# 58
---
Then I suddenly realized that the current Lucio couldn't answer any of my questions.
Why am I standing in the rain now?
I blinked and tears flowed.
No, it might be rainwater.
“Leah, are you okay now?”
The Duchess wrapped her arms around my shoulders.
Only then did I notice that the burning heat in my heart had subsided.
There were also magicians standing in a circle around me doing something.
“Are you okay, everything is okay now.”
The Duchess hugged me tightly.
I smiled and shook my head at her muttering.
“It's not well at all, ma'am.”
From the moment I opened my mouth, I couldn't control my tears.
“I was never well.”
“Leah...”
“Is it my fault that I am an orphan?”
“I never wanted it, and yet it's all my fault. ... I let it go.”
While I was speaking, I quickly covered my mouth with my hand.
Suddenly I felt very dizzy and I felt something inside me.
When she screamed and spat, my hand was hot and wet.
The red thing that I couldn't fit in my little hand fell down my arm and onto the floor.
For a moment, I wondered if I would die like this again, and stared blankly at the blood I coughed up.
Gradually, my vision narrowed and my vision became dark.
Then I felt like the world was spinning and my body was tripping.
“Leah...!”
When I felt a hand grabbing me, I lost consciousness.
* * *
When Leia suddenly lost consciousness, the astonished Duke rushed to her and hurriedly checked the child's breathing and heartbeat.
From the outside, there doesn't seem to be any major problems...
“Mana Exceed.”
In reaction to suddenly pouring out a large amount of mana and then quickly blocking it, he vomited blood and collapsed, so his body must have been a mess.
Thelin, the chief mage of the Duchy of Elad, spoke in a nervous voice.
“Your Highness, we need treatment immediately.”
The Duke nodded at these words and picked up the child.
Even though it was raining hard, Leah's body was hot.
It chilled my heart at the thought that if he hadn't sensed the ferocious energy of mana as soon as he entered the Servant's headquarters, something truly big would have happened.
Likewise, it was fortunate that Lucio, who quickly realized this, had an attendant who would summon all of the Duke's magicians in advance.
However, contrary to the Duke's thoughts, the fact that the situation had ended at this point was all thanks to Leia's actions of escaping the room to calm the mana surge.
The magicians immediately tried to stop the explosion by spreading magic stones and magic circles, but they were unable to control Leia's mana.
The Duke grabbed Leia, and the wizards followed him, entering the main building.
In the garden there were many servants who heard the commotion, including maids who had fled because of the fire, but no one spoke a word except for the sound of falling rain.
A little while ago, the little girl's face, which was shedding heavy tears like the dew of dawn, did not leave.
Everyone was speechless upon seeing the little girl shivering pitifully and wondering if it was her fault that she was born an orphan.
They could not believe what they had done, ignoring and rejecting the child.
Jack, who had come running after hearing the news too late, was clenching his fists and looking at the spot where Leah had disappeared.
I wanted to rush to the main building right away and check if everything was okay, but I had no right to do so.
I felt a huge sense of blame for myf because I couldn't do anything until Leah got to this point, but so far, there was nothing I could do for her.
then.
“Sir, how can you be like this? Come in...”
Just like Jack, the servant stomped his foot on Lucio, who was exposed to the rain and had no intention of moving.
Just then Jack looked at Lucio and stiffened with a strange sensation.
The man, whose life was so busy that it was almost dangerous, spoke coldly.
“Where is the head maid?”
At that moment, Jack felt as if he heard the Grim Reaper's voice.
* * *
When the thunder and lightning flashed through the heavy rain, the light flashed for a moment in the dark room and then quickly disappeared.
“Ah!”
At that time, a woman's sharp scream echoed throughout the room.
After a moment, the door opened with the sound of quick footsteps and the light turned on.
"my lady."
The man quickly approached the bed and took the woman's hand.
The sweat-soaked woman was breathing heavily.
She looked like she had lost her mind, with light pink strands of hair on her forehead and sweat sticking to her cheeks.
“Dear! My baby is crying, she keeps crying, and it hurts me. What should I do?”
“I think I'm looking for me, my baby I should be by her side...”
The emaciated woman continued to cry and beat her chest.
The man then grabbed the woman forcefully as she tried to run outside in the heavy rain.
