Ian furrowed his brow, asking,

“……What kind of contact are you talking about?”

“This kind of skin-to-skin contact.”

Vincent, lifting his arm, clashed his two palms together.

“Can you stabilize an unstable aura with that?”

“Aura flows within the body. To manifest it, you have to push it out with a sword. But must it only be a sword that manifests the aura?”

Manifesting the aura using something other than a sword.

It was a premise Ian had never considered, but it wasn’t a ridiculous hypothesis. Vincent continued as Ian nodded for him to go on.

“I speculated that I could inject my aura into another person’s body in the same way that I manifest it with a sword. Of course, the other person would have to be a Swordmaster. That way, they can accept the aura without any strain on their body.”

“So, another Swordmaster is a necessary condition for this to work?”

“Exactly. When a stable aura meets an unstable aura, the unstable one might temporarily stabilize.”

“Or it might become more unstable.”

At Ian’s point, Vincent readily agreed.

“To be honest, I can’t rule that possibility out. But all the characteristics I’ve observed in Swordmasters have been the same.”

If the aura is fundamentally the same, then an unstable aura likely wouldn’t exacerbate when meeting a stable one.

Vincent added with a somewhat confident expression.

“……”

“And this is just my assumption, but if the power of the aura is not limited to self-healing but has a pure healing ability……maybe it’s limited to the hands only because we’ve been manifesting it through swords.”

Ian slowly lifted his gaze. Vincent, who had cleared his throat in the meantime, opened his mouth with a slightly more confident face.

“The person you’re concerned about, Your Highness, would benefit from even just making contact with another Swordmaster.”

“I understand what you’re saying. The problem is that there’s no other Swordmaster to even try this method with.”

“……That’s true. I’ll research other methods.”

“Go on, then.”

The monotonous sound of footsteps faded, and soon the door closed. Ian was left alone in his office, once again engulfed in silence.

Ian swallowed a sigh and opened a book again. There was no way he could focus on it.

“Another Swordmaster……”

The more he thought about Vincent’s method, the more plausible it seemed. But the problem was that the only existing Swordmaster was Rosebelia.

Moreover, the method involved ‘contact.’ That word made him feel increasingly uncomfortable each time he thought about it.

He wished for another Swordmaster to appear but also hoped one wouldn’t.

Ian stood up and approached the window. Only the moon emitted a bright light in the pitch-black darkness.

Naturally, his thoughts drifted to Rosebelia. Whenever she leaned on his shoulder and fell asleep, he would often look up at the moon.

He remembered precisely what the moon looked like, the temperature of the wind, the scent of trees carried by the wind, the sporadic sounds of insects chirping.

Despite his efforts to focus on those things, all his attention was on her as she leaned on his shoulder.

Her slightly cooler body temperature, the faint scent lingering at the tip of his nose, her subdued breathing.

Thinking about her small hand that would tightly grasp his whenever she fell asleep made him feel suffocated.

“Huh……”

Ian exhaled sharply and ran his hand roughly through his hair. Now, even thinking about her felt like he was pushing his limits.

He gazed at the moon, bright enough to sting his eyes. All he wished was for the night to pass quickly.

“This book also feels like it has scanty records.”
I had read several books related to the Vonnes Empire and the Vonnes royal family, but some sections were sparsely recorded, as if deliberately truncated.

After closing the nutritionally void book at the end, I rose to my feet. Stretching, I looked around the room and suddenly remembered the handkerchief.

I had practiced aura again yesterday, and it seemed like I had wiped off blood with the handkerchief Ian gave me and then put it straight into my pocket….

The problem was that I didn’t remember leaving that handkerchief in my quarters.

Recalling how I had to make excuses when Ann found my blood-stained handkerchief last time, I hurriedly searched through the pockets of my uniform.

“Found it.”

A pointless smile leaked out upon seeing the handkerchief. Ian had given me a new handkerchief every time, even though I told him it was unnecessary.

He’s as stubborn as a mule. He might even be more stubborn than me.

“Miss.”

The door suddenly opened. Seeing Ann enter, I quickly crumpled the handkerchief in my hand and stuffed it into the pocket of my casual clothes.

“Ann, what’s up?”

“Sir Dylan is here. He’s waiting in the garden now.”

“Is that so? Alright.”

I casually picked up the lamp and left the room.

I’ll talk to Dylan, come back, hide it in the drawer, and take it with me when I go to the knight division tomorrow.