༺ Nursing (3) ༻
If Lucia Greyhounder were to describe her feelings about Eleanor, she’d say that she didn’t have any particular emotions toward her.
She was just someone she’d occasionally encounter. Though they’d meet sometimes in social gatherings among the upper echelons of nobles, ultimately, they were merely acquaintances, nothing more, nothing less.
However, if they were to encounter each other like this, then the story would change.
‘What on earth is she doing…?’
She alternated her sharp glare between Dowd, who was miserably rolling on the floor, and Eleanor herself, who was letting out startled coughs.
“…Ah, no, so this, uh-”
Seeing the other woman stuttered, struggling to speak, her eyes narrowed even further.
This wasn’t the kind of reaction she expected from someone like her.
Which meant…
Even to Eleanor herself believed what she was about to do was an ‘improper’ action.
“…What were you trying to do?”
When Lucia asked that question with narrowed eyes, the other woman could only answer in silence, confirming her suspicions.
“…I didn’t have any particular expectations for you, Lady Tristan.”
Lucia sighed before continuing.
“But your current appearance is extremely unsightly.”
Honestly, Lucia didn’t need to treat her this harshly.
Of course, Lucia knew what Eleanor was doing was a little too much, but being the observant woman she was, and how knowledgeable she was toward ‘those kinds of things,’ it wasn’t hard for her to realize that the latter harbored certain feelings for that man.
‘…In the first place…’
That man had previously spouted some insane claims about living with all 6 Devil’s Vessels as if it were a walk in the park.
Considering his crazy, playboy-like nature, she could pass Eleanor as one of his victims.
However…
Lucia’s gaze subtly shifted to Yuria.
Her younger sister was fidgeting with her scabbard in her hands.
“…”
Considering her usual demeanor, the first thing she would do when Lucia talked like this was to anxiously tell her not to fight.
But her current reaction was… How to put it…?
She wore the look of someone who was seeing a stray cat sneaking onto the kitchen table.
It wouldn’t be strange if she were to draw her sword at any moment.
In truth…
The reason why Lucia had hurled such sharp words to Eleanor was to deal with her younger sister’s outburst.
She wanted to conclude the issue on her own terms before it escalated any further.
Because her intuition was practically screaming with alarms.
If Yuria and this woman were left alone in this place, there was no doubt that some kind of trouble would explode.
“…I cannot overlook such inappropriate actions. Please leave the infirmary, Lady.”
However, as soon as she said those words…
Eleanor’s movement, which had been clouded by her flustered state, abruptly froze.
“…What do you mean by those words, Saintess?”
As soon as she heard the chilly reply, Lucia internally slapped her forehead.
Right. There was no way that this young lady was going to step away easily.
“But, Lady Tristan, if rumors about you doing this were to spread, it will not lead to anything good.”
Upon hearing that…
Eleanor’s pupils darkened as she sighed and brushed her hair.
“Are you threatening me?”
“…”
Eleanor’s accusation was correct.
However, Lucia currently had the moral high ground.
“From what I heard, this man had collapsed due to overwork. Therefore, it’s important that he gets some rest.”
“…”
“…And what you just did would only make his situation worse.”
Lucia carefully observed her reaction as she continued speaking.
Considering Dowd’s usual conduct, it was more than likely that the woman in front of her was related to a ‘Devil’.
If, on the off chance, Eleanor made any sudden moves, he would have to immediately make countermeasures.
“We will ensure that he gets the environment he needs for recovery, so do not worry about that and—”
As Lucia was about to continue speaking, she suddenly screamed in shock.
“W-W-W-What do you think you are doing?!”
While she spat out such a sentence, her voice cracked unintentionally, Eleanor, who had grabbed Dowd in her arms, gently lifted him up.
It was what people commonly referred to as a princess carry.
Due to the disheveled front of his shirt and partially removed pants, his attire exposed much more skin than usual.
His face was turned away, making it impossible to see from this angle, but his body was practically half-naked, so scantily clad that it could be considered bare.
“…”
And then…
As soon as she saw that…
Lucia felt a terrible rush of heat to her head and, without realizing it herself, swallowed dryly.
