(Arin's Perspective)
"Giving a gift to your lover? How romantic."
That voice struck like lightning in broad daylight. Erika's face instantly turned a deep crimson, resembling a boiled crab. She waved her hands frantically, trying to deny the accusation with every ounce of her strength.
"W-Wait! Lady Elena! I-It's not like that! We aren't... I mean... Arin was just..."
I let out a soft sigh. Erika panicked far too easily. I looked at our uninvited guest calmly. A Duke's daughter wouldn't visit a slum dormitory just out of boredom. We had never even spoken privately before.
"What brings you here, Lady?" I asked politely, ignoring her teasing.
Elena stepped inside. She sat on a simple wooden chair with graceful movements, as if she were descending onto a Queen's throne. Her golden eyes focused on me, decorated with a mysterious smile. Meanwhile, Erika beside me stared sharply, full of vigilance. It seemed she still harbored a grudge for being humiliated and compared to Elena in class the other day.
"Do you not intend to serve warm tea to your guest?" Elena asked, casually ignoring Erika's hostile gaze.
"Apologies, Lady. We only have medical alcohol and plain water here. If you don't mind, I will prepare it immediately."
Elena was more or less the same as her grandmother. The type of noble who enjoyed toying with their conversation partners. I couldn't let my guard down and end up humiliated like the last time in the Headmistress's office.
"Is that so? What a pity."
Now that I saw her up close, I noticed something odd. Although her tone was haughty and her posture upright, her physique looked fragile. Her face was rather pale, her lips slightly blue, and her fingertips trembled ever so slightly. There was a thin dusting of snow clinging to her eyelashes, even though this room was quite warm.
Thump... thump... thump.
Her heartbeat was unstable. Her body temperature seemed dangerously low. As if disregarding her body's screams, Elena maintained her mask of noble dignity perfectly.
"So, what business does the Lady have in this place?" I asked, trying to steer the conversation to the core issue.
Elena stared at me sharply. "You said my circuits were wasteful and I was burning my own engine. I couldn't sleep thinking about your words."
"Oh, so you have insomnia because of my criticism? Sorry, I don't prescribe sleeping pills."
"That's not it! I want you to take responsibility!" Elena argued, her voice rising slightly. Her beautiful eyebrows twitched in annoyance.
On the other hand, hearing the word 'responsibility' made Erika jolt in shock. She stared sharply at me and Elena in turns with horror. What wild imagination was spinning in this girl's head?
Actually, there was no obligation for me to help Elena. I just needed to say that my criticism the other day was merely a layman's rough analysis. But if I could cure Elena's abnormal condition, it would give me a massive political advantage. A connection with a Duke's Family wasn't something one could get every day.
After weighing the pros and cons for a moment, I decided my move.
"Lady, your body temperature seems unstable. It is as if you are freezing from the inside. I cannot ascertain the cause without examining it directly. Of course, only if the Lady permits."
Elena didn't answer immediately. She looked at me with a calculating gaze, weighing the risk of letting a stranger touch her.
"Very well. As long as you don't cross the bounds of propriety."
"Rest assured, Lady. I only want to check your pulse. Just on the wrist and neck."
Elena offered her soft, white hand. A biting cold immediately stung my rough skin when we touched. It felt like holding a block of ice. I pressed my index finger to the inner side of her wrist, right below the base of the thumb.
Thump... thump...
The pulse in the radial artery was extremely weak and slow, exactly like someone suffering from acute hypothermia. It was truly amazing that Elena could still stand tall, let alone walk here, in such a critical physical condition.
Meanwhile, Erika's gaze grew sharper. She grumbled softly while hugging her pillow tightly, as if wanting to squeeze it until it burst.
"How long has the Lady felt cold like this?" I asked with a professional tone worthy of a doctor.
"Three years. At first, it was just ordinary cold, but lately, my body temperature has dropped drastically."
"Has the Lady ever undergone Buff Magic Therapy?"
"I have. The royal doctor gave me light magic buff therapy. But the result was nil. The heat didn't last long."
"Does the Lady's body temperature feel like it drops only when casting magic?"
