CHAPTER~12
The next day, Frezen Decart left the villa without even greeting me, saying he had urgent business.
Well, it didn’t matter.
It’s not like we ever exchanged friendly greetings anyway.
I also left the villa with Mela at dawn and hurried back to the mansion.
By the time two days had passed since checking her condition through the physician,
Mela’s condition was strangely neither improving nor worsening.
I gently stroked Mela, who had fallen asleep after taking her medicine.
“Count, may I have a moment…?”
As I watched Mela sleep adorably, feeling proud, the physician tapped my shoulder and gestured for me to come over.
“This is strange, Count Leella.”
That was the first thing the physician said once we closed the door and stepped into the corridor.
He kept tilting his head, saying he couldn’t understand what he was seeing.
“What exactly is strange? She looks like she’s getting better.”
Growing frustrated with his vague explanations, I urged him to be clear.
The physician cautiously opened his mouth.
“Of course, right after taking the medicine she appears stable. In cases of simple allergies, symptoms usually improve for a few hours to a few days. Mela will likely be the same. However…”
“However?”
“Well… she clearly showed improvement after the medicine last night, but when I checked her today, she was in the exact same condition as yesterday. As if the illness appears and disappears over and over. I’m not even sure how to explain this clearly.”
He looked troubled, then tried explaining it more plainly.
After hearing him, I didn’t understand any better—only found it stranger.
So basically, she gets better after taking medicine, but the next day her symptoms reset?
‘Could this also be one of the epidemic symptoms? But no… nothing like that existed.’
I tilted my head in confusion.
“And one more thing, Count.”
The physician glanced around, then leaned close and whispered in my ear.
“I don’t know much about magic, but that young lady… her mana—or should I call it her energy—is extraordinary.”
“…Really?”
Of course it was.
Mela would become the first female Archmage of Averc.
I wasn’t her biological parent, but I still felt proud enough for the corners of my lips to twitch up.
Still, I answered calmly.
The physician believed Mela was just one of my distant relatives.
“So?”
What he said next erased my pride and replaced it with confusion.
“If she has this level of mana, she should be capable of controlling it to some extent. Perhaps even her body… or perhaps even the illness.”
* * *
“You’re asking if I’ve noticed anything strange about young lady Mela?”
“Yeah, anything. Even something small. Just be honest, Hubert.”
After finishing my conversation with the physician, I went straight to my office.
“Lily and Bailey too—tell me anything. Anything at all.”
The maids and the chief butler had just finished cleaning the office, so it was perfect timing.
“If you mean anything at all…”
Lily and Bailey—collectively the Liri sisters—glanced at each other nervously.
Speaking frankly in front of the head of the house wasn’t easy. I understood.
“Strange things, you say, my lord.”
Hubert pushed up his glasses with a serious expression.
Why was this old man suddenly so dramatic?
“Yeah. Strange things. Is that wording weird? Then… unusual things?”
Hubert slammed his hand on the desk—hard.
“Old man, have you lost it? Why are you slamming desks now…?”
“Everything about young lady Mela—no, Miss Mela—is unusual.”
I perked up and looked at him.
Hubert’s eyes gleamed as he spoke in a solemn, grave tone.
“I’ve never seen such a life form in my long years. At first, I even suspected the Lopenter Marquis family had sent her on purpose, but that small and adorable Mela could never be such a schemer.”
“…What?”
“Her hands and feet are so tiny and delicate. Are they really human hands? Ah! And the other day, I took her to the flower garden. And believe it or not—she picked a small yellow flower, smaller than her own hand, and offered it to me.”
Hello? That’s just him being whipped.
My expression grew blank.
As if that wasn’t enough, the Liri sisters joined in.
“It’s true! Miss Mela is strange—she doesn’t seem human! Maybe she’s a doll? How can someone be that cute…?”
“Who knows? Maybe she’s secretly hiding wings!”
“Kyaaa! Then she’s an angel? That fits her so well! Oh no, I hope she gets well soon…”
When did they make all these precious memories without me?
Then Hubert chimed in again.
“I also thought about unusual features. And upon closer inspection, on those soft, chubby cheeks… there’s a small mole—”
This whole whipped-grandpa show was never going to end.
Instead of discovering anything strange, I was drowning in “Mela is so cute!” speeches.
I held my throbbing forehead.
“Just give up.”
* * *
But fine, even I admit Mela is adorable.
She lost her memories, which should be scary, but she wasn’t crying or frightened.
She was bold—much more than kids her age—and when she smiled, she looked like cotton candy.
She melted people.
“Anyway, why did you ask about strange things?”
Hubert had finally calmed down by midday and handed me some documents while asking.
He was back to his usual overly serious, blunt self.
“It’s nothing serious. The physician told me earlier that her symptoms aren’t improving.”
“Then he’s incompetent. Let’s replace him. I’ll find—”
“He was recommended by Frezen Decart. Butler, are you challenging the Decart family?”
“Haha, of course not. The Decart family sent a skilled physician, and me? Me! Replace him? Impossible. Haha!”
A flawless reversal.
Anyway, according to the physician, the recovery speed depends on one’s mana.
Even though Mela’s body was that of a five-year-old, her mana far surpassed other children.
It was strong enough to be felt.
So by mana standards alone, she should’ve recovered long ago.
The fact that she hadn’t improved at all meant…
She might be intentionally controlling her symptoms.
But that was only a theory—not certain.
And maybe her allergic reaction was just more severe than others.
There were always exceptions.
And she was the original story’s protagonist.
No unnecessary suspicion allowed.
If she sensed that, she’d be hurt—and I didn’t want that.
“Anyway, it’s nothing serious, so don’t overthink it. Hubert, are you sure there really isn’t any?”
I checked the list Hubert handed me.
“Yes. If you mean the Andra fruit, there’s no supplier anywhere. Except the Northcal Northern Territory.”
“Why… why there of all places…!”
I clutched my head in despair.
The reason I searched for the Andra fruit was simple.
It was the core ingredient of the epidemic cure.
But unfortunately, the fruit grew nowhere except the northern region.
I searched for other areas, just in case—but nothing.
I had only one choice left.
Bow my head to Frezen Decart…
or protect my pride to the bitter end.
Another cruel dilemma.
I collapsed onto my desk and asked Hubert:
“Hubert, what would you do if—hypothetically—”
“Is this ruin again?”
“…Before I go bankrupt, I’ll kill you first.”
“Ah, no wonder my neck feels itchy.”
This cursed old man… he never loses a verbal fight.
I ground my teeth and asked anyway.
“If the butler desperately needed something—something absolutely necessary—and the enemy had it… what would you do?”
Hubert answered as if it were obvious.
“I’d kill him. Simple.”
“No! You can’t kill him. He’s too strong.”
“Then steal it. Hit him hard from behind.”
“He’s too strong for that too! Before you even try, your head would be gone.”
“…Am I the enemy in this scenario, my lord?”
The insane conversation only frustrated me more.
As I was about to give up, Hubert added:
“Then just trade for it. Anonymously.”
I froze.
Anonymous trade?
“Wait…”
A spark flashed through my mind.
I shot up from my chair.
“There was that method!”
