Queen Shaula and Luca???

W-what are they doing in front of my past self’s tomb?!

D-did they make a mistake in their stop?

Y-yes, that seems to be the most plausible reason!

After reading the name in the tomb, they will stand up and leave…

 

“Here we are, Luca.”

The words that came out of Queen Shaula’s mouth after she read the name of the tomb shattered my denial completely.

She was indeed coming for my tomb… but the question remained… what for?

I wasn’t that close to her when I was still alive as Reinst… Heck, I didn’t even remember when we ever interacted at all…?

So… Why?

I proceeded to conceal my presence further as I kept myself hidden, listening to what they were going to say next.

Although eavesdropping someone might be a breach of privacy, but this matter had something to do with my past life, so I had the right to know at the very least… right?

 

“This is…,” Luca bent down and read the name written in the tomb. After he took a look at it, he straightened his body and turned to look at his mother with an inquiring look.

“Are you familiar with the name?” Shaula asked.

I unconsciously shook my head on Luca’s behalf. How would he know?!

But contrary to my expectation, Luca nodded instead.

“Reinst Carnatia Grabberton. Of course I’ve heard about her. She was the lady rumoured to be the top queen candidate when Father was still a crown prince,” Luca said as if it was a matter of fact.

Eek, just how much is he supposed to know? This kind of fun fact doesn’t seem to matter when it comes to his princely education, does it?

Queen Shaula patted Luca’s head with a smile on her face, “You remember it well.”

I had expected Luca to stop the patting and said, ‘Mother, I’m not a child anymore!’, but he didn’t do anything and seemed to be enjoying the patting albeit he seemed to be blushing shyly.

Ooh? I guess we’re quite the same. Head pats and being spoiled are nice, though they can be quite embarrassing.

He’s kinda cute this way…

Wait—hold up!

I clapped my cheeks silently.

Wake up, Lyra! Is it the time for being distracted?

Dang Luca!

 

My mind managed to find another thing to ponder about in an instant.

Since Reinst was formerly the top candidate for the queen—which meant King Titus’ former spouse candidate—, wouldn’t that mean she was somehow a rival or someone who’d make Queen Shaula’s eyes sore?

*gasp*

Is she going to say ‘Look at this poor girl, hohoho! You wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t died, so let’s celebrate!’?

I quickly shook my head, shook my wild imagination.

Queen Shaula isn’t that kind of person.

 

“Why are we here, Mother?” Luca voiced exactly my question.

“The reason I brought you here today is to let you know…,” Queen Shaula slowly explained. I waited in anticipation for Queen Shaula’s next words…

“That you wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t passed away.”

The queen’s next words almost caused me to fall in my surprise.

Wait, what? S-she seriously said that?! B-but whyyyy?!

My head felt like it wanted to explode.

 

“Huh? Mother?” Luca was looking at the tomb just now, but he quickly turned in surprise to look at his mother.

This isn’t going like what my wild imagination said, is this?

“Alright, the shocking opening has been given. Now, where should I start?” Queen Shaula’s calm voice could be heard as she started narrating… something that didn’t seem to be connected with their coming to my past self’s grave and her ‘shocking opening’?

But I could only listen and try to guess what the queen was trying to tell the young prince.

 

 

“When I was young, I have always been a sickly child. I spent my childhood mostly in my bed or the hospital. I barely could attend any noble parties at all, and it worsened as I aged,” Queen Shaula said.

“I know that you were a sickly child, but I didn’t think it was that bad…,” Luca muttered as he asked in concern, “And you never really explained. What illness did you have? You are perfectly alright now, right?”

Queen Shaula smiled as she said, “Yeah, I’m alright now. Actually, until when I was a toddler, I was fine though I fell sick more often and easily than my siblings. But then, I was diagnosed with an idiopathic illness.”

Idiopathic…

An illness of unknown origin, huh?

 

“In short, it’s an abnormality where my magical cells became hostile and instead of doing what they should be doing—to manage the flow of one’s magical power—, they attacked the healthy cells in my body instead. Various treatments were applied to me, but nothing could fully heal it. Removing the malignant cells would just result in their regeneration and attacking them would just cause me agony.”

This…

Don’t tell me it’s a rare disease that was discovered not too long ago?

 

“Until finally, we discovered that the problem was in my magical cells regulators.”

…!!

Yes, it’s that one rare disease with a unique name… What was it, again?

 

“Each one of us has six magical cells regulators: in our head, torso, and four limbs. My torso magical cells regulators was the one that was failing. My symptoms fit with the rare unknown disease called as MaCReFa Syndrome,” Queen Shaula explained.

MaCReFa Syndrome…

Magical Cells… Regulators… Failure Syndrome?

Yep, the acronym could be the name of a character or even area, but its meaning was so terrifying. I heard that failure in magical cell regulators could lead to death.

 

“I see…,” Luca said.

