The next day, Naro visited the ducal residence and met with Mellian again. Though Mellian had told him to try treating her that one time, he was worried she might have changed her mind in the meantime. But surprisingly, as soon as he entered the mansion’s drawing room, he could see her sitting in a chair drinking tea.
The sight of Mellian in the drawing room rather than her room was quite unfamiliar.
“Ah, you’re here.”
Bern was also sitting across from her. His mouth was practically reaching his ears as he greeted Naro and Ray happily, seeming to enjoy the tea time with his daughter after so long.
Hayla had immediately conveyed that news to the duke—that Mellian and Naro had finished their conversation well. At the words that Mellian had accepted the two, Bern was happier than anyone. She hadn’t easily accepted the people he’d brought in before. She had taken a rejecting attitude like she had done initially with Naro. Back then, Bern had persuaded and forced his daughter to receive treatment.
So Bern had been thinking of stepping in directly this time too if Mellian continued not to accept Naro. But before that happened, she said she would try improving her constitution with Naro, and Bern couldn’t help but be moved by the proactive attitude she showed for the first time.
Mellian greeted Naro lightly and sent Ray a sharp glare. Perhaps the grudge from their previous war of nerves was still ongoing.
But Ray didn’t back down, meeting Mellian’s glare.
“Naro, I can only feel grateful to you.”
While Mellian and Ray were having a pointless staring contest, Bern approached Naro.
“It couldn’t have been easy to change Mellian’s mind.”
“Not at all. I’m the one who’s happy that the princess accepted me. Actually, I was incredibly worried. Even now I’m anxious about whether I’ll be able to do well going forward.”
Then Bern shook his head.
“This is the first time Mellian has willingly accepted someone I brought. And look now. That child came down from her room and is drinking tea with me. Since you’ve been coming, Mellian has been changing little by little too.”
Even so, since he hadn’t clearly done anything yet, Naro could only smile sheepishly. Still, the goal was to improve Mellian’s constitution for now.
“How can this tea be tasteless?”
“There’s no such thing as tasteless.”
“To not know the excellent taste of this tea. You’re really pitiful.”
“Not knowing the taste of that tea doesn’t hinder living at all. You just drink a lot of it.”
The two who had just been having a subtle war of nerves through a staring contest were now sitting side by side on the sofa bickering. From what he could see, Ray had said the tea the servants served was tasteless, and it seemed a small fight had broken out with Mellian who couldn’t accept that statement.
“Um, Duke… I’m truly ashamed.”
This time, watching the two bickering over dessert as the subject, Naro unnecessarily read Bern’s mood. Ray’s behavior toward the princess was clearly impolite. After all, Ray, who was essentially a commoner without any title or anything, was not only speaking informally to the duke’s daughter but also behaving in ways that could be seen as rude.
“Haha, it’s fine. As you can see, Mellian has no friends she’s close with. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her treat someone so comfortably like that, so I actually find it pleasant to watch.”
Naro was truly relieved by Bern’s character. It was extremely fortunate that he wasn’t someone with a strong sense of aristocratic privilege.
“Father, don’t tell that child strange stories for no reason.”
Mellian put down the teacup she was holding.
“You came to hear exactly what my condition is, right? Then let’s go to my room.”
“Yes, Princess.”
Naro and Ray entered the princess’s room, leaving behind Bern’s benevolent smile. Then the cat that had been lying down in one corner of the room stretched fully and scurried toward Mellian. Seeing the bandage wrapped around its leg, it seemed to be receiving treatment well.
“Was its name Pin?”
“That’s right. I picked it up when it was a kitten, badly injured and almost dead.”
When Mellian reached out her hand toward Pin as it approached, the cat made a purring sound and rubbed its face against her hand.
Watching that, Naro looked at Ray anew. He too had picked up Ray, who was injured and almost dead, from that cave.
“It’s my precious friend, as you said.”
Then, as if answering, the cat meowed. After accepting the cat’s affection a few times, Mellian sat down facing Naro properly and began their conversation.