Recently, thanks to his dedication to exercising, the man’s shoulders had broadened and a passable set of abs had begun to show…and when her gaze shifted to the lower half of his body…
‘…What on earth am I thinking right now?!’
With that thought, Lucia smacked her own cheeks.
Although she had moved away from the Holy Land to some extent, she still represented the followers and believers of the entire continent. Abstinence was fundamental!
She couldn’t indulge in the vulgar act of leering over a man’s body, examining it piece by pie—
“…Woah.”
When she heard her sister’s gasp beside her, Lucia turned around in horror.
“His body…it’s…I want to touch it once—”
“YURIA?!”
Hearing her sister’s words, Lucia once again let out a scream. Meanwhile, Yuria came back to her sense and replied,
“N-No, it’s just, uh, t-that, M-Mr. D-Dowd, l-looks so c-cool! He looks cool! That’s all I wanted to say!!”
“…”
Both Lucia and Eleanor narrowed their eyes.
Saying those words was one thing, but…
Saying it while drooling and wiping it off? No one in their right minds would believe her.
“…A-Anyway…!”
Lucia protested with a finger pointed upright and her face blazing red.
“W-What do you think you are doing?! How dare you use a patient to blind us-!”
“All I did was pick him up from the floor. He’d catch a cold if he kept lying there.”
“…”
“…”
She made a good point.
Eleanor only did that one action, but both sisters deluded themselves into thinking that she used his body as some sort of mental attack towards them.
When the sisters realized this fact, they simultaneously clamped their mouths shut as their faces turned bright red. Meanwhile, Eleanor observed them closely with narrowed eyes.
She was aware that these two women had some ongoing contact with Dowd.
Up until now, she had just vaguely known about this fact, as she didn’t know any details about their relationship.
However, since they had visited him immediately after hearing he had collapsed, she thought that perhaps, this was an issue that required a further ‘verification’.
But…
“…It seems…”
Both were currently showing signs of misbehavior.
To the point that, if she were to just leave Dowd here, who knew what would happen to him.
“Both of you are less conscientious than you claim to be.”
“…”
They couldn’t even rebuke her words.
With such thoughts, Yuria and Lucia struggled to say a word.
“…S-Still, we are m-much b-better than Lady Tristan, who was c-caught red-handed, a-aren’t we?”
“That may be the case.”
Hearing that, Eleanor nodded.
“So what?”
“…Excuse me?”
“Yes, my actions might be disgraceful. Enough for me to feel guilty about it.”
Following that…
She continued on without blinking an eye.
“But so what? What can you do about it?”
“…”
“Can you do anything else other than ask me to leave this place?”
“…”
“I will not leave. I will never entrust Dowd to you.”
Lucia looked at Eleanor with a dumbfounded expression.
‘What?’
‘Is she always like this?’
‘Maybe she’s only this shameless when it comes to matters involving this man?’
‘It seemed closer to the latter, but…’
“…It’s okay, Big Sis.”
“Eh?”
“I’ll handle it..”
No, wait.
She said such words…
But she didn’t look okay at all.
Yuria was holding the hilt of her sword with a menacing look that was unlike her usual self.
And Eleanor, confirming such an appearance, subtly reached for her sword as well.
“W-Wait! Even so, drawing weapons on each other is…!”
In that tense situation, on the verge of explosion, Lucia tried to intervene between the two.
But at that moment, a person who would further escalate the situation barged into the infirmary.
“MASTERRRRRR-! I HEARD YOU WERE SICKKKKKK-!”
A person enveloped in a ‘purple aura’ burst through the door.
Anyone who heard the voice would come to one conclusion; It was rambunctiously noisy.
“…”
“…”
“…”
‘What?’
‘Who in the world is this person?’
Such thoughts crossed the minds of every single person in the room.
Then…
“…Master?”
Eleanor’s menacing murmur spread throughout the infirmary.
“…I am Seras Evatrice. I just enrolled in the Theology School.”
“…My name is Lucia Greyhounder. This is my younger sister, Yuria. We are guests staying in Elfante.”
