Chapter 119.2
“That’s because you’re keeping your eyes open. Your face practically says you’re exhausted.”
“……”
Grace thought Benjamin was just being stubborn, but when she actually closed her eyes, fatigue flooded in almost instantly.
She’d barely woken up and hadn’t even had a proper conversation with him, was it really all right to fall asleep like this? Even so, she drifted off to sleep to the faint clinking sounds of movement around her.
This time, she dreamed of Benjamin completely botching her nursing care, turning everything into chaos while everyone around him stared in awkward disbelief.
Benjamin himself seemed aware he was doing a terrible job, glancing around with a deeply troubled face. Even so, Grace was smiling in the dream.
Because even that was overwhelmingly happy.
* * *
“Are you truly all right?”
“Of course.”
On the day they were set to head to the Magic Tools Association building in the capital, Benjamin looked at Grace with unease.
Her fever had completely subsided, and even the ducal family’s physician had declared her ‘healthy’ yet Benjamin still seemed anxious beyond reason.
“They say right after you recover is when your body is weakest, wife.”
“I’m really fine. Have you seen me overexert myself?”
“Yes.”
“……”
“Honestly, I’ve seen it far too often. So this time, I can’t let it slide.”
Normally, Benjamin yielded gently to Grace’s words. But today, his tone was unusually firm. This time, Grace couldn’t argue back.
“I thought I’d been exercising a fair amount of restraint lately.”
“So did I. And yet you showed no signs at all until just before you collapsed again.”
‘That’s because I really wasn’t in pain until right before that…’
Unable to say this aloud, Grace felt like she might burst from frustration. Still, she couldn’t very well tell Benjamin, Actually, I might be a saint too, and it seems there may be two saints in this world!’
‘I wouldn’t believe it either.’
Setting aside the fact that Grace didn’t exactly fit the image of a saint, there was only supposed to be one saint per era. Her very existence contradicted that rule.
‘But if this power didn’t come from possession, and existed from the beginning… then why?’
There was no one who could answer that question. She couldn’t seek advice or request information.
Grace was the only case of her kind.
‘Ugh…’
“Wife, please step in.”
Unaware of her inner turmoil, Benjamin escorted her to the carriage.
“Oh—thank you.”
As she was about to board, Grace suddenly noticed a knight standing guard nearby, sword in hand, and asked,
“By the way, did the knight who helped Duke Zarte in the western region return?”
There were so many knights that it wouldn’t be strange not to cross paths. But after completing a long-term mission, one would usually hear something.
Yet Grace had never heard a word about it.
‘Not that I’m entitled to a report, of course.’
Only after the carriage had begun moving did Benjamin answer casually,
“That knight had a family emergency and laid down his sword for the time being. He’s left the estate.”
“Was it something serious?”
“It wasn’t an epidemic or anything like that, so you needn’t worry too much. The Felton ducal house has sent support supplies as well.”
Reading the concern on Grace’s face, Benjamin smiled faintly.
“That’s a relief.”
“Yes.”
As Benjamin replied, he glanced out the window and reached out to draw the curtain shut. The movement was gentle, but it made Grace feel uneasy.
“…?”
“It truly is a relief.”
Through the faintly swaying curtain, the scenery appeared in scattered glimpses.
‘That is…’
Sensing something strange, Grace stared intently only for Benjamin’s hand to interrupt her view.
“Wife, wife. Why are you looking elsewhere instead of at me? Are you perhaps hiding something from me?”
‘Says the one hiding things himself.’
Still, since Grace had secrets of her own, the comment made her feel faintly guilty.
“It’s such a nice day, and you suddenly closed the curtain. I was just wondering why.”
“Ah, because there was an unfamiliar handsome man outside.”
Benjamin smiled shamelessly.
“Not that you’d ever let your eyes wander while I’m right here.Bbut I was jealous and didn’t like it, so I blocked the view.”
“……”
“……Ahem.”
When Grace silently fixed him with a steady stare, Benjamin cleared his throat. The shameless expression faded, slowly replaced by mild embarrassment.
“I was joking.”
“It wasn’t funny.”
“I’ll study harder so my jokes land better next time.”
“…That won’t be necessary.”
But thanks to that exchange, Grace missed her chance to ask what was really outside.
And so the carriage continued on—filled with a few trivial remarks and long stretches of silence—until it finally arrived near the headquarters of the Magic Tools Association.
Discussion
0 CommentsNo comments yet.