“Did you have a good dream, Nelly?”

“Grisha…”

The way Grisha called my name gave me a strangely ticklish feeling that made me awkward.

But the hands that held me tight were as always, so I soon forgot the awkwardness and smiled broadly.

Grisha, who had been with me for a long time, keenly noticed my condition without me saying a word.

“It seems you talked too much. You were quite excited yesterday, weren’t you?”

“Yes! Yes!”

“You don’t have to force yourself to speak. I know better than anyone in the world what you’re thinking.”

Grisha’s smiling face was radiantly beautiful.

As I was about to continue cuddling up to Grisha and act spoiled, Cedar suddenly grabbed both my shoulders and pulled me back.

“You’re being too physically close. It might have been a natural greeting at the academy, but shouldn’t you refrain from it outside?”

Why the fuss as soon as we meet? I pouted my lips. The kind-natured Grisha just smiled and greeted Cedar first despite his hostility.

“Good morning.”

“…Yes. Good morning.”

Seeing Cedar’s deeply furrowed brow, it seemed he realized he had acted childishly even by his own standards.

Just then, Jack opened the front door and entered.

“Good morning, Captain.”

“Yes.”

It was none other than Cedar who had told Jack to come to the mansion.

Jack’s eyes, looking at Grisha, were filled with expectation, twinkling like stars.

Without needing me to introduce them or relay information, the two recognized each other and exchanged greetings smoothly.

“Hello? I’m Jack.”

“Reverence to the guardian of the ancient forest. I am Grisha, a magician.”

“It seems all magicians have extensive knowledge about other races.”

“I’m embarrassed to say I looked up some literature when I heard you were an elf.”

“You’re modest.”

Just from exchanging a few words, Jack seemed to have figured out that Grisha was a decent person.

Without further delay, Grisha said he would examine Jack’s curse right away.

“Then please lie down over here.”

As we shouldn’t interfere with a magician’s work, I closed the door to the room they entered.

And I, who had been feeling weak since morning, quickly flopped down on the reception room sofa as if I’d been waiting for this moment.

“Your skirt.”

Cedar, who had followed behind me, immediately started nagging. He was pointing out that my legs were exposed as my skirt had ridden up when I laid down.

‘How annoying.’

Of course, I didn’t move an inch. What’s the big deal if someone sees my legs?

Cedar probably didn’t expect me to listen anyway, as he covered my body with a thin blanket and sat down nearby.

‘I think I’m starting to get used to his nagging too.’

I yawned lazily like a cat sitting in a warm spot.

Cedar, who had been fidgeting with his fingers while sitting, finally seemed unable to bear the boredom and spoke to me.

“…When did you promise to introduce Grisha to Jack?”

“The last time he came to check if my fever had gone down. I felt so sorry for him.”

“You said it was a curse?”

“Yes. Probably.”

Magicians rarely give definitive answers.

‘And curses aren’t my area of expertise anyway.’

I thought it was a curse because it wasn’t natural for cold energy to flow in the chest of an elf, a forest race, but if it had been an ordinary person, they might have thought he was a magician skilled in ice magic.

‘Ugh, I want to explain all of this! How I knew something was strange! How fascinating magic is as a field of study!’

But it was difficult to explain detailed knowledge comprehensively when I didn’t know what the other person already knew, so I just groaned inwardly.

That’s when Cedar asked first about what he was curious about.

“How is a curse different from magic?”

That was exactly the question I had been hoping for. I excitedly chattered away in response.

“It’s completely different from magic. A curse absolutely requires someone’s negative feelings.”

“Negative feelings?”

“Hmm, how should I explain this?”

Cedar seemed to be almost completely ignorant about magic. I tried my best to explain as simply as possible.

“Let’s say I suddenly want to make it rain on the herbs in the field right now. If I convert magical power into the element of water and make it fall as rain, that’s magic. If I don’t have power like magical energy but borrow the power of a god to make it rain, that’s a blessing. But if I try to wither and kill the herbs using magical power, or the power of an evil being, or anything else, that would be a curse.”

After hearing my explanation, Cedar furrowed his brow.

“But aren’t good and evil determined by human subjective judgment? It seems strange that natural elements like magical power would move according to relative concepts like good and evil.”

“That’s a very good point. You’re sharp.”

