Chapter 15

Since Rachel received the wheelchair, she could move to a lot of places now. Today, she was reading a book in the glass conservatory surrounded by the flowers of the garden.

When the weather was nice, this small tea table bathing in the warm sunshine through the glass became Rachel's favourite spot.

She lifted the cup Sarah placed and took a sip.

This rose tea was a gift from Louis. It had rose petals in the tea leaves. The gorgeous fragrance and sweet taste of the flower were soothing, calming her mind.

"Still, he really hasn't visited these days."

Suddenly, the sender of this tea leaf came to Rachel's mind.

Just like what Louis said before, she hadn't seen his shadow for the past few weeks. Instead, he gave her letters, unique tea leaves, and books she liked.

It made Rachel a bit curious if the cancellation of their engagement was in progress since the prince didn't appear anymore.

Rachel's father also told her that their engagement would be annulled sooner or later. She asked her father about the progress as well, but he said, "The discussion with His Majesty isn't going well. But I'll make sure you won't get the short end of the stick. Leave it to me."

Hearing that only made Rachel worry even more.

It was impossible for her to be the queen with this sickly body. What would everyone make out of that?

The more Rachel became closer to Louis, the less she knew how to deal with her. Up until now, she only looked him as the smart prince with a handsome face who had special magic power as a royalty.

But these days, her image at him wasn't like that anymore.

His shy face, his anxious face, and his smiling wrinkling up face. She saw all of them for the first time.

By the way, he looked like he had decided something at that time...

But what was that?

Rachel started to ponder, but she stopped herself.

No, I shouldn't think of this.

She shook her head several times and took a deep breath.

In the end, Louis would go to the Saint's side when that girl appeared. A benevolent existence standing next to the crown prince, the leader of this country. That's how it was supposed to be.

Not someone like her, who had lost her magic power.

That's why Rachel didn't want to think about anything. She didn't want to know the new sides of Louis.

Rachel forcibly covered and confined the budding feelings in her heart.

"My Lady," Sarah gently called before Rachel could get depressed into the darkness of her thoughts. "Let's return soon. I believe Teacher Bruett is about to arrive."

"Right. Sarah, please take me to my room."

"Yes."

Sarah smiled gently and moved to Rachel's back, moving the wheelchair slowly.

♢

"Miss Marcell, our previous discussion was very thought-provoking. Thanks to that, I've learned a lot about the climate and crops in this country."

"Thank you very much, Teacher Bruett. It's all thanks to the books you lent to me. They're very easy to understand."

Another thing that changed in the last few weeks was that Bruett, a tutor introduced by Louis, came to the mansion three days a week.

Bruett was a woman with red hair wearing thin silver-rimmed glasses. The hairstyle was in a chignon with no loose hairs. She was an excellent person who also served as the head assistant of the National Institute of Magic.

Bruett could be strict sometimes, but she would teach her students until they understood the difficult parts. Also, the tasks she gave were quite interesting. Rachel learned a lot from her.

"Today, the topic is about the relationship between this country and the spirits. Miss Marcel, please explain what you know about the spirits."

Bruett opened the magic history textbook and sat down in a chair next to her.

"Yes. I know that spirits usually live in groups, gathering with the other spirits of the same attributes. Also, we can only summon a spirit in the spirit summoning ceremony."

"That's right. Then, what happens at the spirit summoning ceremony?"

"A spirit compatible with us appears, then we can give them a name and have them lend their power to us."

Rachel knew this well from her previous experience. She used to be able to summon a medium-ranking water spirit in this spirit summoning ceremony.

It was a big and cute spirit with the appearance of an azure dog. Unless they were a high-ranking spirit, spirits couldn't speak any words. So Rachel's previous spirit could only say, "Woof, woof!" like a normal dog.

Other than that, the spirits were temperamental. Some of them wouldn't stay by the summoners' side. They only appeared when they feel like it.

Even so, the power of the summoned spirits was connected with the magic power of the summoner, so it didn't matter whether they were separated or not.

It would be hard now that Rachel didn't have any magic power... She wouldn't be able to see that spirit dog anymore.

"Correct. What is the exception?"

"The exception is the Spirit King, who has a name and normally doesn't appear in front of other people. However, the Spirit King of Light sometimes gives charity to people, providing a blessing to those with fascinating souls."

"Yes, that will be the Saint. The last time the Spirit King of Light appeared was three hundred years ago. That means, the Saint from three hundred years ago is the most recent one.

Also, Saint is treated as a symbol. After all, humans are greedy. If her power is spread too widely, everyone will depend on it. Therefore, the power of the Saint is hidden to all but the royal family."

Rachel widened her eyes at Bruett's words. If what she said was right, then the Saint was actually not just a symbol.

In the academy, a blessing was considered to be the power of protection given by the Spirit King of Light to the humans. Because the Spirit King had to show their power to others.

Even if the human had no power, their existence as 'The Saint who received the blessing of the Spirit King of Light' is meaningful.

It's a symbol that the spirits were watching over this country.

Therefore, people honored and worshipped the Saint.

But that's not all?

The spirits lent their power was within a contract. However, the Spirit King lent their power as a blessing.

Certainly, the nature of the relationship was different.

If it was done deliberately, then...

"Teacher, what is the power of the Saint?"

"I don't know that as well. No one knows it other than the Saint and the royal family."

"Is it okay for me to know that?"

"Yeah, I'm sure you won't misuse that knowledge. And since you don't know what is the power, you can't make use of it."

Bruett continued to teach Rachel about the domicile of the spirits, not minding Rachel's dumbfounded state.

However, Rachel was really bothered with their conversation about the Saint. Bruett's words kept sticking in her mind all the time even after the class ended.

Perhaps because she was thinking too much, she caught a high fever that night.

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