The Burning Embers of Hope

Donovan glanced at Ensi, hesitating to speak.

He looked exactly like someone carrying bad news that was directly related to Ensi.

Ensi tilted his head in confusion.

He wondered if something had happened to warrant such a cautious look from Donovan.

Since nothing came to mind, Ensi asked in a deliberately soft and gentle voice.

“Did something happen? If you need help, I will do whatever I can, Donovan.”

He added that Donovan should feel free to speak, but the boy shook his head.

“I am fine. It is just that… well, a problem has arisen for you, Ensi.”

“For me?”

“If the problem is Ensi’s, then why was I the one dragged here?” Lily asked.

“I was so flustered that I made a mistake…….”

Donovan apologized again, bowing his head to Lily.

Lily had been feeling indignant about her interrupted date, but she quickly waved it off.

The spirits circling Donovan had begun to show their displeasure.

Faced with their rowdy behavior, Lily could only grumble to herself.

“What exactly happened that makes you say I have a problem?”

Ensi smoothed his expression and cut through the stalled conversation with a gentle but firm voice.

“Well, it is about what happened at the tea house. I did not mean to eavesdrop, but by chance—truly, by chance—I heard Agniele and a friend named Genea talking behind me…….”

His explanation was a bit rambling, but the meaning was clear.

Upon hearing the names Agniele and Genea, Lily understood why Donovan called it Ensi’s problem and leaned her chin on her hand.

“This time, our side was the one eavesdropping.”

It was a world inside a novel, full of such artificial coincidences.

Ensi turned his gaze toward Lily, perhaps having heard her quiet clicking of her tongue.

“Why? Did someone else get caught eavesdropping before?”

“Oh, nothing. I just remembered how Lancelot’s side once overheard us back when Cyril’s story was in full swing.”

‘Yes, Agniele overheard you and me.’

Swallowing that truth, Lily smoothly offered an excuse and gestured for Donovan to continue.

Donovan took the hint and nodded slightly.

“It seems Duke Lassias has set a condition.”

“A condition? What kind of condition?”

As an audience member, Lily’s reaction was far more active than Ensi’s.

Donovan continued while looking at Lily.

“If the Utia disease is not cured within a year, the marriage… cannot happen…….”

“Ah—.”

Donovan had been partially avoiding Ensi’s gaze, unsure of how he would react.

He squeezed his eyes shut at the short exclamation that escaped Ensi’s lips.

“……What? He is really counting his chickens before they hatch! As if Ensi ever said he would accept a proposal, huh? I am honestly speechless!”

Lily, momentarily stunned by the unexpected hurdle, vented her indignation a beat later.

She jumped up from her seat in irritation, but her eyes secretly drifted toward Ensi.

“No, it sounds like a reasonable condition.”

“How on earth is that reasonable!”

Both Donovan and Lily felt the condition was unfair, yet Ensi, the person involved, nonchalantly defended the Duke.

Lily let out a sharp shout in his stead, breathing heavily.

Her face and neck were flushed with anger that refused to subside.

“The Lassias family lacks descendants. Didn’t he set that condition because of the heir?”

“Why does that matter? They can just adopt from a branch family!”

“Exceptions leave room for doubt. In the history of House Lassias, a member of a branch family has never taken the seat of the head.”

“……That makes no sense. You just said they lack descendants. How is that possible?”

Even in the prestigious Florence family, the position of head was not reserved solely for the direct line.

Since even the head from two generations ago was from a branch family, Lily was shocked to learn House Lassias had maintained a pure direct line.

“No matter how rare descendants were, they likely managed it because at least one was born in each generation.”

“Since when has the infant survival rate in this world been that high?”

“There is holy power.”

It wouldn’t be hard for the heir of a Duke to request help from the Temple.

As long as a child was born, keeping them alive with money and power was not an impossible task.

Ensi himself was still alive despite doctors claiming he wouldn’t pass the age of ten.

“Wait, how do you even know all that?”

“The more information one has, the better.”

“……I have nothing to say to that.”

Defeated in the argument, Lily began to tug at her hair.

It was unfair and frustrating; it wasn’t as if Ensi wanted to be ill.

Yet, even in her anger, she partially understood the Duke’s reasoning, which made her feel even more stifled.

“Then Ensi, are you really okay with this?” Donovan asked cautiously.

