IWRIT-12

Chapter 12 – Managing Party Members Isn’t Easy

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I’ll use Mind Reading.

The moment Camellia activated the spell…

An intangible current slipped quietly from her.

Now then…

How exactly does this work?

Back in the game…

Using Mind Reading on companion characters usually displayed a narration.

【You carefully peer into Jehar’s heart… Anxiety. Fear. A terror that everything has already become irreversible.】

Something like that.

If you managed to uncover useful information…

A new dialogue option marked [Mind Reading] would appear during the following conversation.

Most of the time…

That was the correct answer.

Naturally.

If you could read someone’s heart and tell them exactly what they wanted to hear…

It was bound to be the right choice.

Trusting that logic…

She had used the spell immediately.

Now then…

【My Lady…】

…I hear something.

As Camellia waited with bated breath…

A voice—or rather…

Something that resembled a voice without actually being one—

A strange mental resonance—

Echoed inside her mind.

【Were you trying to discover whether my tears are genuine… or false?】

…Huh?

It’s a thought… but it sounds like he’s actually speaking…

【You don’t trust me.】

Meeting Jehar’s tear-filled eyes…

Camellia instinctively understood.

He noticed.

…He noticed?!

How?!

Unlike Domination or Charm…

Mind Reading was a self-buff.

It wasn’t a hostile spell.

Unless someone spammed it repeatedly…

The chance of being detected was less than one percent.

And yet…

Of all people…

She’d been caught by the future mastermind.

Seriously?

Could my luck get any worse?

But instead of panicking…

Instead of trembling or clutching her head…

Camellia calmly declared,

“…What a foolish conclusion.”

“If I truly needed to distinguish truth from lies…”

“I would’ve simply ordered you to speak nothing but the truth.”

“Why would I bother peering into your heart?”

Jehar clearly hadn’t expected her response to be—

So what?

Confusion flickered across his face.

Camellia scoffed inwardly.

What?

You think a veteran player is going to panic just because things got messy?

A flag had been raised.

She hadn’t reached the Bad Ending.

There was no reason to surrender before she’d even tried anything.

“It was I who chose to confront the Reaper.”

“It was I who endangered this fragile body.”

“There is no reason for you to blame yourself.”

“So of course I would wonder…”

“…why you weep so bitterly.”

【So… you truly never trusted me…】

Camellia cut off his thoughts before he could continue.

“Again…”

“You are being foolish.”

She raised a slender white hand.

Her fingertips gently traced the path left by his tears.

“Even if my memories are incomplete…”

“And even if this body is imperfect…”

“I am still your Lord.”

“Your Lady.”

“Your pain…”

“Your sorrow…”

“Should naturally belong to me as well.”

“That…”

Her hand slid lower.

She cupped his chin…

Drawing him closer.

Then whispered,

“Why?”

“Wasn’t your very mind pledged to the one you swore loyalty toward?”

“…”

“Have I wronged you?”

For a long moment…

Jehar’s lips trembled soundlessly.

Finally…

He lowered his eyes.

“No…”

“No…”

“How could my Lady ever be in the wrong?”

“Especially… toward someone like me…”

“Then answer me.”

“What sorrow burdens you so deeply?”

“…”

Jehar remained silent.

More precisely…

He couldn’t answer.

There simply weren’t words capable of expressing the entirety of his grief.

It’s probably difficult to explain…

That you briefly lost your mind and wanted to freeze me forever.

Whatever the reason…

His silence was welcome.

If he was hesitating to answer…

Then his reason had returned.

No dice rolled.

No system window appeared.

Yet Camellia was certain.

Somehow…

Her absurd sophistry had actually convinced him.

“If you truly do not wish to tell me…”

“Then so be it.”

“If you refuse to place it in my hands…”

“I needn’t forcefully take hold of it.”

She subtly pulled back.

Just enough.

As expected…

His response was far calmer than before.

“No…!”

“My Lady!”

