Chapter 46: The Awakening

Claude took Razé to the bathroom through the back door used by servants as soon as they entered the palace. She was happy that she could soak in the bathtub in the middle of the night and the maid had prepared a change of clothes for her too.

She was drying her hair with wind magic when a maid came by and gave her a cup of hot drink. Then, she saw Claude coming out of the bathroom wearing new clothes.

Claude: “The knights and butler will take care of the rest. You don’t have to worry.”

“I understand,” Razé said and bowed her head at him. “By the way, did you hurt your arm? Have you healed it?”

Razé remembered seeing his sleeve torn. She climbed down from her chair and walked up to Claude. Then she rolled up his sleeve. “Waa-. The wound is quite deep.”

“Oh no! I’ll go and bring a bandage.” The housekeeper, Martha was about to leave to fetch the first aid box when Razé stopped her.

“It’s not that serious. I can heal this.” Razé focused her attention on the wound. She was not that good at healing magic but she used it often due to her profession. As long as she had the strength and time, she could close the wound.

Claude felt the wound getting warmer and then it started to close. He was astonished.

Razé: “Fu-. Any other injury?”

Claude: “No… Thank you.”

Razé: “Don’t mention it.”

Since they had already knew her magic was better than Luca’s, she felt that she didn’t need to hide her power anymore.

Alright. This will do it.

Razé considered his injury as her mistake, so she had destroyed the evidence successfully. Martha brought a drink for Claude. He sat down after hesitating for a while.

Martha: “Anyway, how did such a young and pretty girl like you get covered in blood all over your body? You must have been scared.”

Razé: “I’m fine. Sorry if I scared you.”

Martha: “Of course not!”

Razé was wearing an oversized pajama. Martha stroked her hair as she sat on a chair holding a mug with both hands. They had only met for a few minutes but Martha really adored her.

Martha: “I was curious when I heard that a commoner girl is here. Such a nice girl. I’d love to have a daughter like you.”

Razé: “Your daughter must be very lucky to have a mother like you, Martha-san.”

Martha: “Thank you, dear.”

Thinking of what had happened earlier, Claude felt the current atmosphere was unbelievably quiet and peaceful.

Razé: “Claude-kun. What will happen tomorrow?”

Claude: “We cannot stay here until the cause has been clarified. I think we will have to move to another place tomorrow. As for the preparation for the school festival, it’s up to Prince Ruben and Lady Carna.”

Razé: “I thought so too. My holiday is until the day after tomorrow. If possible, I’d like to clear as many tasks as I can…”

Razé drank the honey milk tea. She had a limited amount of time here, but she couldn’t just rush around alone.

Claude: “Then I’ll accompany you.”

Razé: “Thank you! I’m counting on you.”

She unintentionally used the way of talking like she used in the army. She felt that she had become closer to Claude, and wanted to take this opportunity to get to know each other better. It was always better to have many allies (also for the future too).

Then, Adis walked up to them.

Adis: “I was looking all over the place for you two.”

Razé: “What’s wrong?”

Adis: “Just to confirm your safety. Carna-sama was quite worried about you. Why don’t you go take a look?”

Razé: “Huh? Isn’t Prince Ruben with her?”

Adis knitted his brows when Razé rejected his suggestion.

Adis: “There could be things that she could only talk to you.”

Razé: “…Alright.”

Razé could understand what he really meant. She got up to her feet and asked, “Is it okay if I go dressed like this?”

Martha: “Maybe you should put on a sweater. Wait here.”

Razé took the sweater from Martha and thanked her. Then she turned at Claude. Razé knew that he must be tired after fighting so many beasts earlier.

Razé: “It is better to sleep when you’re exhausted after using the magic stone for a prolonged time. Don’t force yourself. I’ll let Carna-sama know.”

Claude had a blank look on his face for a moment. Then he stared at Razé. As a butler, he always made sure not to show his emotion. He didn’t expect that she could read him easily.

“Thank you.” He tried to hide his surprise and watched her left.

―　―　―

Razé followed behind Adis and went to meet Carna. On the way, she asked, “Is it about the prophecy?”

Adis: “I’m not sure, but I think so. She has calmed down but she seems to be very shocked by the incident.”

Razé suddenly became anxious when she heard his words. Based on her knowledge, there should be no similar event like this in the Book of Prophecies.

Was it a very important event?

When they arrived at Carna’s room, Razé saw her eyes were red like she had been crying.

Carna: “Razé…”

Razé: “What’s wrong? The scary beasts are no longer here. Prince Ruben and the others had cleared them away.”

Razé gave a slight bow to Ruben and took Carna’s hands as she sat on the bed. Carna shook her head and looked at Razé.

