Grin’s movements caught the attention of Hilberu. Watching him stand before the door in hesitation, she asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing. I was just thinking that I still have some unfinished business to discuss with Dolores. I’m trying hard to recall our previous conversation,” Grin replied, shaking his head.
“Ah… Princess Dolores, I see.” Hilberu walked to his side, wrapping a white cloth around the wound on her wrist.
Suddenly, the sound of something falling echoed from inside the room. It sounded like a heavy object, followed immediately by a girl’s startled cry.
“Dolores?! Is everything all right?” Grin pushed the door open.
Or rather, he failed to control his strength and broke the door in one go. The scene inside was instantly revealed to the two of them.
Viseliane had been placed on Dolores’s bed. Beside the bed stood a dressing table, and Dolores was currently kneeling on the floor in front of it. It looked as though she had accidentally fallen.
Upon seeing Grin’s appearance, Dolores’s face showed a mix of panic and joy, but her body instinctively shifted its position, as if she were trying to hide something.
“Mr. Grin… and, Lady Hilberu…”
Dolores frowned slightly, pausing for a moment when she mentioned Hilberu’s name, as if she were trying to remember something.
“Dolores, what happened to your hand?” Grin asked.
The moment he entered, Grin had scanned the surroundings, subconsciously looking for whatever had made that loud noise.
The table was empty, save for some cosmetics and jewelry, but sharp bloodstains and wounds had appeared on Dolores’s hands and thighs at some point.
Grin remembered that those wounds were not there when he left.
A blue Memory Crystal lay on the floor, but its edges were not particularly sharp. New information popping up from the System continued to distract his thoughts.
Dolores fidgeted awkwardly behind her back for a moment before standing up. Only after Grin spoke did she follow his gaze to the injuries on her hands and legs.
Dolores was not a Class-holder; her physical fitness was merely that of an ordinary person. As she leaned over to pick up the Memory Crystal from the floor, Grin’s movements overlapped with hers.
Grin picked up the crystal first. Hesitation and a strange look flashed in Dolores’s eyes, but seeing Grin made her fall into a dilemma of whether to advance or retreat.
“Is this yours?” Grin asked.
“Yes, so could you return it to me? Mr. Grin.” Dolores nodded and reached out toward him.
Grin inspected the Memory Crystal in his hand. The few parts that could be considered sharp edges didn’t have much blood on them. Just as he was about to return it, a voice recording inside the crystal was activated.
[No matter what, I will never place the lives of others above my own… I have always been the person most afraid of death…]
[Time and time again, I try to convince myself to accept…]
*Snap.*
Dolores reached out and snatched the crystal back from Grin’s hand before the recording was even halfway through. Fortunately for her, Grin hadn’t been holding the crystal very high, so someone of Dolores’s small stature could reach it with a slight hop.
“Don’t listen to that anymore; it’s just the grievances of a child!” Dolores immediately shut off the recording.
Turning her head, she looked at Grin with an expression of relief and said, “I told you, Mr. Grin, I will be fine… just as I believe in myself, I believe that the one who understands me best will always be me.”
“Everything was just a false alarm. What I was once anxious about was ultimately nothing more than a death I imagined on my own. In fact, I haven’t changed at all. It was true in the past, and it is true now!” Dolores stowed the crystal away and looked at Grin with a smile.
Was it the joy of surviving a disaster? For some reason, in Grin’s eyes, it looked more like pure delight.
Perhaps, when a predicted death does not occur, the resulting emotional swing naturally leads to this state.
Then, Dolores turned her attention to Hilberu. Her gaze became sharp, accompanied by a peculiar expression.
“Lady Hilberu, we have found a way to treat Viseliane. Could you leave us some time for communication now?”
Having been called out, Hilberu, who was observing Viseliane’s condition, reflexively replied, “Princess, I can stay and discuss it with you. As a Saintess, my Holy Arts might be able to help here…”
“That won’t be necessary,” Dolores interrupted.
After casting a Holy Art, Hilberu exited the room, using a bit of Magic to fix the door enough so that it could be closed.
She felt like she had just experienced a wrong sensation.
She felt as if Dolores harbored some hostility toward her. Though it had vanished in an instant, was it just her imagination?
Once Hilberu was gone, Dolores brought the topic back to herself and Viseliane.
“Mr. Grin, did you obtain the medicine to save Viseliane? It should be in your hands now.”
As soon as Dolores finished speaking, a transparent green fruit-like object appeared in Grin’s hand. From the moment it was brought out, it began to radiate a surging wave of life energy into the surroundings.
“The Legendary consumable [Spring of Soul Mending]. I’ve just completed the third stage of the Main Quest. I believe you can see it; this is the quest Reward,” Grin said.
From his perspective, Dolores had always been able to see his Quest Board. This was something revealed at the end of the second memory of [Punishment].
By extension, Grin was certain that the reason Dolores had said those things earlier was because she had seen the Rewards for the Main Quest [Curse of the Former Kingdom].
Hearing Grin’s words, a look of hesitation appeared on Dolores’s face. She realized Grin was laboring under a misunderstanding.
From beginning to end, the only thing she could see was a solitary Affection Level.
“That task… it seems like it was planned out,” Dolores said, her words sounding somewhat hollow.
Grin walked to Viseliane’s side, preparing to use the item. Hearing Dolores’s sentimental remark, he replied, “Yeah. The [Song of Death Hidden by the Undead] that followed right after [Curse of the Former Kingdom] feels almost like a trial bestowed by a God in an adventure. But as you said, the System is something similar to a trial.”
A strange thought flashed through Dolores’s mind, and she did not continue the conversation.
She was wondering why the version of herself in the memories could see the tasks on Grin, but she couldn’t. Was there some method to make Grin’s tasks visible?
If she asked directly, she would blow her cover. Furthermore, Grin might realize that the ‘Dolores in the memory’ was not actually her.
From the moment she woke up, the System had become an unstable factor.
Why did her past self confess the matter of the System to her? It had left her in a position where she now had to pretend everything was normal.
It was irritating.
Dolores walked to Grin’s side. Grin was pressing his hand against Viseliane’s chest, with the item held in his palm.
“Hmm?” Grin thought Dolores might have an issue with his actions. Perhaps this was indeed a bit too intimate for Viseliane.
But Dolores simply placed both of her hands on top of Grin’s. Her entire hand wasn’t even as large as Grin’s palm.
“Dolores?” Grin asked in confusion. He didn’t call her Princess like the others; after they had spoken openly, he subconsciously reverted to his old habit.
“I’m a bit annoyed. Although I can’t do anything right now… at least let me have some sense of participation, rather than just standing by and watching,” Dolores said.
It was a perfectly valid reason, so Grin didn’t say anything more. As the item took effect, Viseliane’s aura began to recover rapidly.
Previously, Dolores had been heartbroken over Viseliane’s condition, shedding tears several times.
Now that Viseliane’s condition was improving, the heaviest stone in her heart had finally been lifted. This was a moment worthy of tears and joy.
Dolores lowered her head. Grin certainly couldn’t see her expression clearly.
There were no tears on her face, only the dried tear-tracks she hadn’t wiped away.
Viseliane opened her eyes and woke up.