"Ooooowwwww!! It hurts!! It feels worse than the muscle aches I had when my master bring me in hellish training in the mountains."
"You're a magician but training in the mountain?"
"Owow… You see, when I was beaten up by my master until my muscles ached, he kicked me off from a cliff and told me to come back on my own… well, compared to that time, I can lie down on the bed right now."
"That didn't sound like you were training your magic," responded Felix to Glenn's story, who was laying down on the bed, with a wry smile.
Actually, he wanted to go visit the Silent Witch's room, but he had to restrain himself since she was currently undergoing the Abyssal Shaman's treatment. But when Felix heard Glenn was awake, he immediately went to his room. As for the reason, Felix felt no small guilt for what happened to Glenn as well.
After all, the recent cursed dragon disaster was neither caused by a natural disaster nor by dragon damage, it was a man-made disaster caused by a shaman's curse. And this shaman probably related to Duke Crockford.
To solidify Felix's position, the Duke apparently orchestrated a disaster called a cursed dragon, and probably, everyone who knows nothing about it would praise Felix as a person who ended such a disaster. As a result, Glenn caught up in this silly charade, hovering on the edge of life and death.
But before Felix could say his gratitude to Glenn, the latter spoke first in a sullen face.
"I'm sorry, president."
"Why are you apologizing to me?"
"I was supposed to be a guard, but I haven't acted like one at all…"
Not even the always cheerful young man like him could escape from the depressed feeling.
Hiding the smile that creeped on his face, Felix cast a glance at the door leading to the corridor.
"Don't be discouraged. You did a great job… and believe me, I'm not the only one who thinks so."
Felix gave a single wink to Glenn, who was looking at him with a skeptical look. As he silenced the sound of his footsteps while approaching the door, he then opened it suddenly.
"Kyaaah!?"
Eliane yelped as she stumbled into the room. Feeling faltered, she flailed her hand around nonsensically, but to escape from the current situation she looked up at Felix trying to make some excuse.
"Well, it's not like I have the slightest intention of eavesdropping, of course. It just happened I was leaning against the door to have some a little rest so…"
Hearing Eliane spoke more rapidly than usual, Felix placed his hand over his mouth to cover his chuckle.
"Of all the doors, why does it has to be Dudley's room I wonder?"
"I, I, I just, I just happened to see you, Lord Felix, and I thought I'd say hello to you… yes, nothing more."
Eliane, who had been mumbling incoherently, glanced at Glenn while playing with her skirt for no reason.
"G-Good day, Lord Glenn… H-how are you feeling?"
If it were a few minutes ago after he woke up, he would be collapsed instantly if he tried to get up from the bed after feeling a writhing pain in his body. But, contrary to the expectation, he was straightened his upper body energetically and showed her a toothy grin.
"I am totally fine now! Ah, maybe I'm a bit hungry. Now I feel like eating some meat!"
Hearing Glenn's words, Eliane relaxed her eyebrows and released a sigh of relief. But the next moment, she pulled back her exasperated expression and lifted her chin haughtily.
"A sick person shouldn't be eating meat."
"I will have no energy if I don't eat meat!"
"W-Well! It can't be helped then!"
With that said, Eliane quickly turned her back to him… whereas her cheeks were rosy and her mouth was mumbling about something.
After Eliane left the room and just before the door closed, her voice leaked out from the hallway.
"Aunty! Aunty! Go prepare some meat dishes for him! Use the best meat we have and make sure to boil it first so it will soften enough when eaten!"
Oh dear, giggled Felix while looking toward the bed.
On the bed, Glenn collapsed after holding his groaning. With his current condition, he probably cannot hear Eliane's voice.
"What a gentleman you are, Dudley."
When he heard Felix speak teasingly, Glenn lying limply on the bed raised the edge of his lips.
"After all, it's not good to make a little kid worry…"
Felix almost couldn't hold back his laugh from bursting out.
Apparently, Eliane was not much different from the neighborhood kids in Glenn's eyes.
Well, I think the talk between Lady Everett and the Abyssal Sorceress should be over by now.
After all, there was something he need to clarify with his idol, the Silent Witch.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Um… Lord Abyssal Shaman…"
After being called by Monica, Ray's slanted eyes shifted their direction to Monica.
"Just call me Lord Ray… no, it'd be better if you drop the formality. Doesn't being called just by name feel more intimate?"
"But I can't call my respected senior by his name…"
"Respected senior? Oh, it has a nice ring to it. Then, could you say it more intimately?"
The phrase "respected senior" seemed to do the trick, but whether he was willing to listen or not remains uncertain.
