Time Healer Ceres

The moment Ceres heard that the three dukes had lost their powers, Kainel was the first person who came to mind.

If their powers had disappeared, there was a good chance his had too. She’d rushed over, worried about what losing the power he’d been bound to for so long might do to his body.

“Hey, what are you doing in such a condition?”

“...Working.”

Kainel replied weakly, his eyes closing as if he enjoyed the coolness of Ceres’s hand on his forehead.

“Get up. Now.”

“......”

“What are you staring at?”

Get up and go rest.

Ceres turned away, thinking she should at least get him some medicine for his fever. But Kainel caught the hand she was pulling away and held on tightly.

“Then...”

“......?”

He gave her arm a gentle tug and smiled.

“Will you sleep with me?”

“......”

***

He wasn’t able to sleep properly for a long time. Ever since she passed away, he was afraid to dream, because her final moments always came back to him that way.

But somewhere along the way, those dreams had begun to feel like a lifeline.

Even if it was only that... even if it meant I could see her one last time.

Watching her leave was painful, agonizing, and maddening, but he still wished he could keep having those dreams. At least he could see her there.

But before he knew it, even that had been taken from him. The face he saw in his dreams started to blur and distort.

As if telling me not to remember her anymore...

He was afraid to watch her face fade away. Every time he dreamed, it felt as though his memories of her were being taken from him, one by one.

Falling asleep became more and more frightening.

“Go to sleep.”

“...Will you stay by my side?”

“I said go to sleep.”

You’re the reason I’m in bed at this hour!

Ceres scoffed and pulled the blanket back over Kainel, who was lying beside her.

Rustle.

Perhaps he still didn’t trust her to stay, because Kainel slipped his arm around her waist, as though to keep her from leaving. With a quiet sigh, Ceres placed her hand on his forehead again.

He was still burning up. If anything, his fever seemed worse than before.

The three of them were fine. So why is this idiot the only one...?

The powers passed down through the three ducal houses, and the power inherited by House Persia had originally been the same. The only difference was that, in the Grand Duchy, that power had become a curse.

The three ducal houses didn’t suffer shortened lifespans simply because they inherited the power, nor was it restricted to biological children. Through a ritual, the power could be passed on to someone who wasn’t a biological child, as long as they shared a certain amount of blood.

But House Persia was different. That power was passed down to their biological children whether they wanted it or not. Once they reached a certain age, death was unavoidable.

And now, he’s the only one who’s sick.

They had all lost their powers in the same way, yet the other three showed no signs of anything wrong, while Kainel was burning up.

Haa.

Ceres let out another silent sigh. Even when she was Grace, she’d spent so much time trying to find the cause. When the memory came back to her, she couldn’t help sighing again.

“Are you still having trouble sleeping?”

“...Yeah.”

“Why?”

He’d seemed to be sleeping well for a while, but Del had told her that Kainel still occasionally had trouble falling asleep, even if it wasn’t as bad as before.

Ceres gently stroked Kainel’s hair as he lay with his eyes closed. Perhaps he liked the touch, because his arms tightened around her waist.

“Because I’m afraid it might be a dream.”

“A dream?”

“Yeah...”

I’m afraid having you here beside me, all of this, might be a dream.

Before, I was afraid your image would fade away. But now, I’m afraid that when I fall asleep and wake up again... you won’t be here.

“...Go to sleep.”

Ceres stroked Kainel’s hair again as his arms around her waist grew tighter, as though he couldn’t shake the anxiety.

Even after a while, when Kainel was breathing evenly in his sleep, she still couldn’t bring herself to leave his side.

***

“Those people I saw that night?”

“Yes.”

Wouldn’t that be the most likely explanation?

Ceres had called Ersi over to hear about the situation at the temple. According to him, the Holy Springs had been contaminated not only in the temples across the empire, but in other countries as well.

It must be absolute chaos.

Not a single Tamer relic remained intact. Just like the one Ceres had, they all turned black and were completely powerless.

“You said they entered the building where the Holy Spring was, right?”

Ceres had come to the conclusion that the contamination was connected to the people Ersi had seen that night. Those who had entered the building where the Holy Spring was and disappeared into a suspicious room.

“Give me the list.”

“The list?”

“The list of those priests you saw that night.”

“Why?”

“So I can drag them in and beat the truth out of them.”

“Huh?”

Ersi’s mouth fell open.

“Y-you’re joking, right?”

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

“...No.”

It was obvious enough that Ceres wasn’t just saying it for the sake of saying it.

She’s lost it. But why all of a sudden?

She wasn’t like this just a few days ago. Didn’t she feel content to stand back and watch how things unfolded?

She’s usually so indifferent about everything.

Even when it concerned her personally. But right now, something was different...

“Kai is sick.”

“Lord Kainel?”

Ersi understood why Ceres had suddenly lost her composure.

“The medicine isn’t working at all.”

She’d tried all sorts of fever reducers, but the heat still wouldn’t leave his body.

I even tried turning back time.

But that made no difference either. Just as the discolored Tamer relic didn’t respond when she’d tried to turn back its time, neither did Kainel. She had to get to the root of the problem.

“So hand over the list.”

They needed to get the Holy Spring back to normal first.

More than anything, she wanted to go straight to the Holy Spring and turn back time to before it had been contaminated. The problem was that the entire area was currently off-limits to everyone.

Of course, I could always sneak in. Since when have I ever cared about other people’s opinions?

But what if this wasn’t the end of it? What if the Holy Spring became contaminated again and Kainel’s condition took another turn for the worse?

I can’t even predict what might happen.

If his fever dropped and then came back again, it might leave him burning up even worse than he is now.

I have to get rid of the cause.

The only way to put an end to this was to find out what had contaminated the Holy Spring and eliminate it.

“Just talk already.”

The names of those priests you saw that day. Tell me.

“F-for now, please calm down, Master.”

“Calm down?”

Ceres snorted.

“Do I look like I’m worked up?”

“...No.”

Ersi knew that much. No matter how angry she got, his Master never lost her composure.

It’s just...

She never held back once she decided to act.

Although she had never been one to worry about what others thought, when something truly angered her, she stopped seeing anything else. All that mattered was resolving the problem as quickly as possible.

“I... I found something out.”

“What is it?”

Ersi hurriedly told her what he’d discovered.

“It turns out the priests who entered that strange room have been meeting with certain people on a regular basis.”

At Ceres’s request, Ersi continued watching the priests’ movements. Before long, he’d noticed something strange.

“They all go out to do volunteer work...”

“Volunteer work?”

“Yes. The temple regularly sends them to help the poor.”

“What’s strange about that?”

“It’s just... the only ones who go together are the priests I saw that night.”

“What?”

“So I tried to tag along.”

“You’d like to do volunteer work too, Lord Ersi?”

“Yes.”

“Haha, of course. Then would you mind taking charge of the Emeta region?”

“It’s my first time... Would it be all right if I went with you, Lord Byron?”

“Oh dear... We already have enough people on our side. We’ll let you know when we need help. For now, perhaps you could assist in another region?”

“Ah... yes... I’ll do that.”

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