350 - Questioning and Written Conversation
When I woke up, I was lying in a bed in an unfamiliar room. I tried to turn my neck to check my surroundings, wondering where this was, but my throat throbbed with pain. Even moving my head a little hurt, so this injury was quite troublesome.
I could not call out to anyone, so I flapped my arms in the bed. Each movement brought a stinging pain, but there was nothing I could do without calling someone. Whether she heard the sound of my arms hitting the bed or the rustle of clothes, after a short wait, the canopy opened and a lady's maid peered in. Her face was unfamiliar, but she must have been entrusted with my care. When she realized I was awake, she stuffed cushions behind my back and helped me sit up.
...Ah, I have been treated.
Now that I was sitting up, I could see my own body. White bandages were wrapped around the skin visible outside my clothes. Come to think of it, my Koyornaharu outfit had also been changed into a white negligee. I had let go of consciousness thinking I would just rest for a bit, but maybe I had slept for quite a while.
"I will go report that Christina-sama has awakened. If there is anything you need, I can have it brought. Is there anything?"
The lady's maid adjusted the height of the cushions and smoothed the wrinkles in the blanket as she said this. I started to open my mouth, but my throat throbbed again, so I closed it. Even the hand I reflexively lifted to press my throat hurt. It was just one thing after another. When I touched my throat, I realized bandages were wrapped around it too. It had been covered by the leaves, but the pharmacist who treated me must have sensed there was something wrong beneath them.
I could not speak, and moving my arm also hurt, but I gestured writing with my hand. Thanks to the bandages around my throat, the lady's maid immediately understood what I wanted. Saying she would prepare something to write with, she left through the canopy. Through the briefly opened canopy, I could see several silver-white knights lined up outside. They might be guards watching me. After all, I was an intruder into the Spirit Seat, which in principle no one other than the king should enter. Even knowing it was me, they probably could not just overlook it.
...Come to think of it, I probably destroyed the Spirit Seat in all that commotion... will I be scolded?
It was supposedly a place where spirits and an ancient king had encountered each other, carrying that sort of legend. Once I knew the truth that it was not a seat but a coffin, the anecdote itself seemed dubious, but that had nothing to do with Christoph and the others. I might have destroyed an important national treasure, so there was a chance I would be scolded.
...It was the Divine King-sama's instruction, but if I explained, would they forgive me?
Holding onto the hope that they would forgive me, I waited for the lady's maid, trying not to move my body as much as possible. Since I could not talk to anyone without writing implements, there was nothing else to do.
I was thinking that if possible, I would prefer a writing board that could be erased and reused multiple times rather than paper, and what was prepared was indeed a writing board. I immediately grabbed the chalk to try thanking the lady's maid, but my arm hurt anyway.
...Ah, I see. The reason for the writing board over paper was that if I lowered my arm every time it hurt, the ink would get on the sheets.
And besides, chalk could be written with directly, but a pen needed to be dipped in ink each time. In my current state, just dipping the nib in ink would have had me writhing from the pain in my arm.
...Yeah, the lady's maids of the royal castle are excellent.
As I listened to the pharmacist and their assistant explain and caution me about the treated areas, I heard footsteps and the sound of a door opening. I turned my gaze toward the sound, and the owner of the footsteps seemed to be approaching. The canopy shook for a moment, and then there was a loud noise. After hearing hushed murmurs, Solana's voice came from beyond the canopy.
"Christina-sama, it is Solana. May I enter?"
I could not make a sound, so I nodded with my eyes alone and had the pharmacist's assistant open the canopy. Solana immediately entered the canopy, and behind her, I could see Leonardo's face. After quickly checking my condition, Solana tidied my appearance, sweeping my hair back and smoothing the wrinkles at my collar.
"May I have Leonardo-sama enter?"
I started to nod, but my throat hurt again. It really hurt at the slightest opening, so I figured I had gotten off badly this time.
With Solana's acknowledgment, Leonardo was shown into the canopy. Looking at me lying back against the cushions in the bed, Leonardo's face went expressionless. No anger, no joy, nothing. The sound of him swallowing his breath seemed strangely loud.
"...What happened, Tina?"
