Come to think of it, Erika had quite a bit of experience wiping down others’ bodies.
Bathing the little ones at the orphanage she occasionally visited had always been her habit. Recently, she even had to help Evelyn bathe with that awful-tasting soap from time to time, which the other girl treated as a reward.
“Then, pardon me.”
“Mmm.”
Her palm lightly brushed against the half-undone shirt on the other’s shoulder, and the oversized garment simply slid down the spine and onto the bed.
After her time with the Big Guy, Erika understood that noble ladies were probably extremely vigilant about their bodies and would not easily expose their skin in front of outsiders.
Let alone someone like her, a commoner they looked down upon.
If it were the usual Miona Drako, she should have been shouting angrily, “How dare a mere commoner take off my clothes!” But right now, she didn’t seem to have much consciousness left.
Just how high was her fever?
A light touch—”Wow.”
Placing her hand on Miona’s forehead, the girl was startled by the abnormally high temperature.
Can a human’s body temperature get this high? Won’t she burn her brains out?
The contrast between her usual arrogance and her current weakness, allowing Erika to do as she pleased, flashed through her mind briefly. The extraneous thought was quickly replaced by a sense of mission—she had to find a way to bring the fever down.
It’s quite dangerous for the human body to maintain a high temperature for a long time; it could cause irreversible damage. Erika soaked a towel in a basin of cold water, wrung it out, and began gently wiping down Miona’s already mostly exposed, snow-white body.
“It might be a little cold.”
“Mmm, ah…”
As time passed, her breathing didn’t steady; instead, it became increasingly rapid, as if she was having difficulty breathing.
Erika racked her brains but couldn’t figure it out. Her gaze suddenly fell on Miona’s heaving chest and the tightly constraining bra…
So, is it because I haven’t experienced it myself that I didn’t think of it immediately?
“Miss Miona, please allow me to be rude.”
“Y-you, what are you doing…”
And so, the girl deftly unbuttoned Miona Drako’s bra. The style wasn’t something she couldn’t recognize just because Miona was two cup sizes larger, so Erika’s movements were fairly skilled.
The liberated safety cushions, now without the pressure from the sides to gather them, looked somewhat deflated.
Hmm, this is a height the fairy bloodline cannot reach.
“Ugh, mmm.”
Hearing Miona groan painfully and collapse onto the bed, the girl became even more aware that she couldn’t waste time now.
With the damp towel, she carefully started from the neck, wiping down the shoulders, armpits, collarbones, chest, and abdomen, conducting a comprehensive global wipe-down.
“Haah, hoo… hoo hoo…”
Perhaps because her skin was as hot as a frying pan, the cool, damp touch of the towel felt quite comfortable and relaxing. Miona’s previously pained expression gradually eased, and her tightly furrowed brow relaxed.
Seeing her rapid breathing gradually steady, Erika also felt slightly relieved.
“Erika… Angelina…”
Miona seemed to be regaining consciousness, calling out the names of the people beside her in a somewhat melancholic voice.
Erika patiently leaned in to listen. “Yes, I’m here. What is it?”
“…Why… are you only wiping the front… and keep wiping only the chest…? There’s no need to wipe there anymore…”
“…The back needs wiping too. I’ll help you turn over.”
Erika helped the completely weak Miona turn over in bed, placing her face down with her back toward the ceiling.
“Huh?”
Then, she unexpectedly discovered something unforeseen there—a pattern.
On Miona’s back was clearly tattooed a huge design, a circular pattern like a pizza, with intersecting lines and cross-shaped marks inside.
When the girl’s gaze swept over the characters engraved there, her mouth subconsciously read them out slowly.
“Nova…?”
“Bzzz—” As the word fell, the symbols carved on Miona’s back emitted a halo of light, inputting information into the girl’s eyes.
[Nova: Intermediate Curse. It constantly consumes the life force of the bearer until their vitality is exhausted, turning them into a desiccated corpse. The effect varies depending on the caster’s level and mana quality.]
A curse…
The moment she saw those words, the girl immediately realized that this curse was the culprit behind Miona’s terrible condition.
Can it be removed?
Attempting to physically wipe away the curse runes drawn on that pristine, jade-like back, she had just moved the towel onto the pattern on Miona’s back when the prone girl let out a piercing scream, “Aaaah—!” and trembled uncontrollably.
Indeed, only magic can defeat magic. Dad didn’t lie to me.
Thinking of her own foolish action just now, Erika blushed a little. She anxiously asked, “Are you alright?”
“What… did you do…? My body, ugh…”
Just touching the magic circle with her hand caused pain? Beads of blood even began to seep from Miona’s back.
“Ugh, ah!” Perhaps due to increased pain, Miona grabbed the bed sheet in front of her and began tearing at it, large beads of sweat appearing on her forehead.
“Ugh—!”
Was it because she touched something she shouldn’t have that it became like this? What should she do?
The extreme confusion and anxiety made Erika’s head start to heat up as well, but only for a moment.
Soon, the talent she possessed, Calm Thinking, swept through her like a Siberian cold front, washing away her useless and excessive negative emotions.
After the tide of rationality receded, only one thing remained in her mind. It was a spell the girl had learned after coming to this academy.
“Serafina!”
This was the first time using the nullification magic, Serafina, in practice. Theoretically, it should be able to erase the curse script drawn on Miona’s back, as long as the curse hadn’t transcended magic and reached the level of fundamental laws.
“Crackle, crackle, crackle.”
As the intimidating incantation left her rosy lips, arcs of electricity began to gather and disperse on Miona’s back, subsequently erupting into deep blue sparks.
After the Drake family’s Great Lady was struck on the back by this blue electric dragon, she let out a sharp cry like an angry cat tricked into going to the vet for neutering, “Meeeeooowww…!”
“Ding!”
When a sound like shattering glass rang out, the pattern drawn on Miona’s back quietly evaporated like steam. Her beautifully curved, smooth back appeared as if it had always been that way. Everything returned to calm, back to its original state.
Approximately five more minutes later, Miona finally regained consciousness.
“Hoo…”
Although she seemed lucid again, she currently looked like she couldn’t lift a finger.
“What… happened just now…?”
“I removed the curse magic circle drawn on your back, Miss Miona.”
“A curse…? Removed…?” Erika briefly explained everything that had just happened to Miona, who still seemed to be processing the situation.
After hearing the story, Miona simply said, “I see,” and fell silent. Then, as if realizing she was naked, with only a cute pair of panties remaining, she gently pulled the blanket over herself.