Chapter 71
A heavy silence fell between Franz and Natalie — the kind of silence that sinks in when words are too heavy to swallow.
“D-dangerous…? Is it?”
“Yes…”
Mustering her strength, Natalie forced her lips to move. Franz, responding to her effort, slowly began to speak.
“You remember, don’t you? There was a time when the Duke didn’t wake up.”
“Y-yes.”
“At that time, regarding the Duke’s magic runaway… they ran tests to measure his magic power. Well, it’s something they do regularly, so it wasn’t anything unusual in itself.”
Natalie listened carefully. Her mind wandered to the war — to Julius collapsing after taking an enemy attack to protect Natalie and her father.
(But that time… I healed his wounds with my magic—)
When Natalie looked at Franz, he seemed to understand exactly what she was thinking.
“Yes, at that time… thanks to Lady Natalie, the Duke’s magic calmed down.”
“I… see.”
“Mhm. But it was only temporary.”
According to Franz, the magic evaluation showed a significant decrease in the values that were always recorded. However, the Fanglay magic — the source of the runaway — had not disappeared entirely.
“In the end… it led to his current state of losing control again.”
“…”
“But, there is one thing we’ve learned.”
As though switching topics, Franz continued.
“The Duke’s magic… has changed. At least partially.”
“C-changed…?”
“Yes. When they examined it… part of his magic had changed into something mixed with Lady Natalie’s magic.”
Hearing this, Natalie gasped. That meant—
“Returning to what I mentioned earlier — how to cure the Duke. That is… Lady Natalie must mix her magic into the magic the Duke possesses.”
“…! If that’s all—!”
Franz had initially warned that it might harm her body. But sending her magic to Julius—healing magic—was something she had always done. She was about to say that it was no problem at all.
“However—this time, the Duke has completely lost control. Even if Lady Natalie uses magic… even if you pour your magic into him…”
Franz’s expression hardened.
“Your magic might run out entirely — or worse, you may suffer a life-threatening injury.”
“T-that—”
“It pains me to say this, but… this possibility is extremely high. If we were at the start of the runaway, it would be different. But now…”
To lose one’s magic meant being unable to use magic at all. More than that — once magic ran out, it consumed one’s life force instead. Much like the violators at the Sword Dance Festival — they used their own life to fuel magic.
There had never been a case of someone completely draining all their magic… and then still trying to use more. Even Natalie’s ancestors had only ever emptied their magic, nothing beyond.
Trying an uncharted, dangerous method like this—
“I won’t lie to you… Forget the Duke. Lady Natalie, it would be best if you returned to a peaceful life.”
“…What?”
“In the Duke’s country, Saint Schwarz, his house has been abolished. I hear the mansion was demolished as well… You did nothing wrong… It was simply bad timing.”
Franz spoke gently, almost like soothing a child — concerned for her just as her father always was.
“The Duke… he also said he wanted Lady Natalie to live a happy life.”
“H-His Grace said that…?”
“Yes. Around the time of the Sword Dance Festival. When I explained his condition — the very thing I just told you — he said he didn’t want any danger to come to you.”
“…”
After hearing that, Natalie tightened her grip into a small fist.
“Sir Franz.”
“Hmm?”
“The method to cure His Grace… The possibility is not zero. Is that correct?”
“Ah—well, yes, but…”
Franz looked caught off guard. Natalie smiled softly at him.
“I intend to go to His Grace.”
“Oh?”
“Partly because the possibility isn’t zero… and also, because there are things I want to tell him in person.”
“…I see.”
Franz squinted as though looking into bright light, then nodded slowly.
“If Lady Natalie has decided… then that is best.”
“Heh heh… The Duke is a lucky man…”
“Eh?”
“No, nothing. Ah—by the way. You said you would go to the Duke… but do you know where he is?”
“Yes… He’s in the royal castle. But…”
Natalie trailed off. Franz seemed to understand.
“Yes, currently… they’ve restricted access. It’s practically sealed off…” He put a hand to his head, clearly troubled.
“And from here… even by carriage, it will take time…”
“That is true…”
“And I cannot use teleportation magic like Lord Edward…”
Franz sighed, glancing around the room as if searching for an idea. His eyes then stopped on the curtains.
“Oh! That’s right!”
“Sir Franz…?”
“I completely… forgot.”
As though remembering something important, Franz stood up and marched toward the area behind the curtains.
(Behind those curtains… wasn’t that where Lord Edward’s bed was?)
Natalie watched him curiously as Franz grabbed the curtains and swiftly—
—shhht!
“Hey! Wake up!”
“Ugh…”
“Huh?”
“Good grief. The moment the higher-ups leave, he immediately starts slacking…”
“Oof… Come on, Gramps… It’s break time… Besides, if there’s a beautiful lady around, I could never—wait, huh?”
Behind the opened curtains stood a familiar, frivolous-looking handsome man — someone who often accompanied Julius in the knight order.
“Sir Marc…?”
“M-My radiant lady!?”
Natalie was startled, but Marc was even more shocked, yelling in pure disbelief.