Carna: “This was supposed to be an awakening event for Folia.”

Razé: “… But there’s nothing in the notes.”

Carna: “Right. Such an important event and I forgot about it! It was supposed to be a small-scale stampede. Ruben-sama, Claude and many others would be injured. That’s when Folia’s purification skill was awakened.”

What a scary event!!

Razé put on a grim face when she heard Carna’s explanation. Although Folia’s awakening could be considered an invaluable harvest, VIP members getting injured was a dreadful matter. For her, even Claude’s injury was considered as a careless mistake.

Razé: “Everyone is safe now, so you don’t have to worry.”

Razé tried to cheer her up but Carna was not convinced.

Carna: 「No. If I really meet my tragic ending, then Folia’s purification would be indispensable.」

Razé was speechless. Listening to her words, it looked like Carna was still unaware that so far, the game events had been unavoidable although the content was changed. Razé felt relieved. She was worried if one day Carna would say to her, “I will meet my tragic ending.”

Ruben and Adis looked like they had something to say when they heard the two girls were conversing in Japanese.

Razé: 「Carna-sama. You don’t mind if Ruben-sama get hurts?」

Carna:「Of course I don’t want him to get hurts!」

Razé: 「Then shouldn’t it be better if such event never happen? We have avoided triggering the flag. It’s impossible for Prince Ruben to kill you. Besides, didn’t I tell you before? I will protect you.

If you’re so worried, then we will get Folia to awaken her skill later. I’ll do something about it. Maybe you’d forgotten about it because I’m by your side, but I wasn’t in the otome game at all. We are not going to lose to a game plot.」

After listening to Razé’s words, Carna felt her source of pain was gone. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Carna: “… Your words are very persuasive.”

Razé broke into a grin when she saw Carna had calmed down.

Razé: 「Because this is my second life.」

Carna: “So am I.”

Razé: “I recalled my memories much earlier than you. I’m your senior.”

Carna: “Razé!”

Ruben let out a sigh of relief when he saw Carna smiling. He pushed her hair behind her ears and asked, “Are you okay now?”

Carna: “Yes. I’m sorry I make you worried. It seems I’ve been overthinking things.”

Razé: “Does it mean I’m underthinking things?”

Carna: “Did I say that?”

Razé: “… Carna-sama?”

Razé stared at Carna, who was pretending to act innocent. Carna saw her reaction and laughed happily. Razé was glad to see her happy and smiled cheerfully too.

“Well then, I’ll leave first.”

Razé thought Carna would want to have some time alone with Ruben, so she planned to leave with Adis. There were still a few hours until daybreak, she wanted to catch some sleep until then.

Carna: “Razé, wait.”

Razé: “Yes?”

Carna: “Can you sleep here with me?”

Razé: “Huh?”

She was surprised by her request and immediately turned to look at Ruben. Unexpectedly, Ruben nodded his head.

Ruben: “I want to stay with her but I might not be able to hold myself back.”

Razé replied in monotone, “… I understand.”

And so, it has been decided that Razé would sleep in Carna’s room. An awful incident had happened earlier, so she had to accompany the beautiful princess. The bed was so huge, so it was not crowded for the two girls to sleep on the same bed.

Ruben came closer to Carna with a worried face as Razé stepped away for a while.

Ruben: “Good night, Carna.”

Carna: “Good night, Ruben-sama.”

Razé felt awkward to listen to their conversation, so she turned and looked at Adis.

Razé: “Thank you for your help clearing up the mess just now. It seems that the rumor about you went dungeon hopping with your mother during the holidays is actually true.”

Adis: “How did you know about that?”

Adis knitted his brows. Although Vanessa was well known as the war maiden, he felt embarrassed to hear other people had found out that he had been hanging out with his mother visiting dungeons.

Razé: “I’m an adventurer after all.”

Adis: “… Don’t tell other people.”

Razé: “They were gossiping that you’re very strong. I don’t think there’s any need to keep it a secret. A wonder lasts but nine days[1].”

Then, Razé bid him goodnight. Adis had a troubled look on his face as he bid her goodnight and left the room.

Carna: “Let’s go to sleep.”

Razé: “Alright.”

There were only two of them in the room. Razé climbed onto the bed reservedly. She lay down leaving a gap away from Carna, but Carna immediately inched closer to her.

“I’d always wanted to sleep with my friends like this.”

Carna fell asleep not long after that, maybe because she was tired. Once Razé had made sure Carna had fallen asleep, she closed her eyes too.

[1] The Japanese idiom is ‘gossips last just 75 days’, much longer than the 9 days’ wonder. ↩