NOVEL NEXT Chapter 18
018.
“Snacks that the young lady liked in the past… clothes… Ah! There’s a highly acclaimed play these days, let’s go see that too!”
“Hmm…”
“And we’ll also go see something specially prepared by the gardeners, and there’s a new high-end comb shop…”
“I’ll tell Kalen when he comes back.”
“No… Let’s leave that Kalen aside for now…”
“That’s not possible.”
Tsk-
Eliana let out a soft sigh while absentmindedly scratching the back of her head and glanced at the mirror.
Behind her, a maid was diligently working on her hair for over an hour to make it beautiful.
It was Emma, with whom she had at least conversed during her illness.
Although Emma’s continuous crying upon learning about her recovery was somewhat troubling, Eliana didn’t dislike it.
Not only Emma.
Her brother Schultz who jokingly teased her.
Her brother Deckawm who was still as stern as their father but showed consideration.
Her mother with her ever-gentle smile, and her father who had become softer than before.
What she thought she had forgotten was not gone.
The events of the past few days brought back the image of the scenery that Eliana truly longed for.
Only her heart had changed compared to before.
Something that filled every void.
Even if the rest were taken away from her again, she could never give this one up.
If it weren’t for that one thing, she doubted she could have been found again, let alone survive.
“Emma…”
“Yes, my lady?”
“Not that… but this…”
Through the mirror, Eliana saw Emma picking up a jewel of a lavish blue hue.
Instead, Eliana pointed to the dark gem she had been eyeing since earlier.
“Uh… my lady, that one is rather dull…”
“I prefer this one.”
“Yes, my lady…”
In the end, Eliana nodded contentedly after placing the dark gem accessory on her shoulder.
While doing so, she found herself wondering when Kalen would return.
Kalen had been called by her father early that morning.
That’s why she and Emma were left alone.
Since she had no intention of leaving the room without Kalen, she waited for him as she got ready.
“Shall we wait outside, my lady?”
“…No.”
Eliana turned her head and gazed at the door.
When Kalen was around, it was just an ordinary door, yet now it had become not only intimidating but downright frightening.
It was as if the mansion she had wandered through yesterday had become something unknown and unsettling.
Clearly,
She couldn’t do without Kalen.
Without Kalen, she lacked the courage to step through that door.
She feared she might trip while walking, or that her illness might return.
But when she thought Kalen would somehow deal with it, her cheeks inexplicably grew warm.
There still lingered the warmth from when Kalen had carried her and whispered into her ear.
Eliana sat there gazing at the door.
Just like always, she waited for the boy to open the door.
*
“Lady?”
“…”
“Eliana.”
“…”
Did I hear wrong?
Eliana thought that she hadn’t woken up yet.
Because there was no other reason for her to hear such words.
Unless her illness had relapsed and affected her hearing?
Unconsciously, Eliana leaned toward Kalen.
“Eliana!”
“Eeek!”
Kalen stopped her just before she could fall into his arms.
“What in the world…”
“My illness seems to have come back, Kalen…”
“Excuse me?”
“Eeek…!”
Kalen hurriedly glanced at Emma.
He noticed her darkened eyes and the way she had raised just a small gap in her veil to peek out while hiding her face.
If Emma continued staring at Eliana like that, there was no telling what scandalous rumors might spread.
Lately, every time he wandered the mansion, he was pestered by young maids until he almost went mad.
He couldn’t risk adding more trouble to it.
“What do you mean, illness?”
“I can’t hear properly…”
“What did you hear?”
“That you have to leave now…”
Kalen glanced at Emma, her concealed face leaving only her bright blue eyes exposed.
“Sounds like you understood quite clearly, my lady.”
“Kalen is leaving…?”
“Yes.”
“…Why?”
Kalen noticed that Eliana’s tone had slightly changed.
When observing her with that realization, he saw that the one with a stony face was Eliana.
She delicately overlaid her hand on Kalen’s that was gripping her shoulder, then gently rubbed it down her thigh.
Eliana locked eyes with Kalen.
“Why.”
It wasn’t a question.
Even though Eliana rarely inflected her tone in questions, she usually raised the pitch at the end when asking something.
“G-”
“Why.”
“Miss Eliana…”
“Why. Why. Why.”
Yikes—
Kalen winced as he felt the pressure from below, lowering his gaze.
Eliana was gripping his hand excessively hard, her knuckles visibly turning red.
And then it got worse.
The high-pitched squeal of Eliana’s voice echoed in his ear.
“Look at me, Kalen.”
The iciness of her voice sent a shiver down his spine.
“How can my guard leave me? You should protect me. You should stay with me.”
Kalen instinctively felt something was wrong and scrambled to backtrack.
“Miss Eliana.”
“Why.”
“It was a joke.”
“…”
Kalen chuckled softly.
The laughter he feigned concealed a calm gaze that remained fixed on Eliana.
Swish—
Kalen concentrated anxiously, feeling the pressure gradually easing.
Indeed, Eliana released his hand and opened her arms instead.