"Not really. I feel cold especially when using Aura techniques."
Satisfied with checking the pulse via the hand, I asked for permission again. "Excuse me, I need to check the neck."
I moved behind Elena's chair. She understood my intention, then with a graceful movement, she swept her silver hair to the side.
It revealed the side of her long white neck which was wide open, as well as a silver necklace with a diamond-shaped Magic Crystal as its ornament. The object glowed dimly.
"Excuse me..."
I touched the area below the angle of Elena's jaw using my index and middle fingers, pressing gently on the side of the neck to find the carotid artery.
Thump... thump...
My brow furrowed deep. Her pulse was very weak and slow. Conversely, her breathing frequency was very fast but shallow, as if her body was trying desperately to generate heat through metabolism.
Something was wrong. Elena was unmistakably suffering from severe Hypothermia, but somehow she could look fit at a glance and her skin remained smooth. Was that necklace artifact the culprit?
Suddenly, a strange sound escaped Elena's mouth when my finger pressed a certain spot.
"Hmmph..."
"Eh, sorry!" I pulled my hand back in panic.
"It is fine. Ignore it. Continue."
It seemed that was a sensitive spot. I touched it again more carefully, trying to ignore every soft moan and strange sigh that escaped her mouth as ordered. However, this was a heavy mental test.
Meanwhile, Erika glared. She bit the corner of her pillow in frustration when hearing every ambiguous sound. What was this girl actually thinking?
"Ahh..."
"Umm..."
"Err..."
Damn it. If anyone else heard these sounds from outside the door, they would surely think I was doing something indecent to a noble's daughter. My reputation could be destroyed.
"Lady! Please don't make strange noises!" Erika snapped suddenly. Her anger exploded, unable to bear this ambiguous scene any longer.
Erika, honestly, it is your mind that is strange. This is purely a medical examination.
"Oh... apologies. Your boyfriend does it very expertly, so umm... it tickles," Elena teased with a mischievous smile.
"Sorry Lady, please don't say things that could cause fatal misunderstandings," I pleaded in panic. Cold sweat began to flow on my temples. Honestly, this situation was very awkward for me.
"Hoo... your panicked side is cute too!" Elena's teasing smile was now directed at me.
"Haha..." A dry laugh came out of my mouth. I truly didn't know how to respond to a high noble who enjoyed teasing commoners like this.
Erika suddenly exploded. Her face was fiery with jealousy and anger. Reflexively, she threw the pillow she had been hugging at Elena. Unfortunately, her throwing accuracy was very low due to emotion.
The pillow missed and slammed squarely into my face instead.
WHACK!
"Argh... Erika, calm down. You missed the target," I complained while pushing the pillow away.
"Hmph..." Erika turned her face away, puffing her cheeks while crossing her arms over her chest. It was clear she was sulking heavily.
Fortunately, the examination was finished before a real pillow war occurred.
"Lady, I want to ask. What is the actual function of that necklace?" I asked seriously, pointing at the crystal on her neck.
"So you noticed, huh." Elena held her crystal necklace. "This is a Life Stone necklace artifact. The person wearing it will receive a gradual supply of life vitality to maintain appearance and stamina."
"So this object is responsible for making the Lady look healthy even though your internal organs are freezing. But an object that powerful cannot be without side effects. Right?"
Erika gasped in surprise hearing my analysis, forgetting her sulking for a moment.
"You are right. Wearing this thing too long will cut the lifespan of my body cells," Elena answered calmly, as if discussing the weather.
What!? I gasped in shock. Even Erika, who was sulking, gaped.
"Sorry Lady, how long have you been wearing that necklace?" This time Erika took the initiative to ask, her tone turning worried.
"About a year. Maybe my life will be cut by ten years due to the side effects," said Elena with a sad, ironic smile.
Erika and I fell into silence hearing that confession. We always felt like the unluckiest people in the world because of our syndrome defects. We thought people like Elena were the luckiest humans blessed by the gods. It turned out that was a naive view. Elena also fought with her own 'defect', just like us. Behind that glitter of gold and silver, there was suffering she swallowed alone.
