It’s quite odd that among our party, only Princess Kanabi is afflicted with a curse.
‘If the most protected member of the expedition is cursed, it should have caused an uproar. But Princess Kanabi is trying hard to hide the fact that she’s been cursed.’
If she were truly a noble royal, she should have sought out a high-ranking priest instead of coming to me when cursed.
Yet, Princess Kanabi didn’t inform anyone and secretly summoned me for treatment.
‘Is she really in some kind of successor struggle with someone?’
I wasn’t particularly concerned about the internal power struggles of another country’s royal family. However, since my patient was directly involved, it was hard not to be affected, which left me in an awkward position.
‘Even if I care, there’s nothing I can do. She’s royalty; what’s there to worry about?’
Just as people say not to worry about celebrities, worrying about royalty is equally pointless.
They are the embodiment of power, immune to laws, even when committing grave crimes.
‘I’m sure she’ll figure it out on her own.’
Still, I couldn’t completely shake off a sense of pity.
It wasn’t pity for her status as a ‘royal,’ but rather for her as a ‘person.’
Despite being young, she displayed an extraordinary level of patience by enduring two hours of hallucinations, auditory delusions, and pain.
It made me think—had she endured so much hardship to develop such resilience?
That pity evolved into interest, leading me to visit her hospital room frequently, just as I had told her I would.
“I’m here.”
Entering Princess Kanabi’s room had become second nature to me.
It felt almost like opening the door to my own house.
“You’re here again?”
Princess Kanabi had also grown more relaxed around me.
The initial wariness she couldn’t hide had disappeared, and she now welcomed me warmly.
Compared to our first meeting, this was significant progress.
“I did tell you I’d be dropping by frequently.”
From the very first day, I had been visiting her room regularly and treating her as promised.
I’ve learned from experience—people naturally lower their guard toward those who heal them.
Princess Kanabi seemed very pleased with my care and requested that I continue treating her in this manner. True to my word, I had been paying close attention to her.
“Oh! I brought this as a gift.”
“A flower?”
It was spring, a season when flowers bloom in abundance.
The neutral zone where the labyrinth was located had distinct seasons, and many brightly colored flowers were in full bloom.
I had picked one of them to bring to her during my visit.
No one had forced her to stay inside the hospital room.
‘Even if I had told her not to go out, it’s not something I could enforce if she didn’t want to comply.’
However, ever since she was hospitalized, she had voluntarily refrained from going outside.
It seemed likely that security concerns were keeping her indoors, but it felt suffocating to see her confined, so I wanted to give her something cheerful to look at.
‘I really should set up a proper VIP room.’
A VIP suite in a temple wasn’t an unusual concept.
In fact, operating special hospital rooms for nobles was a standard way for temples to secure generous donations.
Ironically, our temple lacked a VIP suite.
For now, we were using a single room as a makeshift special ward, but once a real VIP arrived, its inadequacies became painfully apparent.
Particularly after I learned how enormous her attendants’ donation had been.
“The flowers are in full bloom, but I thought you might not have had a chance to see them. I thought you might appreciate seeing one before they wither.”
“Thank you. I never expected to receive a gift like this.”
The room was small, and the facilities were far from ideal, so it must have been uncomfortable for her.
“We’re preparing another ward for you, and you’ll be moved soon. Then you’ll be able to see blooming flowers for yourself.”
“This room isn’t bad. Staying here means you can visit me frequently, doesn’t it?”
“That’s true.”
Once she moved to the VIP room, I wouldn’t be able to drop by as often.
Princess Kanabi held the flower to her nose and inhaled its scent. The sight was captivating.
“If you weren’t a priest, I’d think you were trying to charm me.”
When I picked the flower, I thought it would simply be a nice gesture.
‘She suits the flower so well.’
But watching her enjoy its scent was unexpectedly mesmerizing.
I caught myself staring at her absent mindedly and forced myself to look away, ignoring my racing heart.
“I’ve dedicated my life to the Sun God.”
“Are you serious?”
“Wouldn’t you think so?”
For now, I meant it.
Princess Kanabi didn’t seem particularly interested in my marital prospects and shifted her attention back to the flower.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen something pretty. All I’ve been looking at recently are the grotesque faces of monsters.”
Well, doesn’t she see something pretty at least a few times a day?
‘Every time she looks in the mirror, isn’t that pretty enough?’
If she finds the flower pretty, who am I to argue?