Her smile was markedly different from the one a moment ago.
“I want to go on a walk, Kalen.”
“…”
“Thank you for taking care of my hair, Emma.”
“Yes, yes? Lady?”
Saying that, Eliana left with Kalen.
Emma just couldn’t comprehend what she had just witnessed.
*
“The duke mentioned that you need to study magic…”
“His Highness is an excellent mage, and you’ll be equally skilled, my lady.”
“Hmm… Thank you. Still, I want to learn from Kalen…”
“I am not proficient enough to teach anyone.”
“Still…”
Throbbing – Throbbing –
The giant window in Eliana’s room.
The garden she used to see every day before meeting Kalen.
It was the first place she visited after returning to the mansion.
How did that view feel from the room that felt like a prison?
Would the garden, which seemed distant, be as she imagined?
Meanwhile, Kalen’s attention was elsewhere.
Thinking about the pain from where his hand had been grabbed moments ago.
Why did it remind him of Sinat?
The state Eliana had shown was different, but the strength of her grip was abnormal.
She is after all a woman.
And Eliana was especially fragile.
She had fine features and a delicate constitution.
There was no way that just gripping Kalen’s hand would cause that much pain.
Yet, there were clear handprints left, which was clearly strange.
Unless it had something to do with mana?
‘Could it be related to mana?’
Another positive change observed in Eliana was her mana.
She possessed an overwhelming amount of mana for a girl her age.
Enough to surprise Duke Everchant.
Therefore, deciding on an urgent magic education was only natural.
As Kalen pondered about Eliana’s “illness,” he noticed many connections to what he had learned.
The illness named “Mana Overheat” was given arbitrarily.
In one of the papers Duke Everchant had gone through, only the symptoms were documented, without any official illness name.
The symptoms of both her and the surrounding mana becoming overheated were described.
So what exactly was the basic “illness”?
“Being near me seemed to help somewhat.”
That was the clue Kalen found.
It reminded him of the time when he threw himself to save Sinat.
When Sinat was trapped in the elemental realm, he attempted to break the connection, which led to a manifestation of an image in his mind.
The conclusion linked to his unique mana-less constitution.
Even though everything turned out well, he didn’t fully understand the exact sequence of events.
A similar incident occurred with Eliana.
Was it a coincidence?
Eliana’s illness was also related to mana.
If Kalen’s unique mana-less constitution somehow suppressed Eliana’s mana overheating, it all made sense.
There was also another troubling point.
The vision.
What Blamia once referred to as “hell,” that vision.
“My wife explains how one cannot endure the insanity. In an attempt to escape a painful reality, they often become overly fixated on something precious.”
Why did Blamia’s words come to mind?
Though he quickly redirected the conversation then, it would be problematic if this kept happening.
It must be temporary.
Kalen dismissed it and snapped out of his thoughts.
“…”
Eliana softly caressed the tree.
The unsettling sensation from moments ago still lingered in Kalen’s mind.
“Remember… Kalen?”
“Remember what, my lady?”
By now they had ventured deep into the garden. Kalen, lost in his thoughts, realized he had been led here.
Regretting his momentary distraction, Kalen met Eliana’s gaze.
“The bet…?”
“Ahhh, yes.”
That was true. During the time in the middle of the plain when Eliana’s illness worsened, there were words spoken to give her hope, including that bet.
When she was only spouting words like ‘run away’ and ‘let me die,’ Kalen had thrown that out as a remark without much thought.
Strangely, even though Eliana was in a poor state then, she still remembered.
“Did I win if I survived to see the Winter Isle, Kalen?”
“Yes.”
“Then I lost, huh?”
Was she about to give him a prize? Considering that everything about Eliana had been wrapped up with Duke Everchant providing all efforts for Blamia, it ended with no separate reward for Kalen himself.
Still, he felt good that she was taking care of it separately.
“Was the Winter Isle to your liking?”
“It was beautiful.”
“…”
Eliana gave a satisfied smile and met Kalen’s eyes.
Not having prepared anything tangible earlier, this must be something else.
Just as Kalen thought that,
“The prize for winning the bet is…”
At the same moment Eliana’s flow of mana began to rise,
The world started to reassemble itself.
In white snow.
A serene and noble sunlight.
Grand canyons and clear water.
That breathtaking paradise, her haven,
Was being rewritten by Eliana.
“…?”
Kalen couldn’t quite hide his look of confusion.
After all, he knew exactly what this was.
And soon, the garden vanished.
A place that Kalen could never forget, where a certain smile appeared.
Even if it wasn’t cold, a chill ran through him.
He recalled the pleasant numbness he felt on the high plateau.
Kalen blankly looked at the scene.
The only difference was, in this world, there was another version of himself overlooking the magnificent view.
“…How’s it, Kalen?”
As if it were a painting.
The name known to Kalen, to the world—it was her vision.
More precisely, it was the perfect depiction of the Winter Isle,
Eliana’s world—an exceedingly beautiful one.