Chapter 165 - Episode 27: "I've Been Blessed with Quite the Bunch of Lunatics, Haven't I?"
It somehow feels unrealistic. For me to be shot. Furthermore, by my former fiancé.
I wonder where he obtained a gun. I was careless. He must have confiscated it from the House Fruitier side or something…… but I didn't have the idea that anyone other than us would use a gun.
Even so, I never thought he would come to shoot me! If he can't obtain the status of the Queen's husband, then he'll just kill me—is that it? He's done something quite bold. I think Dactor-sama is just an incompetent, but I can give him some credit for shooting me!
……So this is what it feels like to be shot. The pain is very similar to heat, and it somehow feels even more unrealistic.
But on the other hand, blood is flowing out profusely from the hole that opened, and I can tell that I am getting closer to death by that much. Yes. I know that.
It's just…… it feels unrealistic.
Immediately after I was shot, everyone started moving.
Chesta moved first and kicked Dactor-sama's side, blowing him away, and Doran restrained him.
Giovan immediately pushed Lital out of the room and ordered him to call for reinforcements, Lital ran out of the room, and Keeb rushed over to me.
「Violia! Hang in there!」
Keeb took off his coat and applied it to my wound, trying to stop the bleeding by applying pressure…… but seeing that, I started.
「Do not touch me! Keeb! Do you want to die!?」
I pushed Keeb away with one hand that I managed to move. Yes. I cannot be touched in this state right now!
「You should know what kind of thing my blood is, shouldn't you!」
……Because from my wound, a deadly poison is overflowing.
「Hah!? That doesn't matter!」
But Keeb would not listen to me. Without hesitation, he pressed his coat against my wound and set about stopping the bleeding.
「Keeb…… stop it!」
「Shut up! No matter what you say, I'm not stopping! I'd rather die than let Violia die! Not that I'm going to die anyway!」
「Is that so. Well, same for me.」
……I believed in him. I believed in him…… Doran wasn't calm either!
「That's how it is. Sorry, Violia.」
Doran said that…… and he picked me up, blood and all—!
「Do you want to die!?」
Keeb is no good, but Doran is no good too! In fact, Doran is even worse!
After all, he was fighting a death match with me until just after noon!? Naturally, he should have wounds all over his body…… and if my blood gets in there!
「I don't want to die. But I don't intend to die. Well, rest assured.」
How can I be at ease!? I cannot be!
「Now, now, Milady. Calm down for now. See, it's okay. It's okay. So…… just calm down for now. Yeah. Doran and Keeb are, you know, okay. See.」
Furthermore, Giovan, who clearly doesn't look calm, poked his face in from the side and said such things.
……Eh? What do you mean by 'okay'……?
Ah, it's no good, I can't think straight. I, what on earth……?
「Hey, Violia! Are you okay? Want to take a hit?」
I…… will not be relying on drugs……
Oh, I wonder why, I'm somehow sleepy…… dazed…… Oh? Could it be that I am dying?
「Ah, damn it, I'll never forgive that shitty prince…… Hey, Chesta! Let me on too and fly the dragon! I'll bring out the medicine for Milady!」
「Got it! ……Violia! Do you need medicine!?」
「I do not need it—…… cough」
Ah, when I coughed, somehow blood…… it's blood—!? Aaah—! I'm spitting out deadly poison, aren't I!? This is the dangerous kind! If it gets into someone's eyes or something, it'll kill them—!
「I-I'd rather you kill me! I'll die here rather than scatter various things around—!」
「I told you to shut up, didn't I!? Hey, shut up! Just shut up! If you don't shut up, I'll kiss you!」
Hieee…… I was given a suicide declaration by Keeb! Ah, why is this boy saying such a thing……! If he tries to kiss me now, he'll go to the other world in one shot!
「……Well, it's better if you stay conscious. But don't talk. I'll hear your complaints later.」
Doran should have stopped him, but he won't stop Keeb at all! On the contrary, Doran started walking with a brisk pace while holding me!
If you move! The contact with me will increase! That will endanger your life! What are you doing to me—!
The place I was carried to by Doran was one of the guest rooms. The bedding there had been removed before I knew it, and I was laid there. Aaah—! The sheets are covered in blood—! These sheets are no good anymore! Contamination! They've been contaminated—!
「I've brought the doctor! And the soldiers and mages too!」
There, Lital arrived bringing a doctor and others, and I ended up receiving treatment, but…….
「Got it? Never touch the Queen's blood directly.」
「I'll do everything that needs touching.」
「That's how it is. Keeb or I will handle anything that touches blood with a dilution of less than a million times. Now, give the orders.」
……Wh-what is this? What is this situation? Do Doran and Keeb intend to die……? I really don't want that……?
