Chapter 867 – #189_Common Drama (5)
#861
One.
The size of Count Zemanai, built on the first rank in Arsmagna Town, is often compared to a palace.
The site with a large garden including a lake, many buildings, and various facilities is comparable to the size of a small town.
No matter how convenient magic was, servants were essential to keep a mansion of this size in the best condition.
The Countess always hired about 50 servants.
The person in charge of managing all these employees is Galina, the lady-in-waiting.
Although her position is only that of a maid, she was in charge of the maintenance and management of the mansion, as well as managing the finances and cash receipts, and was in charge of a steward-level position.
The reason why Albireo and Deneb could leave the mansion with peace of mind was because of Galina, a loyal and wise old lady.
“Vera, shed tears and call Miss Smyrna.”
“Yes… Sniff!”
“Let’s go to sleep, it’s urgent, so hurry up.”
In front of Vera, she hides her feelings and calmly gives orders, but she is not at ease.
Galina and Albireo were not just servants and masters.
Galina’s relationship with Galina since she was still a girl was so strong that she took on the role of a nanny for Odile and Odette.
When her twins were still babies, she helped them a lot, and even during their adolescence, her wise advice helped her guide them through parenting.
It’s like one family.
Albireo, biting her lips, opened the hospital room door.
Galina, who was lying on her bed, tried to raise her body as soon as she saw Albireo.
“Great master. He looked ugly.”
“Are you okay. Don’t overdo it, just lie down. Galina.”
If left as it was, it would almost certainly happen, so Albireo took a step ahead of her, took her hand, and covered her with a blanket.
“What happened? Are you okay?”
“This is so… I guess I only thought I would be 100 years or 1,000 years younger as I am attending the owner who is as beautiful as a flower even after time passes. It’s been a long time since I’ve been working like when I was younger. Coke! Coke!”
Galina laughed and threw jokes between coughs.
She said, “This seems to be the last harvest I am preparing myself, so she was greedy… There is not a single thing wrong with what the wise men of old said, saying that excessive greed causes a mask.”
“Slowly, speak slowly, Galina.”
“I heard that my grandmother served the count family for over 80 years… It’s embarrassing to be such an ugly person already… Coke! Coke!”
“Don’t talk like that. First of all, you have to focus on recovery. I have called Gehenna’s best doctor, and she will come soon.”
The wrinkles on her face were making her look tired, as she had always been full of her energy.
Her loosely tied up hair was full of gray hair that hadn’t been dyed yet, and the skin on the backs of her hands stretched without elasticity, as if they had been covered with leather.
The Galina that Albireo remembers was a confident and young girl.
She was a brave and brilliant girl,
Even though she was a middle-aged woman with her dignity, she handled the circumstances in her mansion even with her eyes closed.
As such, the flow of time is approaching harshly and rapidly for humans.
Albireo pressed the cold back of her hand to the tears in her heated eyes.
“Is the patient here?”
Yebin, who was suddenly summoned at dawn, came in with her tousled hair.
2.
“How are you feeling?”
Standing in front of the hospital room, Albireo asked in a voice full of nervousness.
“This is acute pneumonia. It seems that the original bronchial inflammation has spread to the lung tissue due to overwork.”
“Are there any problems?”
“Yes, I acted quickly, so it won’t get any worse than this. However, it is good to take sufficient recuperation and recovery.”
She is Ye-bin, who has yet to claim the title of Grand Witch, but is an authority on her healing magic.
No witch excelled her in her healing magic, at least for her mortals.
Once she let go, but she didn’t feel completely at ease.
“This has never happened before.”
Galina, the heroine who lifted a log and seemed to be able to beat a bear with her bare hands.
It was hard to believe that she, who had never been sick before, collapsed because of the disease, seeing her old age with her own eyes.
“Anyway, the patient’s age is the same as his age. I think you should be more careful. Please be sure to stay calm.”
“Thank you, Miss Smyrna. Please let me know if there are any items you need for the clinic. I promise to support you.”
“No, Count, I am always indebted to you.”
Ye-bin, who greeted her politely, hesitated for a moment before going back.
“Count, I’m afraid to say this…”
“Please feel free to speak.”
“It could be a situation in which I inform you of useless things.”
“…”
Being too quick-witted is not always a good thing.
Albireo noticed that Ye-bin, who hesitated and spoke her words, was not trying to convey her joy.
After preparing her heart and slowly nodding her head, Yebin carefully confided in her.
“There are many unpredictable aspects of human lifespan. There are individual differences in nature and are greatly influenced by the environment. So it’s hard to conclude, but apart from this pneumonia, Galina-sama’s time won’t be too long…”
“… Is that so… If so, roughly how much time do you have left?”
