been through a lot. Elisha.”

At his last words, the emotions I had been holding back burst out all at once.

“Sob….”

The tears I had barely held back in front of Grandfather poured out.

I cried like a child.

Perhaps I… had wanted to hear those words.

Tesagh silently patted my back and wiped my cheeks until my tears stopped, occasionally murmuring.

It’s okay. It’s okay.

Though they were words like a prayer without subject or object, strangely those words touched my heart.

“…I’ll find it, the cure. I’ll never give up. Even if I have to grab the World Tree by the collar, I’ll find it.”

After shedding tears for a long while, Tesagh didn’t laugh at my words spoken in a terribly cracked voice.

Instead, he nodded seriously.

“I’ll help you grab it.”

I smiled.

Finally, Tesagh smiled too.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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