CH 7

By the time the aftereffects had eased and she was able to walk on her own feet, her father came in with a doctor.

<How about the princess?>

“You’ve recovered quite well.”

The Duke asked, and the doctor who examined her condition replied. Then the Duke smiled contentedly.

<Then you can start class again I guess.>

To her younger self, the doctor was the one to announce the restart of her special class. So Ariadne hated that green gown terribly.

‘Think of the doctors you saw in your previous life. It’s just a different color and shape, but a similar gown.’

No matter how hard she tried to convince herself, the panic did not lessen. She involuntarily reached out and tugged at the hem of Lucy’s skirt next to her. She sat down and pulled back behind her, trying to hide behind the maid.

Seeing her reaction, the doctor came to a halt. She twitched the eyebrows of the Marquis, who was standing by the door.

“Miss?”

Lucy looked back at her with her wide eyes.

Ariadne finally came to her senses. She came over and laid Lucy’s clothes.

“I’m… I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, that’s the doctor. She is the one who will keep you from getting sick.”

Lucy said affectionately.

‘I know, I know.’

If she didn’t get sick, the special class would start again.

Ariadne nodded her head in silence instead of saying that.

After that, the doctor, who had been watching her closely, came back and sat down beside her.

“Hello, lady. I am Jayleen Brown, the Weaver family physician. Please call her Jayleen.”

It was a cheerful voice. Ariadne was a beat late, and she stuttered the answer.

“… Ah, I’m Ariadne Eldaire.”

This time, it wasn’t because of the trauma, but because of the doctor’s self-introduction.

‘The Weaver family’s personal physician, doesn’t that mean that this is the Marquis of Weaver?’

She was dumbfounded.

The Marquis of Weaver. A margrave family that protected the northern borders of the Abyssal Kingdom. Archmage Solan Garcia’s wife was the former Marshal, and the current Marshal was the eldest of their sons. In other words, that was her mother’s family.

‘It would have taken at least a week to get here from Eldeer in the middle of the kingdom.’

Before the invasion of the Pandemonium, it would have been quick thanks to trains and movement magic, but now it couldn’t. The means of communication that were said to be active over a hundred years ago were almost cut off, so news could only be delivered to distant places these days by messengers delivering letters and it was not uncommon for the messenger to die on the way.

Progress was making the impossible possible. Conversely, this world, where the possible became impossible, was certainly in the process of being destroyed.

So, after she roughly estimated it, if they moved for a week and she was bedridden for three days, she calculated that she had been unconscious for at least ten days.

“I am… How long have I been unconscious?”

“A little over ten days.”

It was as she guessed, but on the other hand she couldn’t believe it. It was a terrifying feeling. Seeing her expression, Jayleen spoke softly.

“For a while, be careful when you move. You’ve been lying down for a long time, so your body won’t be strong.”

Ariadne, speechless, nodded slightly, and the doctor pulled out some tools from inside the gown.

“Can I do some tests for a moment, miss?”

“…yes.”

Ariadne rolled up her arm and held it out. It was her left arm. The doctor’s eyes narrowed a little more.

“Are you right-handed?”

“Yes? Yes.”

“Okay. I will finish soon.”

While Jayleen was examining her, Ariadne held her dazed head and squeezed her memories.

‘How long have I been sick? Didn’t I make a mistake with the Archmage in the meantime?’

It wasn’t worth it. She had sparse memories of him. The memory of the cold towel touching her feverish forehead, touching her cheek and fixing her blanket; the voice that resented the coachman to run faster. And she also remembered when she vomited all over the front of the great wizard.

‘Oh my God.’

Ariadne touched her forehead. What kind of a nuisance was she when she couldn’t even look pretty?

‘It must have relieved tension after leaving Eldeer.’

Since she was born, she wasn’t very strong, but since she had been subjected to constant torture under the guise of class, her accumulated stress must have been considerable.

‘Perhaps my health is not good.’

As she expected, a shadow fell on the doctor’s expression during her examination.

“What the hell did you do to make your child’s body…”

Jaileen gritted her teeth and muttered softly, but she noticed Ariadne’s anxious gaze and quickly made a bright expression.

“It is over, lady.”

She got up to grab her tools as quickly as possible. Because she felt that the young lady was constantly straining herself because she was by her side.

“If you rest well in the future, you will be able to stand up in no time. Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

After saying her goodbyes, Jayleen tugged at her change bag. Realizing that the doctor had something to say, the maid quietly closed the door as she followed her into the hallway.

Jaylin lowered her voice.