I suggested a place for her to see more pretty things.
“There’s a temple-maintained walking trail. You’ll find plenty of beautiful flowers blooming there. Why not visit when you have time?”
“…Maybe someday.”
Princess Kanabi promised to go someday, closing her eyes lightly.
‘Is there something else going on?’
If she wasn’t choosing not to go outside but was unable to, then what could be stopping her?
This was the temple, after all. Who would dare harm a patient here?
Anyone bold enough to try would face the wrath of the Church.
She must know this, so her caution strongly suggested someone was targeting her.
‘It’s better not to pry.’
Sometimes, ignorance is bliss, and I felt that this was one of those times.
“May I see your arm?”
“You’re such a diligent priest. You treat me so often that I don’t even feel pain anymore.”
“Oh, did I come too early? I saw the lights off and thought you were unwell.”
It had only been two hours since my last visit, so I suppose I was a bit early.
“I thought turning off the lights might help me fall asleep.”
The Kanabi Princess had been living on short naps, barely managing to sleep for brief moments after receiving treatment, and then spending the rest of the night wide awake.
She could only sleep for a short time during treatment, but after that, insomnia would set in again.
Because of this, even though she was hospitalized and receiving treatment, her face didn’t look well.
This is how terrifying lack of sleep can be.
“If it’s too hard to bear, I’ll try to find some medicine for you. There might be a sleep aid that works.”
“You’d go looking for medicine but not pray for me?”
Princess Kanabi joked in a manner uncharacteristic of her.
“Medicine isn’t a solution, so of course I’ll keep praying. I’ll pray even harder today than I did yesterday.”
“Shouldn’t you be praying for people who are worse off than me? It seems the divine isn’t particularly fond of me.”
“The divine loves everyone equally. And as for prayers for the other believers, I can do those later. I never miss my morning and evening prayers. For now, I’ll dedicate my evening prayers to wishing you peaceful dreams.”
The lighthearted mood sparked by the flower quickly subsided but was lifted again by her humor.
Although I didn’t know all the details, it seemed that what she needed most right now wasn’t treatment, but comfort.
We talked about many things aside from prayers.
For instance, Princess Kanabi shared stories of her experiences in the labyrinth, while I told absurd tales of incidents I’d encountered while treating patients.
Treatment had long since taken a backseat.
“I thought I’d had my share of experiences, but it’s nothing compared to yours.”
“I enjoyed the stories you told as well, Princess. I had no idea traps were a bigger problem than the monsters themselves.”
“Ha…”
As we were deep in conversation, Princess Kanabi suddenly closed her eyes tightly.
I realized it was a symptom of the curse.
“I’ll begin the treatment.”
I pulled her left arm out from under the blanket.
Despite the consistent treatment, her left arm, which I’d seen on the first day, was gradually worsening.
The blue discoloration spreading over her arm was disheartening, and I sighed.
“I’ll do my best to completely remove these marks without side effects once the curse is lifted.”
“…Alright.”
At that time, I thought her hospitalization wouldn’t last much longer.
After all, it was just a matter of finding and killing the monster that cast the curse.
It wasn’t like we hadn’t traveled this path before, so it shouldn’t have been difficult, right?
But I would soon learn that things might not be so simple.
I found this out when…
“This isn’t something one would realize in just a day or two.”
…when I met with Bishop Haman.
Being part of the subjugation team preparing to enter the labyrinth, he had been busy, and it had taken some time for him to return to meet me.
In the meantime, I had prepared materials to present to him.
After reading through them, Bishop Haman couldn’t contain his excitement and exclaimed,
“When did you start preparing such a systematic approach?”
Having seen the systems of a ‘major hospital’ in my past life, preparing the materials wasn’t difficult for me.
I just had to write down the knowledge in my head.
In fact, putting it all into written form even helped me recall details I hadn’t remembered before.
“I’ll take these with me when I return to the Holy Nation.”
“Yes.”
“If this is accepted, our Holy Nation will advance tremendously. And it’s you, Priest Arthur, who will have initiated this progress! It’ll be a historic achievement. Haha! Why haven’t you presented this before now?”
“I thought it would be hard to get it accepted.”
Even though I had prepared the materials, I knew the conservatives would foam at the mouth upon seeing them.
Their goal was to follow and preserve the old ways.
But my materials essentially advocated for replacing all the inefficient and outdated systems with modern practices.