Chapter 393 (1/2)

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Translator: Nat

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–Aegir POV–

「Open it.」

On the orders of the king, Rosario's room…… rather, the cage, gets unlocked.

There were two locks on the cage, each taking a different key held by different information officers. It was purposely made so a single person couldn't open the cage. No matter how you look at it, that's overkill.

When both officers turned the keys at the same time, the thick cage opens up with a creak.

The cage's appearance was like a prison, however the interior design was decorated more extravagantly than my room or Nonna's room.

「Your Majesty?」

Rosario turns toward the entrance and slowly stands up.

She makes a puzzled face and walks unsteadily in our direction.

「You can stay where you are. What would you do if you tripped?」

The king quickly holds Rosario's body and sits her back down on a chair.

「My apologies, Your Majesty. I didn't mean to cause trouble.」

「Don't be ridiculous.」

The king seemed to want to hug Rosario, but concerned about how he would look in front of us, cleared his throat and separated from her.

「You did some knitting?」

「Yes. Merely walking around causes Your Majesty unnecessary worry…… it might not look great due to my fumbling, but is it coming together?」

Rosario takes what she had probably knitted and hands it to the king.

What she held in her hands did not actually resemble anything, and looked more like a tangled mess, not to mention she extended her arm in a different direction than where the king was.

「……you're making progress, you're doing good Rosario. When you've completed it, please give it to me.」

The king hugs Rosario tightly, looking like he's about to cry.

Words cannot describe the feeling I'm experiencing.

「Fufu, it will be finished soon. If you don't mind me asking, will I be receiving your affection today?」

The king sniffled once before replying.

「You'll be getting your eyes treated today. I've brought an apothecary. After that, you'll do as I've ordered.」

The king, who spoke quickly and concisely after moving away from Rosario, continued to leave the room.

He suddenly appeared cold, but that's probably because he couldn't break down and cry in front of us.

The abruptness caused Rosario to turn in my direction with a confused look.

「Err…… and who might you be?」

「I am Margrave Hardlett. I am here today to heal your eyes. I have with me the apothecary Natia, my wife Nonna, and my attendant Celia.」

After introducing ourselves, Rosario tilts her head and greets us with a rather forced smile.

「You are Margrave Hardlett? I've heard about you through rumors. Please forgive my rudeness.」

She stretches out her hands to my face, running her fingers over my nose and mouth.

「I apologize for my actions. Alas, I am blind and cannot remember anyone's face unless I do this.」

My eyes meet with Rosario's at close range…… to be precise, we did not exchange gazes, rather I instinctively observe her.

Her height is a little over 160 cm, which is a bit taller than Nonna.

She has a head of black glossy hair reaching down to her waist which appears to be scrupulously groomed and has a fluffy feel.

Her face is fairly attractive, though not enough to cross the threshold of peerless beauty.

She is of an average build, with b.r.e.a.s.t.s and an a.s.s on the larger side. Her skin is extremely smooth, showing signs of proper care.

As a whole, she is a pretty girl, who could possibly be the talk of the city…… and that's it.

I don't get the impression she's a woman gorgeous enough for the king to be engrossed in or willing to let an entire country decline for.

「Ara, you have a gash on your face…… doesn't it hurt?」

Rosario's voice and breath caress my face.

In that instant, I feel my heart pulsate especially strongly one time and my crotch swell.

「Aah, I see.」

「?」

It wasn't her looks or her body. The king was done in by this aura she gives off.

She isn't a complete work of art like an ideal show girl, she creates her charm by combining the look of her face, her body and her unnaturally polite gestures.

It makes me want to protect her, dominate her, claim her for myself and love her.

Those are the desires stirred up within me.

If I had to complain about something, it would be this air of deceit around her.

I can't really put my finger on what it is she is trying to falsify. All I know is that she is not telling the truth about something and putting on a mask.

There's no logic behind that conclusion, it's my intuition after being involved with countless girls.

It happened right as I was about to unconsciously take Rosario's hand.

「Hardlett.」

「Yes, Sire.」

The king peeked his head out from behind the door of the entrance.

「Rosario is my lover and can be considered paralyzed at the moment. I trust you are sensible enough not to do any insolent things lest your entire family be executed. I'm just warning you in the unlikely event something happens.」

That's his serious face.

「Such disrespectful actions have not even crossed my mind.」

「I do not genuinely doubt you either. However, after the treatment is done, I'm going to have to ask you and your wife to leave. I would also like to point out that the information officers are acting for caution's sake, please do not mind them.」

After saying that, the king once again pulls his head away.

As the four information officers and Rebecca surround me, I catch a glimpse of what's in their pockets…… and isn't that a blowgun? I'm clearly being doubted here.

