Chapter 150…………………………..
“D… don’t go!”
“…Adel!”
The breath that had been held back burst out all at once. Her eyes snapped open, and as she stopped waving her hands frantically, the Count grasped them gently, almost pressing them down.
“Adel, can you see me?”
“…Father.”
“Yes, yes.”
Oh, God.
The Count pressed his forehead against the back of her hand, as if his first prayer in his life didn’t feel awkward at all. Adel, seeing her father so startled for the first time, was shocked and pressed a hand to her stomach.
“Ah…”
After taking a few breaths, she finally regained her senses.
Ah.
A faint groan scattered into the air. Realizing roughly what had happened, Adel squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again.
“…Why did you… do that?”
“Phew… and you, leaving your father behind like that.”
“….”
“Do you know how terrified I was? I thought my heart would just stop!”
“…Then until now, I…”
“You should have gone together when it was time! Where do you think you were, staying there alone in that weather and causing all this trouble! How can you call yourself the heir of this family after that!”
Since he was not one to hold back his temper, the Count shouted, scolding Adel.
But knowing the worry hidden beneath his anger, Adel couldn’t retort as she usually did.
“…I’m sorry.”
Really, I’m sorry.
As Adel hugged him tightly, the Count’s excitement slowly subsided. With a sigh as if he could do nothing else, he laid her down properly.
“You need to rest. Do you even know how many days it’s been since you opened your eyes?”
“…I…”
“Three days. Do you even remember? If the captain hadn’t brought you back in time!”
He made a face as if he didn’t want to think about it, then paused. As soon as Killian’s name came up, Adel froze.
The Count cleared his throat, pretending not to notice, and she forced her lips together.
“…Where is the captain?”
“….”
Even though her father didn’t avoid her gaze, she realized from the moment she opened her eyes that he wasn’t here.
Not because he didn’t hold her hand and wait, but because her heart felt unnaturally calm.
The warmth that brushed her nape, the faint remaining voice—
In this room, there was no trace of him.
“He had some urgent matter to attend to. He said he would return as soon as he finished, so there’s no need to worry.”
“…I see.”
“Tsk tsk, you should be taking care of yourself instead of worrying about someone else.”
The Count, as if changing the topic, pulled the blanket up to her neck. The room was already stiflingly hot, but she couldn’t resist her father’s touch.
“You need to eat well and rest well, you hear?”
“Who says?”
“That would be… the priestess who treated you.”
“Long time no see, Agnes.”
“Oh… Priestess!”
Rebecca, who she hadn’t even realized was there, appeared behind the Count. Startled, Adel tried to sit up, but Rebecca stepped in front of her, lowering her eyes in her usual stern expression.
“…Do not get up. You still need rest.”
“Then… Priestess, you…”
“It wasn’t because I wanted to. But as a priestess, one must fulfill the duties given by God.”
Even her blunt tone was unmistakably her.
Adel stared at her for a long moment, then faintly smiled, and Rebecca stepped closer.
“You’ll need to rest for a while. Overwork was the main cause, more than your injuries.”
“…When did you come here, Priestess? How did you know?”
“…Well…”
Rebecca glanced at the Count. She didn’t know what expression he wore, but her eyes toward Adel were full of complexity.
“Your younger sibling came looking for me. The Fidelio mountain was so noisy in the middle of the night, I thought a war had broken out.”
“I see.”
“Anyway, thanks to that, I arrived in time.”
“…Was I very sick?”
“You would know best yourself.”
Her cold tone came from a face that neither smiled nor frowned, but Adel no longer judged people solely by appearances. The neatness Rebecca usually treated as divine revelation was now completely disheveled.
Adel gently took the priestess’s hand.
“Why… why are you doing this?”
“Just because. Somehow today, I felt like holding someone’s hand.”
“….”
“It feels even better now that I see you again, Priestess.”
Adel smiled slowly, and Rebecca twisted slightly in response.
Clearly, I’m not suited for this.
Oh God, I am truly incompatible with this woman!
Yet despite the strong instinct to pull away, Rebecca could not reject Adel’s hand.
“Haah… I was so worried when I heard you had rolled down the hill. Someone who always acts so decisively… why did you even go up there? I’m glad it was just bruises; what if you had broken a bone…”
“Uh, Priestess. I know it’s strange to ask now, but…”
The Count, who had been watching their exchange closely, quietly interjected.
Adel hadn’t regained consciousness for several days, so he hadn’t thought of it before—but now that her eyes were open and her body was okay, curiosity had returned.
“Priestess, is there something wrong with Adel’s body…?”
“Huh?”
“No, hmm, I mean, it’s nothing serious, but some symptoms… for a while…”
“Symptoms?”
“Well… you know. Feeling unwell, skipping meals, being irritable, and lying in bed all the time, saying you were sleepy.”
“Father!”
Adel yelled, looking up at him.
Her flushed nape was likely from embarrassment, but her voice clearly showed she had recovered.
“No, it’s fine. How many times must I say it’s fine?”
“…Really fine?”
“Didn’t you hear the doctor that day? He clearly said it wasn’t serious.”
Recalling the day she learned of Balrog in the glass greenhouse, Adel shook her head in disappointment at her father.
The doctor who had examined her a few days ago looked as if he were dying himself, but firmly said it wasn’t serious.
“…Then our Mercedes really is…”
Greed had no limits in this family.
When Adel had been in a deep sleep, he thought that once this was resolved, all worries in the world would disappear—but confirming that his precious granddaughter wasn’t at fault made him suddenly melancholy.
Unable to let go of his lingering concern, the Count just hovered around Rebecca.
“Then, Priestess, in your view…”
“I’m not a doctor, so I can’t be certain, but I didn’t sense any unusual energy during prayer.”
“…I see.”
“You should go now, Father. I need to rest more.”
Her father’s drooping shoulders looked almost comical, but Adel deliberately acted coldly, giving no leeway.
Watching him leave after entrusting herself to Rebecca, Adel clutched the blanket.
…He really isn’t here.
Finally awake from a long, long dream, she felt like she had returned to reality.
She hadn’t wanted to realize it like this.
Crackle.
The fireplace burned, yet her arms felt cold.
Cough.
She tried to cough it out, but no one was there to comfort her or hold her.
“Phew… finally gone. Now I understand who Agnes resembles.”
“That’s an insult, right?”
Rebecca was now standing beside the bed. Adel, staring out the window, hid her cloudy eyes and smiled faintly, but Rebecca did not.
“An insult? No, it means the Count is very perceptive.”
“….”
“Of course, Agnes is even more so.”
Complexity filled Rebecca’s eyes.
It wasn’t new for her to dislike Adel, but seeing her now, hugging her knees and gazing mournfully outside, was the most displeasing of all.
“Phew… how long do you plan to keep this a secret?”