At his voice, which was tinged with restrained anger, I reached both hands out toward Leonardo. The wounds on my arms throbbed with pain, but that was just for a moment. If I endured a little pain and hugged Leonardo, all I had to do after that was not move.
My outstretched arms were accepted by Leonardo, so I relaxed and let my strength go. As I was received into his arms as if collapsing, the tension drained from my body with relief.
"Did it hurt? I am sorry."
I shifted a little to find a more comfortable position, and winced as Leonardo's arm touched my wound. It was my own carelessness, but for some reason Leonardo apologized. As if asking "how about this," his arm circled around my waist and hit another wound, making it hurt again. A cushion was inserted between my arm and body to keep things from touching the wounds.
"So, what happened? You were abducted by spirits again, were you not? You suddenly disappeared, so I was startled."
As if checking that I was safe, Leonardo's hand touched my arm. I understood he was checking my injuries, but it subtly hurt, so I furrowed my brow. At that, he seemed to realize I was in pain and took his hand off my arm. He was probably concerned about the state of my wounds, but he did not want to cause me pain.
I signaled Solana with my eyes to get the writing board, and gripped the chalk. Even just writing letters hurt, but since I could not hold a conversation without it, I endured.
"If I speak before I heal, I might lose my ability to speak... was what the Divine King said? You met the Divine King again?"
I started to nod at Leonardo's question, and my throat hurt again. I really did not learn my lesson. When I furrowed my brow at the pain, Leonardo stroked my uninjured forehead with concern.
...It seemed the spirits hated me now, so I probably would not be abducted so easily anymore. That story was better left until after I healed.
At the very least, there were too many people here. I felt like the Divine King had said not to tell too many people, so it would be better not to say anything now. Even just gripping the chalk hurt my wounds, so I did not want to say anything unnecessary either.
"What happened? Even when you were abducted by spirits before, you never came back injured, did you?"
Leonardo ran his fingers through my hair, noting that even my hair had been cut this time. My hair had reached my waist that morning, but now it was unevenly short. If I wanted to even out the length nicely, I would have no choice but to cut it quite short this time.
I stopped Leonardo from asking the pharmacist for painkillers. I would be happy if the pain was suppressed, but then I might accidentally speak before the wounds closed. I did not like the pain, but there were advantages to keeping things as they were.
With Solana and the lady's maid's help, I changed clothes. After all, in a situation where various people wanted to hear about what happened, I could not meet anyone other than my guardian (Leonardo) while in a negligee. Solana also trimmed my uneven hair. I had thought I would have to go with a bob cut, but Solana seemed to have considered cutting the side hair to chin length first and adding layers to preserve as much length as possible. Since my hair in this life was fluffy, it would not end up as a blunt princess cut, but the length at the back was about where it had been when Leonardo first took me in.
...Walking on my own would hurt all over, you know. So this is legal.
I had forbidden Leonardo from carrying me on the day I turned ten, but now walking was too painful, so at age thirteen, I was being carried by my big brother. I told myself this could not be helped and let myself enjoy the convenience. It was not my imagination that Leonardo looked more than okay with it, so this was probably fine for us siblings.
"...Being abducted this frequently is troublesome for those of us guarding you."
Greeting me with a pained expression were Alf and Timon. Alf would be hearing about my situation, and Timon would be questioning me about my appearance at the Spirit Seat.
I sat down in a chair adjusted with cushions, and had another cushion placed between the table and my stomach. I had a ridiculous number of cuts, so I wanted to avoid the wounds hitting anything hard. Earlier they had prepared a writing board, but here it was paper and pen. The writing board could be erased and reused many times, which was nice, but the chalk tip was thick, so the letters inevitably came out thick and large. It was fine for short "yes" or "no" questions, but it was not suited for conversation. So the paper and pen were for that, I supposed.
Leonardo read aloud the letters I wrote, responding to Timon's questions, and I explained how I had suddenly appeared at the Spirit Seat. That the Divine King had been concerned about how our conversation was cut short last year, and had appeared again this year to hear the rest. That I ended up heading to the Spirit Seat in the course of our conversation, and since I did not know if I was allowed to speak freely about what was discussed there, I told him I could not answer Timon about that.
