Without asking further, Flora took one of Rinka’s hands and returned the ring to her.
Confirming that the message had been delivered to Mefi was enough; having extra items appear in the room would only invite future troubles and unnecessary complications.
Rinka understood her meaning and was about to rise and leave, but Flora commanded in a firm tone:
“Relax, I’ll heal your wounds.”
Her body stiffened slightly, but the servant’s instinct to obey her mistress, combined with her trust in Flora, made her subconsciously relax and close her eyes.
[My lady is watching me, and being healed by Miss Flora is her tacit approval… no, it should be what she expects to happen. Why?]
Rinka tried to make sense of Marliar’s attitude but couldn’t find a clear explanation.
From her perspective, every action the young lady took was purposeful; she never acted out of pure emotion.
Joy, anger, sorrow, happiness—it was hard to tell if any of it was genuine or just a performance.
Serving such a person demanded extremely high loyalty from her servants.
If Marliar were to become the next Duke Deran, Rinka dared not imagine how terrifying that would be.
As for Flora’s act of entrusting her with the ring, Rinka could only call it clever.
She wanted to interpret it as a form of trust rather than merely a way to avoid complications, but sadly, she couldn’t tell Flora that even secretive methods like passing notes wouldn’t succeed in her attempts to seek help.
Noble tactics were beyond what commoners could imagine.
From what she knew, the owner of the Rust-Gold Trading Company was very likely already one of Marliar’s protectors.
Even before she delivered the message to Mefi, someone from the company had already contacted Marliar proactively.
Even if Flora had some personal friendship with the company’s daughter, it probably wouldn’t help.
[Better not to shatter her hopes for now. At least I can personally experience her healing magic.]
Putting aside those worries, Rinka leaned fully against Flora and relaxed completely. She couldn’t help but think…
Looking at such a petite girl, she somehow brought an indescribable sense of peace.
After a few breaths, Rinka (or Linka) felt a peculiar warmth unlike the holy light of a priest spreading through her body from the hand that held hers.
It was as if an invisible silk-like membrane, woven gently with magical power, wrapped around her.
The scabs hadn’t fallen off, and the itchiness that comes from wounds not yet healed was absent—it all felt like a dream, as if a god’s hand had gently brushed over her.
The pain along with the injury vanished completely.
She opened her eyes in astonishment.
Just from this, Flora could surely make everyone go mad over her.
With this ability, how had she never become famous before?
Rinka couldn’t help but recall a possibility that flashed through her mind yesterday, suppressing the stirrings of her heart.
Those things couldn’t be asked about.
Besides, the girl now looked dazed, pale, and sweating cold beads from her forehead.
Such a divine skill obviously came at a price.
[It doesn’t seem like a heavy physical drain; it’s more like suppressing pain. Could it be that she endures the pain herself? Wait… why were my old wounds healed too?]
This discovery changed Rinka’s expression repeatedly.
Flora, who had finished healing, gave her a somewhat complicated look.
“Good night.”
The girl said softly, then lay down on the bed.
She didn’t fall asleep right away but stared blankly at the canopy above.
Rinka hesitated, unsure whether this behavior meant pure fatigue or if Flora had noticed some flaw even she hadn’t realized.
[We are partners. I can’t overthink this. Right…]
More unnecessary emotions clouded her thoughts.
Rinka pursed her lips, stood up, and saluted Flora.
“Good night.”
Before turning to leave, she added softly:
“Don’t trust me so easily.”
Flora didn’t respond, only letting out a faint laugh tinged with ambiguous emotion.
Rinka felt increasingly unable to understand her.
The door closed quietly.
Flora pulled the blanket over her face.
Even though she was being controlled to wield the whip, she knew well how strong its impact was.
Compared to the minor injuries Marliar had inflicted yesterday, the pain transmitted while healing Rinka’s wounds gave her the same overwhelming sensation as when she first treated a heavily injured adventurer who nearly fainted.
But she was used to it by now, and the healing went smoothly.
The problem was, as she healed Rinka, she sensed an abnormal pleasure mixed in with the pain.
She knew it wasn’t sadistic enjoyment; Rinka was no masochist.
A memory transferred along with the pain explained the reason.
“Rinka, you did very well.”
“Miss, I know what I should do.”
“But I didn’t tell you to. Do you like being whipped? Come on, I’ll give you a few more.”
In the vision, Marliar smiled as she whipped the nearly collapsed maid two more times, then clapped her hands in satisfaction and called someone to bandage Rinka.
The answer was clear: that bit of pleasure belonged to Marliar’s sadistic enjoyment.
Realizing this, Flora increased the intensity of the healing spell, repairing even Rinka’s old injuries.
As a result, she glimpsed fragments of Rinka’s childhood memories of endless punishment and being trained as a servant.
It was very unpleasant.
She had to consider one question: if Marliar knew Flora’s current ability to heal others’ wounds with this effect, would her tacit approval or even encouragement of such treatments count as a means to manipulate Rinka’s mental state?
Looking at it this way, Flora had one more thing she knew she shouldn’t do but had to.
Marliar would definitely keep creating opportunities for her to heal others.
Thinking about that, Flora restlessly turned over and distracted herself.
If she analyzed every method Marliar used to torment her and tried to understand her plans, she would be assimilated sooner or later.
Focusing on finding a way out was the only sensible thing to do.
Earlier, Rinka mentioned that the ball was a bounty event for Fros.
Flora hadn’t asked in detail but could easily guess she was already infamous.
Mefi was an old acquaintance of hers.
Since she entrusted Rinka with the ring, it meant she was still willing to help.
Even if her father refused, using the formula for the special medicine as leverage to gain some support, Flora believed no merchant would refuse.
However…What did Rinka mean by that?
Don’t trust me so easily.
Could there have been trouble during the note delivery?
Being constantly watched, sending messages was such a headache.
Annoyed, Flora twisted on the bed like a worm and covered herself with the blanket.
Just as she did, footsteps approached again outside the room.
[Elka?]
After training ended, she could spend time freely in her room.
Yesterday, Marliar and Rinka had come to see her one after another.
Since Rinka had just left and Marliar was still puzzled by Rinka’s reaction, the most likely visitor now was the elven lady.
After all, her attitude earlier this morning was nothing like the fool she used to be.
Flora was thinking this when the door opened, and the footsteps became clearer.
She immediately realized she was wrong.
Those were the sounds of boots.
Elka preferred lighter clothing styles that wouldn’t make such noises.
Instinctively, Flora wriggled and looked toward the door.
A black-haired woman appeared, looking at her with a face full of disdain.
“Is this the effect of the etiquette training Marliar arranged for you?”
Even given the current circumstances, Flora couldn’t avoid feeling embarrassed hearing that.
“What do I care about you?”
She retorted sharply at Tatasimi’s scorn.
“You came here intending to sell me out, didn’t you? Name your price.”
“If I sold you out, Marliar would skin me alive.”
Tatasimi pulled a face, clearly impatient. “Cut the nonsense, Flora. I’m here to talk.”
“What?”
Flora wriggled free from the blanket and sat cross-legged on the bed, looking at the female scholar who poured her a cup of tea.
But Tatasimi’s first words stunned her:
“The frostbite special medicine you sent out as the Emerald Heart healer had quality issues, causing problems for the squad. What do you have to say for that?”