Rose (3)
Despite her fierce resistance, my cool palm landed on her soft skin.
Her abdomen still held a lukewarm warmth.
Unlike her sharp, thorny exterior, her delicate skin could be felt through her thin nightgown.
The touch of petals welcoming spring.
Unconsciously, I found myself stroking her snow-white belly.
"Ugh, you, you, you... I'll kill you!"
Rose shrieked in a sharp voice.
Wearing an expression of disbelief, she glared at me with fierce eyes.
As if determined not to let go of her venom.
However.
"How dare you do this to me...!"
Despite her efforts, the trembling reflected in her pupils couldn't be erased.
Her green eyes shook violently.
Beyond them, a clear agitation flickered.
As I looked down at her fearful reaction, the corners of my lips, which had been still, twisted into an ominous direction.
An ominous smile that escaped unconsciously.
"Now, now... I won't hurt you, okay?"
With those words, I lifted her shirt.
The hem of her clothes had already reached her lower chest, now precariously close to the forbidden territory.
Elise, tied to the bed, almost naked.
Perhaps it was due to the blatant exposure.
Her unique, sweet scent spread through the air.
"Ugh, uh..."
The scene escalated as if it were about to explode.
A thin frame, perhaps due to her frail health.
Yet, her chest possessed a certain presence.
Her disheveled attire clung to her body, creating an endlessly alluring curve.
I playfully stroked her belly.
"Ugh, you, you, you bastard...!"
Elise recoiled at my touch.
Her shoulders trembled.
She tried to lift her head, but only her red hair sprawled out.
Rose's leaves fluttered like petals in the wind.
Squeeze-.
Following my briefly applied pressure, her belly yielded without resistance.
Only a soft sensation remained on my fingertips.
"Uh, uh..."
Finally, her lips closed.
She had been putting on a fierce facade until a moment ago, but in this moment of utter helplessness, her true nature emerged.
Moisture had already gathered on the surface of her green eyes.
Pupils that were gradually crumbling, shattering, and ultimately reflecting only fragility.
"Oh dear."
Was my teasing a bit too much?
I had intended to tease her a little because I was annoyed by how she treated Charlotte, but it seemed I should stop and actually start the treatment.
I didn't want to make her cry on our first meeting.
As a sign of reassurance, I offered a few kind words.
"Don't make such a frightened face. This is just the beginning."
= Don't be scared. We're just starting the treatment.
"Shut, up, you, I'll, definitely, kill you...!"
"Hehe... Even if you say you hate it now, you'll come to like it soon enough."
= Even if it feels unpleasant now, you'll look back and think it was good.
"Don't, bullshit, me...!"
"It will surely be a happiness you've never experienced before."
= You'll realize how happy it is to have a body free from pain.
"Cough... Is, is, is there, anyone, outside?"
Elise pleaded for help with a dying voice.
She glanced towards the closed door, but naturally, there was no response.
The noise inside was already completely blocked.
I had also informed Charlotte, so no one would accidentally enter.
I spoke with a relaxed smile.
"It's no use."
A closed room where only the two of us existed.
This situation would last for at least two hours.
"Resign yourself and accept it. Just spend some cozy time."
= Relax your body. I really want to spend some cozy time.
"You, trashy, bastard...!"
"As I said before, it won't hurt at all."
= I'm not really going to hurt you.
I soothed Rose with a calm tone and gathered a little strength at my fingertips.
Flickering shadows thinly coated my fingers.
Perhaps because it was such a faint energy, the girl didn't seem to notice.
My palm moved calmly, stroking her belly.
Squeeze-.
My touch gently pressed on her dantian.
Leaving behind the soft skin that felt good to the touch, I opened my eyelids.
Beyond her white skin, I could sense a vivid mana.
"Then... let's start lightly."
I focused my consciousness.
A foreign flow was coursing through the girl's body.
Tangled mana lines, rough seams, and even fragments of manathat had solidified due to backflow.
These symptoms were occurring throughout her entire body.
'The most severe area is... her abdomen, as expected.'
As the area where the mana lines in her body converged, the degree of petrification was more severe than in other areas.
Fragments, shattered like glass, were violently churning inside.
'How.'
How could she endure such pain?
It felt as if her internal organs were being torn apart every moment, yet the girl showed no sign of pain.
As if she had become accustomed to enduring it.
"Just because you endure it... doesn't mean the pain lessens."
"Ugh, what do you know!"
"I know better than anyone."
Mana petrification disease.
An incurable disease in which each mana line that makes up the body hardens like stone, eventually causing the entire body to shatter into pieces.
These symptoms continue until the subject ceases all life activity.
There is no known cure.
The cause is unknown.