But I no longer had the strength to stop them…… and my treatment proceeded solemnly…….
I lost consciousness several times. And each time I regained consciousness, the situation had changed.
When I lost consciousness for the first time and opened my eyes again, Doran was sewing my wound.
「……Ah, you're awake. It's good that you're conscious but…… well, endure it a bit, okay?」
「Eh? ……Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!? It hurts! This hurts! What are you doing!?」
「I'm sewing. Rest assured. I've done it several times on my own body. My skill isn't bad.」
I somewhat regretted waking up. Because even paralytic poisons don't work on me. Pain is just as it is! Do you understand the sensation of a needle penetrating your body!? I thought I was going to die! And I felt faint again!
So, I lost consciousness again there, and when I woke up next, Keeb was wrapping bandages around me.
「……Ah, Violia…… are you awake?」
「E-eh……」
Somehow, by this time, I was completely exhausted, and even speaking was a chore. Earlier, when I spoke while being sewn, that was already, well, the last remaining scrap of my strength…….
「It's okay now. For now, the wound is closed.」
「I am…… fine. You……」
Hatefully, my eyes were blurred and I couldn't see well, but even so, I could tell that Keeb gave a broad grin.
「I'm okay too. See. Of course, Doran is fine too.」
Th-that's good, but…… but, why on earth?
「……Then, Violia. Sleep and rest for now. Leave the rest to us.」
Keeb said that, and after finishing wrapping the bandages, he glanced toward me.
「Ah, and also…… um, Violia.」
And, he said awkwardly…….
「Um, right now, Violia, you're covered in blood…… so, is it okay if I wipe it off? Um, I might touch you a bit, but, um, I'll try not to look as much as possible, and I'll be careful……」
Wipe……? Because I'm covered in blood, my blood……? Keeb? Touching? Blood……?
「I refuse!」
……After that, I lost consciousness again, and when I woke up, Chesta was staring at me.
「O-oh, she's awake.」
「……Gokigenyou.」
「Ah—…… well, I'm not in a very good mood, though.」
「Neither am I.」
I'm not in a good mood either. It's the worst. The wound hurts and my head isn't clear. What is this.
……Furthermore, something even more dangerous is happening.
「Ah, Milady. Morning. Is the painkiller wearing off? Then wait a bit more. They said you shouldn't take the next one for another two hours.」
「No, well…… not that, what are you doing?」
「Hmm? Wiping. I think it's a bit much for Milady to be covered in blood forever.」
Yes. Giovan was wiping off my blood with a cloth wrung out in hot water. ……Hey, isn't this dangerous?
「W-wait a minute. What do you think you are doing!?」
「Don't be selfish. You were resistant to letting Keeb do it, right? Well, he doesn't seem used to women. So, I thought it'd be fine if it was me. It's a perk of the job.」
……I don't understand the meaning or what he's doing at all!
「Um, Giovan. That, it's fine. An emergency is an emergency, and I don't mind being seen or touched a bit.」
「Ah, really? Then can I stare at you intently?」
「But? You are touching my blood directly, aren't you!?」
「Eh? Well, yeah. I've already built up a bit of resistance to Milady's poison.」
……Hmm? Eh?
「I shall have you explain. What on earth did you all do to become like this?」
And so, I summoned the bastards for an emergency meeting. I'm bedridden and in a state where I can't move because of something called a 'drip' being administered. Yes, this is amazing. They are pouring a medicinal liquid that replaces blood into my blood vessels. Recent technology is quite something…….
……Anyway, my drip is fine. The problem is! Now! The bastards in front of me!
「Each of you, state the reason why you touched my blood without hesitation!」
「First, me.」
「Yes! Doran! You touched it quite without hesitation, didn't you!? Furthermore, you were covered in wounds, weren't you!? Didn't you realize you'd die if my blood entered your wounds!?」
「Well, I won't die. I've already built up a certain amount of resistance to your blood.」
……It's this from the very start! I don't understand the meaning anymore!
「Wh-what do you mean? Resistance? What is that? Can you build up resistance to my blood?」
「Yeah. Because I received your blood as a reward for the Martial Arts Tournament. I diluted it appropriately and injected it while recovering with moonlight to get used to it. ……It took quite a bit of time, but now, even if a bit of your blood enters, my limbs only go a bit numb.」
Geee—!? This werewolf was doing such a thing!? My blood!? Injected!? What a lunatic!
T-true, my blood is poison, so perhaps the body can get used to it to some extent…… no, but indeed, using the power of a werewolf, it might mean he can do this much…… He is an incredible bastard…….
