Chapter 24 - Fairies and a Nasty Drug
Hearing a voice coughing violently, Elenoa jolted awake.
Even though it was still the dead of night, or perhaps the time when one is sleepiest, about three hours after falling asleep, her younger sister's voice reached her clearly.
Although she had been held in Louis's arms, his arms were removed before Elenoa could say anything. Looking over, she saw that he was awake as well. Despite his fatigue, he too had clearly caught his younger sister's voice.
"I'm going for a moment, so Louis, stay in bed, okay?"
As Elenoa got off the bed, he silently rose as well.
"Are you coming?"
"Yes."
His voice was hoarse. Would he be alright?
Elenoa was worried about Louis, but she left the room immediately.
As she approached Lumina's private room, she indeed heard severe coughing. After a light knock, she entered to check on her condition.
Cold symptoms worsened at night.
She placed her hand on Lumina's hot forehead to check her temperature and picked up the towel that had fallen beside the pillow. The towel, which should have been wet and placed on her forehead when putting her to sleep, had become lukewarm.
Lumina had woken up as well. Seeing the fairy there, she closed her eyes again.
Elenoa lowered her voice gently.
"You've broken out in a sweat. Shall I wipe you down a bit?"
"...Mn."
Elenoa unbuttoned Lumina's nightgown. She wiped her skin with a freshly wetted towel.
Having finished the entire process, she checked on Lumina's condition, then opened the door and peeked into the hallway. Louis was there, leaning against the wall.
"...How is she?"
"It seems she's still not well. Tomorrow... or rather, 'today' already. There's no school today, but I probably won't be able to send her tomorrow either."
Elenoa had never seen such a severe cold before meeting Lumina.
"I'll still be here, so Louis, go to sleep."
It was always Elenoa who nursed Lumina when her symptoms were severe. Louis was overworked, and in Elenoa's opinion, it was only natural for a housekeeper to do this much.
He made no move to leave.
"...Tomorrow is a holiday. Breakfast is not required. The shops are closed as well, so if you wish, you may rest leisurely until noon. Of course, only if Lumina settles down."
"Thank you?"
That was a grateful instruction from the head of the household. Unable to understand Louis's true intentions in suddenly saying such a thing, Elenoa waited quietly for his words.
Louis pushed himself away from the wall he had been leaning against. He opened his mouth once, then closed it. It was rare to see Louis hesitate so openly. Elenoa moved into the hallway again and turned to face him.
"There is something I wish to discuss."
"Does it have to be now?"
"Now is best. I would like you to digest the content of our talk as much as possible during tomorrow, when we can take our time."
—Now, when Lumina requires nursing care. Now, when Elenoa, a fairy with a soft heart, hesitates to flee from this house—.
Unaware of such circumstances, Elenoa looked puzzled but nodded obediently.
"I have felt that I must speak to you for a long time."
It was a solemn opening.
Elenoa's spine straightened instinctively. Even without a cold atmosphere or a dark smile, simply by being there with a serious expression, she could truly feel that he was a high-ranking mage.
"You once said that you could protect me even if it was discovered that I am a fairy."
Elenoa searched her memories for the day she was harassed by the trio and replied, "I did. Come to think of it." Her tone had become strange. When teased with, "...Why the formal speech?" the atmosphere in the room loosened for just a moment.
"That is because, when I became the Chief Court Mage, I petitioned my superiors to ban the production and sale of a certain drug. I judged that if that drug disappeared, at least in this Royal Capital, there would be no one who would openly attempt to capture fairies. The demand for fairies in this country was solely for that drug. And you are an important person to the Chief Court Mage, after all."
After a brief silence, he added, "The 'dangerous item' to which that transfer magic reacts most strongly is that drug."
A certain drug.
Elenoa realized what the vaguely indicated item was. She had forgotten it until just now. It was a type of madness created by humans, different from the other dark face Louis possessed.
—No, perhaps it is not even madness.
Humans, in particular, do not admit that it is madness.
That is why Elenoa, why fairies, dislike humans.
"...No way..."
Elenoa took a step back. Louis observed her reaction closely.
"Do you understand?"
"...Why are you telling me such a thing?"
It was the most detestable creation of humans for fairies.
It was the drug that became the trigger for fairies to completely break ties with humans.
Even Elenoa, who was not born at the time, knew of it.
A drug made from ten fairies as ingredients.
Just imagining it made her skin crawl.
Capturing fairies indiscriminately, putting them in silver cages, plucking their wings, killing them, claiming it was for the sake of humans, bringing no benefit to the sacrificed fairies.