「Be at ease, it is merely a numbing agent.」

「Aegir-sama……」

Nonna looks at me anxiously. If things are this way, I certainly can't seduce Rosario.

Rosario smiles sheepishly, then proceeds to touch the faces of Nonna, Celia and Natia in that order.

「Ara, your wife has quite the splendid set of a.s.sets. I'm jealous.」

「Your attendant here is adorable, I see.」

「And this…… might become a habit.」

Rosario, in the course of feeling her face, notices Natia's unique pair of ears and strokes them constantly.

I was worried she would make a fuss after discovering Natia was an elf, but it doesn't look like she is going to.

「Wai-…… only my ears…… ah! That tickles……」

Rather, it was Natia who twisted her body from the concentrated attack on her ears.

Natia is considerably weak when it comes to her ears. It is to the extent that she falls on her b.u.m when her earlobe is bitten from behind.

Nonna takes a pose like she's above everyone when her b.r.e.a.s.t.s are praised, meanwhile Celia stares unnaturally at Rosario, then inspects the hideous knitted creation.

「I want to start the treatment soon. Just to tell you, I'm not a doctor.」

「Sorry to be a bother.」

Natia hides her slightly reddened ears with her hair and begins her medical examination on Rosario.

She then opens Rosario's eyes, applies the eye drops and tilts her head.

「Mumumu……」

「Is it working?」

I ask Natia who is groaning with her head slanted inquisitively.

「I heard about the details of the injury……」

Natia opens Rosario's eyes to confirm again.

「But I don't see anything there.」

Natia says in a troubled tone.

According to the king and Rosario herself, her eyes were slashed by a blade.

In that case, the cause of the loss of vision should be an external wound. It's strange not to find any traces of injury.

Strange or not though, we have a trump card to deal with injuries.

「Celia.」

「Yes…… ah!?」

I thrust my hand into Celia's chest area.

The information officers were astonished, Rebecca was rendered speechless, and even Rosario put a hand to her mouth in surprise.

What I took out from Celia's chest was a small medicine bottle.

It contained a familiar red powder, the dragon blood, which is the greatest medicine as far as I know.

If an injury caused her to be blind, then she would be healed if she drank this.

「Then I didn't need to come in the first place? Why did you bring me?」

After giving the unhappily grumbling Natia a sidelong glance, I was about to hand the medicine to Rosario.

「Uuu…… I was keeping it in case Aegir-sama got injured badly…… there isn't much left……」

Don't be like that. I can get over my wounds somehow with guts. It's more important to heal a woman's blindness――

「I apologize for cutting in. Is this ”treasured medicine” you are referring to perhaps the rumored dragon's blood?」

「Mu, you know about it?」

Rosario smiles sadly and continues on.

「His Majesty had already allowed someone like me to drink such a famed cure-all…… however, I regret to tell you that the light in my eyes did not return…… and I felt terribly sorry that His Majesty's expectations were not met.」

I turn to look at Rebecca.

She did not intend to gossip in front of her subordinates and only nodded silently.

I wrap my arm around Natia and pull her close.

「Don't hug me so suddenly! That made my heart jump!」

This is not the time to be flirting.

「Hey, is it possible that this won't work?」

Natia frantically shakes her head.

「I looked into that medicine and its effects are perfect. It should be able to heal the injury of a person on the brink of death……」

「The reality is that she can't see though. Are her eyes incurable?」

「Sense of touch can be recovered so regaining sense of vision should also be possible. Perhaps there was poison on the sword which remains in her eyes. Although her eyes properly react to light…… mmm, hmmm.」

Sensing our dilemma, Rosario smiles kindly.

「Please do not concern yourself so. My body did not respond to all the efforts of the notable doctors His Majesty brought me to either. I will tell His Majesty that Lord Hardlett tried all possible means to help.」

Something bothers me about Rosario's smile.

When I s.h.i.+ft my gaze, I see Nonna quietly sitting on a chair, squirming restlessly from wanting to touch the gorgeous room furnis.h.i.+ngs.

Aah, I have an idea.

That was when Celia, who was scampering about in the room while being stared at by the information officers, also notices and was about to open her mouth. I beat her to the punch and cover her mouth.

「Mogagh.」

「Natia, I just thought of something.」

「Hm?」

As I bring Natia close, I take out the pen Celia reserves for writing her notes from her pocket.

「You see…… oops, there's some trash on you.」

「Thanks. Well, if you have any clues, I'll listen to whatever you have to say.」

While pretending to pick out a piece of trash, I draw a beard on Natia's chin, then call Rosario over.

「Sorry, could I see your eyes one more time?」

「Yes. Feel free to look as many times as you want.」

I take Rosario's hand as she stands up shakily, her eyes still closed.

My actions drew the close attention of the four information officers who are ready with pipe-like instruments.

I knew it, they have blowguns.