Such awkward greetings were being exchanged inside the infirmary.
At any rate, since they were meeting for the first time anyway, they figured that they should at least know who was who.
“…”
“…”
“…”
However…
This ensuing silence could literally give me an ulcer.
Thanks to the stress since before this, I had been feeling a dull pain in my stomach, but now that the situation had escalated to such an extent, even closing my eyes while pretending it was a dream wouldn’t help me at all.
“So.”
And finally, after the prolonged silence, Eleanor let out a sigh and opened up the conversation.
Her slightly maddened gaze was fixed on Seras.
Compared to when she was screaming and emitting a purple aura, now, she was slumped in a chair, rubbing her temples with a tired look.
“What did you mean by Master?”
“…Ah, about that.”
Seras replied with a look that seemed to say even she herself was confused.
“…Lately, I don’t know why, but whenever I see that man, I end up saying that unconsciously.”
“…”
“No, I really don’t know why. It’s like I can’t help it. As if I must do it. My head says no, but my instincts tell me to—”
“…”
Even though she herself kept saying she didn’t know why…
I did know the answer.
Because the Purple Devil was manipulating her personality from time to time.
Knowing her personality, there was no doubt that was the case.
I told her to refrain from directly suppressing Seras’s personality, so instead, she sent a signal directly to her brain that ‘she has to do it’.
But, when she heard that I had collapsed earlier, she completely ignored that, seized Seras’ body and ran all the way here.
Among all the Devils, putting aside the Red Devil, she was the most coercive when dealing with her Vessels. How absolutely absurd.
“…I’ll introduce you to a good psychiatrist. That should solve it.”
Eleanor rubbed her forehead with a look that seemed to say, ‘He’s getting involved with all sorts of crazy bitches now’.
“We are in the middle of an important discussion related to this man. Since you aren’t even involved with him that deeply, can you please leave this room?”
However, despite hearing that…
Seras, too, responded with a gruff attitude.
“No, you see, it’s just…”
Seras scratched her head, visibly expressing that she, too, was annoyed about why she was acting like this.
“I don’t particularly want to care for that man either, but if I don’t, it feels like I’ll be in big trouble.”
“…”
“Anyway, aren’t you guys deciding on who’d nurse him? Why don’t you include me in that too?”
As soon as she dropped her words…
The already awkward atmosphere in the infirmary turned several times more hostile.
Eleanor was practically emanating something akin to killing intent.
[At this point, it’s practically an art. Damn.]
“…”
[Three Devil’s Vessels are gathered to debate on how to divide and devour you. Ain’t that something? You’re incredible.]
‘…The fuck do you mean divide and devour?’
‘Don’t talk as if it’s someone else’s problem.’
‘If I die, you die too, you know?’
[The thing is, you won’t die from this.]
“…”
It was great and all that you trust me that much, but…
Wouldn’t it be better to give some advice on how to get out of this situation?
[Well… I do have a piece of advice.]
‘What is it?’
[If I were you, I would have just brushed myself off and tried to stand up way, way before this happened.]
‘What?’
‘To stand up when Eleanor was about to eat me?’
‘Why the hell would I stand up then? Do you even realize what would have happened to me?’
[No, but still.]
Caliban chuckled as he continued.
[Normally, in such situations, it’s obvious who the ultimate decision-maker will be, right?”
Right as Caliban said that…
Eleanor brushed her hair back, before speaking.
“Then, let us do this.”
Following that…
A sentence that felt like hell itself dropped right onto me.
“Once Dowd regains consciousness, let’s ask this man. About who is the most suitable to be his nurse.”
“…”
[HOOOOOOOOOLYYYYYYYY!]
Shut the fuck up.
As Caliban cheered, I squinted my eyes and checked the system window that appeared in front of me.
System Message
[ ‘Sub Quest: Nurse of Love’ has started! ]
[ You can significantly increase the Favorability Level of the person you choose. The decision is irreversible, so please choose carefully! ]
“…”
This was a fucking Sub Quest?
Then why the fuck did it feel like my life was at stake here?
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