Chapter 53

After moving from the Arklight Manor to the headquarters of the knights and finishing up some paperwork, it seemed that Kevin, who had just finished his training, came over.

"Rufus, you seem to be in a good mood."

Even though I was just silently working, did I look that cheerful?

I felt a bit embarrassed and covered my mouth with one hand.

Kevin then, as if remembering something, deliberately placed his fist on his palm.

"Today was Lady Sadi's birthday, wasn't it? I'm glad you were able to meet her."

"…Yeah."

"I'm glad you looked so happy."

"……"

I started to worry if I had shown a sloppy face in front of Sadi.

– Because of my father and the others, I couldn't attend Sadi's birthday party.

In such a situation, her friends Eliza and Norman managed to arrange a time for us to meet on the day of the party.

"Of course I'll go to see her, but why me?"

"Because Sadi probably wants to see you the most on her birthday."

"Huh? That can't be…"

"No, it definitely is. We've been watching Sadi for a long time, so we know."

Although their words were hard to believe, if I could celebrate Sadi's birthday after ten years, anything would be fine.

After much deliberation, I decided to give her a bouquet of flowers and a dress that reminded me of the flower field she loved.

"…Rufus?"

On the day of the party, Sadi was wearing the dress I had given her.

Just seeing her in it made me incredibly happy, and it suited her even better than I had imagined. She looked so cute and radiant that I almost shed a tear.

"Being able to celebrate with Rufus is the best."

I only intended to see her for a moment and say "Happy birthday," but when she said such a cute thing, I couldn't hold back and ended up hugging her.

Sadi was small and slender, and she smelled incredibly sweet and good, making me feel dizzy. Thinking about what she had to endure, my heart felt constricted.

– At the same time, I realized how much I loved Sadi, more than ever.

Although we could only spend a short time together because she had a party to attend, it was more than enough for me.

"I hope she's enjoying the party now."

"Yeah."

For ten years, Sadi had spent her birthdays without any celebration from her family, always in that place.

I hoped that from now on, she would be blessed by her parents and dear friends and have happy times.

But then, a few hours later, I received an unbelievable report that Sadi had collapsed after drinking a poisoned drink during the party, and my mind went blank.

"Sadi!"

I immediately rushed to the Arklight Manor, where I found Sadi lying on the bed.

Her complexion was terribly pale and blue, and her expression was one of pain, which made my heart feel as if it were being torn apart.

"Lord Rufus…"

"Is Sadi going to be okay…?"

Around her were the Earl and Countess, as well as her friends. Everyone had a pained expression, and Eliza, with a barely audible voice, whispered my name and bowed her head.

"Her life is not in danger, but the doctor says it's unknown when she will wake up."

"…Why did this happen?"

I heard that Mabel, who was in Eliza's body, had also ingested the same poison.

When I asked what had happened, for some reason, Norman and Neil Basset took the Earl and Countess out of Sadi's room.

Inside the room, only Sadi, who was unconscious, me, Eliza, and Gerald Findlay remained.

Findlay, with a face that looked like he was about to cry, was holding Sadi's hand.

"I should have stopped it. This whole thing."

"What do you mean?"

When I looked at him, Findlay bit his lip tightly. In his place, Eliza spoke.

"…Actually, Sadi collapsing was part of the original plan."

"What?"

After hearing the details of what led to this situation, I found myself punching the wall.

Sadi had been pushed to such an extent, yet I had been celebrating her birthday carefree and in high spirits.

I felt even more helpless when I heard that Sadi had kept it from everyone to avoid worrying me.

'Really, happy birthday.'

'Thank you so much today. Be careful on your way home.'

'Yeah. Have fun.'

Just thinking about how Sadi must have felt at that moment made me want to cry.

"Why did Sadi do such a thing…"

"Because she thought she was the best person for it… It was supposed to be a drug with no side effects, but it seems she ingested more than the prescribed amount by mistake."

Even after immediately giving her the antidote, Sadi continued to suffer and remained unconscious.

"Moreover, there's no movement from Mabel's side. It's hard to believe she could endure such pain."

Findlay had apparently taken the same drug once before and stated that it was impossible to endure for such a long time.

This meant that Mabel had likely used the magical artifact to escape into another person's body again. However, neither Eliza nor Norman had returned to their original bodies.

"Could it be that the magical artifact wasn't at its limit…? I thought it would break after one more use."

"We don't know. We can only wait and see."

Saying "I'm sorry" to the unconscious Sadi, tears quietly streamed down Findlay's eyes.

Eliza also apologized and covered her face with both hands.

"…Damn it."

Thinking that all I could do now was pray for her quick recovery, I felt deeply frustrated by my own powerlessness.