Chapter 3

As Luisa, who seemed to be sleeping while drinking her mother's milk, Amelia, her mother, smiled.

"…Please take care of this child."

"Wait, Amelia! Don't go!"

"A little…tired, it seems."

With that, her mother exhaled deeply and closed her eyes.

"Squish… (So her name is Amelia, huh?)"

Thinking it was a good name, Luisa, now full, also fell asleep.

◇◇◇◇

After Luisa and her mother fell asleep, Luisa was carried by a wet nurse and taken to the infant's bed.

On the other hand, the father, who thought his beloved wife had died, collapsed, placing his hands on the floor and wept bitterly.

"Ugh… Why… God, spirits, why… why do you take Amelia from me?"

"……Your Highness."

"AAAAAAAAAAH"

The doctor's call did not elicit a response from the father. The doctor, a woman in her early forties with gentle eyes, continued.

"Your Highness! Pull yourself together! Your Highness!"

"AAAAAAH"

"Your Highness! The lady… is just sleeping."

"Ooooh… Oh?"

The father lifted his tear-streaked face and hurriedly looked at his wife's face.

"Your Highness, the curse on Amelia has been lifted."

"…What do you mean?"

The father looked at the doctor, confused.

"The discomfort Amelia experienced from the beginning of her pregnancy was due to a curse, wasn't it?"

"That's correct, Your Highness."

"You diagnosed that you couldn't lift the curse, right?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"Why was a curse that even the best healer in the country couldn't lift, now lifted?"

During her pregnancy, Amelia was suddenly cursed. The doctor couldn't lift the curse, and healing magic was ineffective.

The doctor said the birth was too dangerous. Both mother and child would die. Even if, by some miracle, she gave birth safely, Amelia would certainly die.

The father pleaded with her many times to give up the birth. But Amelia insisted she would give birth even if it meant her death.

"How is Amelia's condition now?"

"She has passed the critical point. She should be fine for now. She is no longer in immediate danger of dying."

"Will she not die?"

"Of course, her physical strength has declined, so we need to be careful."

The doctor, who had also given birth, emphasized this point.

"Even in a healthy state, childbirth is extremely draining. Lady Amelia was cursed. Even though the curse has been lifted, we must be cautious."

"Aa, I understand."

The father nodded sincerely.

"……God, spirits… Thank you."

The doctor approached the father, who had finished his prayer, and whispered in his ear.

"Your Highness."

"…What is it?"

"For a moment, I felt as if the young lady used healing magic."

The father looked at Luisa, who was sleeping soundly in the infant's bed.

"Impossible… Can a baby do that?"

"Normally, it's impossible. However, when I gave birth to my son and gave him his first milk, I felt a presence of spirit magic from him. Of course, it didn't activate."

In other words, it is possible for a newborn baby to use spirit magic, the doctor implied.

"Hmm. Your son…"

"Yes. He has been serving as a court mage since this year."

"I know. He broke the youngest record by a wide margin, becoming a court mage at the age of ten, a genius."

"I am honored."

"Even your genius son couldn't activate it…"

A curse is different from an injury or illness. Curses are brought about by "cursers," evil beings. Cursers are sometimes called the natural enemies of spirits because they feed on weaker spirits. And a curse cast by a curser can only be lifted by a spirit magic stronger than the curse.

"…I ask you to keep this a secret."

The father silenced the doctor. A baby, especially a royal one, lifting a curse that the best healer in the country couldn't lift, had too much political significance. There was a risk of being killed before growing up.

"I understand."

The doctor nodded deeply. Then, the father lowered his voice even more.

"I ask you to keep this a secret."

"I have already understood and will not speak of it."

"Even to my father and, of course, my brother."

"To the king and the crown prince, Your Highness?"

"Yes. I don't want the king to be informed either."

"…Understood."

The doctor, after a moment's pause, bowed deeply.

Afterward, the father made everyone in the room keep the secret.