She spoke in detail quite seriously about her current physical condition and her views on her constitution. Naro listened attentively and took notes without missing anything.
He told Mellian to tell him more details, more information, even trivial things were fine. At Naro’s attitude, she found it fascinating, saying he was the first person to ask in such detail.
While conversing, what herbs would be good to use were automatically sketched out roughly in his mind. And while the two were having their conversation, Ray was playing with Pin on one side.
“Is this enough?”
“Yes! It was helpful that you spoke in such detail. I’ve also thought about which herbs would be good to use first.”
“Already?”
“Of course, whether it suits your body well is the most important thing, Princess.”
Mellian nodded and casually looked to one side. Pin was lying sprawled in front of Ray acting cute. Whether Ray’s touch felt good, it was also making purring sounds.
“That’s strange.”
“Pardon?”
“Pin is very wary. Especially of people. I told you earlier, right? That it was badly injured as a kitten. That was actually because it was abused by people.”
Naro suddenly recalled when Ray found Pin when they thought it was lost. When Naro tried to remove the branch caught on its leg, Pin had been very wary, just as she said.
“But it’s not wary of that black mass at all. It’s even acting cute.”
Naro wanted to change the term ‘black mass’ from Mellian’s mouth to ‘Ray,’ but unfortunately he didn’t yet have the courage to challenge her.
“It’s really fascinating that a cat who dislikes all humans…”
Naro flinched. Then that wasn’t particularly fascinating or strange. Because Ray wasn’t human.
“Then I’ll come back next time with the blended herbs.”
“Alright, be careful going back.”
Naro and Ray left the princess’s room together. Even when parting, Ray and Mellian exchanged sharp looks with each other.
Ray handed Hayla the memo with the necessary herbs written on it. She said she would send them to the inn where Naro was staying as soon as she obtained the ingredients. After setting the next appointment date, Naro left the mansion with Ray, walking a bit quickly.
“You’re going today, right? To the library.”
Naro nodded his head. There was a saying in the world he used to live in. Strike while the iron is hot. He had come to the capital to gather information, and above all, things with Mellian were going well, so he had to start investigating when he had even a little time.
The Lupel Library was located a bit inside even within the central area, so it took quite some time to get there. That’s why he had left the mansion as quickly as possible, but the coachman who always drove the two brought unexpected words.
“If you’re going to the Lupel Library, I’ll take you there.”
“What? But…”
Naro couldn’t answer right away because it felt awkward to make a private request to a coachman employed directly by the ducal house.
“Actually, the duke instructed me to provide as much convenience as possible for you two. Please let me take you there.”
He didn’t know Bern had given such instructions. Naro accepted that kindness. Normally he would have thought about it a bit more and refused out of feeling sorry, but right now he wanted to get to the library as quickly as possible.
And so, Naro and Ray, who borrowed a carriage, were able to arrive at Lupel National Library faster than planned. The coachman said he would wait and take them to the inn, but Naro refused insistently, saying it was fine. He was grateful for Bern’s kindness, but since Mellian hadn’t shown any improvement yet, anything more than that still felt burdensome.
“It’s much bigger than the picture I saw in the book.”
It was as Ray said. The Lupel Library seen before their eyes evoked a much more magnificent feeling than when they’d seen it in a book.
“Ray, let’s go in.”
“Okay.”
It was when Ray was about to naturally hold Naro’s hand. Naro consciously avoided it, clenching his fist tightly.
“Naro, hand.”
And Ray didn’t just stand by and watch that. Unlike Naro who had already climbed one step of the stairs, he was still standing in that spot, holding out his hand to Naro.
“There aren’t that many people right now, so I don’t think we need to hold hands. More than that, we should hurry inside. It’s spacious so finding materials will take time too.”
Naro smiled awkwardly and climbed the stairs again. Ray followed him while making a somewhat sullen expression. Yesterday at the plaza he had held his hand tightly as if he wouldn’t let go, but now he couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t let him hold it.
