Published: August 10, 2026
「退室するので、其方等は一旦下がれ。邪魔だ」
As if pushing aside the attendants who were trying to come in, Ferdinand carried me out of the room.
Outside were my attendants and Ferdinand's as well, and they all stared wide-eyed at the sight of me being carried out in his arms.
"Lord Ferdinand!? Did something happen to Lady Rosemine!?"
Hartmut was the first to rush over, but unlike the kind of lewdness or teasing I had expected, his voice held no hint of that at all. It sounded far more urgent, anxious, and desperate. Brother Cornelius also looked as if he wanted to ask something, but it was by no means a face that was condemning the current situation.
...Huh? Maybe I'm the only one who's weirdly conscious of this state of affairs?
"Please keep in mind to reduce Rosemine's physical exertion as much as possible, and make sure she does not walk around on her own. Depending on the circumstances, there may be a possibility that healing potions can no longer be used."
"Are you saying she can't use any potions at all? Even those that greatly restore physical stamina?"
At Hartmut's question, the attendants looked at Ferdinand with intense focus.
"Those have a strong effect on restoring stamina, but that does not mean they restore no mana at all. At present, even the slightest recovery of mana causes the gods' divine power to swell tremendously, and it seems to burden Rosemine's body. I intend to avoid using them as much as possible."
Looking irritated, Ferdinand said, "I don't even have time to research a healing potion that does not restore mana at all," and handed me to Angelica.
"Lady Rosemine seems to be in quite a serious state."
Angelica comforted me in that vague tone of voice that made it hard to tell whether she understood or not, and I averted my eyes a little.
It seemed there was quite a gap between what everyone thought was "serious" and what I thought was "serious."
...Wait, what do I do about blurting out something lewd to Lady Eglantine!? It doesn't seem like that's what I should be worrying about.
Not only Ferdinand, but even the attendants around us didn't seem to care who was carrying me. Everyone looked so utterly normal about it that I started feeling embarrassed about being embarrassed myself.
Now that I thought about it, I had been completely out of touch with romance and love affairs ever since the Reno era.
It wasn't as if anything like that was suddenly going to happen now, and getting upset over something that wasn't even happening would be strange.
...I'm fine just loving books, and if the monster book lover inside me doesn't change, there's no way I could have a proper romance anyway. Besides, a romance with Lord Ferdinand is impossible from the start, and being weirdly conscious of it is just absurdly self-conscious of me. Yes, yes.
Telling myself that, I took a slow breath.
The mistake with Eglantine had stung, but it didn't seem like the people around us were condemning my contact with Ferdinand as much as I had feared.
...Huh? But until just a little while ago, they were telling me to keep proper distance. Why is that? Because it's an emergency? No, but it was an emergency back then too, wasn't it?
Just as I was wondering about it and raising my head to ask, Ferdinand looked around at the attendants and opened his mouth.
"If Rosemine can use up her mana until she is completely exhausted tonight during today's gold dust creation, that would be ideal, but considering the rate of consumption so far, we cannot be optimistic. Also, if she sleeps for the night, her mana will recover somewhat. We need to determine how much her mana recovers, but it is unlikely to recover completely. Therefore, I want preparations finished so that we can depart tomorrow for the journey to fill Arensbach with mana."
There was no attendant who objected to such a sudden schedule. Rather, everyone's face hardened with anxiety as though thinking, "We don't have that much time?"
"The attendants who have permission to accompany us to Arensbach should now pack up the things in the dormitory and return to Arensbach to prepare for the departure of the Prayer Ceremony. Since Arensbach suffered from poor harvests, special care will be needed in arranging chefs and ingredients. In case of emergency, I will prepare the potions Rosemine uses so that she can use the one that greatly restores stamina. Hartmut, you will go to the temple in your high priest's garments and borrow the divine relics. If a noble is holding the Prayer Ceremony, no one will complain."