Chapter 8
This was…
An awakening of power, fifteen years earlier than in her previous life.
Why?
Why now?
If only it had come a little sooner… if only…
A crushing guilt weighed down on her, whispering that perhaps she could have saved her mother.
“Mother… Mother… hngh… ugh…!”
She sobbed, calling out to her mother as tears poured down her face.
In her previous life, she had awakened a healing ability.
An ability no member of the imperial family had ever possessed, save for the founding emperor. And she alone had come to bear it.
But for some unknown reason, her power had failed to awaken on the day of her coming-of-age ceremony. Branded as one who had deceived the imperial palace, she had been confined.
‘I still don’t know the reason.’
Even after being imprisoned within the palace, the ability eventually returned to her. But by then, there was no one left willing to listen.
She never did learn the exact limits of her power’s reach, but through experience, she came to realize one thing: it could not be used on herself.
If it could, she wouldn’t have died so easily in her past life.
In this new life, after meeting her mother, a yearning had begun to take root in her heart.
She couldn’t be certain whether she would awaken the same healing ability this time. But if, by some chance, it did awaken, and if, by even greater fortune, it appeared earlier than before, perhaps she might be able to save her mother.
But that fragile hope had been mercilessly shattered, and now all that remained was suffocating guilt for having failed to save her.
Day after day, she cried herself to sleep, barely eating, her small body growing weaker. Yet thanks to the care of Reni and the maids of the Princess’s palace, she gradually began to regain a measure of calm.
“Wii stay wiff Sister Eileen.”
Lucas, too, came to the Princess’s palace, staying by her side so she wouldn’t be alone.
Watching him, a passing suspicion crept into her mind, perhaps Lucas had returned to life as well. But recalling his helpless infant days, she quickly dismissed the thought.
Still, even as a baby, he was her twin.
And somehow, the sight of him felt reassuring.
‘But now… what should I do about this power?’
An ability awakened far too soon. It was a source of deep unease.
It was not yet time to reveal it. If she did, what if this life turned out exactly like her past one? What if another day came when she could no longer use her power?
There was even the possibility that factions might rise, intent on placing her upon the throne.
A flood of endless worries surged through her mind, and above all else, the fear that she might find herself forced into rivalry against Lucas, their lives placed in constant danger.
‘No, it would be better to hide this power.’
She resolved then to keep it secret, to guard it well, until she reached her coming-of-age. Until then, no one would know.
***
The manifestation of the ability did not show outwardly, so it had been possible to keep it hidden from everyone over the past year.
However, the day came sooner than expected when that carefully concealed ability would have to be used.
It happened in the year the child turned three, when Sir Bauman was gravely injured.
While out on a spring hunt with the father, Sir Bauman leapt in to shield him upon spotting a bear charging to attack.
Thanks to his sacrifice, the father was able to escape unharmed, but Sir Bauman could not avoid the bear’s swift forepaw and was struck by its sharp claws.
After Sir Bauman was attacked, the other knights quickly subdued the bear, and no further harm was done. However, the wound left by that single strike was too severe.
The claw mark that stretched from his right brow, down past his nose and lips, and across to his left chest was enough to make even those who merely looked upon it tremble at the knees.
The flesh on his left chest had been torn away, causing severe bleeding, and in a life-threatening state, he was carried to the Imperial Palace.
When news of this reached Reni, who had been out walking with me in the garden, she trembled as though she might faint at any moment and rushed to the infirmary, but the wound was so grave that she couldn’t see him right away.
Even after Sir Bauman’s condition stabilized somewhat, she insisted on nursing him herself, practically living in the Imperial Infirmary’s ward where he was admitted. Yet, it seemed there was little sign of improvement.
“Reni, can you take me to see Sir Bauman too?”
“Yes…”
“Then let’s go together.”
“All right… let’s go.”
Reni gave a faint, pained smile, gathered me into her arms, and carried me to the infirmary.
Even after that, I followed Reni there several times, but each time, I saw only Sir Bauman lying unconscious as though in a faint. Not once did I see him with his eyes open.
‘No wonder I didn’t recognize him looking like that.’
Only then did I recall why, in my past life, I had known Sir Bauman’s name but not his face.
Anyone seeing him now, with his entire face and upper body tightly wrapped in bandages, would never have been able to connect him to the figure I had once admired so deeply, even to the point of getting a nosebleed.
Most likely, in my past life, though he had barely managed to cling to life, the wound to his face must have remained as a grotesque scar.
The wounds on his body too — had his armor been removed, they would surely have left their marks as well.
“Sir… please, open your eyes….”
Reni, her voice trembling, continued speaking to him as she wiped the cold sweat from his face, though he remained unconscious and unresponsive.
But Sir Bauman could not easily regain consciousness.
Reni’s complexion grew more and more haggard, and with each visit to the infirmary, her face grew paler from crying until her eyes swelled and reddened beyond recognition.
