I Don't Want That

It happened without warning.

In the middle of light conversation, Princess Yupe had lifted her cup to take a drink when she suddenly clutched her neck in agony and collapsed.

I caught her before she could hit her head, and blood was already flowing from the scar on her neck.

The amount of bleeding wasn't that much, and she was still conscious, but that was no reason to relax.

Elza came running from the bathroom, and Azu from outside.

Elza was clutching a towel in one hand, but she was stark naked.

"What's the situation!?"

"She suddenly started writhing in pain and ended up like this. It didn't look like anyone did anything to her, but…"

"… Don't shout. My ears are ringing."

Princess Yupe's face was deathly pale.

She herself said it was from the former Secretary of Military Affairs absorbing an apostle's power, but she looked like she could collapse again at any moment.

The details could wait. Treatment had to come first.

I sent Elza a look and she nodded.

She was the one we had to rely on now.

"Let me treat her first. My power should ease her condition."

"Please. Sorry to make you come out like that."

"It's nothing. Now, did you hear any voices?"

"No. I didn't hear anything. I felt an overwhelmingly awful presence at my neck, and then this happened."

"I see. Then it should be fine."

Elza placed her hand on the part of the neck that was still bleeding.

A healing miracle activated, and the bleeding stopped immediately.

Azu wiped the blood away with a warm towel.

Her breathing settled and color returned to her face. It didn't look like this would turn into a worst-case scenario.

"As I thought, the scar didn't actually reopen."

"But there was definitely blood."

"The scar must have developed a function similar to a holy mark. I believe it reacted to an apostle's awakening. I've suppressed it with my power, so there's no immediate danger."

"I see… Well done."

Holy marks… I'd heard of mysterious wounds that sometimes appeared on the faithful, but this was the first time I'd seen anything like it.

I'd thought Princess Yupe had severed her ties with the Church of the Sun God back then, but it seemed she still wasn't free of them.

"I was in the best mood of my life, and then this. Falling in a ditch would've been more pleasant."

Princess Yupe removed the blood-stained bathrobe.

Then she took the towel Azu was holding and wiped the blood from her body.

"Elza, go back to the bath. You'll catch a cold dressed like that."

"But…"

"I'm fine now. You're quite the priestess, you know that? I feel much better."

"Elza-san, I can handle the cleanup."

We sent Elza back to the bathroom.

The scene had been shocking, but the actual blood loss wasn't that much.

With Azu's help, we had everything cleaned up quickly.

My clothes had gotten some bloodstains on them from catching her, but that couldn't be helped.

"I'm thirsty."

She poured herself a cup of water and drank it down with vigor.

Her energy seemed to be coming back.

"Losing the power didn't bother me at the time, but it seems that wasn't the end of it. I couldn't care less about him or the power anymore, but how annoying."

"Secretary Crispus?"

"Former, yes. I can't quite put it into words, but I just know. This was his doing. A holy mark, was it? He probably triggered the scar's reaction on purpose. Whether it was harassment or a warning, I couldn't say."

"If it can happen anytime, anywhere, that's dangerous. We were here so we could treat you immediately, but if the same thing happened when you were alone, it could be life-threatening."

"That should be fine now, thanks to Elza's treatment. I can feel a strong power protecting me. Even if something is done from a distance, I don't think it'll be a problem. I can't say for sure about a direct encounter, but if he got that close, I'd probably sense it."

This was all based on her own perception, so there was no way for us to verify it.

But she wasn't the type to lie, so it was probably true.

Queen Tianis might faint when she heard about this.

For all her composure, she did worry about her sister quite a lot.

"Sorry for getting everything dirty. I'll compensate you once we're back at the castle."

"Don't worry about it. They're cheap."

"I can't just let it go. It would bother me. Tianis gives me an allowance, so I have money."

"An allowance…" Azu murmured.

She seemed surprised by that unexpected common ground.

"I figured you'd be the type to spend lavishly."

"Do I seem like it? I do enjoy the extravagant, of course. But I'm not self-destructive. I don't squander every coin I have on pleasure. Given my position, I've been saving up. Ambassadors send me gifts too, and I keep them all properly."

Surprisingly practical.

In all the commotion, I hadn't noticed, but she'd taken off the bathrobe and was now in just the negligee.

It was Elza's, and the thin fabric made certain things rather… visible.

She must be exhausted. Let's get her into the bedroom quickly.

"Please get some rest. We should cancel tomorrow's farm work too…"

"I don't want that. We're doing it as planned."

Princess Yupe closed the distance between us in an instant.

Her supple body pressed against mine.

She smelled of yuzu. The scent of blood was already gone.

"I'm fine now. I lost some blood, but sleeping will fix that. I refuse to run back to the castle just because of what he did. My pride won't allow it. I want to prove to myself that nothing he did meant anything to me."

"But…"

"If I start looking unwell, I'll do whatever you say right away. Please."

… This must have run up against some personal rule of hers.

Canceling the farm work tomorrow and returning to the castle would certainly be the safest option, but to Princess Yupe, that would mean running away, an unbearable humiliation.

I felt like I'd glimpsed another side of her, beyond the carefree exterior.

"Understood. If you feel that strongly about it, we'll proceed as planned. But we'll be keeping a close eye on you."

"Yay. Thank you."

She threw her arms around me.

In what was essentially underwear, every sensation came through with uncomfortable clarity.

"Please let go. Honestly, you were just collapsed a moment ago, so how are you this energetic?"

"Because that awful feeling's been blown away! Well then, I'll head to bed first. Good night."

Princess Yupe went to the bedroom and disappeared from view.

… Her hands had been trembling when she hugged me.

That excessive cheerfulness may have been her way of masking her anxiety.

And who could blame her? Something like that had struck out of nowhere.

It could easily have been much worse.

And as long as former Secretary Crispus was out there, it could happen again.

Yet she could still smile through it. That took real courage.

"Master, please hold still."

"What is it?"

Azu wiped my face with a fresh towel.

Apparently, there was still blood on it.

"Princess Yupe has it rough."

"Yeah… But this gives the kingdom one more reason to bring down the Church of the Sun God. With them targeting the Royal Capital and everything else, we can't say it has nothing to do with us either. We might be in danger ourselves. Maybe we should cooperate more."

"I'll follow wherever your thoughts lead, Master. So don't worry."

Those were reassuring words.

After Elza finished her bath, I soaked in the tub myself, and we turned in for the night.