Chapter 11 – ​11

After ​Madam ​Diena ​left, ​Euro ​collapsed ​onto the sofa, ​utterly ​exhausted. ​He ​had ​spent the entire time ​standing ​stiffly while every ​single dimension of ​his ​body ​was ​measured. ​They ​had even measured ​the ​circumference ​of his fingers, ​so that said it ​all.

The body ​was for ​the clothes, ​the feet ​for ​the ​shoes, and the ​fingers for ​the wedding ring. A ​grand wedding was difficult ​to arrange, and although ​he was ​told ​they would simply call a priest ​for the sacramental rite, ​it ​seemed ​they ​intended ​to keep up ​all the ​proper ​appearances.

He was also ​told ​that the wedding attire would ​be produced ​at ​Madam Diena’s boutique. ​Just ​how ​large ​was ​that place ​that ​they could ​produce so many different types of clothing ​in one spot?

Of ​course, the ordered ​clothes wouldn’t arrive all ​at once ​but would be ​delivered ​in batches, but ​how many clothes ​needed altering ​today ​alone? On ​top ​of that, ​two ​sets of ​formal ​attire ​had to be ​made ​within three ​days.

Seeing ​her ​leave ​with such an excited face even after receiving such an order, she must have been paid an enormous amount of money. Whether in this world or the other, weddings cost a fortune.

The more he thought about it, the more absurd he felt, having come here empty-handed without a single cent of a dowry, only to beg for such a marriage.

“You look exhausted. Shall I put a bit of sugar in your tea?”

At Raymond’s question, Euro, lying down, simply shook his head. Then, he suddenly bolted upright, adjusted his posture, and stared at him.

“Raymond, sit down for a moment.”

Euro pointed to the spot opposite him, and Raymond sat as instructed, Read on Read BL Novelsblinking as if [stolen content]wondering what was going on.

“There are a few things I want to ask, but I couldn’t possibly bring myself to pester the ailing Duke.”

“Please, ask anything.”

“Can you tell me in detail how the wedding proceeds?”

Euro started with something light. He didn’t forget to put on an excited expression. He figured that acting genuinely joyful would be the best way to make the other person let their guard down.

As expected, Raymond answered as if it were no big deal, dropping a sugar cube into Euro’s teacup.

“As His Grace mentioned, the wedding is planned to be simple. Usually, the ceremony is held at the temple to receive the sacrament, but since His Grace is reluctant to move, a priest will be summoned to the manor’s hall instead.”

“Can a priest be called from the temple all the way here? Usually, they don’t leave the temple.”

“That part is handled with donations. It has been done that way for generations, so there is no issue.”

‘As I thought, there’s nothing money can’t buy,’ Euro muttered inwardly and nodded. If it had always been done this way, he could rest easy knowing the Emperor couldn’t throw a fit claiming the marriage was void because it wasn’t held at the temple.

“After the sacrament, then what?”

“…….”

“Ah, we don’t do it that way in Norden. The cultures are different. I’m just worried I might make a mistake.”

Euro gave a bright smile and took a sip of his tea. Since there was a specific part he wanted to hear, he had no choice but to ask step by step.

“After reading the marriage vows together, and before exchanging rings, a single drop of blood from both parties is dropped into holy water.”

“Blood?”

Blood, suddenly, at a wedding? Euro narrowed his brows, forgetting to keep smiling. Raymond smiled back, as if understanding his confusion.

“It is the marriage culture of the Empire, so it must be unfamiliar to you. Dropping one’s blood into the holy water signifies that the two have become family by mixing their blood, and the holy water enveloping that blood signifies the protection of the household.”

“…….”

“In other words, Brobate, the sole god of the Empire, becomes the witness to the marriage and protects the home. The priest is the representative of God, existing to certify that the marriage has been successfully completed.”

“I see.”

It was a ritual with a reasonably good meaning, but Euro considered it a mere formality. Protecting the household? If that were true, the Spioren Dukedom would never have fallen into this state.

A dragon’s curse that even a god cannot overcome—anyone could stolen contentsee the difference in scale, [visit our site]and one unauthorized copyside had overwhelmingly won.

Perhaps it was because he was an atheist who didn’t believe in gods to begin with. Euro felt no particular emotion. If there was a god in this world, it would be the author, and the author was a person who had no intention of protecting the home the Spioren Dukedom had built.

“How are weddings conducted in Norden?”

