Chapter 222

It seemed Azuela had been right. It really was a curse.

‘I see.’

The moment I stepped into Duchess of Aquitaine Maceania’s bedchamber, mystery churned violently. And that mystery could be felt even by me, standing some distance away near the doorway.

It was a vile, clammy curse-mystery.

I finally understood why Magician Azuela had looked so troubled after treating the poison.

“This does not seem like something a remedy can truly resolve.”

Facing this sinister curse-mystery, it was clear that what was needed was not a magician’s treatment, but divine power—something like the clergy of the Holy See, or the power of those who had directly received divine grace, like me.

Even so….

‘And of all methods, it has to be a kiss. That is absurd.’

When I first heard it, I thought they were teasing me. But even Magician Agpiel said Azuela was correct, so I had no choice but to believe it.

In the end, I sighed and slowly walked toward the bed where Duchess of Aquitaine Maceania lay.

-Woooom.

The closer I got, the more the curse-mystery writhed and struggled from her body.

As if it were trying to shove me away. The curse felt alive, as though it could sense the mystery within me.

“Hm. Well, this is….”

Standing at the bedside, I looked down at Duchess of Aquitaine Maceania with an awkward expression.

For no reason at all, I remembered what she had said in the capital.

Her sudden, out-of-nowhere proposal that we should get married.

“Ahem. Ahem.”

It made me tense for no reason.

A flicker of anxiety crossed my mind—that if I made one wrong move, I might end up with my nose hooked into the yoke called marriage.

“Good grief… even so, she is still beautiful.”

A high, straight nose, and finely shaped lips.

A princess whose beauty the king of the Elang Kingdom had once cherished above all.

The poison’s aftermath had clearly left illness on her face, but it still seemed insufficient to conceal her loveliness.

As my gaze slowly traced her features, I found myself thinking: she truly had a face that would draw countless suitors from the world… but was it really right for me to press my lips to hers?

‘No. Stop that. This is treatment. It has no meaning at all. Treatment….’

And yet why did my eyes keep returning to her face?

It was not because I had any ulterior motives. Truly. It was simply that when one looks upon a beautiful work of art, one cannot help but stare with a kind of awe. That was exactly what I was feeling now.

‘Ahem. Really. Why am I making excuses in my own head?’

Embarrassed for no reason, I cleared my throat and stepped closer.

Enough useless thoughts.

I was going to finish this.

So that it would be easier to kiss her, I reached a hand toward Duchess of Aquitaine Maceania’s chin.

-Woooom.

At once, the curse-mystery began to surge even more violently than before.

And at the same time—

-Woom!

The mystery within my own body suddenly wriggled and flared, spilling its presence outward.

Something felt strange, but I decided to see it through.

I took hold of Duchess of Aquitaine Maceania’s chin, turned her head for the kiss, and brought my face close.

And at the moment our lips were about to meet—

-Woooooom!

-FLASH!

The surging mystery finally burst from my body, and in an instant the room was dyed in pure white light.

‘?’

But something even more shocking happened.

At the moment my lips were about to touch Duchess of Aquitaine Maceania’s—

‘????’

Her bright, clear eyes opened.

Even if I wanted to stop, I could not.

By the time I realized it, my lips were already meeting hers.

‘Damn it?’

Somehow… I had a terrible feeling.

And that feeling was not wrong.

-SLAP-!

---

“Hm? Great Sage, you look unusually cheerful today. Did something good happen?”

Watching the progress from outside, Magician Azuela asked Magician Agpiel, who seemed strangely pleased.

Magician Agpiel only smiled like a kindly man and chuckled, saying it was nothing.

In truth, there was a reason he could only answer that way.

Because the reason Magician Agpiel was in such a good mood was….

‘Heh heh heh. Am I finally going to witness a marriage? I was worried this young noble might die a bachelor, so this is fortunate.’

It was not something he could possibly say aloud to anyone. Especially not to that chatty, foolish magician.

‘If there is a kiss, it will become the trigger, and they will end up married.’

In the end, people grow attached only after their bodies have rubbed against each other. Even if it was not the kind of “rubbing” Magician Agpiel personally wanted, a kiss was still physical contact. From that, they would gradually draw closer, and without much trouble, it would lead all the way to marriage.

‘A good thing, truly a good thing. Heh heh.’

And so Magician Agpiel laughed in high spirits, like a grandfather hoping for his grandson’s wedding.

At some point, watching the young noble’s growth had become Magician Agpiel’s pleasure in life.

‘Hmm. Has he been feeling empty lately? He is certainly old. Should I give him some good medicine?’

Of course, Magician Azuela had no idea what Magician Agpiel was thinking. She only tilted her head and thought that.

Then Magician Agpiel sensed something strange and frowned.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Y-yes? No, it is nothing. I was absolutely not thinking anything strange. Ohoho.”

“……?”

That made her sound even more suspicious. Realizing her mistake, Magician Azuela hurriedly changed the subject.

“Great Sage. Great Sage!”

“Why… is that?”

