Chapter 23 : Chapter 23
Volume 1
Chapter 23 : The Aftermath of the Incident
“So it was only a dream?”
Muen leaned against the headboard, staring at the ceiling where a golden chandelier hung, and an immense sense of relief rose in his heart.
He had never imagined that he was still alive.
That dagger had pierced a vital spot while burning with the flames of an evil god, and yet he had still survived.
Had heaven finally chosen to show him mercy at a time like this?
“According to the master, the formalwear you were wearing that day was actually a rather fine defensive magic artifact. At the crucial moment, it absorbed most of the damage for you, Young Master, which was why you were able to survive the ordeal.”
“I see.”
I’m sorry, my dear formalwear. I used to complain far too loudly about you.
A net weight of twenty kilograms was not a flaw at all, but a wonderfully reassuring heaviness!
If I ever get the chance, I will definitely have you repaired and wear you again—not for any other reason, but simply to repay you for saving my life!
“Then what about my injuries now...?”
Muen looked at his hands.
To be honest, even though he had suffered such a serious wound, he could not feel the slightest pain right now.
He only vaguely felt a sense of emptiness in his body.
“It was Princess Selicia.”
Ann said, “She summoned the chief healing physician of the Royal Mage Corps and personally had healing magic cast on you, Young Master. Your wounds were healed from the very beginning. You only remained asleep this long because your body was too weak.”
“This long?”
“You slept for a full three days, Young Master.”
“Three... days.”
Muen let out a slow breath. “That really was quite a long time.”
“Oh, right.”
The moment Selicia was mentioned, Muen tensed up at once and could not help but ask cautiously:
“Did Selicia... say anything about me?”
“Say anything about you...?”
Ann tilted her head and asked in puzzlement, “What do you mean, Young Master?”
“Well... did she say anything bad about me?”
“I wouldn’t know about that, but I do not think so.”
Ann thought carefully for a moment. “When Her Highness left, she spoke with the master for a while. They seemed to have had a very pleasant conversation.”
“I see.”
Muen could not help but let out a sigh of relief.
In the end, Selicia still had not exposed that beastly thing he had done.
Was it for the sake of her own reputation, or because... he had saved her?
“Young Master Muen.”
“Hm?”
“Although this question may be somewhat impertinent, I still wish to ask it.”
Ann suddenly crouched down.
A faint floral fragrance drifted around Muen’s nose, and for some reason, he felt that her voice sounded a little cold at this moment.
“You seem very nervous about this matter, Young Master. Is it because, when you were alone in the room with Her Highness the Princess, you did something to her?”
“...N-No, of course not.”
Muen shook his head firmly and said with a stiff expression, “That was Her Highness the Princess. If I had done anything to her, I would lose my head!”
“Is that so? I suppose that makes sense.”
Ann seemed to accept his explanation and did not press further.
Instead, she picked up the bowl of medicine in her hands once more.
“Come, it is time to drink your medicine. It has already cooled.”
“Can I not drink it?”
At the sight of that bowl of pitch-black broth, Muen’s carefully composed face instantly fell apart.
“I’m afraid of bitter things.”
“That will not do, Young Master. The first thing you need to do now is nurse your body back to health.”
“But aren’t my injuries already healed?”
“Strictly speaking, this is not medicine at all, but a tonic. It only looks a little like medicine. Besides, knowing that you dislike bitterness, I already added sugar.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Then... all right.”
Muen tremulously stretched out his hand. “Give it to me.”
Ann: “...”
Muen: “?”
“Young Master Muen, feeding you your medicine is part of my duty as your personal maid.”
“But all my limbs are functioning perfectly well...”
“Young Master Muen, are you trying to take away this poor maid’s means of livelihood? Of course, if you truly dislike me, I can resign to the master at once.”
Ann wiped at the corner of her eye, where no tears existed.
“Then a weak little maid like me, who knows how to do nothing except care for her young master, will lose the only place she has to belong. I will be left wandering outside all alone, and if I were to run into bad people, then I would have no choice but to—”
“All right, all right, enough, enough. You can feed me, all right? Please stop talking.”
Muen gave up resisting in utter helplessness.
This was a treatment befitting the son of a Duke, was it not?
Being fed by a beautiful girl with her own hands was the ultimate dream of countless lonely young men!
“Come now, Young Master, open wide. Ah—”
“Why does this feel like you’re feeding a child...? Ah—”
Mmgh, so bitter! Didn’t you say you added sugar?”
“Oh my, perhaps I remembered wrong. Come now, Young Master, continue. Ah—”
“Can you remember something like that wrong? You’re absolutely treating me like a child, aren’t you? Ah—”
“Do your best, Young Master. Just two more mouthfuls and it will be finished. Ah—”
“I told you, I’m not a child! Ah—”
...
...
“By the way, did that incident cause any bad consequences?”
Muen suddenly asked.
After all, the attempted assassination of an imperial princess was a major matter.
During the three days he had been unconscious, there was no way it could have passed without any aftershocks at all.
And as his personal maid, Ann would certainly have looked into such matters.
“It did indeed have some effect.”
As Ann tidied away the medicine bowl, she replied:
“First, regarding the assassins’ identities. After the master personally interrogated them, it seems those people disguised as maids were not professional death-sworn killers or assassins at all, but members of a bounty hunter organization that had long operated in Belland’s underworld and worshipped an evil god honored as the King of Withering.
It is said that as long as there is money, they will do anything.”
“The King of Withering... bounty hunters...”
Muen murmured softly. In his memories, the original novel did not seem to mention any evil god known as the King of Withering, much less a bounty hunter organization that worshiped Him.
“As expected, the limitations of a novel are just too great.”
Muen let out a quiet sigh in his heart.
Novels unfold from the protagonist’s point of view.
They can never completely describe an entire world, nor can they clearly present every single thing developing within it.
Which meant that once the story broke away from the original novel’s contents, or strayed from the protagonist’s line, everything would become completely unpredictable.
“You need not worry, Young Master Muen. That organization was actually wiped out by the master in person last night,” Ann added.
“...I see.”
Muen froze for a moment, then could not help but smile in relief.
Although events had not unfolded according to the original novel, precisely because of that, he was still the noble son of a Duke.
He did not need to worry about how this matter would develop at all, because naturally, there would be people to deal with it for him.
“And what about the mastermind who hired that hunter organization?”
“That cannot be discovered for the time being.”
Ann shook her head.
“All the members of that hunter organization had been placed under a curse. The moment the matter touched upon that question, they would immediately burst into flames and die.”
“So... it really was like that?”
Anyone daring to openly assassinate a princess would naturally never leave behind any trace.
But even a beggar on the roadside knew that those with a motive to assassinate Selicia were no more than those few factions.
“It is said that His Majesty the Emperor flew into a great rage over this matter and personally ordered a purge of the rats in Belland’s underworld.”
“That really is...”
Hearing this, Muen immediately gave a bitter smile and shook his head, muttering inwardly:
“It seems the underground black market is off-limits for a while.”