Monica wanted him to go to Glenn's room immediately, but she held back since she had something she really wanted to clarify with Ray. So, in sitting posture, she straightened her upper body and asked, "Lord Abyssal Shaman, is it possible to transform a dragon into a cursed dragon using witchcraft?"
"No, it isn't. Dragons have a terribly high resistance to magic in the first place, so no matter how potent the witchcraft is, humans wouldn't be able to curse an adult dragon. Well, it was another case if it's a young dragon," denied Ray plainly and Monica recalled the memories she saw in the midst of intense pain when the curse was eating away at her.
To pay revenge to the human who killed its own child, the Green Dragon had eaten its own child along with the curse.
"What if… the dragon willingly accepted the curse…?"
Ray fell silent for a moment and pondered at Monica's words. His purple eyelashes were downcast, casting shadows over his brightly colored eyes.
"Are you implying the recent matter of cursed dragon was like that?"
"If you mean the curse that caused by human witchcraft without natural occurrence which affected my arm right now… then, yes."
Ray did not immediately dismiss Monica's words because he had diagnosed the bruises on her arms. It was the result of ‘witchcraft'.
"This matter would cause a huge uproar if people know the cursed dragon was the handiwork of a shaman."
"…I also feel that way."
This case has proven the possibility of a human driving a dragon to go rampage. If this matter becomes public, perhaps it will become a problem that not only affects the kingdom.
And as a shaman himself, the Abyssal Shaman can't overlook this matter.
In the Ridill Kingdom, witchcraft is sort of a quasi-prohibited art that cannot be used without the king's permission, mostly used for criminals to prevent them from repeating their crimes and for the purpose of restraining them. As a result, personal use was prohibited with only a few shamans left in the kingdom.
Most of it was from the members of the Albright family where Abyssal Shaman from, their branches, and a few individuals who were studying the subject.
Then think about it, what will happen if there's a shaman that can create such a cursed dragon?
Of course, for Rey himself, the head of the Albright family, this matter can affect the survival of his family.
"Lord Abyssal Shaman, um… can we investigate this matter in secret?"
"…are you sure?"
"Y-Yes, I'll lend my hand too…"
Monica had her own reasons for choosing not to publicize this cursed dragon matter.
…I had a hunch that His Highness might know something about the recent ‘cursed dragon' matter.
Now that she thought about it, Felix had proclaimed that the curse that was consuming the cursed dragon was caused by ‘witchcraft' when Monica arrived on the scene.
He probably knew something that Monica did not.
It was also suspicious when Felix sneaked out of the mansion in the middle of the night to confront the cursed dragon in the first place. In a normal case, he should have contacted someone from the Reinberg family or his escort, Monica. There was also one more thing that concerned Monica.
Monica saw some ice magic attack remains on the head of the cursed dragon by the time she arrived at the scene. She deducted it was Felix doing it since he was the only person there.
Did His Highness cast offensive magic? …but His Highness is…
Felix had told Monica before, that he was prohibited to study magic, so he was studying in secret. But he did not specifically mention whether or not he could actually use magic.
Does he have a reason for not using magic in public? …but then again, there's nothing strange about royalty being able to use magic…
And that proved that Felix was hiding something.
Well, Monica also kept Nero's identity a secret, so she can't complain about the fact that he was hiding things from her… Nevertheless, she probably needed to have a talk with Felix about it.
As Monica secretly thought about this, Ray held Monica's hand.
In a surprise, she looked up at Ray's face, his cheeks were rosy and his eyes were glowing with ecstasy.
"Um… Lord Abyssal Shaman?"
"I'm touched you're worried about me that much…"
From Ray's standpoint, Monica's suggestion might have seemed like a concern for his wellbeing as a shaman.
With his eyes were slightly moist with emotion, he said, "Now we know we love each other, this should be mutual love. I'm sure it is. It's so wonderful to have someone falling in love with me…"
"U-Um…"
Feeling things would derail in a horrible direction if this continues, Monica exerted all of her meager communication skills to keep the conversation on track.
"A-Anyway, we should investigate the matter of the cursed dragon in secret…"
"A secret between two people… a secret relationship has a nice ring to it… as they say, when two people share a secret, their love deepens, doesn't it?"
When Ray was about to push Monica down, Nero, who had been quiet until now, spoke, "Hey, since I know this secret, will it also deepen the love between you and me?"
"………"
And Monica had a thought, I don't care about love or whatnot, just let me get out of this situation.
Perhaps because heavens had heard Monica's wish, a knock came from the door of her room.
"Lady Everett. May I have a moment?"
Or not. Apparently, it was too early for her to feel relief since the voice coming from the hallway belonged to Felix.
Anyway, I need to hear the story from HIs Highness's perspective too…
Now, this was the critical moment for the Silent Witch to overcome her struggle.
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