“Hoho…. I have something to ask.”

“Something to ask?”

“Yes! I… it suddenly occurred to me.”

As she spoke, Magician Azuela squirmed and fidgeted like a puppy that had to relieve itself.

It felt like she had made a rather serious mistake….

“If there is a powerful mystery, could it be possible for mystery to manifest through mere physical contact?”

“Hm?”

Sure enough.

It was serious.

“I have never seen anyone with such powerful mystery as Your Excellency, so…. But in old stories, do they not say that saints performed miracles just by touching someone’s hand, and the sick were healed?”

“That is merely folklore….”

Magician Agpiel found it hard to deny it outright.

It was not easy to call it “merely” anything, when he had witnessed so many miracles while accompanying the Margrave of Bellua.

“…It is difficult to speak decisively. If it is someone who has received divine grace to the extent of the Margrave of Bellua, then yes, it does seem quite likely that mystery could activate through physical contact alone.”

“Th-then she will not open her eyes before the kiss, right? Because usually, before kissing, you touch the person’s face with your hand.”

“Hm…. That is true, but surely there will be no problem. Besides, how do you know that so well?”

“Me? Oh, you are making me blush, why would you ask that? It is all experience. Hoho.”

As Magician Azuela squirmed, Magician Agpiel clicked his tongue inwardly.

“If the curse can be undone by physical contact alone, then would she not notice before that? Surely, if she regains her senses, he will not press his lips forward without warning.”

“That is true, right?”

“Yes. So do not worry too much. It will go well. Heh heh.”

Just as he thought this and tried to conclude the matter—

-FLASH!

A brilliant light suddenly burst through the gap in the door, and mystery surged.

“Oh?! Has it truly manifested?!”

The curse and mystery had met and resonated.

But at the same time—

-SLAP-!

A crisp sound of a cheek being struck rang out.

“????”

“?!!?”

---

- A miracle has manifested!

-The Margrave of Bellua healed the Duchess of Aquitaine through a miracle!

-O God, grant us grace! The light suddenly flared, and with a sound like thunder(?), a healing miracle occurred, they say.

The rumors of what happened in that room spread in an instant. The bright light that had filled the chamber was vivid enough to be seen from outside.

Anyone within the castle would have witnessed that day’s light with their own eyes.

It was not something that could be hidden. The only mercy was that the sound of me being slapped had somehow been transformed into “thunder,” apparently.

Even so, because rumors about miracles were so sensitive, I wanted to calm them down by any means necessary—but that was not easy.

“Hmph!”

Because ever since that day, Duchess of Aquitaine Maceania had been radiating cold hostility, as though frost were pouring from her.

Even now, look.

Duchess of Aquitaine Maceania sat beside me with an icy face.

Damn it.

A kiss was supposed to be something done metaphorically, as an expression of courtesy, but I had ended up truly kissing her!

“Guh….”

I understood it, of course.

Even in the modern era I once lived in, the meaning of a kiss was not something trivial. How much more so in the still-medieval worldview of [Pangea Universalise]?

As Magician Agpiel said, it carried the meaning of a covenant’s sign, a magical and religious act that bound two people together.

There was a reason people kissed at weddings.

‘I am a wretched bastard, a wretched bastard.’

A stolen kiss.

In a sense, it was as though I had taken her purity. And yet it was unbearably unfair. I did it for treatment! And now I was being treated like a criminal. Sob.

“Baa-a-a! My lorrd! To manifest another miracle—truly the best! Heh heh heh.”

Without any understanding of my feelings, that cursed goat beastman, Bishop Marco, arrived and immediately did his best to give me a headache.

“Heh heh heh. I preached hard to everyone around. Mehr. This is the true miracle. A lord loved by God! Mehr-r-r.”

-CHINK-CHINK-CHINK!

“Look at this, my lorrd! Everyone voluntarily expressed thanks for God’s grace. Baa-a-a.”

“…….”

He must have been selling me aggressively on his way here, because gold and silver coins were already spilling out in heaps.

That goat bastard….

He was consistent, at least. One day I really would have to tie him up and beat him senseless. But there was something even more troublesome than that money-mad goat beastman’s behavior.

“Heh heh heh. I told the Holy See and brought doctrinal priests with me. They will become witnesses from the beatification office for this miracle’s review, Mehr!”

This mad goat beastman had dragged priests in, declaring he would have the miracle notarized even though I did not want it.

For me, who wanted to bury this incident quietly, it was like a bolt from the blue.

If things went wrong, would it not be practically the same as having the fact that I kissed her notarized through the Holy See?

And it seemed Duchess of Aquitaine Maceania felt the same.

‘Stop him! Stop him!’

Her eyes were practically firing lasers at me.

But—

“Baa-a-a. Such an intense reaction. That means my lorrd wanted this too, Mehr! That is why I came with you this time. They are outside right now. Heh heh heh.”

“…….”

“…….”

At times like this, Bishop Marco the goat beastman had, of all things, absolutely impeccable execution.

That rotten… bastard….