Chapter 6
Surprisingly, Shen was not lying.
It had been strange that there was no one in the long corridor, but as they drew closer to the kitchen, a flurry of noise grew louder and louder.
“Gah…!”
One of the servants carrying dishes spotted Aquila and recoiled in shock.
It was the kind of reaction one would have upon running into a wandering monster in the field.
Aquila felt even more suspicious at that response.
‘…Please take that over there. And we will borrow one side of the kitchen, so let the others know as well.’
Before Aquila could say anything, Shen stepped in front of him.
Moments ago he had been hesitating with an awkward expression, but now, speaking clearly and pointing to the right, Shen carried a firmness that allowed no objections.
The servant, face drained of color, hurriedly bowed and scurried away.
“…Is something going on?”
Yujelia whispered quietly, having been watching the situation.
From her perspective as well, Shen’s behavior was puzzling, given how courteous and cheerful he had been until now.
But Aquila did not know the reason either.
‘If this were a conspiracy, they are all far too obvious.’
Aquila silently looked at Shen, and Yujelia’s gaze followed his.
‘There is definitely something going on with this body.’
If that was the case, he would have to approach it carefully.
Even if it would eventually be discovered, it would be troublesome if they realized right now that someone else was inhabiting this body.
Carelessly saying the wrong thing and restarting the run was something he had already outgrown early on.
“So, shall we prepare the tea now?”
Despite saying he would borrow only one side, Shen cleared out nearly half of the fairly large kitchen and set up there.
The servants who had been pushed aside continued chopping, slicing, and boiling on the other side, each carrying out their assigned tasks without complaint.
They whispered among themselves occasionally, but their voices were too low to hear.
With Aquila present, they all seemed careful with their words.
After a quick look around, Aquila decided to focus on the task at hand.
Once the curse was gone, he could investigate more thoroughly.
“I will handle the brewing—”
“What? You? Someone who has never even boiled water in his life, what are you talking about?”
Shen shook his head vehemently, as though horrified.
Then, as if he had prepared it beforehand, he placed a chair down and sat Aquila on it.
“I will do it.”
Yujelia stepped forward confidently.
She looked exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep, but her eyes still shone brightly.
“Ah. Would you do that? If I handle the flower, well, the yellow glow might disappear…”
Shen muttered anxiously.
Since it was his first time seeing a flower glowing yellow, he seemed to think it best to leave it to Yujelia, a priest.
Of course, unless the divine power contained within the flower was extracted or used, a flower that had once absorbed divine power would not revert.
That was, unless a priest absorbed the divine power from it.
“Do we use only the petals?”
“No. We need to use all of it.”
Since the entire flower had been offered to the god, consuming every part of it was necessary for it to have meaning.
At Aquila’s answer, Yujelia nodded, rolled up the sleeves of her robe, and began carefully digging away the soil to uproot the flower.
She remained tense, but when the yellow light did not fade even after the flower was fully removed, relief finally crossed her face.
“…Shen is definitely hiding something, right?”
Glancing around, Yujelia whispered softly enough that only Aquila could hear.
Apparently, it was obvious to her as well.
Given how blatantly he was broadcasting, “I am hiding something,” it would be truly obtuse not to notice.
Even now, he kept glancing toward the servants like a dog that needed to relieve itself.
“I have been told I wear my emotions on my face, but Shen seems even worse than me.”
Yujelia murmured as she washed the flower clean in the water she had drawn.
Perhaps thinking that the curse might be lifted after only a day had eased her heart considerably.
Given the stature of the house, she might have felt hesitant or awkward initiating conversation, but none of that showed.
It was either Yujelia’s naturally easygoing personality, or the uniqueness of the situation.
“Has he always been like this?”
At Yujelia’s question, Aquila found himself at a loss for words.
From his perspective, it had only been a day since he became Aquila Reschenhardt.
Aquila glanced sideways at Shen.
That people were not defined solely by what they showed on the surface was something he had learned painfully over dozens of runs.
That servant, too, might look harmless and foolish on the outside, but even now, he was probably carrying a dagger.
“Well…”
“If you are done preparing it, shall I start brewing the tea?”
As soon as Aquila trailed off, Shen, having tidied up the tools, stepped in at just the right moment and asked.
“Ah, yes! Here.”
Yujelia handed over the flower she had carefully washed.
Taking it with both hands, Shen examined it for any damaged parts.
“Do we not need to dry it?”
“Yes. I said tea, but you can just put it directly into the water and boil it whole. Just until the light no longer shines from the flower.”
“Understood! I will prepare it right away!”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Shen sprang into action.
Normally, this servant worked efficiently and quietly, but now he seemed frantic, as though he wanted to finish this as quickly as possible and leave the kitchen.
Was he trying to hide something, or was he practically begging to be questioned?
His overt impatience only made Aquila look at him with greater uncertainty.
‘…Could this be some kind of advanced psychological play?’
The thought even crossed his mind.
Yujelia seemed to feel the same, casting a subtle glance at Shen as he rushed around and bumped his side into a protruding corner with a groan.
Letting out a sigh, Aquila spoke.
“Shen. Have I never told you that everything shows on your face?”
It was a somewhat impulsive question, but Shen flinched and turned around, his expression instantly deflating.
He clearly looked like someone who had heard that before.
“What are you hiding?”
After saying that, Aquila fell silent and stared straight at Shen.
His blank expression was cold enough to be intimidating, and even his facial structure alone exerted a strange pressure.
Shen quickly bowed his head deeply.
“I was not planning to hide it forever. Your condition is still not good, so I meant to tell you later…”
As Shen added his excuse, he glanced at Yujelia.
