Chapter 263

12. Forest Language

“Th… this can work? Even the court magicians were helpless, this little girl, she…”

“Mother Queen, please trust Miss Shaya.”

“But… sigh, whether I believe or not, what does it change… Even if I don’t believe, there’s no other way… Livra, I know you are heartbroken, but your mother feels even worse. Still, we must stay strong. Even if you place your hopes on this child… in the end, it will only hurt more.”

“Please trust Miss Shaya.”

“……”

Queen Maqiya had never seen her child this resolute before.

Livra clenched both fists tightly against her chest.

Tears shimmered in her eyes, her teeth bit down on her lip, yet her gaze was incomparably firm.

A mother knew her daughter best.

This child, Livra, had been born carrying a trace of “loneliness.”

Whether it was facing the Demon Clan Princess alone, or leaving her homeland bearing the fate of the nation, or even earlier when she alone endured the ridicule and cold stares of her siblings—she had never once asked anyone for help.

But at this moment, she looked as if she would entrust even her life to Miss Shaya, willing to give everything just to beg her for help.

Maqiya could only feel… that this was her smashing a broken jar, overwhelmed by grief and having lost her usual sharp and calm judgment.

The wish Maqiya had always had—that her daughter would learn to rely on others—had come true in such a way. How tragic…

No matter what Maqiya thought, she had already relented and allowed Shaya to treat the King.

Ha, in truth, her permission was not even necessary.

While she was lost in sorrow, Miss Shaya had already used her small frame to slip between her and Livra, her little head leaning toward the bedside as she began to observe.

“Miss Shaya…! May I ask… can Father King still be saved?”

“Eek!”

“…Is he beyond saving?!”

“No, I mean your old man’s face is so pale, it’s kind of scary!”

“P-please don’t startle me like that! My heart right now… ha… feels like it’s about to jump out.”

Well, even if she did not say it, it was obvious how nervous she was.

Sheffy could feel it clearly—the hand of hers that Livra gripped with both hands was trembling at an intense rate.

Livra’s body temperature was usually on the higher side, yet now, although her palms had a thin layer of sweat, they were as cold as ice. It even made Sheffy feel that if she did not give a conclusion soon, she might have to save one more person in a moment.

“I’m not a physician, so I might not be right, but… I think his symptoms are very similar to an illness I knew back in my hometown.”

“Your hometown…? Is it some disease from the Demon Domain? Ah…!”

Tsk… this was bad.

Livra was too nervous and had let something slip.

She stiffly turned her head, and sure enough, she saw an indescribable shock appear on her mother’s face.

“Livra…? You said Miss Shaya’s hometown is the Demon Domain? What does that mean?”

“I… I mean Miss Shaya once went to the Demon Domain to tr—”

“Alright, alright, enough. Let’s not talk about irrelevant things for now.” Sheffy stretched out her small hand toward the back, signaling for the mother and daughter to quiet down. “If there’s anything to explain, I’ll explain it myself later. What you want most right now is for the King to wake up, right? If that’s the case, then we’re in agreement—stay quiet for now. If you disagree and want to scrutinize my identity instead, then go ahead and keep chattering and holding me accountable.”

It was a decisive and blunt statement.

Livra went without saying—though she was filled with worry, she temporarily released Sheffy’s hand and stepped aside, doing her best to suppress the tension in her heart, holding her breath and focusing, waiting patiently.

As for Maqiya, there was a reason she could become the Queen of a kingdom.

The surprise and doubt between her brows disappeared in an instant after hearing Shaya’s words.

What replaced it was her slightly lifting her skirt and bending her knees in a respectful curtsy toward Miss Shaya.

In the name of the Queen, she displayed humility.

No matter who you are… and no matter your identity, as long as you can save Celt, then you are a benefactor of Aurus.

No, a benefactor to me and Livra.

Very good.

They both understood reason well.

At last, it was quiet.

This environment finally gave Sheffy the space to think calmly.

Coughing, coughing blood, weakness, difficulty breathing, persistent high fever.

Mm, those were probably all the symptoms of that old King.

When Sheffy said earlier that it resembled a common illness from her “hometown,” she was not referring to the Demon Domain.

But to a much, much more distant past… knowledge from a life that had already faded away.

