Chapter 58
Hestia, oblivious to my gaze, crossed her arms with a serious expression.
“You must have many questions, Adelina. Firstly, poisoning? What did I eat? Secondly, where am I lying right now? And thirdly, why is Hestia by my side?”
I was also curious about how much time had passed, but otherwise, her assumptions were perfect. Hestia rested her chin delicately on her hand, gazing at me with a playful swirl in her eyes. “You should have run away properly. Look at you now.”
“…Well…”
“I would have found you wherever you ran, anyway.”
A slightly frightening statement. Hestia calmly brushed stray strands of hair from my face, one by one.
“Adelina, you took those contraceptive pills, right? A much larger dose than prescribed.”
Was that information from Clovis, or from Reynard?
“Normally, the side effects are just dizziness or vomiting, but it seems there was a bit of a problem.”
A problem? What problem?
“This. This newspaper article here.”
Hestia lifted the newspaper she had been reading, pointing to an article.
“The royal physician says it looks like poisoning, but he can’t pinpoint the exact cause. Marquis Zeke and Marquis Mason, who rushed you here, were on the verge of collapse. My brother was threatening to kill them both in the main hall… Never mind. Anyway.”
Hestia shook her head and began to explain again.
“The expedition to the west hasn’t even departed yet. Partly because of the men who lost their minds over you, and partly because right after this article came out, reports started pouring into the temple about people experiencing strange symptoms after consuming herbs harvested from the west.”
If human curiosity could take physical form, question marks would be hovering over my eyes.
“At first, people dismissed it as a joke. But after the healing priests examined the bodies of those who persistently complained, things changed. They showed symptoms of demonic poisoning.”
What?
“You understand what I’m getting at, right? Yes. Marquis Mason traced the contraceptive pills you took back to the general store where you bought them. It turns out they were also cultivated in the west.”
The influx of information was overwhelming. It was clear that the Demon King’s relic summoned high-ranking demons. It was also true that if a human possessed it, they would be overwhelmed by the demonic energy and become controlled by it.
But the part about the land where the relic resided becoming tainted by demonic energy… I made that up. Did I just accidentally stumble upon the truth?
“Your symptoms are similar to demonic poisoning. But the problem is…”
“….”
“They don’t know. Neither the royal physician nor the healing priests.”
Hestia sighed, a hint of irritation in her voice.
“Those affected by demonic energy usually show noticeable improvement after receiving divine healing from a priest. But your entire body rejects divine power. As if there’s a barrier.”
Hestia, clearly frustrated by this perplexing and unsolvable problem, let her emotions show.
“Honestly, I went through all that trouble just to be with you, and look what’s happened.”
All that trouble?
As I blinked at her in confusion, Hestia brushed it off, caressing my face and bringing a cup from the nearby table.
“Aren’t you thirsty? You haven’t had a proper drink in days. At this rate, you’ll die of starvation, not poisoning.”
Is that so?
Strangely, her words made me acutely aware of my physical state. My body felt like a small, withered plant on the verge of death.
I felt like I could die at any moment, yet I didn’t feel thirsty or hungry.
I had struggled so hard to live. Was this the emptiness that came with giving up?
With that thought, I looked at Hestia’s beautiful face.
Through my weakening vision, her face seemed contorted, as if she were about to cry.
“Don’t close your eyes. Don’t you dare close your eyes again.”
“.…”
“Adelina. Don’t close your eyes. That’s an order.”
“.…”
I’m sorry. It’s not that I want to close my eyes, I just don’t have the strength.
“Adelina! Open your eyes! Please!”
Her voice boomed like thunder, and my body shook. The hot drops falling on my neck were probably Hestia’s tears.
“Open your eyes, Adelina!”
I thought she had been calmly by my side, but Hestia’s inner turmoil was far greater than I realized. The way she shook me felt strangely unfamiliar, but then her hands suddenly dropped away.
“Hestia! Calm down!”
“Let go of me! Let go! This is all my brother’s fault! If he hadn’t forced himself on Adelina!”
“Hestia! I’ll! I’ll take care of it! She’s a patient! She needs absolute rest!”
Even if I die, I don’t want to die listening to that voice.
Clovis appeared at Hestia’s cries, trying to restrain her. As Hestia struggled, demanding to know what he would do, Clovis pulled her into a hug, murmuring something in a serious tone.
Even though he was close, my hearing had deteriorated so much that I couldn’t understand what he was saying.
To be honest, I didn’t want to know.
I thought I knew everything about this world, but here I was, fading away so pointlessly. What good would it do to learn anything more now?
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