Chapter 6

ㅤ”……The miasma, it really is thinning, isn’t it?”
ㅤ”Yes, it is.”
ㅤ
ㅤChelsea peers at my face. It’s been almost two months since she came to this house, and she smiles, saying,”It’s easier to see your face now.”The miasma, which even the Saint’s power couldn’t dispel, has been thinning recently. Along with that, my magical power has also been gradually recovering, and the speed is remarkably faster than I initially anticipated. I feel like close to 50% of my magical power has returned.
ㅤ
ㅤThe only conceivable reason for this rapid recovery, which I thought would take years, is Chelsea’s embroidery, which is now everywhere in the room. In addition to the ribbon she ties my hair with every day, there’s an incredible amount of it: handkerchiefs, pillowcases, pajamas, sheets, cushions. However, the magical power contained in all of them combined is so faint that it’s less than a teaspoonful, and I couldn’t definitively say that this was the direct cause.
ㅤ
ㅤ”Since we have the opportunity, let’s go out to town tomorrow.”
ㅤ”Going out?”
ㅤ”Yeah. I can probably conceal it this much.”
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ㅤI cover my face with one hand and slowly lower it.
ㅤ
ㅤ”……! The miasma, it’s gone!”
ㅤ”I’m just using magic to refract light and make it look like it’s gone. Unfortunately, I still don’t have the energy to use more advanced illusions or healing magic, so the scar remains.”
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ㅤWill you go out with a damaged man? I ask, bringing my face closer, and Chelsea blushes more intensely than I’ve ever seen.
ㅤ
ㅤ”……Don’t tell me you……”
ㅤ”D-Don’t say it!”
ㅤ”You like my face, don’t you?”
ㅤ”Don’t say it~!!”
ㅤ
ㅤI grab her waist as she tries to escape, covering her bright red face with both hands.
ㅤ
ㅤ”I-It was hard to see before because of the miasma……!”
ㅤ”Is that so, is that so. If you like it, I might just keep it like this at home too.”
ㅤ”Don’t waste your magical power!”
ㅤ
ㅤI hold down my cute fiancée, who starts playfully hitting my chest, and kiss her forehead. When I pull away with a small”chu”sound, she’s still blushing……or not. After widening her eyes slightly, she makes a troubled, sad, and painful expression.
ㅤ
ㅤChelsea sometimes makes that face when I act affectionately towards her. For her, the engagement was probably forced upon her by her parents or the Saint, but she doesn’t seem to dislike me. Is it conceited of me to think that she even likes me? Or is it that my feelings for her haven’t been properly conveyed? Perhaps I need to tell her that I want to hold her hand and kiss her not because she’s my fiancée, but because she’s her.
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ㅤThere’s one more thing that’s been bothering me. Chelsea has been sighing a lot lately. She still spends her days in my room embroidering and reading, but she’s been spacing out more often. We occasionally bake sweets or take walks in the garden, but staying cooped up in the house must be depressing.
ㅤ
ㅤThat’s why I suggested going out to town.
ㅤ
ㅤ”……I was embroidering your going-out shirt too.”
ㅤ”……Yeah, I thought it would be finished around this time.”
ㅤ”Yes.”
ㅤ
ㅤI hope her face, which smiles with downcast eyebrows as she says,”I’m looking forward to it,”will brighten even more. I’ll make sure she has a lot of fun tomorrow. And I’ll convey my feelings of affection for her.
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ”Chelsea?”
ㅤ”Ah, yes, come in!”
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ㅤWhen I opened the door after calling out,”I’m coming in,”she hurriedly turned around.
ㅤ
ㅤ”Sorry for making you wait……!”
ㅤ”No, it’s fine, but……What’s wrong?”
ㅤ
ㅤThe next day. I visited Chelsea’s room because she wasn’t coming out. I thought it would take time for a woman to get ready, but she seems almost finished. She was wearing a lovely dress she chose from among the many clothes I’ve been showering her with since the maids told me she only brought minimal clothing. Her hair was loosely tied up, and she looked ready to go out.
ㅤ
ㅤ”The chain of my necklace got tangled.”
ㅤ
ㅤWhen I looked at her hand, there was a tangled necklace in her palm.
ㅤ
ㅤ”But I’ll be able to untangle it soon.”
ㅤ”Oh, we’re not in a hurry, so don’t worry about it.”
ㅤ”Thank you.”
ㅤ
ㅤAs she carefully untangled the chain, she said,”I brought it from my parents’ house.”
ㅤ
ㅤ”But I haven’t had a chance to wear it, so I’ve kept it in a small box. It must have gotten tangled during the move here.”
ㅤ”Hmm.”
ㅤ
ㅤI watch her gently untangle the chain. I used to wear a necklace as part of my Court Magician uniform, so I’ve had experience with tangled chains. You can’t just pull on it forcefully; you have to gently and carefully untangle it like Chelsea is doing now.
ㅤ
ㅤ”……Ah.”
ㅤ”……? What’s wrong?”
ㅤ”No, I just thought that might be it.”
ㅤ
ㅤ”What is it?”Chelsea tilted her head in puzzlement, having just finished untangling the necklace. When I pointed to my own face and said,”This,”she blushed, perhaps because I was already concealing the miasma…….She really likes this face, huh.
ㅤ
ㅤ”The miasma remaining on my face wouldn’t go away no matter how forcefully we tried to dispel it.”
ㅤ”……Even with your sister’s holy magic, it didn’t work, right?”
ㅤ”That’s right. I think if we just poured strong magical power into it, the miasma would have clung to the wound even more stubbornly. I was thinking of trying to manage it someday by simultaneously casting healing magic of equal strength, but even that probably wouldn’t have worked. Just having strong power isn’t enough, it’s like, well……Remember when you made the pound cake?”
ㅤ”Pound cake……?”
ㅤ
ㅤChelsea tilted her head, wondering what the connection was.
ㅤ
ㅤ”You said that if you mixed the eggs and butter all at once, they would separate. It’s probably similar to that. If you try to mix it all at once, it will resist, so the key is to do it gradually, slowly, and carefully.”
ㅤ”S-So……in other words……?”
ㅤ”In other words, it’s your magic that’s healing me after all.”
ㅤ
ㅤA tiny bit of holy magic and healing magic, almost imperceptible at first glance. It started to blend into the miasma, initially through the ribbon. Since you tied my hair with it every day, the imbued magic must have been continuously influencing it slowly for a long time. Then, as the embroidery increased, the magical power continued to increase unnoticed, and the tightly tangled miasma began to unravel.
ㅤ
ㅤ”I think the reason my magical power started to return is because the miasma’s power to hinder recovery has weakened.”
ㅤ”So, does that mean Lord Oswald will be able to return to normal? Will the miasma eventually be dispelled, the scar on your face will heal, and you’ll be able to move around freely and use a lot of magic again?”
ㅤ”Yes, I’m sure of it.”
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ㅤTears well up in Chelsea’s eyes. You’ve even put on makeup, it’s going to be ruined.
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ㅤ”It’s thanks to you. You’re truly amazing, my lovely little magician.”