That was why fairies left humans.
They sent telepathic messages mixed with anger and hatred toward humans to their kin all over the world, not just in this country, and one day, they simultaneously abandoned their nests and began to move.
She should have known that if one were to live with fairies, that topic was taboo.
Why had he brought it up now?
Elenoa spread the wings on her back widely due to her defensive instincts. She kept her awareness on the surrounding windows so she could retreat from the scene at any moment.
What was reflected in Elenoa's eyes now was not a lover or an adopted child, but a 'human mage.'
Louis looked sadly at his beloved lover, who showed an attitude of intimidation just from the mention of the drug.
"...This drug is—"
Just as he was about to speak the decisive fact.
"Stop it!"
A hoarse voice interrupted Louis. It was like a scream. Following the sound of coughing, Elenoa's taut wings wilted and drooped. She hurried back to Lumina's room and began to stroke the back of her, who was coughing violently.
Lumina leaned her body forward in bed and rebuked her brother.
"Big Brother, you... idiot..."
"Lumina, but this is—"
"Idiot! Idiot! Fool! You're only a man in appearance!"
"............"
"Why are you saying things on your own when I'm not even here yet!"
—I'm not healed yet. Stop scaring Elenoa when I'm not there, in places I don't know about—.
In short, that was her appeal.
Her intense breathing only fanned Elenoa's anxiety, and no matter how much she soothed her with "It's alright now," Lumina did not back down.
Idiot, fool, simpleton. Worker. A man who is only refreshing in appearance. After throwing every insult she knew at her brother, Lumina clung to Elenoa's clothes.
"Elenoa, please, stay here. Don't leave."
"I understand, so let's sleep properly, okay?"
"I know I'm a bad child for staying silent, so properly, ...therefore..."
A chilly sound, hyu, came from Lumina's throat.
Elenoa wrapped Lumina, whose temperature had risen again, in both arms. She pressed her younger sister's head against her chest. Doing so, her bosom gradually became wet, and the sound of her sobbing was heard muffled.
Recalling a distant past, Elenoa gently accepted Lumina, thinking that she knew this manner of leaning against her chest and entrusting her head to her from somewhere.
Louis entered Lumina's room, thinking that while he did not wish to acknowledge the figure of her burying her face in Elenoa's bosom, it was familiar to him. He fulfilled Elenoa's request, "Wet this towel. Make it cold," with magic. It was an effective use of a mage of his caliber.
He was the head of the household, looking utterly exhausted.
Although he wore a difficult expression, he exhaled and relaxed.
"The continuation of our talk will be carried over to next time."
"...Yes. It's not an urgent matter, is it?"
"It is a matter of resolving secrets before marriage. Although we finally seized the opportunity... well, it cannot be helped. We must respect Lumina's will as well."
Lumina's unusual state indicated that this was not a good thing.
But the fact that he tried to talk about it was not necessarily a bad thing.
Elenoa calmed her wariness and decided to remain a calm housekeeper. He would tell her someday. She did not know what feelings she would have at that time, but for the sake of Lumina, who was crying sniffly, she decided not to pursue the matter further.
In short.
She decided to put a lid on anything that smelled.
"B-Big Brother, you idiot."
"I am surprised to be told so by my foolish younger sister. Leave Elenoa and go to sleep quickly."
"Elenoa is still here."
"...Haa."
Louis left the room unsteadily. The two of them watched his back until he was gone.
Glancing at the window, she saw that the sky was blue. Dawn was breaking.
The once simple country gradually developed its land and became a great nation comparable to others.
It achieved rapid growth over a hundred years through the development of a certain drug.
The wealthy obtained the drug with large sums of money, drinking it down so as not to spill a single drop from the small bottles.
The commoners, the more common they were, desired the drug, the drug, the drug, the drug, the drug, the drug, the drug, the drug, the drug—and went bankrupt.
The drug made customers in other countries dependent, continuing to warm the national treasury.
By dangling the drug, wars could be avoided. Money poured in endlessly.
When a Magic Research Institute was established, the knightly order took shape, and the country began to have more money from the drug than it knew what to do with.
There was an appeal from the Chief Court Mage, who viewed the relationship with fairies as problematic, and the country finally let go of that drug.
It granted magic power to those born without it with a single dose, and made the use of magic possible with a second dose.
It was rumored to cure even incurable diseases.
Now, it was a miraculous drug like a fairy tale, whose existence was permitted only in the texts of textbooks.
People called that drug 'Fairy Tale' with awe.