Episode 27
After returning to the duke’s mansion, I went straight to my room to test something.
Adrien had clearly said it. That his sprained arm had healed after I sneezed on it.
It was a bit scary, but since there was no one else to test it on, I decided to experiment on myself. I took the edge of a page from the book I was reading and lightly cut the tip of my left ring finger.
“Ouch.”
A chilling sensation followed, and a drop of red blood appeared on my pale skin.
“Phew. Done.”
Hurting yourself—even just a little—is never easy.
To force a sneeze, I went to the garden and picked some grass to tickle my nose, but it didn’t work. Then I snuck some pepper from the kitchen and sprinkled it near my face. That made my nose itch, and soon—
“Achoo!”
I managed to sneeze. But… nothing happened. My finger still hurt.
Maybe that wasn’t it? Then I had another idea.
I put my finger in my mouth and left it there for a few seconds. At first, the cut stung from the saliva, but strangely, that feeling faded away quickly.
When I pulled my finger out, the thin cut that was there just moments ago was completely gone.
What the—?! No way. Does my saliva really have healing power?! Is this real?!
Even after seeing it with my own eyes, I couldn’t believe it. I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.
If I couldn’t believe it, I just had to test it more!
So I tried different things—putting saliva directly on the wound, sucking on the finger, even spitting on it (gross, I know). And all of them had the same result: the wound healed every time.
That old saying about putting spit on a mosquito bite to heal it? At least for me, it was true.
Wow! Jackpot!!
Until now, I’d always felt that just having knowledge from the original novel wasn’t enough to truly help the Grand Duke. But now… discovering I had this special ability made me so happy and grateful.
Adrien, who I used to worry would catch on to my secret, turned out to be a lucky charm.
Still, I wondered what Adrien thought about all this.
From how he talked, it didn’t seem like he gave it much thought. He probably just thought it was a fun little memory.
Whether the original Eilene knew about her healing power and kept it secret, or if she didn’t even know it herself, I had no way of knowing. But either way, it was good for me. It’s probably best to keep it a secret.
Now… how should I use this power?
I still didn’t know how strong it was or what kinds of injuries it could heal. I hadn’t tested enough to be sure.
So I decided to figure it out slowly and carefully from here on. After all, I had only just found my first clue.
I also needed to add books about healing magic to my reading list.
Hoot, hoot! Hoot, hoot!
Flash!
In the middle of the night, the sound of a wild animal’s cry jolted me out of sleep. I sat up quickly.
That sound—Oki!
Finally, news from Raymond! I couldn’t waste a single second and ran straight to the window. I was in such a rush that I didn’t even think about how messy I looked.
When Oki saw me, she flinched a little. Her already-round eyes grew even rounder. But to me, she looked adorable.
So cute. Hehehe.
As I opened the window and reached out, Oki fluttered away like she was trying to avoid my hand.
“Huh? Oki?”
I looked up to follow her in the sky.
When she heard my voice, she seemed to realize it was me and came back down, landing on the windowsill.
Maybe I had laughed too creepily?
“Hoot hoot!”
Then Oki flapped her wings toward my head and hooted again. She looked annoyed.
I reached up to touch my head and realized my hair was sticking out in every direction—total bedhead.
Oh no. I looked like some crazy old wizard!
I quickly ran my fingers through my hair to smooth it down. Maybe Oki thought my big, wild hair was scary.
“Sorry, Oki. Come in.”
When I apologized, she seemed to calm down and came trotting inside.
But just then, a strange screech came from her.
“HooOOOOT!”
Suddenly, Oki wobbled and fell off the windowsill. I quickly reached out and caught her.
“Ah! Oki, are you okay?!”
“Hoot…”
Her round eyes looked surprised, but luckily, it seemed like she just slipped. Still, I checked her carefully and found a wound on one of her feet. It was small, but deep.
Maybe she scratched it on a sharp branch. Maybe that’s why she lost her footing.
“Oki, does it hurt?”
I gently touched the wound, and she let out a soft cry. It even looked like she had tears in her eyes.
“So that is where it hurts. Let me put some spit on it, okay?”
Feeling bad, I licked my finger—this time, using a lot, just in case.
Oki looked at me like I was crazy, but I told myself it was just my imagination and moved my finger close.
This was the perfect chance to test my healing power again.
I dabbed the saliva onto her wound. After four or five seconds, I saw the cut start to heal right before my eyes.
Oki blinked in surprise, then hopped around happily on her feet like she felt much better.
Wow! It works on Oki too!
“I’m so glad you’re okay!”
Clap clap clap!
I clapped my hands, thrilled.
Ever since I found out about this ability, I’d been reading all the books I could about healing magic. In this world, only priests from the temple were known to use healing powers, usually by channeling holy light through their hands.
No one mentioned healing with saliva.
There were a few old legends about it, like the “Mom’s hand is magic” kind of thing, but not much useful info.
Still, seeing it work like this made it real.
I admired Eilene’s amazing body, then turned to Oki to read Raymond’s message.
“Oki, can I see the letter?”
“Hoot hoot.”
Oki, now feeling good again, lifted her leg.
I gently took the paper and unfolded it. And there it was—handwriting from the one I missed so much.
**[Eilene, are you doing well? I thought you might be wondering, so I’m writing.
I’m still in Sheil. Most of the Neverest family has been moved to Lusloth in the territory. Only the family of the captain, On, is still here. Once we finish everything, I’ll head over soon.
On is really like the wind—he hides his presence almost perfectly. Just like you said, I’ve decided to keep him close. I’ll contact you again when I return.]**
Whew. Everything was going smoothly.
Now I could finally relax a little. Even if the Grand Duke faced danger again, I didn’t have to worry about him losing his life.
In the original novel, On was truly incredible.
The Emperor always had On by his side, and On blocked every single assassination attempt. He was a master of dark arts—not just using them, but defending against them too.
All the failed attempts on Raymond’s life had been thanks to On.
He’d protected him for the sake of his family, who were being held hostage.
And even then, the Emperor abandoned him. So it made perfect sense that On would now choose to side with the Grand Duke.
“Oki, thank you.”
“Hoot.”
I thought about writing a quick reply, but I decided not to. I didn’t want to make Oki fly all the way to another country again.
Raymond would be back soon anyway. When he returned, she’d only have to fly nearby. Until then, I could wait.
I calmed my heart by picturing him standing under blooming cherry blossoms.
But starting the next day, I began to regret not replying. Maybe not just a little—maybe a lot.
Why didn’t I send Oki back?
That day when I healed her, I was so moved by Eilene’s ability that I almost cried. But that joy soon turned into pain.
Tweet tweet. Coo coo. Caw caw. Cheep cheep!
All kinds of bird calls filled the air loudly.
Birds had gathered in the tree outside my room, singing loudly in different voices.
Is this some kind of bird café?
In the center of all the birds was Oki. I just stared in disbelief.
I didn’t know how a bird of prey like her was friends with so many gentle birds, but one thing was clear—they all followed her.
“Why are there so many birds here in the middle of the night?”
There was a reason.
Each bird held a corner of a big cloth, and they were carrying something on it. They flew together and carefully laid the cloth down on my terrace.
Oki called me to open the window, and when I stepped outside, I saw a wolf lying on the cloth. It had a bleeding front leg—it looked badly injured.
“Oh my. Oh no.”
My heart ached, but seeing a wild predator scared me. I hesitated, too afraid to approach.
But Oki flapped her wings wide in a serious and desperate way.
“Hoo hoot!”
“Okay, okay! You want me to heal it, right?”
“Hoot.”
Knowing what she meant, I had no choice but to gather my courage.