“Did you see it?”

“What?”

“She saw me and hid. It’s not that she is shy. Because she responded to you. She is afraid of the doctor.”

“I saw that. It must be because she is a weak child. When Gloria was little, she hated doctors…”

“It’s not like that.”

The doctor frowned as she cut off his words. She seemed unable to afford the courtesy to her employer because of her anger.

“It wasn’t a reaction of fear of the bitter medicine or the treatment process. I have seen several children and she has a different trauma.”

“Different, what?”

“Did you see it? She sounds like a prisoner awaiting a death sentence.”

“Besides, since she is right-handed, he held out her left arm as if it were natural. Meaning she never showed those scars on her right arm to her doctor. She has never been cured, and of course never has received treatment.”

A deep wrinkle formed between the Marquis’ brows. Jaylin sighed and continued.

“Maybe she was taught to hide her scars. Do you know what that means?”

“That she’s been locked in. Who would dare to do that to Princess Eldeer…”

“Isn’t it obvious? Did the Duke not know about his daughter’s condition? Until she reached that point? If you didn’t know, that’s great in many ways.”

The Marquis did not stop the doctor from speaking in a twisted tone. His head felt itchy.

“He couldn’t possibly not know.”

“Yes, of course he should have known.”

“Either he overlooked it, or he did it himself. I guess it’s one of the two. But why would the Duke do that?”

“That is what I am most curious about. Why did he do that to his little daughter?”

“It’s too serious to be called discipline.”

“Discipline? You said she was 7 years old, right? I’d believe her even though she’s 5 years old. How can discipline prevent a child from developing properly? Whatever the intent, it is abuse.”

Abuse. It was something he really couldn’t have imagined. The bartender rubbed his mouth with his weary hand. When his youngest sister said that she would marry the Duke of Eldeer, he did not dissuade her much.

Franz Eldeer himself was not very special. All he had was the family crest. However, his family was the Duke of Eldaer, the most prestigious family in the kingdom. Besides, his appearance was very good, and his personality was not bad for a great nobleman like him.

‘I thought he was a good mate. Good enough for Gloria to live well…’

Because of his father’s insistence, he could not contact them directly. As a Marquis whose duty was to defend the borders, he found it difficult to participate in the capital’s social scene. Still, he did not live with his ears closed. He was constantly hearing from his sister.

Amidst such news, he could only see Gloria as rich and happy. The Duke built a new large outbuilding exclusively for the Duchess, and always prepared only the finest items for her. Even at her official appearances, he only showed his utmost care for his wife. There were rumors that she was a loving wife.

That attitude carried over to their one and only daughter, Princess Eldeer, who resembles the beautiful Duke and was said to be lovely like a fairy. Rumors about the princess were heard from time to time, even without looking into it. Rumors that said the Duke had allocated a huge budget for his daughter, and that she put a smile on her face and brags whenever she speaks.

“…I can’t believe it. Rumor has it that the duke is an idiot for his daughter.”

“Whatever the rumors, my opinion is that it is almost certain that the Duke of Eldeer abused his only daughter.”

Marquis Baek touched his forehead, feeling dizzy. Jayleen, who had been watching him in silence, added with a weary face.

“Mr. Marquis, to be honest, even abuse is a purified expression.”

The Marquis recalled the red scars entangled like a net on the pale child’s forearms. When he received his maid’s report and checked the wounds himself, he was shocked. He had seen many worse wounds on the battlefield, but the intensity of the impact was different for the wounds on children who were not even a handful, not soldiers.

“Is the child’s condition very serious?”

“It’s worse inside than it looks. It seemed that all the internal organs were damaged and then recovered repeatedly. At least ten times. I get a terrible feeling every time I examine my lady. I can’t imagine what kind of pain she must have endured with that small body…”

The Marquis, at a loss for words, let out a low moan. The doctor bit her lip and added.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a 7-year-old child go through such a mess. It’s even creepier that she has no trauma except for her right arm.”

“Could it be because of a rare disease or exposure to contamination due to an accident…”

“This is absolutely not an illness. And no accident…”

The look in Jayleen’s eyes, who had been responding nervously, changed slightly.

“…Contamination, contamination, that’s a possibility. It’s not common for poison to destroy the body in that way. But if it was contamination, she would have died instantly, but how…”

Indulged in academic curiosity, the doctor soon shook her head.

“Anyway, accidental accidents or illness never do that. Someone did it on purpose.”

After looking at the empty space with a distant feeling, he asked heavily.

“Is a cure possible?”