My Ruin to You - Chapter 200

“Using me is also within your capability. I’m offering myself to you, so what’s wrong with using me a little?”

“……”

“If you do, you’ll be more at ease, and I’ll have fewer things to worry about. What’s bad about that?”

“……”

“Just say the word. I’ll get rid of him for you.”

He tilted his head as if to meet her eye level, his gaze fixed on the corner of her mouth, as if promising to grant her anything if she just spoke.

Roseline rolled her eyes as if choosing her words, hesitating for a moment before slowly speaking.

“Your Highness.”

“Yes.”

“Only twenty days are left now.”

Watching his expression crumble, she thought to herself: Since I’ve just given this arrogant man a taste of utter powerlessness, maybe Mür’s existence isn’t entirely bad after all.

◇◇◇

Mür is a wretched son of a b***h.

Whether he failed to learn his lesson after getting a severe talking-to by the Commander, he started causing trouble the moment he returned to the healing tent. It would be better if he raised his voice openly like before, but instead, he resorted to dirty, petty methods to harass people. He did switch Roseline and Malsen’s roles, but he found fault with everything. With Roseline, not Malsen.

He gave her disparaging looks, using excuses no one but the person casting the magic would notice—saying she was leaking too much magical power, that her concentration was broken, that she was a hindrance to healing.

“My, my. I thought the Academy’s top student would be somewhat different. I seem to have set my expectations too high.”

“……”

“You two need to go back to the basics and learn all over again.”

Sent straight to the physicians, Roseline and Malsen ended up being saddled with menial tasks. They were to examine the patients’ wounds, apply medicine, and cover them with gauze. When Malsen gagged at the sight of a festering wound, he acted smug, as if he had caught them in a fault.

“A healing-type Manifestor who recoils from wounds? What good are they? The battlefield is full of blood, pus, and rotting flesh. How do you expect to heal if you’re afraid of such things? Tsk, tsk.”

And so, his tyranny disguised as education was justified. So cunningly, to prevent others from raising objections, he had them use their magic for about two hours a day under the pretext of ‘checking educational progress.’ It was a test where the only possible outcome was failure.

“Make sure to eat properly. You need to fill your stomachs firmly to learn more, don’t you?”

Outside the tent, Mür transformed into a kind superior, encouraging Malsen and Roseline as if conscious of his surroundings. The primary reason was that they inevitably ran into Valen around noon, and the secondary reason was that the number of eyes watching Mür had increased since that day.

“You’ve worked hard. Enjoy your meal, and we’ll see each other again this afternoon.”

This was one of those moments. Having spotted Valen and his officers standing in the distance out of the corner of his eye, Mür acted as if he’d never seen them before, simply playing the part of a caring superior with a pleased smile.

“Ugh, that weasel of a man.”

“Pfft.”

When Roseline grumbled under her breath at Mür’s retreating back, Malsen burst out laughing. It was a smile she hadn’t seen in a long time. The crying that used to be heard every night had also stopped a while ago. To be precise, it stopped after they started doing the menial tasks. Perhaps because the work was exhausting, instead of sobs, only the soft sound of snoring could be heard.

“But still, doing odd jobs is more comfortable than being stuck with that weasel all day.”

For the first few days, Mür’s tyrannical education was infuriating, but since their practical evaluation was effectively ruined anyway, the time spent tending to patients was actually more comfortable. Although it was menial work, it was also work that saved lives, and seeing the patients recover day by day brought its own sense of fulfillment.

“Want me to tell you a secret?”

Malsen, who seemed to agree with Roseline’s opinion, nodded and whispered behind her hand.
“I’m actually not scared of blood.”

When Roseline turned to her in surprise, Malsen grinned and shrugged her shoulders. Have you ever seen such a clever young lady? Even Roseline had been completely fooled by Malsen’s act of gagging at the sight of wounds. It was all a scheme to justify Mür’s tyranny.

“What? If you could handle it this well, why did you just take it all this time?”

“I-I wasn’t taking it; I was letting him do it!”

“Why?”

“…That’s none of your business, my lady.”

Malsen retorted brightly. While Roseline found it hard to fully agree with the ‘letting him’ part, she nodded understandingly.

“Shouldn’t you go? His Highness keeps looking only at you.”

Malsen’s lips twitched as if she was forcing out words she didn’t want to say. Roseline had also noticed his gaze early on but had been pretending not to and looking away.

To Roseline, it felt like Valen was nearing his limit. The behavior of winking at her as if sending secret signals every time they met had completely vanished. Even though victory reports sounded daily. In contrast to the camp’s morale soaring sky-high, his expression and gaze were growing increasingly fierce.

Sure enough. That night, Merrick came to Roseline’s tent.

“His Highness has summoned you.”