Chapter 41
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
I decided to treat the wound in my room.
As I entered, Bell, who had been dozing on the sofa, jumped up.
“Lady Ar, I’m all ready to treat the wound… Huh!”
Seeing Hyperion follow me in, Bell quickly sat down on the medical box.
“You don’t have to try so hard. I’ve already been caught.”
“…You’ve been caught?”
“Yeah.”
I leaned back on the sofa bed.
Bell carefully approached me, holding the medical box that was under her bottom. Then she whispered in my ear.
“How did you get caught?”
“I don’t know. I just got caught right away. His intuition is really sharp.”
Bell glanced at Hyperion, and when their eyes met, she was startled and lowered her head. Then she hurriedly began to take things out of the box.
Of course, Hyperion was watching the entire process with his arms crossed, like a guard.
“It’s going to sting a little.”
I frowned at the white ointment Bell had taken out.
“Bell, isn’t that the medicine for insect bites?”
“Oh, right. I’m sorry!”
Bell then searched for the ointment used for disinfecting wounds. After applying the medicine, she began to wrap a bandage around the wound.
The problem was that Bell’s method of wrapping the bandage was far from practical. To ensure it wouldn’t come loose when moving, the bandage needed to cover more area, but Bell was just wrapping the area where the wound was.
“…Have you ever wrapped a bandage before?”
“No, why would I have had a reason to bandage a wound?”
True. In the Grand Duchy, if I got even a small injury, a doctor would immediately come and treat it. Besides, Bell only served me within the Grand Duke’s residence, so she never had the chance to get hurt or treat others.
Yeah, I really raised her delicately.
Bell wrapped the bandage very thickly and then struggled to tie a fancy ribbon at the end. Seeing that, I held my head.
…Did I raise her too delicately? I have to send her off to marry someday, but can she manage on her own like this?
Hyperion seemed to share the same sentiment and shook his head.
“It would be better if I did it.”
As Hyperion approached, Bell jumped up from her seat.
“I have something to talk to your master about, so you can go now.”
Bell looked at me hesitantly. When I nodded, she finally bowed her head and left the room.
Hyperion sat next to me and began to unwrap the bandage Bell had put on. He then examined the scar very carefully.
“If it had been just a bit deeper, we would have had to stitch it up. You were lucky.”
“It wasn’t luck; I dodged well.”
He scoffed. Then, he dipped his finger in the ointment and applied it very carefully to the wound.
Looking at it like this, unlike his pretty appearance, his hands were quite masculine. The size itself was different. He could easily grasp my wrist with one hand and still have fingers to spare. His knuckles were thick, and calluses were abundant, making them look rough. They were undoubtedly the hands of someone who had wielded a sword for a long time.
I had also held a sword for quite a while, but I wasn’t at that level. Just how much practice had he done?
I was once again amazed that he was a swordsman and not a magician. If he had been born with magical powers, would he have had completely different hands? Now that I think about it, he would have suited being a magician quite well.
Once he finished applying the ointment, Hyperion skillfully began to wrap the bandage.
“You look experienced. Have you done this a lot?”
“I usually treat minor wounds myself.”
“Why?”
“It’s a hassle to call a doctor every time. If my mother finds out I got hurt, she’ll just worry for no reason.”
“You knew that but still threatened to tell my parents?”
“That’s why I told you to explain the situation first, but you didn’t.”
“Ah!”
Finally, he tied the bandage very tightly.
Is this his way of expressing his feelings? Thinking that, I glared at him sulkily, and he said,
“Now tell me, what were you doing when you got hurt like this?”
Realizing there was no way to avoid it any longer, I opened up.
“I was out shopping and encountered a pickpocket on the street. I chased after him, and a fight broke out, which is how I got hurt.”
“A pickpocket swung a sword at a noble lady? Usually, they know things would get too big if they did that.”
“He wasn’t an ordinary pickpocket. To be more precise, someone hired him.”
“Someone hired him?”
I stood up and walked to the table. I brought back a metal badge and handed it to him.
“That guy is related to this. Do you know anything about it?”
The moment he saw the metal badge, his expression subtly hardened.
I was certain. He knew something.
“This is the information I want. If you know anything about this symbol, please tell me.”
“Well, I’ve never seen anything like this before…”
“Lack of creativity. Don’t you have another excuse prepared?”
Using his earlier words against him, Hyperion stared at me with his bright blue eyes. Then he curled one corner of his lip.
“You weren’t just shopping, were you? You ran into those guys while doing something else, right? Start with that.”
Ah, what a sharp guy!