He watched his wife's tears fall uncontrollably like a broken faucet, and he chewed his lips as if trying to hold back the tears.
“I'm sorry I couldn't protect my baby...I'm so sorry.”
“...Your Highness the Archduke, should I contact Marietta?”
At that time, the old servant who was standing in front of the open door asked cautiously.
At this, the man, Archduke Cale Bellus, nodded sternly.
* * *
“What is the current situation...?”
The Duke asked with an expression of disbelief.
Tailin swallowed, swallowed once, and repeated what he had said a moment ago.
“It is dangerous, her whole body will catch fire, and she will feel pain like being stabbed with a needle. Tonight is the decisive moment.”
“Didn't you say you had an hour to spare?”
While the child was transferred, he said it was fortunate that the situation had been resolved to this point.
But now we are at a critical stage?
But Tailin nodded as if there was no lie in what I said.
“Thank God, there are many cases where a body explodes during a mana explosion and the person dies instantly.”
Even if you can't control a small amount of mana.
With an unprecedented amount of mana like Leia's, this level could truly be considered a miracle.
But the Duke still looked at Leia lying on the bed in disbelief.
The Duchess said she could no longer trust the maids, and changed the child's clothes herf instead of leaving them in their hands.
Leah, who had wiped away all the moisture, let out a low moan even as she passed out, tears streaming from her closed eyes.
It looked extremely painful just looking at him, but it didn't look like he was in such terrible pain.
“I would be more likely to be believed if I struggled and screamed as I did during the escape.”
It was a miserable feeling that could not be expressed in words to see the child whimpering alone as if to relieve the pain.
“Ah!”
At that moment, when the door opened and closed, Diana's loud cries could be heard.
The Duchess entered the room looking tired.
Unfortunately, Diana, who woke up late, came down to the first floor and bumped into the Duke who was coming carrying Leia.
Allen, who was waiting in the hall, hurriedly covered Diana's eyes, but he clearly saw Leia's face soaked in blood and unconscious.
Diana, who burst into tears, insisted on going to Leah's side, but Leah's condition was not good and she needed extreme rest.
Eventually, the Duchess came out to comfort Diana, but judging from the noise outside, it seemed like it was having no effect.
The Duchess asked as she wiped away Leah's cold sweat and flowing tears.
“Is Leah okay now?”
Thelen shook his head slightly as he looked at the Duke's frozen expression.
Then he quietly went out to replenish the artifact's magic stone that helps control mana.
On a large scale.
The door closed, and the Duchess opened her mouth as if to break the heavy silence.
"my dear . … ".
The Duke, who had been staring intently at Leia, averted his gaze.
“This is all my fault.”
The Duchess, whose eyes were red, blamed herf and continued talking.
“I thought she was fine, I should have paid more attention.”
The child, who had lived in an orphanage all her life, proudly adapted to the castle, which was a completely new environment.
So I thought it would be normal for me to be fine when she came to DC.
I thought that since I publicly showed that I cared about Leah, the staff would take good care of her.
It was a satisfied judgement.
The staff of the Capital Palace were different from the staff of the Grand Duchy Palace, and all the procedures they performed for Leia turned out to be toxic.
“It's not your fault.”
Lucio had already dragged the maids who were trying to punish Leia into the dungeon.
The Duke, who heard their whole story as if they were making excuses, was really angry.
I couldn't believe something like this was happening inside the house where he was staying.
I wasn't brought here for this.
As the little girl said, I didn't put my hand down to hit them and bully them like that.
"but . … ".
When the Duke saw his wife biting her lip and shaking her head, he could tell what she was saying.
〈I could leave at any time, I could go anywhere! 〉
He must remember the words Leia shouted.
The Duke himf kept repeating those words in his ears.
“Huh.”
The Duke let out a long sigh, opened his mouth, and dried his face with both hands.
“I've never been able to understand why this smart kid refused to sponsor and insisted on becoming a maid. Given the books I chose to read, I didn't seem to have any interest in studying. To be honest, the reason I allowed Diana to be taught so early was also because I was thinking about Leia. I thought she might feel something when she looked at her from the side, but... now that I think about it, I don't know if she was thinking about leaving at any point from the beginning.”