「Wait, ah! Don't tell me Keeb too!? Keeb was doing such a lunatic thing too!?」
「I didn't use such a barbaric method. I did it in a smarter way. Violia's blood is essentially a complex magical poison, right? So I analyzed Violia's poison properly, and while making it possible to counter some of it with magic, for the rest…… well, I drank the magical poison several times and built up resistance. But thanks to that, as long as it doesn't enter my blood vessels directly, I'm okay with just touching it.」
「In other words, you were a clever lunatic, weren't you!?」
So that's why Keeb wanted my blood!? I-I feel somewhat betrayed—!
「B-by the way, what about Chesta and Giovan……?」
「Hmm? Me? Yeah, apparently I'd already built up resistance to medicine? Or rather, magic-type drugs. Because of that, Mystic Ruby stopped working so well after about the second time. Then, once when I was quite properly high, I messed up the dilution concentration and put in your blood.」
「What are you doing!? You natural-born lunatic!」
「But well, Giovan pumped me full of all the antidotes he had, so I barely survived, and even though I thought I was going to die then, it felt so damn good that I thought I'd try it again, and again, and then well, I couldn't get high unless it was undiluted Mystic Ruby. Furthermore, when I told Giovan that, he took me to Rugel's place and something was implanted in my arm……」
「Ah, the thing that was implanted was Keeb's research.」
「Ah, but it's okay. I can properly trip if it's the undiluted stuff!」
「As expected of a natural-born lunatic, the things he does are on a different level, aren't they!?」
My evaluation of Chesta has changed all at once! This guy was a dangerous fellow in many ways!
「By the way, I originally had a bit of resistance to poisons.」
「Eh? Was that so?」
「I told you. I was originally a child of a noble house, Milady. It's obvious I'd be fed poison bit by bit so I could be used for something.」
Ah—…… ah, come to think of it, there was that…… Indeed, raising an illegitimate child as a body double in case something happens is a method that is used…….
「After that, I pretended to help with Keeb's research and did a bit of it myself.」
「You went and stole my hard work……」
And you were doing that kind of thing?
It's a surprise that Keeb was analyzing my blood, but it's also a surprise that he felt like trying it himself…….
「……For now, I understand. You are all a bunch of lunatics, aren't you?」
How should I put it, I didn't notice at all, but for now, they are all lunatics. Lital is about the only one who is decent…….
「By the way, Lital is apparently working hard too. He works hard drinking poison on nights before his days off.」
「Don't make him work hard at that! Don't turn that boy into a lunatic too!」
Truly! I've truly done something bad to Lital—!
「……But, why did you all feel like doing such an idiotic thing?」
Now then. I understand that the bastards in front of me are lunatics, but I don't understand the reason for it.
After all, is there a reason to purposely approach death? No, Chesta, well, I understand, but…….
「……I think the answer to that has already been given.」
「Eh?」
「When you shed blood, it wouldn't do if there wasn't a single person who could approach you, would it?」
……Eh?
「I don't think Violia getting injured happens often, but it's in those times that we want to be by your side. Yet, to not be allowed to touch you when you're injured, that's a bit much, don't you think?」
「Well, the more hands that can save the Queen, the better. For the peace of this country too.」
……How should I put it.
It was truly unexpected.
I didn't ask for it, and in fact, if I were to ask, I would have asked them to 'stop doing such foolish things,' but…… but, thanks to these lunatic bastards, I have been saved this time…….
……It's a strange feeling. I thought my blood was the strongest. To think it would be breached so easily. Since it is a magical poison, it's a problem that magical breach methods can be used, but still, to think it would turn out like this…….
Well, until now, I had never 'continued to give diluted blood to see if resistance would build up,' and I had never 'analyzed the magic contained in the blood,' and I had never used it for any purpose other than killing or getting someone high, and I never cared about resistance, but…….
……It's a truly strange feeling.
But, I don't think I hate it. Probably.
The next day, Onii-sama came flying back.
「Violiaaa—! Are you safe—!」
「Yes! As you can see, I am safe!」
Upon receiving the news that I had fallen to an assassin's bullet, Onii-sama apparently returned immediately from the neighboring country. I have done something regrettable…….
「Hmm…… well, for now, you are safe, I suppose. Then that's good……」
「I have caused you worry.」
「Yes. Truly.」
Onii-sama sat deeply in the chair next to my bed, and then, he stared at me intently.
「……But, I am glad. That you are safe. And that there were people who could properly save you.」
Therefore, I nodded and answered.
「Yes. I am such a villain, but I have been blessed with lovable companions (lunatics).」