“Ah, don’t worry, Luca. It’s not a hereditary disease. From what is known so far, it is a totally random disease that can’t be predicted at all… but it will show its onset during one’s early childhood,” Queen Shaula explained, worried that Luca might be concerned that he might have that disease in the future…

Well, I was sure that her words were credible.

After all, there was no way the royal family would approve King Titus and Queen Shaula’s marriage if Queen Shaula carried a hereditary disease, right?

Though the previous king and queen were in favor of love marriage, it didn’t mean they’d tolerate a hereditary disease carrier joining their bloodline, right??

After all, they wouldn’t want to see their descendants suffering, and their son suffering because of it, too…

 

“I didn’t plan on marrying and having children too, if I could have passed it to any of my descendants. I don’t want anyone to suffer what I had gone through,” Queen Shaula also said. Her voice contained some sadness inside…

But I understood what she was talking about and I commended her for thinking that way.

 

“Mother… I’m glad that you’re my mother,” Luca said as he grasped Queen Shaula’s hands.

“Thank you, Luca. Me, too. I’m glad to have you as my son,” she said as she gently planted a kiss on Luca’s forehead.

G-geh, to think I witnessed this scene…

This is very sweet, but I believe Luca would kill me if he knew I was spying on him!!

W-wait a minute…

That’s right, I didn’t intend to spy on them in the first place.

What’s that got to do with them visiting my past self’s…

Hold on.

Is it what I think it is…?

N-no way, right?

Such a coincidence…?

 

“Mother, how were you cured from your disease?” Luca then asked.

“I’m glad you asked,” Queen Shaula answered right away, as if she had been waiting for this question all along.

“You know, for this kind of syndrome, the only treatment would be transplant. But to transplant magical cells or its regulators… Well, it’s something trickier than normal organ transplant,” Queen Shaula sighed.

“Trickier… How?” Luca asked.

“First… you’ve got to have the same species. Since I’m a human, I’d need the donor from the same species or a mixed blood with a human dominancy. Second, our magical affinity must match. Third, to increase the probability of success even more, it’s suggested to have the donor and recipient to be of the same gender and around the same age range,” Queen Shaula elaborated.

“That’s a lot of requirements,” Luca said.

Queen Shaula nodded, “And the fact that this whole magical-cell-centered illnesses and magical cell transplant was a new thing that hadn’t existed for so long… There isn’t a lot of donor yet. The supply falls short of its demand and the compatibility issue is the number one concern.”

 

Mhm, and for some reason, not all people were willing to donate their magical cells or their dead relatives’. Perhaps for the same reason why some people weren’t willing to donate their organs or even consent to autopsies.

I nodded.

This was truly a concern…

But wait, this conversation seemed to be heading towards what I thought it would be…

 

“As my condition worsened, my whole family was getting desperate. Moreover, my magic affinity is a rare one, too, for a human… We were totally helpless then. I was told that I might not make it to my coming-of-age ceremony. You could say that I was on my dead bed already, resigning my fate to die before being able to do lots of things I wanted to,” Queen Shaula narrated again.

She then crouched down and caressed my past self’s tomb.

“One person’s misfortune might be another person’s fortune. I don’t feel good about this saying, but it was what happened to me. Just when we all thought it was impossible for me to go on, my family received good news that a donor was available. It didn’t take long before I was operated. Thankfully, it was a success and I managed to get a second chance in life. This time, I could do the things I wouldn’t normally be able to. To run around without pain, to use magic, to eat lots of food without caring whether they’d worsen my condition or not… I got to finally live.”

“Mother… Are you saying…?” Luca asked.

“Yes. Back then, the information about one’s donor was confidential. But I managed to get my hands on such a confidential information after I married to the royal family. No matter what, I had to know who gave me a chance to live because I’d like to offer my gratitude to whoever they were,” Queen Shaula said before continuing.

 

“When I first found out whose cell I received, I was shocked. Out of all people, I was saved by the former top queen candidate… Reinst-san.”

…!!

This…

It's true!!

My cell donation was actually used, and it saved Queen Shaula’s life?!

 

“The first thing I thought upon knowing that was how… it must be fate, don’t you think? Unexpectedly, I became the queen. The girl whose cell saved my life was the top queen candidate before her life was cut short. If she hadn’t passed away tragically at such a young age, I think she would’ve been the queen today instead of me. It made me wonder if I was able to become the queen because I got her cell?” Queen Shaula shook her head.

No, Shaula-san! You became the queen because you got the king’s love…

But I knew where she was coming from.

When I heard it just now, my mind was admiring this coincidence… no, could it be fate, just like what she said?

 

I thought it would be long before I could get the answer to my question about my cell donation’s fate.

Never have I thought, not even in my wildest dream, that I’d get the answer this fast!

And the answer that I received…

To be honest, it was so shocking, it all felt surreal…

I still couldn’t believe it…

 

Out of all people in this world, my past self—Reinst—‘s death actually saved Shaula, the one destined to be the queen?!

Holy moly… Is this a plot from a drama?!