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 4

Chapter 4: Meeting the Noble Lady Wrapped Completely in Bandages

Right after that.

Guided by Gilbert, we arrived in front of the room belonging to his daughter, Alicia.

—— knock knock…

‘…cough cough… Yes, who is it…?’

“Alicia. It’s me. May I come into the room?”

‘…Ah, Father. Yes, it’s fine. Please come in…’

“Understood. Then…”

—— click…

“Alicia. Good morning. How are you feeling today?”

“Cough cough… Yes, good morning. I’m feeling a bit better than usual today… cough cough… And the person standing next to Father is…?”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Setsuna, an adventurer who came from the Grande territory.”

I greeted Gilbert’s daughter Alicia, who was lying in bed. Then I immediately looked closely at Alicia’s appearance.

Alicia’s entire body was tightly wrapped in bandages. Her face was covered in bandages except for her eyes, mouth, and nose. She looked so much like a mummy that no one could argue otherwise.

And it was easy to imagine that if those bandages were removed, her body would be in a terribly painful state. I thought it was truly a heartbreaking sight.

“Cough cough… Thank you very much for your politeness. I am Alicia Elfemina, the eldest daughter of the Elfemina family. Nice to meet you.”

“Yes, nice to meet you, Lady Alicia.”

“Alicia. This gentleman is an adventurer and also a recovery healer. So would you allow Lord Setsuna to examine you now?”

“Cough cough… Eh…? Even though Setsuna-sama is so young, he is a healer…? Cough cough…”

“Yes, that’s right. Well, compared to other healers, my age is definitely quite young, but I do have a solid track record of healing many injured people so far, so please don’t worry. With that said, I would really like to examine you, Lady Alicia.”

I bowed my head politely while asking to be allowed to examine Alicia. However, Alicia…

“…No. I’m very sorry, but… I must decline the examination this time… cough cough…”

“…Huh?”

But Alicia responded with a firm refusal to my request to examine her.

I had never expected to be turned down, so I felt a little surprised, but I calmly asked for the reason.

“Lady Alicia. Could you tell me why you’re refusing the examination? I think your body must be in a lot of pain right now. So I believe it would be better for you to at least get examined once.”

“…No. My illness is said to be a mysterious disease with an unknown cause. And there is a possibility that my illness is a ‘contagious disease’… I could never let such a painful sickness pass to someone as young as you… cough cough…”

“A-Alicia… Don’t say things like that… Please let him examine you… I’m begging you…”

“…I see. Hehe, Lady Alicia, it’s okay.”

“Cough cough… So please let me decline the examination… Wait, eh?”

—— step step

While Alicia gently refused the examination, I told her “it’s okay” and slowly approached her.

“Ah… S-Setsuna-sama… N-no, you mustn’t…! If you come that close… you might catch my illness…! Cough cough…!”

“No. It’s absolutely fine. This might sound a little embarrassing, but as an adventurer, I’m still just a rookie. Even now I struggle a lot to defeat slimes, and there are plenty of times I lose and have to run away. But when it comes to injuries or illnesses, I never lose. I’m a top-class recovery healer who has never once been defeated by an injury or illness. So couldn’t you please trust my skills as a healer? No matter what happens, I will definitely be okay… So please let me examine your body, Lady Alicia. I’m begging you!”

“S-Setsuna-sama…”

“Alicia, I’m begging you too. I heard from an acquaintance that Lord Setsuna possesses extraordinary talent as a healer. That’s why I want you to at least let him examine you. And I don’t want to see you suffer any more than this… So please… believing that your body will get better… couldn’t you leave the examination to him…?”

“Father…”

Gilbert bowed his head deeply toward his daughter Alicia while pleading with her. I could tell this came straight from the bottom of his heart because he was so worried about her.

And Alicia, sensing her father’s strong feelings, turned her face toward me with a look of firm resolve and said this.

“You’re right… Father has been working so hard every day for my sake, searching for healers… And yet here I am trying to refuse an examination… That would make me such an unfilial daughter, wouldn’t it… I understand. I will trust Setsuna-sama. So… um… could you please examine my body… starting now…?”

“Yes, understood. Thank you for trusting me, Lady Alicia. Then I will begin examining your body right away. First, I would like you to remove the bandages wrapped around your body, but is it okay if I remove them for you, Lady Alicia?”