During the day, Reni would come to the Princess’s palace to look after her, and when evening fell, she would hurry to the infirmary to care for Sir Baumann. Yet every time she saw Reni’s face, drained of color and stricken with fear, a resolve quietly took hold within her.
‘Don’t worry, Reni. I’ll set everything right.’
Clenching her small fist tightly, she made a silent vow to herself.
It was deep in the night, when everyone else had fallen asleep.
The night marked a week since Sir Baumann had been admitted to the infirmary.
After an early supper, she had pretended to grow drowsy and sent Reni away, claiming she would go to bed early, all to wait for this exact moment.
“Now… time to move.”
For someone as tiny as she was, making her way to the infirmary wasn’t all that difficult.
She had memorized the path while following Reni before, and having spent much of her past life shut away in the dim Princess’s palace, she was used to walking corridors by moonlight.
The only problem was her short legs. Trotting along in small, hurried steps soon left her exhausted, forcing her to stop and rest a few times along the way, slightly delaying her arrival.
Even so, she finally made it safely to Sir Baumann’s hospital room.
Fortunately, there wasn’t a single person inside the infirmary. There was nothing more they could do for Sir Baumann, so it seemed no one bothered to check on him through the night.
Reni, too, had returned to her room. At her insistence that she not visit the infirmary tonight and instead get some rest, Reni had reluctantly complied.
Thanks to that, she could now move freely without fear of being interrupted.
“Where is it… let’s see… where was it.”
Muttering to herself with no one around to hear, she searched for the room where Sir Baumann lay.
After passing several empty hospital rooms, she finally spotted him, fast asleep.
Climbing onto the chair beside his bed, she peered down at him. Even in sleep, his face was contorted in pain, cold sweat beading across his brow. The blood loss had left him terribly pale.
“Ah… Sir, I’ll heal you quickly, so when you wake up, you have to protect our Reni properly, alright?”
She leaned close and whispered softly into the sleeping man’s ear, then carefully placed her tiny hand over his bandaged left chest.
Closing her eyes, she began to silently repeat a single, desperate wish in her heart, for Sir Baumann to recover fully and safely.
Because she was still so young, focusing on one clear thought like this was the only way she could summon her power.
Gradually, a warmth began to gather in the palm of her hand.
“Ow, hot…”
As the heat intensified, she could feel the mana steadily draining from her small body.
“Better hurry…”
If she delayed any longer, she might exhaust her mana without achieving proper healing.
Carefully opening her eyes so as not to lose her focus, she gazed down at her hand.
Wishing with all her heart for Sir Baumann’s wounds to be mended, she watched as a faint, gentle light began to radiate from her palm resting over his chest.
The light that seeped from her palm gradually spread, as if wrapping itself around Sir Baumann’s body.
Beginning from his left chest, the soft glow enveloped his left face and arm, then slowly passed over his waist and legs, gradually extending to his right side until his entire body was bathed in light.
Once the light had fully covered him, the pallor on his face, slick with cold sweat, began to fade, color returning to his cheeks. His ragged breathing, too, settled into a calm, steady rhythm.
After a moment, the light that had surrounded his body was slowly drawn back into the small palm from which it had come.
It seemed that the wounds had finally been healed.
“Hoo…”
As she lifted her hand from his chest, her tiny, exhausted body felt a breath of relief after the heavy drain on her mana.
“I need to wash up and get to bed when I get back.”
Her palm was slick with sweat, and she could feel fine beads of it clinging to her forehead.
‘Thank goodness this power’s stronger than I expected.’
It might have been laughable to compare it to her previous life, when she’d never properly wielded this ability, but even so, she could clearly sense that it was far greater than before.
Her power wasn’t just capable of mending wounds, it could even restore depleted stamina. The only drawback was that it couldn’t replenish her own strength.
Clicking her tongue in mild frustration at that, she carefully checked Sir Baumann’s injured areas.
She wouldn’t know for sure until the bandages were unwrapped, but she was fairly certain the wounds had healed cleanly.
“You’ll be alright now, Sir.”
She murmured softly, patting his chest as he breathed evenly in his sleep.
Because her body was still so small and young, it had taken far more strength than expected, but with a few days’ rest, she’d recover quickly enough. It wasn’t anything serious. Only—
“Ah… now I’ve got to get all the way back.”
“…..”
She grimaced at the thought of the long trek through the corridors. She could barely stay conscious after using so much power, but clinging to sheer stubborn will, she turned and made her way toward the princess’s quarters.
“I better hurry up and sleep when I get there.”
Even so, the thought of being able to see Sir Baumann’s handsome face, healthy and well, left a faint feeling of pride in her heart. Of course, she’d done it for Reni, but still.
“Ugh, so tiring…”
She dragged her weary body down the long hallway, barely able to keep from collapsing, until at last she arrived in front of her room, only to find a shadow pacing by the door.
“W-who’s there…?”
Feeling a pang of guilt, she shrank back and called out to the shadow in a small, trembling voice.
“Princess?”
The figure startled at her voice and turned to face her.