“Well, since we believe in the same god in Norden, we sometimes have weddings at the temple, but since this is the first time I’ve heard of dropping blood, I guess it’s not a common ritual. We usually hold the ceremony and…”

Having said that much, Euro set down his teacup as if shy and cleared his throat. Inside, he was smiling slyly, thinking, ‘Good, the time has come,’ but he showed nothing on the outside.

“After… spending the first night, the two of them share a tea made from dried seasonal fruits in the morning. Fruits are rare in Norden.”

“…….”

“It also carries the meaning that the two have borne fruit, or something like that.”

“Silon is always warm, so there isn’t really such a thing as ‘seasonal’ fruit. I shall try to procure something with a pleasant fragrance. It would be good to follow the formalities of both countries.”

“The first night too?”

Euro exclaimed somewhat loudly with sparkling eyes, then exaggeratedly covered his mouth. While every movement was intentional, Euro rolled his eyes, deliberately gauging Raymond’s reaction.

Whether the act worked or not, Raymond visit our sitefroze up with an uncharacteristic stiffness. After unauthorized copyhesitating to answer, he let out a long sigh.

“……It exists in formality. However, I believe I am not in a position to speak on the details following that.”

“Do we share a room?”

“That part as well…….”

“…….”

“Normally, that would be the case, but His Grace has given no separate instructions.”

At Raymond’s words, Euro lowered his hand with a look of disappointment and bowed his head slightly. Then, he murmured in a crestfallen voice.

“I see. It can’t be helped. I had foolish thoughts, forgetting how frail he is. I shouldn’t have expected anything, just as His Grace said, but I guess I was too excited.”

“It is not so. Still, the first night is being prepared. Whether you will continue to share a room afterward is uncertain, but…….”

“Really? Thank goodness! That’s enough for me, Raymond.”

As he drank his tea with a moved expression, Raymond’s gaze followed him. He seemed to be looking at him with some pity, but since Euro had received the answer he wanted, it didn’t matter.

He had asked because of the comment that even after [stolen content]Read on Read BL Novelsmarriage, the Duke would not seek him out. According to his [stolen content]plan, Melione absolutely had to share a room with him.

This was to keep him alive until he could find and persuade the dragon. To delay Melione’s madness even slightly, he had to restore his weakened body to its original state as quickly as possible.

Do they not say that a healthy mind dwells in a healthy body? Improving dietary habits and exercising were not enough to stop the curse.

Fitting for a fantasy world, potions existed here as well, but they were useless against Melione’s curse.

To explain it in the terms of the world Euro had lived in, potions were a kind of panacea; they were expensive, but as long as it wasn’t a critical illness, they could cure almost any ailment.

However, that was just a metaphor; potions weren’t truly a cure-all. For diseases that deteriorated rapidly, potions could only slow the progression at best, and a complete cure was impossible. They also had no effect on external trauma, such as being stabbed or losing a limb.

High-grade potions with a high purification rate did have an effect on external trauma, but even those were useless against a curse.

Therefore, there was no way to make Melione healthy using medicine. Then, what method could Euro use? That was the use of the ‘healing ability.’

The healing ability, as the name suggested, was the power to heal others without relying on the strength of potions or medicine. Simply put, it was like the ‘healer’ position in a game.

While the level of ability varied by individual, they could treat any disease regardless of the type, and if the ability was exceptional, they could even fix congenital disabilities.

This ability was the reason why Helen, Euro Leches’ biological mother, was able to become the King’s mistress, and it was also the reason the King accepted Euro Leches—who might not have been his biological child—as his son.

The current King of Norden had a fairly frail constitution, [visit our site]though not as much as Melione. He suffered from epileptic Read on Read BL Novelsseizures as [Read on Read BL Novels]a sequela of a fever he had as a child.

The King, who suffered intermittent seizures that even potions couldn’t stop, one day met a woman named Helen who possessed the healing ability, and through her, his illness was completely cured.

The unfortunate part was that while Helen received all sorts of favor for curing the King, her later years were miserable because her supernatural ability vanished as she aged.

This happened because the healing ability usually appeared randomly and was not hereditary. If heredity had been certain, Helen’s end would not have been such.

Regardless, Euro Leches had inherited that ability. As soon as the King saw the son Helen brought, he practically ripped off the shirt he was wearing and rejoiced at the vivid red dot located below the collarbone.

The red dot below the collarbone was a kind of mark that appeared only in those with the healing ability. Although the seizures were gone, the King still suffered from various ailments, so Helen’s son, appearing in his later years, was truly like a gift.

And yet, the reason Euro was treated so poorly in the Royal Palace was for one single reason.

‘Because he was so damn bad at singing that he couldn’t use the healing ability.’