“…Yes, that’s fine… Then… please do, Setsuna-sama…”

“Yes, understood. I’ll start removing the bandages now.”

—— shff shff… shff shff…

After getting permission from Alicia, I slowly unwrapped the bandages. Then…

“…Eh? Th-this is…!?”

“…っ…”

I was left speechless the moment I removed Alicia’s bandages. Her skin was discolored dark reddish-black all over her body. And her skin was completely raw and ulcerated everywhere. It looked exactly like she had suffered terrible burns all over. Even her face was entirely raw as if burned badly.

If this was the same as having severe burns, it was easy to imagine that intense pain must be running through her whole body constantly. To have suffered from such a terrible illness for so long… this was just too cruel…

“…You must have been shocked seeing such an ugly appearance, right… I’m truly sorry for showing you something so disgusting…”

“…Eh? Wh-what’s wrong, Lady Alicia?”

“…No, please don’t worry about it… I fully understand what condition my body is in right now… So I’m really sorry for making Setsuna-sama feel uncomfortable because of my ugly appearance… cough cough…”

“Lady Alicia…”

Alicia spoke to me with an apologetic expression on her face. It seemed she thought my stunned reaction meant I found her “disgusting.”

But that wasn’t what I thought at all. In fact, the opposite was true. So to clear up that terrible misunderstanding right away…

—— squeeze…

“Eh? W-wah… S-Setsuna-sama…?”

I gently but firmly took hold of Alicia’s badly damaged hand. Alicia let out a slightly surprised voice.

“Ah, sorry. Did that hurt?”

“N-no, not at all. It doesn’t hurt… B-but suddenly touching such an ugly, disgusting, broken hand like this… What are you doing…?”

“Lady Alicia, you are not ugly at all. Actually, it’s the complete opposite. You are a very beautiful person.”

“…Eh? S-Setsuna-sama…? Y-you don’t have to say such flattering things… No matter how anyone looks at my body, it’s horribly ugly… So you really don’t need to say things like that, Setsuna-sama…”

“No. I’m saying this from the bottom of my heart. Lady Alicia is not ugly. You have the most beautiful heart and you are a truly kind and wonderful person.”

“M-my heart… is beautiful…?”

“Yes, that’s right. Because earlier you refused the examination saying my illness might spread to me, and you tried to keep me from coming close. That’s exactly proof that you have a very kind and beautiful heart. So I will never think of you as ugly or disgusting, Lady Alicia. No matter what anyone says, you are someone with the most beautiful heart and you are truly beautiful.”

—— squeeze…

“S-Setsuna-sama…”

While saying that, I gently squeezed Alicia’s hand again. And at that moment…

“…Huh, wh-what…? Ah…”

—— drip…

At that instant, a single tear rolled down from Alicia’s eyes.

“Ah, sorry, Lady Alicia. Did that hurt?”

“N-no, that’s not it. Hearing you say that to me… it made me so happy… and the tears just… sniff Thank you… Hearing such kind words… it feels like my heart has been saved…”

“I see. If that’s the case, I’m glad. But it’s still too early to feel saved. Because I’m going to save you from now on. So Lady Alicia… could you squeeze my hand back like this?”

“Eh? Ah, y-yes, like this…?”

—— squeeze…

“Yes, that’s perfect. Here we go. Transcendent Recovery Magic, Limit Over Heal.”

“Eh… W-wah…!?”

“Eh!? A-Alicia…!?”

—— powaaah…!

As I chanted those words, a dazzling light shone from all over Alicia’s body, and her wounds began to heal rapidly. And right after that…

“…Phew. Yes, everything has healed perfectly! How is it, Lady Alicia? Could you check your own body for a moment?”

“Eh… Eh!? N-no way…!? R-really… Really my wounds… they’re really healed…! Everything is completely healed…! U… Ah, ahh… sniff… Th-thank you… Thank you so much… Setsuna-sama…!”

“Yes. I’m glad it healed safely… Wait, eh…!?”

Right after that, all of Alicia’s wounds were completely cured. The terrible injuries that had looked like severe burns all over her body were gone. And standing there was…

(Wait… W-wah!? Isn’t this an incredibly beautiful woman!?)

There stood a woman who was unmistakably stunningly beautiful.

Calling her a “stunning beauty” might sound a bit cheap… but the woman standing by the bed was truly on a level of “stunning beauty” unlike anything I had ever seen before.