"But why did I keep falling asleep and not waking up?"
Karina looked at Pavel with a puzzled expression and asked.
"Is there something wrong with my body?"
A while ago, when she had barely returned from the Cursed Forest, she had been diagnosed by the doctor as having no major problems. In fact, at the Grand Duke's house, she had muscle pain all over her body, but she was relatively fine.
'I wonder if I have a health problem now?'
I was worried...
"To explain that, I have some questions to ask Madam first... But before that, I'll check on your health."
Pavel, who had asked for understanding, continued to check her condition with the eyes of truth.
"Nothing particularly special... Hmm?"
He tilted his head and furrowed one eyebrow.
"Is something wrong?"
His reaction was obviously not good. Karina swallowed nervously.
"No. Madam is fine. You're more stable than before you woke up, so don't worry. But rather..."
As Pavel continued speaking. Gulp.
“Ah...!”
Karina's face turned red at the sound coming from her stomach. She covered her stomach with her blushing face. Looking at her like that, Mikhail smiled brightly and said.
"You just woke up and you must be hungry. I'll have you bring some food right away, so just wait a moment."
"Yeah. Since you've been awake for a few days, I think it would be best to eat something first and then talk."
Pavel agreed and added one more word to Mikhail.
"Tell them to prepare something soft and light, like a soup that won't be too heavy on the stomach."
"I was going to do that even if you didn't tell me to."
Mikhail responded that it was only natural.
"Tell him to prepare two servings, because he needs to eat too."
Pavel gestured to Jeremiah, who was standing next to Karina..
"Why should I take care of that guy's stuff? He'll eat it himself."
Mikhail looked serious and showed his displeasure clearly.
"This guy! If the Master tells you to do something, you should just say, 'Yes, I understand.' But you won't say a single word! Seriously!"
"That's because you're asking me to do useless things."
Pavel and Mikhail bickered again.
'They say they're teacher and student. I guess they're very close.'
It was the first time Karina had seen Mikhail act so casually towards someone. A small smile appeared on her lips as she watched them act like a close father and son.
'Come to think of it.'
Karina glanced at Jeremiah next to her.
"...!"
Her eyes met his again. He had been looking at her ever since he woke up. She thought he had something to say, but he didn't really say anything when they met. He just stared at her quietly as if lost in thought.
'Why do you keep staring at me?'
Karina felt burdened by that gaze. It was especially hard to bear today. And yet, it was constantly bothering her like a thorn under her fingernail. She already knew the reason. It was because of the strange reaction she had seen in her dream. Because of that, whenever she saw Jeremiah's expression and gaze directed at her, she felt strange. Realizing that, she tried her best not to look at him.
Even though she had already woken up from her dream, she felt frustrated. Karina quickly turned her gaze to Mikhail and Pavel, pretending not to notice Jeremiah's persistent gaze.
'What the heck?'
"Lady Karina. While the meal is being prepared, I will cast a healing spell to help you recover quickly."
Mikhail approached Karina, leaving Pavel grumbling.
"I need to concentrate, so everyone except Karina, please leave."
He said, glaring specifically at Jeremiah.
"..."
Normally, Jeremiah would have responded immediately, but he didn't react at all to Mikhail's provocative actions.
"Ahem. Then while Madam is getting treatment, why don't you talk to me for a bit?"
Pavel cleared his throat and spoke to Jeremiah. Karina, who happened to be uncomfortable with his gaze, agreed that it would be a good idea. Jeremiah stared at her, made a strange expression, and reluctantly let go of Karina's hand.
"Yeah."
***
There were only two people left in the room: Karina and Mikhail.
"Lady Karina."
Mikhail cautiously called Karina.
"Are you still angry, by any chance?"
He brought up the subject again, perhaps concerned about what she had said earlier.
"Actually, I thought that it would be better for Lady Karina to find stability at the Magic Tower rather than the Grand Duke's Palace. I just couldn't feel safe there."
Mikhail said, implicitly blaming Jeremiah for failing to protect Karina.
"Still, I'm sorry for bringing you here without telling you."
He looked at her and apologized.
"I see."
After hearing the reason, Karina had a hard time finding the right words to say. She was truly grateful that he was thinking of her. Of course, that doesn't mean he should act impulsively like this.
"I understand how you feel. I appreciate you thinking of me. But like I said before, don't do this again. Yes?"
Karina spoke gently but firmly as if coaxing a child.
"Of course."
Mikhail, smiling brightly, leaned closer to Karina.
"So, are you all relieved now?"
To begin with, Karina wasn't even angry at him.
"I'm not angry."
Mikhail looked satisfied with her answer.
He opened his arms and pulled her into his arms. Karina also hugged him back and patted his back. She thought it would end with a light hug. No matter how long she waited, he did not let go of his embrace.
"Mikhail?"
"Yes."
"Can you please let go of my arms now?"
"..."
He had been answering questions well until just now, but suddenly he pretended not to hear.
"Mikhail. Let go of this for a moment."