Since it was so rare, occurring only once or twice every 100 years, the continent tended to perceive this condition as a 'curse' rather than a 'disease'.
They interpreted it as 'God's wrath' because nothing was known about it.
'God's wrath... It's a terrible disease to be called that.'
Therefore, Petrification Disease has long been a symbol of misfortune.
This was no different for the imperial family.
The reason Elise was staying in this lonely detached palace was the same.
The beloved second princess's illness was ominous and she was confined because it was believed to be a bad omen for the empire.
Later, they simply used her illness as an excuse to forbid her from all social activities.
'The secret about Rose.'
It was a secret that the imperial family had covered up, but I knew about it because I had read the original story's setting book.
How lonely Elise's struggle with the disease had been.
Why her once bright personality had become so distorted.
I murmured with a fleeting sense of pity.
"Even for a moment... this must be salvation for you."
I consumed the output of a lie.
I very slowly, with delicate manipulation, erased the mana fragments embedded in her body.
As a result, the blocked blood flow gradually regained its course.
'This is a temporary measure.'
It would ease her pain for about a day.
I planned to gradually increase the treatment in stages, little by little.
Of course, there was a way to cure her all at once, but considering the future, this was the better way.
Trust.
It takes time to build.
To save the Little Prince, I had to open the heart of the Rose she loved.
That's why I took this treatment as an opportunity.
"Cough, cough...!"
Blood kept splattering from her pale lips.
I chanted a faint incantation and simultaneously conveyed the lie I held at my fingertips to Rose.
The thin shadow seeped into her belly.
"Repose."
Immediately.
It dyed her whole body.
The girl's world, which had been noisy with countless screams.
Became silent.
"..."
A sudden repose.
Perhaps it was because she had been suffering from pain until just a moment ago.
Elise, experiencing repose for the first time in 10 years, was stunned and lost in thought.
An ecstatic sensation flashed before her eyes.
"Ah, ah...?"
A question escaped her involuntarily.
Her green eyes, devoid of even venom, flickered.
I smiled quietly.
'Did it work?'
What had consumed the girl.
Was a pleasure that faintly dyed her entire body.
She had lived in pain for so long that even a momentary peace turned into ecstasy for her.
Rose flinched at the unexpected delight.
"Uh, uh, how...?"
Her breath quickened.
Despite her slurred pronunciation, Elise managed to ask me a question.
A question that had filled her entire life with despair.
"How, how... uh, it doesn't, hurt, why, suddenly, me...?"
She seemed confused.
I raised my index finger and gently covered her tired lips.
With my other hand, I covered her green eyes.
"Shh."
What she needed first was rest.
For the past few years.
She probably hadn't been able to sleep properly because of the pain, so I wanted her to close her eyelids and rest for now.
We could talk about today tomorrow.
"Ah..."
Slowly.
Her eyes closed obediently.
Her arms, which had been resisting, soon lost their strength and fell onto the bed.
I whispered to her fading consciousness.
"Good night."
A single sentence to bring repose to the frail Rose.
As silence descended, I continued to stroke Elise's belly for a while.
It was still a warm touch.
***
A few hours later.
The closed door opened and two girls entered.
Charlotte, who had been waiting outside, and the young maid she had taken with her.
They both had anxious expressions on their faces.
Were they worried about Elise?
They had come in after hearing that her condition had improved, but frankly, they didn't seem to have high expectations.
It was probably something they had learned after being abandoned by countless renowned doctors.
Hope only makes disappointment greater.
In other words, it was a kind of learned helplessness.
"Um... where's Elise?"
A terrible battle with illness.
They were the only two who had stayed by her side, so it was as if they had shared her pain.
They had shed tears every dawn, listening to her moans of agony.
'But.'
Today was different.
Because I had stayed by their side.
"She's over here."
I pointed to the bed.
Rose, who had lost consciousness a while ago, was still asleep.
Her red hair was spread out on the sheets.
Snore, snore-.
Her breathing sounded peaceful.
Seeing her face relaxed as she slept with her eyes closed, surprise filled the eyes of the two who had been filled with anxiety.
As if they had witnessed an unbelievable miracle.
"Oh my god."
"Elise...?"
"It's the first time I've seen Her Highness with such a peaceful expression. There's no sign of pain, and she's not sweating at all!"
"It was really... possible."
"That's great! Your Highness...!"
The maid shed tears of joy.
Charlotte, as if overwhelmed by emotions, couldn't speak for a while.
Finally, as if regaining her composure, she asked a question.
"How... did you do it...?"
Her clear pupils reflected only my image.
As if responding to the girl's mirror, I simply left a playful remark.
"Hehe."
My answer was.
"It's a secret."
As always.
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