A Story of a Noble Lady Who Was Ravaged by an Incurable Disease and Covered in Bandages All Over Her Broken Body; After Healing Her, She Turned Into a Stunning Beauty and Started Desperately Courting Me - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Arriving at the Duke’s House in the Royal Capital

A few days later.

—— *buzz buzz, chatter chatter!*

“So this is the royal capital. What a super lively city.”

After several days of being rocked in a carriage from my local small town, I finally arrived at the royal capital. When I stepped down from the carriage, I was shocked by the huge crowds of people everywhere. It really felt like a big metropolis.

“I’d love to wander around and check out the streets here in the capital, but I’ve got work to do right now, so I’ll save the sightseeing for another time. For now, I need to head straight to the duke’s house where the client is waiting.”

Even though the bustling streets of the royal capital caught my eye, work came first, so I pushed down my urge to explore and quickly made my way toward the duke’s mansion where the client was.

After walking for about ten minutes following the map Douglas had given me, I arrived in front of the duke’s mansion. It was an incredibly impressive building. As expected from a noble’s house.

At the gate of the duke’s mansion stood a guard-like person. Security looked tight. I immediately called out to the guard.

“Um, excuse me. Do you have a moment?”

“Hm? What’s up, young man? Do you have some business with the Elfemina ducal family?”

“Yes. I’m Setsuna, an adventurer from the adventurer guild in the Grande territory. I came here today because I accepted a request from the duke. I have a letter of introduction from the guild master, so could you please check it?”

I took the letter of introduction out of my bag and handed it to the guard.

“Thank you for the letter from the adventurer guild. I’ll check it right away. Hmm, hmm… ah, I see. So you’re the healer we’ve been waiting for, right?”

“Yes, that’s me. I usually work as a healer while doing adventurer activities in the Grande territory. My name is Setsuna Kisaragi. Nice to meet you.”

“Thank you for the polite self-introduction. I’m Fran Ilmark, one of the guards. I’ve already heard about you from Lord Gilbert. It seems you can handle all kinds of different recovery magic. You still look so young, but you’re really something. Alright then, I’ll take you to the reception room right away. Please follow behind me.”

“Yes, got it.”

I followed behind the guard named Fran and entered the mansion. He quickly led me to the front of the reception room.

—— *knock knock…*

“Excuse me. Lord Gilbert. I have brought the guest. This is Setsuna, the adventurer who came from the Grande territory.”

‘Mm. Thank you for bringing him. You may come in.’

“Yes. Excuse me then.”

—— *click*

After receiving permission from the person inside the reception room, Fran slowly opened the door. Then Fran and I immediately stepped inside.

Inside the reception room, a refined, handsome older man with a sharp look sat on the sofa. But his cheeks looked a little sunken, and his complexion seemed slightly off. He was probably sleep-deprived.

And this handsome older guy was most likely…

“Lord Setsuna. Thank you very much for coming all the way to the royal capital. I am Gilbert Elfemina, the current head of the Elfemina family.”

“Ah, I thought so. Thank you for your kind words. I’m Setsuna Kisaragi. It’s nice to meet you again.”

So, as expected, this handsome older guy was none other than Duke Gilbert Elfemina, the current head of the ducal family.

From Gilbert, I clearly felt a gentle, calm, and composed atmosphere. Even though he held such a high position, he didn’t put on any arrogant expression or attitude at all, which made him a really likable handsome older guy.

“My lord. Then I will return to my guard duties.”

“Understood. Thank you for guiding him all the way here, Fran. Good work.”

“Yes. Excuse me.”

—— *click… slam*

With those words, Fran left the reception room. Now only Gilbert and I remained inside. I quickly asked Gilbert about the main reason I was here.

“So, I heard that your daughter has fallen ill. The request was to examine and treat her, correct?”

“Yes, that’s right. My daughter is suffering from a very serious illness, so if even you, Lord Setsuna, find it impossible to treat, feel free to decline the treatment request. However, I absolutely beg you to at least perform the examination…”

“Hmm. A serious illness, huh. Can you tell me more specifically what her condition is like? Do you know how long ago she first got sick?”

“Well… about three years ago, Alicia started showing signs of poor health. At first it was just general unwellness and coughing. But little by little her body was eaten away by the disease, and now she can hardly even get out of bed. She coughs terribly every day, can’t walk on her own anymore, and can only manage liquid food…”

“I see. From what you’ve told me, Lord Gilbert… it sounds like she’s come down with quite a severe illness. Has the name of the disease been identified?”

“No, the disease name remains unknown. We’ve had many healers examine her and apply recovery magic over the years, but it hasn’t healed at all—in fact, it’s only gotten worse. Some people even say it might be a brand-new type of illness. So even now, three years after she fell ill, we still can’t treat her properly. Lately, no healers are even willing to come examine her anymore… and we were at a complete loss about what to do…”

“…Huh? No healers will even come to examine your daughter? Why is that?”

“…Because the cause is unknown. One healer spread rumors that terrified everyone by saying Alicia might have some kind of ‘infectious disease’… But my family and the servants who have been with her the whole time have never caught the same illness. So we know for sure that Alicia’s sickness isn’t contagious. Still, once that kind of rumor spreads, it’s hard for healers to agree to examine her. If they think they might catch an infectious disease that no recovery magic can cure… of course everyone gets scared and refuses. It’s only natural…”

“Lord Gilbert…”

Gilbert murmured those words with an extremely pained expression on his face.

His precious daughter was suffering from a serious illness, yet no doctors would come to see her. If I were her parent, I would definitely feel incredibly frustrated and heartbroken.

So, to reassure Gilbert, who had been going through pain every day as a father, and to save Alicia, who suffered from the illness every single day, I looked straight into Gilbert’s eyes and told him clearly.

“…Yes, I understand. In that case, I will accept the request to examine your daughter… Lady Alicia. And I will definitely heal Alicia’s illness. So, could you let me see her right now?”

“Eh… R-really?! You’ll accept the request?! Th-thank you so much…! This way please! Follow me!”

“Yes, got it.”

After I told him I would accept the request to examine and treat Alicia, Gilbert bowed deeply and expressed his gratitude toward me.

(No one will even examine her… that’s just too sad. Then I’ll do it properly. And I’ll definitely save the daughter who’s suffering from this illness.)

With that firm resolve in my heart, I followed Gilbert’s lead right away and headed toward Alicia’s private room.