Karina struggled to get out of his arms.
"You said you'd use healing magic?"
"I'm doing this to cast healing magic."
Mikhail chuckled and answered in a tone that said, "Of course."
"I told you. When using healing magic, it's more effective if you do it this way."
"Really?"
He explained it to her in a clever manner, as she asked back with a slightly suspicious look on her face.
"It wouldn't matter if we could just hold hands and use healing magic, but that would be a huge waste of magic power. For an ordinary magician like me, that would be too difficult and inefficient."
It was something that didn't apply to Mikhail at all, but he deliberately spoke weakly in front of Karina.
"The larger the area of contact with your body, the better the healing magic is transmitted, and the greater the effect. That's why it's good to hold it like this and use healing magic."
Karina, who had been squirming at his crying, gradually became more docile as if she had no choice. It seemed as if she had accepted and decided to receive the magic as he did. In fact, he wanted to tell her that there was a much better way. But...
'If I say that, I think Karina will really run away!'
Mikhail suppressed his rising desire and decided to be satisfied with this this time.
He slowly inhaled the scent of her body in his arms and began to breathe healing magic into her. A soft white magic spread from his hands.
***
The room of the magic tower master is on the top floor of the magic tower. Pavel, who had taken Jeremiah there alone, pulled out a chair next to the table and sat down. Then he offered Jeremiah the seat opposite him.
"Sit over there."
Jeremiah asked before even sitting down.
"Is Karina feeling okay now?"
"Is that what you're most curious about?"
Pavel snorted in disbelief at his question.
"Right now, I think you should be more worried about your condition than that of your wife."
Despite those words, Jeremiah's attitude did not change.
"Please tell me about Karina's condition. Didn't you look at her with the Eye of Truth earlier?"
"It's just as I said before. The condition of the Madam is fine. The power that binds the soul is also stable."
Pavel suddenly furrowed his brow and clicked his tongue.
"I actually don't know why she ended up like that."
"..."
"How did it come to that?"
"I don't know either."
Jeremiah shook his head, looking completely ignorant.
"After finding Karina, I saw the dragon just before I regained consciousness."
"You saw a dragon!?"
Pavel showed great interest when the story of the dragon came up.
"They suddenly told her that she had broken the conditions and that they would charge her an appropriate price."
"An appropriate price?"
Pavel narrowed his eyes at the word price.
"You really? Did you pay that price for Madam?"
"..."
Jeremiah silently agreed. Immediately after hearing the dragon's voice saying he would take the price, he felt terrible pain as if his body was being torn apart by a huge shock.
He was strongly convinced that it had something to do with the price the dragon had spoken of.
"That's strange. In principle, the price of a transaction should be paid by the party who signed the contract..."
Pavel muttered to himself and then asked again.
"What did you see in her consciousness? Tell me in detail what happened."
"..."
"Oh, come on, tell me!"
Despite Pavel's urging, Jeremiah couldn't open his mouth easily. After a long pause, he asked a series of unexpected questions instead of answering.
"Can you also see things like vain delusions in your consciousness? Strange dreams, or nightmares for example?"
"What are you talking about out of the blue?"
Pavel asked back with a puffed-out face.
"I saw some absurd scenes in her consciousness. I don't know exactly what they were... but they were just ridiculous."
Jeremiah looked quite confused as he spoke. His clenched fists turned white as he recalled the scene he had seen back then. Pavel stared blankly at him for a moment before speaking.
"Don't be mistaken just because the name of the artifact I gave you is 'Dream Guide."
"Yes?"
"I clearly connected the consciousness of that woman and yours directly. The memories of that woman may remain in your consciousness, but dreams or delusions cannot be mixed in."
"..."
"I don't know what you saw in there, but it must be a memory from the past that the woman has."
"Are you saying it's not an illusion or imagination?"
Pavel shook his head, saying absolutely not. Jeremiah was shocked.
"That can't be..."
He was confused and thought it was nonsense, but then he suddenly remembered that he had seen his past memories.
"Then why did I see memories of my past?"
He barely came to his senses and asked.
"I saw my past memories without Karina. Clearly... memories that she has never seen or heard of, memories that she has no knowledge of!"
The way he asked that question seemed so desperate and dangerous that he could collapse if he made even the slightest mistake.
"Are you saying that you also saw your past memories in that woman's consciousness?"
Pavel scratched his chin and thought for a moment, then quickly found the answer.
"It's not a common case, but when someone enters someone else's consciousness, it has a big impact on that person's consciousness."
"..."
Jeremiah looked extremely nervous as he waited for his next words.
"Sometimes in such cases, their consciousnesses get mixed up. Since their consciousnesses are mixed up, it's not that strange to see your own memories in them. Well... Since the world of consciousness is so profound and confusing, such things happen."
Pavel shrugged.
"And if consciousness is mixed like that, then it is even more impossible for dreams to be mixed in."
"...!"
Jeremiah's face turned pale at the last words that were like a confirmed kill.
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