I ask Celia to take Rosario's hand instead and lead her to a chair to sit, then have her open her eyes.

Of course, it was Natia who stands in front of her.

「……」

The open-eyed Rosario twitches and coughs deceivingly before taking a seat.

It seems I'm right.

「Are you alright?」

「Yes…… I might have caught a cold by staying up late to knit.」

She coughs a few more times like she was genuinely sick, which doesn't provoke a reaction from the information officers besides a little concern.

She can still get away if I confront her now. I won't let her do so next time.

「Hey, nothing changes from the last time.」

「Oh, wait just a second. There's some trash on your face again.」

Once again, I doodle on Natia's face with the pen.

「It's close to your eye. Close them for a minute.」

「Mu.」

First, I expand her thin green eyebrows by three times their width, then I connect her eyebrows together to make one long line.

「Is there really that much?」

「Yes. I'll be done soon.」

Next, I draw large sparkling eyes on her closed eyelids.

「Muu…… I thought I cleaned myself thoroughly. If it's really dirty, use a wet towel and……」

「Just keep still.」

Next, I scribble right below her nostrils to make it seem like tufts of nose hair are sticking out.

right below her nostrils.

I hesitate for a moment, thinking that I might be too mean, but I convince myself it is necessary to be the devil and follow through with the deed.

「Something smells like ink.」

「Aah, this dirt might be ink. No wonder it's taking so long to rub off.」

Here comes the brush.

A swirl is drawn on her cheeks and and a popped vein in drawn on her temple.

「Alright, done!」

「You're done? You took it off?」

Natia sighs and faces Rosario.

The moment the two girls face each other, Rosario freezes.

「Bfftt! Ku…… kuku…… u, uff…… mghgh.」

Rosario bursts into laughter when Natia's face is presented to her and she tries to look down, but couldn't hold herself back and crouches down with a hand covering her face.

The suddenness of her actions alerted those in the room.

「What the-!? What happened!?」

Naturally, Natia also panics.

「Rosario-sama, what's the matter!? Report to His Majesty at once!」

「There's no need.」

I tell the information officers before whispering at a volume that only Rosario could hear.

「You can see, can't you.」

「……」

Rosario doesn't say anything and continues looking down.

I think I felt something stab my a.s.s. Did someone use their blowgun?

「The bushy nose hair……」

「Kuhu…… s-stop it.」

Rosario lifts her gaze and looks at me.

She clearly had vision in her eyes. I knew it.

Her eyes healed the moment the king used the dragon blood on her.

In spite of that, she continued to pretend like she was blind.

「……how did you know?」

「A family member did something similar.」

Of course, I'm referring to the currently bewildered Nonna.

It was a little before the war started when Nonna suddenly got sick.

I attended her constantly and bought her medicine for every kind of illness, but instead of getting better, her condition worsened.

I would hug her for entire nights when she complained how cold she felt until the unsatisfying final act.

When Carla gave Nonna chilli powder disguised as medicine and caught her when she screamed out, we found out that she feigned her sickness.

「My attendant also figured it out.」

Celia also noticed that Rosario could see.

However, if she said it out loud, Rosario could no longer keep up the act.

「What do you plan to do with me?」

Although her tone remained calm, Rosario clearly appears fl.u.s.tered and annoyed.

That kind of human emotion is more to my taste.

「I won't do anything. I do want you to tell me though. Why did you keep pretending that you couldn't see?」

Rosario's brow furrowed and then she heaves a big sigh. She's conflicted over whether to confess.

「If you bring your eyebrows so close together, they'll actually connect, you know?」

「Kuh, enough already.」

「What are you two talking about? Is Rosario-dono alright?」

Natia takes a peek at us.

Her drawn unibrow wiggles and every time she blinked, it looked like the round eyes drawn on her eyelids were opening.

Her worried tone and popped vein on her forehead did not match at all.

「Pffkk…… gosh…… kuuu……」

Rosario looks down again and writhes her body strangely before resigning to speak openly.

「Everyone…… I want to speak with Lord Hardlett alone. Could I ask everyone to leave briefly?」

「「「No!!」」」

Rebecca and the information officers shouted in unison.

I don't know why they're so desperate to prevent us from being together.

「Lord Hardlett does not discriminate against women. Leaving you alone with him is like leaving a naked woman in front of an orc.」

「That's right! He was lively even after being hit directly, I'm certain he isn't human.」

「That's why I said not to aim at his a.s.s, but his medulla oblongata.」

Rebecca and the nameless information officers say incredibly menacingly. Knowing they have so little trust in me will make me cry.

「It will be fine. I have something regarding my wound that I don't want anybody to know.」

「But still-」

Rosario obviously doesn't want to tell the truth in front of the information officers.

Her request for everyone to leave the room is disapproved by Rebecca.