"Lady, my diagnosis is that you are suffering from Chronic Mana Hypothermia," I said, breaking the silence. "The main cause is your habit of canceling spell casting halfway too often."
Elena looked at me in confusion, asking for further explanation.
"Mana in the human body is generally dynamic. It adapts to the user's physical condition. If you cancel casting too often, the heat energy from that mana surge is not channeled out and gets trapped inside the circuit. As a result, your body's defense mechanism perceives it as a fever and tries to lower the body temperature extremely to cool it down."
I took a pause, letting her digest it.
"Unfortunately, your dynamic mana then adjusts its condition to that cooling body temperature. This creates a vicious cycle. A cold body makes mana cold, and cold mana makes the body even colder. This indeed makes the Lady very talented in ice magic because your mana affinity changed, but the consequence is your body will freeze slowly from the inside."
Elena's eyes widened, as if amazed and horrified at the same time by the detailed explanation. Then she asked with a slightly desperate tone, her arrogant voice crumbling.
"Is this... a curse?"
A curse? Why did she consider a medical disease a curse? Who told her this was a curse?
"Relax, this is not a curse. This is purely a medical illness due to technical error. If we can return your mana condition to neutral and warm, then you will be fully cured."
Elena's expression relaxed instantly, her shoulders drooping. It was as if a weight of thousands of tons that had crushed her all this time was lifted slightly.
"I see... Thank goodness. I thought I was cursed."
"I will make an emergency potion. At least this will warm your body for a while. During that time, I will collect ingredients to concoct the permanent cure."
"Alright. Thank you, Arin."
Without wasting time, I went to the small laboratory in Doctor Edna's practice room which was not far away. I began to concoct a mana warming potion. I used every resource available in that lab. Edna was my research partner, so I figured she wouldn't mind if I borrowed a little of her 'kitchen spices'. After all, I would compensate later.
Truly a unilateral justification that shouldn't be imitated.
I crushed red ginger tubers, eastern ginseng roots, dried hyssop leaves, and a sprinkle of fire mana stone mineral powder. After that, I mixed everything with purple rose glycerin liquid as a solvent. Once stirred evenly into a paste, I heated it with a magic Bunsen flame. Small bubbles popped, spreading the distinct aroma of spicy and warming ginger throughout the room.
Immediately, I poured the steaming murky yellow liquid into a large glass, then brought it back to the dorm room.
Elena watched me bring the suspicious murky yellow liquid. There was a slight hesitation in her expression. Naturally, a noble daughter wasn't used to drinking liquid that looked like muddy water.
Seeing that predicted hesitation, I took another empty glass, divided the liquid into two portions, then drank one of them in front of her.
"Drink this, Lady. It is safe," I said after downing my share. It tasted spicy and hot, stinging the throat. "Half this glass is enough to suppress the cold effects of Chronic Mana Hypothermia for a few days."
Seeing my action, the doubt on that beautiful face was swept away. With slightly trembling hands, she took the glass and downed the mana warming potion.
"Ugh... spicy," she hissed softly.
But instantly, her expression changed drastically. Her purple lips slowly returned to a fresh red. A pink flush appeared on her pale cheeks. Her stiff face softened, replaced by an expression of comfort from the warmth she had sought for years.
"T-This!? This is effective. Truly effective. My body... feels warm," she muttered in disbelief, holding her own chest.
A sincere smile, far different from her fake noble smile, formed on her lips. She looked at me with glassy eyes.
"Thank you. I truly thank you, Arin," said Elena sincerely, trying to hold back tears from falling to maintain her dignity.
"Don't be too happy yet, Lady. This is only a temporary solution. Wait for about another week. I will collect ingredients to make the main medicine."
"Certainly. If you need any help, you can contact me privately."
Hearing the words 'contact privately' made Erika grumble again in the corner.
"Hmph! Just watch out if you try anything funny," whispered Erika softly but sharply.
Haha, it was truly cute seeing her with that jealous expression. But more than that, I smiled satisfied inside. I had successfully established a debt of gratitude with the Daughter of Duke Rhyms.
This would be my biggest Ace card in this cruel Academy.