Ensi blinked slowly and tilted his head.

“The chance of us ending up together was slim to begin with. I don’t feel much of anything.”

“—Stop lying! You like Agniele. I already know everything!”

If Lily had heard this when Agniele first confessed, she might have brushed it off.

But she was furious now for one reason.

She could see that Ensi had developed a genuine, albeit slight, interest in Agniele!

“It is not to that extent—.”

“How long do you think I have been consuming romance? Do you think I can’t tell the difference?”

Lily glared at him, cutting off his calm denial.

In romance, there is always a stage of denying one’s own feelings.

To Lily’s eyes, Ensi had reached exactly that stage.

The next step would be the realization stage, the true beginning of a romance, yet water had been poured on the spark just as it started to flicker.

Seeing Ensi’s expression—an attempt to mask a faint sense of resignation with cold indifference—Lily frustratedly thumped her own chest.

“Disease, disease! That damn disease makes a person look so pathetic!”

Unable to contain her rage, Lily bit her nail until it broke.

As the sharp edge grazed her lip, a thought suddenly struck her.

“That’s it! Why didn’t I think of that? —Donovan!”

“Yes, yes?”

“You said the period the Duke gave him was one year, right!”

“I… think so?”

Donovan gave a forced smile, watching Lily who was now more furious than Ensi.

He had a feeling things were about to get complicated.

“In that case, our club will step in and conquer that damn Utia disease within a year!”

“What? In a year? We haven’t even found a proper clue yet! That is impossible, Lily!”

Donovan, who was more involved in the research for a cure than anyone, argued it was impossible.

But Lily’s resolve did not waver.

“We have a Saintess, a Magician, and an Adventurer in our club. What could be impossible? We even have some of the richest people on the continent!”

“A year has passed since we all gathered, and we have achieved nothing. Lily, be rational. Some things just cannot be done.”

“That was because we were all too busy with our own romances last year! This year will be different!”

Despite Lily’s hopeful words, both Donovan and Ensi remained skeptical.

They might have more time to help now, but would it actually make a difference?

Cyril, in particular, was harder to see this year due to her duties in the Holy Kingdom.

Ensi spoke up in place of the failing Donovan.

“Even if you do not do that—.”

“Don’t you dare say you are fine! I will get truly angry! Besides, Ensi, you wanted to cure the disease anyway. What is the harm in working a bit harder?”

A lot would change.

A tight deadline meant a massive influx of money and the exhaustion of manpower.

Since there had been no progress, even a single step forward would require astronomical amounts of wealth and time.

Ensi wanted to object, but he swallowed his words under Lily’s fierce gaze.

Lily, noticing their lingering negativity, tried to calm herself down.

“Have you ever seen the materials in the Ingrid Imperial Library?” she asked in a lowered voice.

“I am a commoner, so I am not allowed entry…….”

“Only up to Sector 2 is open for viewing, but I found nothing useful when I checked.”

“So you haven’t seen Sector 1 yet? It’s fine. I have the successor’s plaque, so I can enter Sector 1.”

Sector 1 held the largest volume of highly reliable data.

It contained materials that were not easily accessible to the public.

And that wasn’t all.

“Plus, Cyril is the Saintess. Since Saint Asgard claims to be a Holy Kingdom, they have a deep interest in the history and treatment of diseases. We haven’t looked through the records in the Holy Kingdom yet.”

“That is true. It is, but…….”

“Luke… doesn’t have a successor’s plaque, but he is on good terms with his brother. That means we can check the records of the Kingdom of Lihasel. And we have Titania too. Did you forget her partner is the leader of the Principality of Celine? Celine has the highest historical incidence of Utia disease. Don’t you think they would have a mountain of data?”

Donovan glanced at Ensi as Lily poured out her explanation.

Her words did make sense.

If Titania could get a glimpse of the Celine records, they might find a clue that had been eluding them.

Ensi saw the faint glimmer of hope in Donovan’s eyes and gave a bitter smile.

“Let us not give up easily. We can do more than we think.”

It was not a wrong statement.

In fact, it was true; coming from different countries and social statuses, they had accomplished many things.

But could they really conquer the Utia disease? And in only one year?

Ensi looked at the two of them, who were now determined to try, but he could not find hope within himself.

He had been betrayed by hope for far too long to start believing now.