âHere we are, Luca.â
The words that came out of Queen Shaulaâs mouth after she read the name of the tomb shattered my denial completely.
She was indeed coming for my tomb⦠but the question remainedâ¦
I wasnât that close to her when I was still alive as Reinst⦠Heck, I didnât even remember when we ever interacted at allâ¦?
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?
âThis isâ¦,â 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.
âAre you familiar with the name?â Shaula asked.
I unconsciously shook my head on Lucaâs behalf. How would he know?!
But contrary to my expectation, Luca nodded instead.
âReinst Carnatia Grabberton. Of course Iâve heard about her. She was the lady rumoured to be the top queen candidate when Father was still a crown prince,â Luca said as if it was a matter of fact.
Queen Shaula patted Lucaâs head with a smile on her face, âYou remember it well.â
I had expected Luca to stop the patting and said, â
but he didnât do anything and seemed to be enjoying the patting albeit he seemed to be blushing shyly.
I clapped my cheeks silently.
My mind managed to find another thing to ponder about in an instant.
Since Reinst was formerly the top candidate for the queenâwhich meant King Titusâ former spouse candidateâ, wouldnât that mean she was somehow a rival or someone whoâd make Queen Shaulaâs eyes sore?
*
I quickly shook my head, shook my wild imagination.
âWhy are we here, Mother?â Luca voiced exactly my question.
âThe reason I brought you here today is to let you knowâ¦,â Queen Shaula slowly explained. I waited in anticipation for Queen Shaulaâs next wordsâ¦
âThat you wouldnât be here if she hadnât passed away.â
The queenâs next words almost caused me to fall in my surprise.
My head felt like it wanted to explode.
âHuh? Mother?â Luca was looking at the tomb just now, but he quickly turned in surprise to look at his mother.
âAlright, the shocking opening has been given. Now, where should I start?â Queen Shaulaâs calm voice could be heard as she started narrating⦠something that didnât seem to be connected with their coming to my past selfâs grave and her âshocking openingâ?
But I could only listen and try to guess what the queen was trying to tell the young prince.
âWhen 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,â Queen Shaula said.
âI know that you were a sickly child, but I didnât think it was that badâ¦,â Luca muttered as he asked in concern, âAnd you never really explained. What illness did you have? You are perfectly alright now, right?â
Queen Shaula smiled as she said, âYeah, Iâm 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.â
Idiopathicâ¦
An illness of unknown origin, huh?
âIn short, itâs an abnormality where my magical cells became hostile and instead of doing what they should be doingâto manage the flow of oneâs magical powerâ, 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.â
Thisâ¦
Donât tell me itâs a rare disease that was discovered not too long ago?
âUntil finally, we discovered that the problem was in my magical cells regulators.â
â¦!!
âEach 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,â Queen Shaula explained.
MaCReFa Syndromeâ¦
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.
âI seeâ¦,â Luca said.
âAh, donât worry, Luca. Itâs not a hereditary disease. From what is known so far, it is a totally random disease that canât be predicted at all⦠but it will show its onset during oneâs early childhood,â Queen Shaula explained, worried that Luca might be concerned that he might have that disease in the futureâ¦
Well, I was sure that her words were credible.
After all, there was no way the royal family would approve King Titus and Queen Shaulaâs marriage if Queen Shaula carried a hereditary disease, right?
Though the previous king and queen were in favor of love marriage, it didnât mean theyâd tolerate a hereditary disease carrier joining their bloodline, right??
After all, they wouldnât want to see their descendants suffering, and their son suffering because of it, tooâ¦
âI didnât plan on marrying and having children too, if I could have passed it to any of my descendants. I donât want anyone to suffer what I had gone through,â Queen Shaula also said. Her voice contained some sadness insideâ¦
But I understood what she was talking about and I commended her for thinking that way.
âMother⦠Iâm glad that youâre my mother,â Luca said as he grasped Queen Shaulaâs hands.
âThank you, Luca. Me, too. Iâm glad to have you as my son,â she said as she gently planted a kiss on Lucaâs forehead.
âMother, how were you cured from your disease?â Luca then asked.
âIâm glad you asked,â Queen Shaula answered right away, as if she had been waiting for this question all along.
âYou know, for this kind of syndrome, the only treatment would be transplant. But to transplant magical cells or its regulators⦠Well, itâs something trickier than normal organ transplant,â Queen Shaula sighed.
âTrickier⦠How?â Luca asked.
âFirst⦠youâve got to have the same species. Since Iâm a human, Iâd 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, itâs suggested to have the donor and recipient to be of the same gender and around the same age range,â Queen Shaula elaborated.
âThatâs a lot of requirements,â Luca said.
Queen Shaula nodded, âAnd the fact that this whole magical-cell-centered illnesses and magical cell transplant was a new thing that hadnât existed for so long⦠There isnât a lot of donor yet. The supply falls short of its demand and the compatibility issue is the number one concern.â
I nodded.
This was truly a concernâ¦
But wait, this conversation seemed to be heading towards what I thought it would beâ¦
âAs 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,â Queen Shaula narrated again.
She then crouched down and caressed my past selfâs tomb.
âOne personâs misfortune might be another personâs fortune. I donât 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 didnât 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 wouldnât normally be able to. To run around without pain, to use magic, to eat lots of food without caring whether theyâd worsen my condition or not⦠I got to finally live.â
âMother⦠Are you sayingâ¦?â Luca asked.
âYes. Back then, the information about oneâs 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 Iâd like to offer my gratitude to whoever they were,â Queen Shaula said before continuing.
âWhen 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.â
âThe first thing I thought upon knowing that was how⦠it must be fate, donât 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 hadnât passed away tragically at such a young age, I think she wouldâve been the queen today instead of me. It made me wonder if I was able to become the queen because I got her cell?â Queen Shaula shook her head.
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 donationâs fate.
Never have I thought, not even in my wildest dream, that Iâd get the answer this fast!
And the answer that I receivedâ¦
To be honest, it was so shocking, it all felt surrealâ¦
I still couldnât believe itâ¦
Out of all people in this world, my past selfâReinstââs death actually saved Shaula, the one destined to be the queen?!
Holy moly⦠Is this a plot from a drama?!