Pneumonia.

And not just that—it had progressed to a very severe stage.

If that was the case, then Healing Magic, which was only used to treat external injuries and colds, would not have any effect.

It could not be confirmed for certain. Just as Sheffy had said, she was not a physician and did not truly understand medical knowledge.

But she had at least studied before.

She vaguely remembered an illustration from a textbook.

A person on a sickbed.

A deathly pale face.

And leaves outside the window, about to wither and fall.

She had forgotten the author and the background, only remembering that it was an era with backward medicine. Someone had contracted pneumonia—an incurable disease in that time. There was money for treatment, but no medicine to cure it. A human life could only wither alongside the falling leaves, quietly awaiting death.

When she first studied that passage, Sheffy had felt suffocated, her heart filled with sorrow.

She had prayed that such a thing would never happen to herself or to those she cherished.

And yet… later, Xia’s terminal illness had been far more despairing than the suffocation described in those words.

No need to think about that now. She would hug Xia when she got home.

Whether she understood medical knowledge or not did not matter.

Even if she did, this world had no specific medicine, nor treatments like intravenous drips.

In that case, it did not matter.

A faint breeze began to rise.

Beneath her black, fragmented bangs, her eyes slowly closed.

Her slender hand lifted, level with her shoulder.

Dark green fluorescence wrapped around her arm, forming patterns of leaves and flowers in the air.

“What… is this?”

Maqiya widened her eyes. Even a well-informed Queen could not identify what kind of magic she was witnessing.

It felt like Healing Magic, yet the high concentration of magic particles filling the air… the sheer amount of magic power was simply inconceivable!

Moreover, magic was never something that could “paint” in the air like this.

“Teacher Shaya once said this.” Livra looked on as if admiring a piece of art, her eyes filled with reverence and awe. “She said, true magic is the mountains and rivers, lakes and seas—the entirety of nature.”

At the windowsill, butterflies flew in.

Though the window had been tightly shut, no one knew where they came from. It was as if they had crossed space itself, striving to find the indifferent yet beautiful fairy within the forest, to share in her joy and sorrow.

Butterflies landed upon Sheffy’s steadily raised fingertips, fluttering in dance—so the magic patterns were actually the trajectories of their flight.

【Transcendent Healing Magic · Forest Language】

As long as a person had not died, it could cleanse all pain—the ultimate form of Healing Magic.

It was recorded in the books within the Demon Clan’s Forbidden Book Repository.

Sheffy had caught a glimpse of it at a glance while laughing back-to-back with Belith.

And thanks to Syla’s translated book, she had been able to understand it.

Every time she recalled Xia’s experiences in her previous life, she regretted not encountering this magic sooner, and thus she had forcefully engraved its spell formula into her mind.

All Healing Magic in this world could only treat external injuries and minor colds. Only 【Forest Language】 could heal all internal illnesses.

And now… because of Livra’s request, she brought out this magic that had long been sealed within her heart.

Livra, watch carefully.

This is the fulfillment of my promise to you.

【The first Demon King used this to heal a dying friend, ultimately ending in a pyrrhic victory.】

【This magic consumes an enormous amount of magic power. Even as a six-winged being, the King could barely sustain it.】

【For this technique, the King exhausted his magic source and required five years of recovery. Thus it was forbidden, sealed within the Forbidden Book Repository, never to see the light of day again.】

When she came back to her senses—

The entire room had already turned into a vast expanse of blank white, as if one were within clouds, drifting across a sea of stars.

Looking out, a towering pillar of white light pierced through the clouds and night, blazing like a radiant sun in the darkness above Aurus, illuminating more than half of the Royal Capital.

Eclight hurriedly pushed the door open, rushing in to see what had happened.

Yet he was stopped at the doorway by Livra.

“Your Highness?! May I ask, this is…?!”

“Shh…”

Please do not disturb Miss Shaya…!

Because…

Her emerald gaze turned back, filled with countless emotions that could neither be spoken nor explained.

Ah…

Standing at the center of the light, surrounded by dancing butterflies, her figure drifting gracefully—

How utterly mesmerizing it was…

Thump—thump—

It was no longer clear whether that was the rhythm of the magic—

Or the lament of a beating heart.

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