“I was only worried about you…”

“If I had done better…”

“If I had…”

“None of this would’ve happened…”

“That is already in the past.”

Camellia gently interrupted him.

“What matters…”

“…is that I am safe.”

“And that I remain beside you.”

“…You weren’t safe.”

Even when she tried to end the discussion gracefully…

He stubbornly argued.

Apparently…

Watching her collapse had affected him far more deeply than she’d imagined.

She understood his feelings.

She really did.

She just wished he’d stop planting Bad Ending flags every time he got worried.

Still…

I think I managed to remove the flag.

The unsettling chill disappeared.

The warmth gradually returned to Jehar’s hands as he supported her.

Camellia finally allowed herself a quiet sigh of relief.

Then lightly tapped his cheek.

“If you’re truly so worried about my health…”

“You could at least help me stand.”

“How long were you planning to keep me sitting on the floor?”

“…Ah?”

Jehar instinctively looked downward.

His face instantly turned bright red.

Only then did he realize…

He had been sitting on the floor…

Holding Camellia in his arms…

While she wore nothing but a thin nightgown.

“M-My Lady!”

“My deepest apologies!”

“What shameful behavior have I…?!”

The moment he regained his composure…

Competent Jehar returned.

He summoned the maids.

They helped Camellia wash up and change clothes.

Meanwhile…

Jehar stood quietly beside them with both hands folded neatly before him…

Reporting everything that had happened while she was unconscious.

The damage to the domain was minimal.

The guards handling cleanup had suffered only minor injuries.

Far more adventurers had been rescued than expected.

“It was all thanks to you, My Lady.”

“They said every location you instructed them to search turned out to be exactly right.”

Naturally.

I told them to search the locations used for the “Find the Lost Adventurer” and “Recover the Adventurer’s Corpse” quests.

As a maid draped a robe over her shoulders…

Camellia asked,

“And Rohengrin?”

“Netanel?”

“They’re both waiting in the outer keep.”

“Excellent.”

“I intended to speak with them anyway.”

“Then… shall I escort you to the reception room?”

“No.”

“My office.”

Jehar looked at her with eyes still glistening with tears.

His expression practically begged her to rest for at least one day.

Camellia answered him with nothing more than a glance.

Impossible.

A Lord has too much work to do.

Once again…

Jehar lost.

With a quiet sigh…

He lowered his ruby-red eyes.

“…Very well.”

“I’ll escort you to your office.”

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Rohengrin arrived first.

Apparently he’d remained on standby the entire half day.

He hadn’t even removed his armor.

His expression remained tense even after seeing Camellia.

“There’s nothing to worry about.”

“As you can see…”

“I’m perfectly fine.”

Only after hearing those words…

Did Rohengrin finally exhale.

Netanel entered moments later.

He looked nothing like Rohengrin.

Apparently he’d taken a proper bath and enjoyed a comfortable rest the moment they left the Tower.

His skin looked refreshed.

His golden hair shone brilliantly.

Even his steps carried a relaxed confidence.

The moment their eyes met…

Instead of greeting her…

He smiled.

Then offered a prayer.

“Blessing.”

“Exchange of the Golden Scales.”

Only after transforming her from a terminally ill Lord into a merely frail Lord…

Did he finally greet her.

“Thanks to you, my employer…”

“I had quite an enjoyable experience.”

“And the scales of the Golden Balance grew considerably heavier as well.”

Camellia answered with a simple nod.

Then spoke calmly.

“I wished to speak with you anyway, Netanel.”

His golden eyes widened.

“With me?”

“…You’re not about to say…”

“‘Your incompetence caused my collapse, so I’m revoking your pardon,’ are you?”

“No.”

“It’s something far more important.”

She declared it with complete solemnity.

“The domain has no money.”

“…Pardon?”

“In other words…”

“We cannot afford the offerings required by the Golden Balance.”

“…”

Netanel continued smiling exactly as before.

His expression remained impossible to read.

The system window, however…

Was far more honest.

[Netanel Pragma’s Affection has decreased significantly!]