“If you quit your job right away and take enough measures, it would be about two years… ?”
Albireo grabbed her legs that were about to stumble and nodded her head.
“Thank you for telling me, you did a lot of work late.”
“Yes, Count.”
Yebin went back and Albireo entered the hospital room again.
Galina closed her eyes and fell asleep, tired of her treatment.
Unlike a moment ago, his expression is calm, but there is a feeling of tiredness that cannot be hidden.
“…”
If a human being has a soul, wouldn’t that shape probably fill the frame of the body?
Albireo recalled the speculation he had been thinking about from time to time.
When in the form of a girl, a young soul,
When in the form of a virgin, a young soul,
Even when they are mature and old, the appropriate soul follows the mold and takes shape.
That’s why witches whose aging stopped in their early twenties have a childish and childish side somewhere no matter how old they get.
On the other hand, a human who has lived only 70 years or so has wise insight like a tree with rings.
The vassals who served Count Jemonai until now and became stars in pursuit of life.
Every time he thought of them, Albireo’s guess got closer to certainty.
So did Galina.
Even when she was young, she looked very young, and by the time she took her twins as apprentice witches, she gave a lot of advice to Albireo and Deneb, who had not been able to properly fulfill their motherly role.
He skillfully dealt with Odile and Odette, who were crying energetically all day long, and corrected the two who were about to be crooked when puberty came.
That’s why I really wanted to show succession.
The glorious moment when Odile and Odette become full-fledged witches and carry on the names of Count Zemanai.
The two years or so that Yebin said is probably based on receiving the best care in an ideal environment.
And Odile and Odette still have three years left until the succession.
Can I really make it on time?
“…”
Farewell.
A product of inevitability that I have never gotten used to, no matter how many times I go through it.
In the near future, Odile and Odette must also prepare for parting with Deneb and Albireo.
20 years is enough time for love.
However, it is not enough time to love to the fullest without any delay.
However, since she was born as an apprentice witch, it is an unavoidable fate.
Inheriting the stigma of her master, the apprentice witch takes on the pain of her loss and sets out to accomplish the given feat while cherishing the memories of her brief life.
Just like Albireo and Deneb did.
Just like Master did.
Just like Master’s Master did.
Is it because of the inertia of thinking, or is it because that is the most rational way?
Even though he lamented this structure, Albireo had never questioned the succession system.
I thought it was a reward for a given right, or a degree of duty.
‘If there is Siwoo… I can inherit without leaving the twins!’
It reminded me of Deneb’s absurd argument that I had heard the other day.
It is said that through Count Yesod’s experiments, the transfer of the stigma using Siwoo’s amplification ability has gone beyond the theoretical stage and is on the right track.
At the time, I didn’t waver in the slightest.
This is because the succession of abnormalities is not omnipotent, but comes with a huge penalty.
But accepting leaving the twins alone as if it were a given.
Was it really for Odile and Odette?
“… I lost my composure a little too.”
Albireo shook his head and brushed off his thoughts.
3.
Count Zemanai’s punishment room is in the top room of the spire.
Deneb was on his knees at a place that was treated as a non-existent place because it was never used in the first place.
The coldness and bumps of the cold stone floor weighed on my knees.
The whip in Deneb’s hand pierced his back with a sharp sound.
-Slap! Slap!
The whip, which made a shrieking sound whenever it was moved from the shoulder blade, was no different from a torture device that caused terrible pain with just a small movement.
It didn’t take long for Deneb’s skin, covered in a shabby cloth garment with a hollow back, to become stained with bumpy marks and start oozing red blood.
She now condemns her sin of having wrong desires and hurting her daughter through penance.
“…”
Deneb closes his eyes and endures pain like a pious nun.
“Deneb!”
Albireo, who visited her punishment room to deliver the news of Galina’s collapse, was shocked to see her.
The hem of her cloth clothes was dyed red because her flesh was not bursting.
It looked very bitter and painful.
“Stop! Stop!”
“Sister, I must atone.”
Deneb silently moved his hand even though Albireo entered.
Albireo, who was worse off, took away the whip.
“Do you think the twins will like it?”
“Then unnie, I will go to the twins with some shame and ask them to forgive me, saying I am sorry. This is my way of repenting for my foolishness.
What Deneb is doing is plain stupid and self-satisfying.
Some may see this act and scoff at it as show-off atonement.
But Albireo knows how tactless and docile Deneb is.
Deneb was sincerely determined to wear shabby cloth clothes, sleep on a pile of stones that didn’t even look like a bed, and continue his penance in this cold closet until his succession.
What drove her this far?
My mother, who talked about the words that the two are one, did not take her sister’s words seriously.
“Deneb.”
“…”
“I will help. Meeting Siwoo.”
Albireo made a decision.