「I ask again. Please let me be alone with the apothecary and Hardlett-sama…… this is selfishness on my part in order to regain the light in my eyes…… I beg of you……」

「Uu……」

When she bows politely, Rebecca couldn't help feeling pressured to give in.

If the king was sitting here and was told by Rosario that her eyes couldn't be healed because of Rebecca, he would be furious.

Rebecca approaches me and, with genuine killing intent, warns me.

「If by any chance you…… fondle or even touch her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, you and I, as well as your family, will be hanged. Don't forget that.」

Rebecca says that and leaves the room with her subordinates.

On her way out, she stops to turn around and look at me. Is she really that worried that I'll do something?

I mean, it's not like I act purely on instincts for everything.

「To ensure no intruders get in, I will be checking in at irregular intervals.」

I don't know where ruffians may try to sneak in when the room has no windows or ceiling s.p.a.ce, but the monitoring will continue nonetheless.

Well, I'm not going to do anything guilty. Even if they can see, it should be fine if they can't hear.

When the door closed, the prison-like room became silent and an unpleasant stillness dominated the place.

Nonna awkwardly adjusts the collar of her clothes, Natia needlessly fiddles with the contents of her medicine box, and Celia glares at Rosario from behind me.

My gaze and Rosario's gaze remained locked.

Neither of us looked away.

Nothing will be accomplished through this staring contest of ours.

「Well, why did you do it?」

「Haa…… there's no helping it now that we've come to this point.」

Rosario confirms the viewing window is closed before filling up two cups with a teapot and handing them to me and Nonna.

「「Eeh!?」」

Nonna and Natia express their shock.

Immediately, there was a loud clang as the viewing window opens, then after verifying nothing happened, it closes.

It seems they are really staying on guard in front of the window.

「Please keep your voices down. ……my blindness is a ruse and my eyes have not actually lost their light.」

Natia puts a hand to her mouth, while Celia helps cover Nonna's mouth.

「Could I ask you to explain?」

When I prompt her, Rosario pours heaps of sugar into her tea like there wasn't already enough and begins to talk.

「Everything was done to gain His Majesty's affection because that is all a foolish woman like me can do to survive.」

I tilt my head and reply.

「You say how foolish and incompetent you are, but I don't think that. In my eyes, you appear quite clever.」

Rosario smiles wryly and then looks at me with a reluctant expression.

It felt like her mask crumbled a bit.

「If I add blindness to my already pitiful state, His Majesty would have compa.s.sion and keep me by his side. That is my wish. I simply wanted to cling to His Majesty's kindness…… that is the reason for this lie――」

「You're kidding, right?」

I grip Rosario's hand.

「Tell me the real reason.」

「Why do you say that?」

Doubt appears in Rosario's eyes.

I can't blame her. All this time, I'm sure the king's aides have accused her of being a spy or a witch among other things.

「I've interested in you. Is that not allowed?」

When I said that, Celia and Nonna instantly restrains both of my arms.

Come on now, I'm not going to lay a hand on her yet.

「……if you change your mind after talking to me, you only have to say you know nothing about it. His Majesty will undoubtedly believe you over me.」

Rosario looks wide-eyed at my wife and attendant as they hold me back, then eventually cracks a tiny smile.

「I guess you're right. There isn't anybody the king trusts more than me.」

Rosario grins and crosses her legs.

Her mask is slipping and her real face is being revealed. This is a good sign.

「In order to progress, we must first revisit the boring past.」

She would be referring to her background.

I had plenty of delusions, which included scenarios where she was a female spy sent to the king as a part of a plot to weaken him, an intelligence agent for South Yuguria, and even underling of the demon king, but she defied all of those expectations.

Her past was truly an ordinary one, which was nowhere near interesting enough to write a story about.

Rosario was born in a certain small town.

She had various talents.

Her looks were beautiful enough to be the talk of the town, she had the ability to unify people by having everyone idolize her, and the natural business sense she was blessed with often made merchants sweat during her negotiations.

She became a central figure amongst the townspeople.

The thing was, none of her mult.i.tude of talents were at a level beyond ”better than other people”.

The still young girl at the time believed in herself too much. Either that or she was unlucky.

After the town mayor died of old age, his son succeeded him.

The mayor that took over was an extremely incapable and vulgar man.

Not only was the new mayor domineering, he would partic.i.p.ate in bribery and hara.s.s the girls in town.

Obviously, that angered the townspeople and led them to express their discontent.

「One day, one of my friends was taken to the mayor's house and violated. To avenge the sobbing girl, I, in fury, gathered the rest of the townspeople to protest at his house.」

「That's…… a rebellion!?」

「At this stage, it was merely an insignificant dispute.」

Nonna was surprised, but it was in fact not rare for citizens to argue with the mayor of towns and cities.