“Well…”

Cedar, seemingly unaccustomed to praise, became embarrassed when I complimented his words.

“As my husband said, it’s usually not easy to perfectly distinguish between magic and blessings. So generally, when judging a curse, the criterion is whether it betrays someone’s earnest desire or not.”

“That earnest desire seems just as subjective to me.”

“Hmm, should we call it will then? If I have the desire to cherish the herbs, but they wither, it’s often judged as a curse.”

“Then what kind of curse is Jack’s case?”

“I’m not skilled at deciphering curses, so I can’t give a definitive answer, but I think it might be the most common type of curse. The one that threatens life.”

At my answer, Cedar’s face became gravely serious.

“Life… Because every living being has the desire to live?”

“That’s right. And the more primal the desire, the more powerfully the curse manifests. Of course, the price to establish such a curse would be heavy too.”

“I understand roughly. So a curse wishing for someone’s death is the most common.”

Usually, the most common case is when someone puts a curse with the feeling of hating someone enough to want to kill them, but there’s one more extremely powerful curse besides that.

“I also know that curses related to love are powerful.”

“Love? A curse to make someone love me?”

“No. That would be a cute spell. What I’m talking about is a curse that turns the person you love into a cripple.”

At my answer, Cedar made a bizarre expression as if he couldn’t understand at all.

“Why the person you love? Don’t you usually wish for the happiness of the person you love?”

“Loving feelings aren’t always welcomed, you know. They say there are people in the world who want to destroy something if it can’t be theirs, so that it can’t belong to anyone else. I find it hard to understand such desperately yearning emotions myself. Aren’t people unable to become someone else’s possession in the first place?”

“Well…”

I had spoken lightly, but Cedar’s serious expression and ambiguous response made things awkward.

Well? Does that mean he understands a little?

‘What!? Destroying if it can’t be yours? Or desperate yearning?’

Cedar, who may be blunt but is a good person, wouldn’t want to destroy anyone, so that means…

‘Could it be that he has experienced desperately yearning for someone? Or is it ongoing?’

Imagining Cedar struggling with a burning love was both unimaginable and made my heart flutter.

I stared at Cedar with curious eyes.

‘A love story! I’m so curious!’

Perhaps feeling my piercing gaze, Cedar casually brushed his cheek. Then he said something utterly mundane.

“Anyway, I hope Grisha can break Jack’s curse.”

“…Yes, indeed.”

What’s this, when you put it like that, it makes me feel like I’m the only trashy one here.

‘Ah, how boring.’

I was getting excited thinking he might tell a story of intense first love. Of course, even if he did, I’m not in any position to give advice.

I’m someone who hasn’t built any bonds beyond what I have with Grisha, let alone love.

‘Still, one should have some romantic notions.’

Really, you’re not going to say anything? Even though I’m all prepared and waiting to listen?

Although my desire to hear had cooled by half, I still didn’t give up and stared at Cedar with sparkling eyes.

Cedar rubbed his face with his palm once again, then very slowly opened his mouth.

What came out was completely different from what I had expected.

“…But isn’t it bothersome?”

“Pardon? What is?”

“You said earlier that you talked a lot.”

“Ah!”

I thought he was going to say something else, but he was referring to what Grisha had said when he arrived earlier.

I quickly shook my head.

“It’s not bothersome at all. I could happily explain about magic even if I were starving for a week! Magicians are very talkative to begin with. Of course, I get tired quickly if it’s not about magic.”

Especially vegetable talk.

If I hear nagging about eating vegetables, I might hole up in my room for a week.

As I rapidly fired off my answer, Cedar blinked his eyes wide. Then he gently narrowed his eyes and gave a faint smile.

“That’s good then.”

It’s just a smile. He’s just facing me.

‘Ugh, what a strange feeling!’

My whole body felt tingly, as if being tickled. I hunched my shoulders.

‘I’ve been really weird lately. I don’t think I was like this when I first started living with Cedar.’

These days, I often feel short of breath and my face gets hot.

‘Could it be a sign of health issues?’

Right. There’s no way a healthy body would have its heart pounding for no reason. I threw off the blanket and got up from my seat.

When you’re not feeling well, you should move your body.

‘This phenomenon seems to only occur when Cedar is nearby, so I should stay away from Cedar too.’

There’s only one place where I can move around while being away from Cedar.

‘Let’s go to the field!’