‘Something awkward to reveal to an outsider?’
And given that he was concerned about Aquila’s condition, it seemed more serious than expected.
Sensing this, Yujelia took a step back, but before she could speak, Shen shut his eyes tightly, as though making a decision.
“Lady Celsia has collapsed.”
Celsia?
Aquila frowned instinctively.
It was a name unfamiliar to him.
Since Shen used an honorific, she likely held a high position, but the fact that Aquila did not immediately recognize the name suggested she did not appear in the main scenario.
‘…But then what is this?’
What was stranger was the way his heart stirred the moment he heard the name.
As if the body itself were reacting.
Every time he forcibly possessed a new body, he occasionally experienced such phenomena, and they fell into only two categories.
Either someone most precious to the original owner, or someone who inspired fear.
The name “Celsia” belonged to the latter.
The instant he heard it, a chill ran through him and his stomach churned unpleasantly.
It was a bad sign.
“If you mean Lady Celsia…”
Yujelia quickly glanced around, then lowered her voice and whispered.
“Yes. The mistress collapsed this morning. I had heard that she had not been well recently, but this is the first time she has collapsed like this…”
Shen nodded as he continued explaining.
Even so, rather than worrying about her, the servant kept his attention fixed on Aquila, and from that alone, Aquila could tell that there was something deeply wrong between Celsia and the original owner of this body.
Something very bad.
‘…Right, now I remember. The second mistress of the Reschenhardt house was named Celsia.’
The title “mistress” made the memory surface easily.
Not because she herself was famous, but because of the first mistress.
The poignant romance between the current head of the Reschenhardt house and a woman of far lower status, which ultimately led to marriage, was widely known.
It was so famous that nearly everyone, noble or commoner alike, knew the story.
After the heroine of that romance died, the second wife the Reschenhardt house took was Celsia.
Since Aquila was the child of the first wife, Celsia was effectively his stepmother.
And yet, if even mentioning her caused his personal attendant to send him such worried looks, Aquila could hardly imagine how bad their relationship must have been.
‘More importantly, the timing is convenient. Could Celsia Reschenhardt be the one who cast the curse?’
After Aquila was cursed, Celsia Reschenhardt collapsed.
And the backlash from casting the Curse of Deadly Poison inevitably manifested in the caster’s body.
That was the price arranged by the god, and no one could avoid it.
At this point, it was only natural to suspect Celsia.
The circumstances fit together almost too perfectly, to the point that it felt suspicious in itself. However, since the lifting method was not yet public, the method of casting the curse would not have spread either, so simply being unwell might not have raised suspicion.
That might be why, in all twenty-nine runs before he possessed this body, nothing ever came of it…
Aquila frowned as he watched white steam rise from the spout of the kettle.
“It is boiling.”
“…Ah, yes!”
Seeing Aquila’s expression darken, the fidgeting Shen snapped back to his senses and moved.
When he lifted the kettle lid, the once-fresh flower had withered into a shriveled black mass, and the boiling water shimmered faintly.
Following Aquila’s instructions, Shen carefully removed the flower and poured the contents of the kettle into a fairly large cup.
Seeing the liquid slosh inside the cup, Shen and Yujelia let out small exclamations.
The water infused with divine power sparkled like reflected sunlight.
“If you drink all of this, will the curse really be lifted?”
“Of course.”
Shen raised the cup as if intending to test it first, but Aquila shook his head, saying there was no need.
Not a single drop could be spared for the lifting.
‘Once I meet her, it will become clear. One way or another, an information window will appear.’
Cutting off that thought, Aquila did not hesitate and lifted the cup.
The moment he drank the ‘water brewed from an evening primrose infused with divine power,’ his brows knitted slightly.
“Are you all right? Is something wrong…?”
At Shen’s words, Yujelia’s face went pale.
Without even looking at them, Aquila answered.
“It tastes bad.”
“W-What?”
Ignoring Yujelia’s dumbfounded reaction, Aquila made a subtle face.
‘This… blandness. That indescribable taste is the same as ever.’
Salty, sour, bitter, sweet… it was impossible to tell what flavor it was, an unpleasant muddle.
It tasted no different from the tea he had drunk in previous runs to lift the Curse of Deadly Poison.
Which meant—
Ding!
[The Sun God Raspalara extends His benevolent hand toward you!]
[The lifting of the Curse of Deadly Poison has begun!]
The window Aquila had been waiting for appeared.
If he simply finished the cup now, barring any unforeseen issues, the curse would be lifted.
Trying not to focus on the taste, Aquila steadily drained the cup.
Though it tasted terrible, the same warm sensation he had felt when Yujelia’s divine power flowed into him spread through every corner of his body.
A warmth unlike cold mana, full and comforting.
As if swallowing bitter medicine in one go, Aquila finished the remaining contents at once and set the cup down.
At the same time, a notification rang.
Ding!
[The Curse of Deadly Poison has been completely lifted!]
[Status: Normal]
Aquila immediately called up the status window.
The Blessing of the Sun God was still flickering, but the words “Curse of Deadly Poison” were gone.
He had finally escaped the threat of a curse that could kill him at any moment.
But it did not end there. Multiple notifications chimed as windows appeared in succession.
Ding!
[First successful lifting of the ‘Curse of Deadly Poison’ achieved!]
[Achievement reward: Title acquired — ‘One Who Lifted the First Shadow of God’!]
[The Sun God Raspalara greatly rejoices at receiving an offering imbued with pure divine power!]
[The earnest prayer contained within the evening primrose spreads deep throughout your body!]
[Maximum health increases slightly!]
“…Huh?”