I thought it was better to tell as few people as possible what the Spirit Seat really was.
Whether to tell Timon was not my decision to make, I thought.
Once the general questioning was over, it was Alf's turn. Alf was here as Prince Alfred, so he would be hearing my story on behalf of the king. To hear things he could not let Timon hear in a place with guards present, he moved next to me and wrote letters on the paper.
--So, what are the contents that should not be spoken of carelessly?
He wrote this in elegant letters, and I thought for a moment. If we were both writing, then indeed, the conversation would not leak to anyone beyond those who could read the letters. But when I pointed out that the letters written on the paper would remain, he told me not to worry, because he would burn the paper at the end of the conversation.
Both Alf and Alfred were adults I could trust. What the Divine King had said about being able to ask for help from trustworthy people was something I could tell Alf and Leonardo too.
--The Divine King-sama warned me not to spread it around too much, but I was hated enough to be attacked by spirits. I am told I have lost the spirits' blessing, so I do not think I will be abducted as frequently from now on.
I had intended to write what I was told, like "please rest assured," but at the part about being attacked by spirits, Leonardo's presence beside me changed, and around the part about losing the blessing, Alf on the other side pressed his temple. Alf was just holding his head as usual, but Leonardo was probably directing his anger at the spirits. Since we humans could not touch the spirits, getting angry was pointless, and it scared me, so I wished he would stop.
--Can such things be known?
After a long silence, Alf, who seemed to have finally understood, recovered. The sentence was short, but the letters were as elegant as ever.
--I said something I should not have and angered the spirits.
Since this was the Divine King's judgment, it was surely correct. The Divine King had said it was just taking frustration out on me, but anger was anger. I felt like I had also heard that they held a grudge.
...If I told them everything honestly, I would probably worry them again. I would just tell them I angered them.
After I finished explaining the circumstances of my injuries, Alf patted my head comfortingly, but the movement caused my throat to throb with pain from my neck shifting. At my pained expression, Alf hurriedly pulled his hand back.
--Also, there is something I would like to discuss with you.
With that preface, I consulted Alf about the true nature of the Spirit Seat and what the Divine King had asked of me. To destroy similar things to the Spirit Seat that existed in various places. There seemed to be six coffins in total, one of which was the Spirit Seat, and I had destroyed it, I wrote. I also made sure to assert that the destruction of the Spirit Seat was the Divine King's will and not something I had done intentionally.
--Regarding the Divine King's coffins, I think it would be best to consult His Majesty the King first, and then send word to the Divine Kingdom of Quebia.
If it was to restore the Divine King's generational succession, Quebia would gladly cooperate, was Alf's thinking. Quebia was a land where the custom of venerating the Divine King above all else remained, so they would not balk at destroying national treasures for the Divine King's sake, and since they had the temple that was the headquarters of churches throughout the region, they had influence over many countries. As for the Saenard Kingdom, which had recently made overtures to the Ivizia Kingdom only to suffer a resounding defeat, applying pressure through Ivizia seemed easy.
...Was this Alf-san's statement or Prince Alfred-sama's statement?
Whether I should call it black-hearted or reassuring was a bit hard to decide.
Saying the conversation was over, Alf pulled the paper covered in our written exchange toward him. As he had said earlier, he set the paper on fire and placed the burning paper on a plate. He waited for the paper to burn completely, then tilted the pitcher Solana had prepared over the plate. The paper, now reduced to black ash, crumbled apart in the water spreading across the plate.
"Christina, first return to the detached palace and rest absolutely. There are limits to written conversation. Heal your injuries and throat quickly."
...It was not like I could just heal on command, though.
Still, the consideration of letting me go back to the detached palace to rest was honestly appreciated. My whole body hurt, and even with cushions wedged in, staying upright was painful. I wanted to lie down in my bed in the detached palace and stay still until the wounds closed.
"I will have you tell me more once your injuries have healed."
Contacting Quebia would probably come after that. Saying this, Alf left the room with Timon.
Strange phenomena like spirits are extremely rare, but for now there is no magic, so if you get injured, it hurts until you heal. In the age of myths when spirits and such were common, there was magic.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.