I glared at Hyperion. After a long standoff, I finally reached the conclusion that I wouldn’t get the information I wanted unless I started talking first.
“Right now, counterfeit currency is circulating in the Grand Duke’s territory.”
“Counterfeit currency?”
“You’ll find out soon enough. My father sent a report to the central authority.”
After learning that those producing fake money were outside the Grand Duke’s territory, my father reported to the king. This way, he could get permission to capture the counterfeiters or not. So, sharing this much information isn’t a big deal.
“The counterfeiters had that badge. I wanted to know if the counterfeit currency was only circulating within the Grand Duke’s territory or if it was the same situation here as well. Additionally, I wanted information about that symbol.”
Hyperion gazed intently at the metal badge in his hand. Since he was tilting his head, I couldn’t see his expression clearly.
“Now tell me, what is that symbol? Why did I have to be attacked just for recognizing it? Who is behind this?”
Hyperion lifted his head. Then, astonishing words flowed from his lips.
“…Have you heard of the Republicans?”
Republicans? Why is that suddenly coming up here?
“They are the ones who deny the current political system.”
More precisely, they deny monarchy and advocate for a political system based on elections rather than hereditary rule.
There were people here who held such beliefs.
However, their ideology was treated as anti-national and subversive, and it had been thoroughly prohibited. As far as I knew, that was the case.
“This is a phrase they use.”
“So you’re saying that the Republicans created counterfeit currency and deliberately spread it in the Grand Duke’s territory? Why?”
“I don’t know that either. No, I’d say no one knows any more information than that unless they belong to that organization.”
Hyperion handed the metal badge back to me.
“What’s clear now is that this is not something you should be meddling with alone. Leave it to His Grace the Grand Duke, and you should stop here.”
I understand why he says such things. My father also warned me. The people behind the counterfeit currency are dangerous, so I must never act alone.
I know that too, but…
“Arcadia, promise me. Otherwise, I will immediately inform the Grand Duke about this.”
“Have you become quite the master of threats?”
“As I said before, the Duke’s household has an obligation to protect you. Your safety is not just your own problem. Promise me you won’t get involved in this any further. You can think of this as a threat if you want.”
It’s true that I was more persuaded by rational arguments than emotional appeals. Since Hyperion was not wrong, I nodded.
“Okay. While I’m in the Duke’s residence, I won’t engage in anything that could put me in danger. I promise.”
Only then did he let out a thin sigh.
As I pondered the meaning of that sigh, which was mixed with complex emotions, he stood up.
“Let’s practice the dance next time. For today, let’s take a break.”
As he was about to leave the room, I asked him a question I had been curious about for a long time.
“Do you remember sending me a letter when I was a child?”
Most people don’t remember things from their childhood well. In contrast, I remembered most things from a long time ago. Perhaps it was because an adult was inside a child’s body.
Even when I forgot that I had possessed this body, I often felt that I was a different being from them in moments like this.
“Of course.”
But Hyperion answered that he remembered. I felt a bit pleased by that.
“Do you also remember sending me flowers back then?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, it turned out to be my mother’s favorite flower. Do you happen to know what the flower’s meaning is?”
Hyperion looked at me for a moment before calmly replying.
“No. What is it?”
“It’s….”
‘Even if you don’t love me, I will love you forever.’
That is the meaning of the anemone flower.
However, saying it directly felt impossible to utter. It seemed that he had indeed sent that flower without much thought.
“No, it’s nothing. Goodbye.”
He smiled faintly and closed the door as he left.
That night, shortly after I had gone to bed, I heard Rose barking outside the window.
Peeking through the curtains, I saw Hyperion and Rose taking a walk. Unlike the lively Rose, who was bouncing around, Hyperion seemed lost in deep thought as he walked slowly through the garden.
His light blonde hair shimmered silver under the pouring moonlight. Just then, as I was thinking he looked strangely lonely, he lifted his head as if he felt my gaze.
I quickly stepped away from the window. When I looked outside again a little later, Hyperion and Rose were no longer in sight.
I lay back down on the bed, but sleep didn’t come easily. It wasn’t until around dawn that I finally fell into a fitful sleep.
And that day, I had a dream I hadn’t experienced in a long time.
I was walking somewhere, cradling a bouquet of red flowers in my arms.
The place I headed to was a table where a man was sitting and writing.
As I approached, the man pulled me onto his lap with one arm. Then, his long and beautiful fingers picked up one of the red flowers.
“It’s my mother’s favorite flower. Do you know what the meaning of this flower is, Your Grace?”
