TAMWSFB 46

Chapter 46 

 My Little Sister Is Amazing (Serios’ POV)

There was no time to rejoice over my sister waking up—Leticia began to suffer almost immediately.

When Dr. Robert examined her, he said it was an attack of mana overload.

Mana overload is a condition where the amount of mana in the body becomes too high for the body to withstand.

Mana increases as one grows.

But for a newborn to have enough mana to trigger an attack… it meant that as her mana continued to grow, her body wouldn’t be able to keep up, and she would die before reaching adulthood.

Leticia—Leti—should have awakened once, but afterward, she suffered attack after attack of mana overload.

And for some reason, whenever I went to visit her, the probability of an attack went up, so all I could do was watch her from afar.

With each attack, Leti’s strength steadily drained away.

“At this rate, Lady Leticia will not be able to endure much longer.”

Dr. Robert tried desperately to save Leti, her face pale and fragile, but there were limits.

If things continued unchanged, Leti would eventually die.

Then Dr. Robert told us that according to recent studies, the fuzzy creatures living in dragon lairs have the property of absorbing mana. He proposed that it might help Leti recover.

We had no other effective means—so with a desperate resolve, and acting in my father’s place, I used every ounce of the ducal household’s authority to issue the request.

Even though the goal wasn’t to slay a dragon, retrieving something from its lair required experts of the highest skill.

We hired multiple top-tier parties from the Adventurers’ Guild, and finally, after great difficulty, obtained a single fuzzball.

When we gave it to Leti, even when she seemed on the verge of a mana overload attack, the creature truly absorbed the excess mana, and the attack never occurred.

Hard as it was to obtain, this was a revolutionary discovery for a disease that had previously had no treatment at all.

Dr. Robert was so overjoyed he even shed tears.

Only then did I learn that Dr. Robert had lost his own daughter to mana overload.

He must have been trying to save Leti as if she were his own child.

Once we learned the fuzzball could suppress moderate attacks, I was finally able to spend time with my adorable sister to my heart’s content.

With Mother gone and Father in his current state, I was the only close family she had left.

Maybe that’s why—Leti showed me all her love with her tiny body.

Her small hand reaching for me… the soft, sweet warmth when I held her in my arms… it filled my heart with happiness.

It felt like time, which had stopped the moment Mother died, was finally beginning to move again.

Happiness came to me in the form of a little angel with pink-blonde hair.

When Leti called out to me for the first time, even the hardships of acting as the duke’s proxy were blown away.

But no matter how “talented for my age” I might be, I was still a child.

For Leti’s sake as well, Father needed to recover soon.

And anyone who saw Leti even once would surely be moved to overcome their grief and try to live for her. She was that adorable.

So when my pathetic father said he didn’t know what face to show his daughter after everything… I pushed him forward and made him meet Leti.

Just as I expected, he adored her instantly.

Of course.
Leti is the cutest being in the entire world.

Still, even though the fuzzball reduced her attacks, she wasn’t cured.

She continued to suffer severe attacks—and the chances went up when I was nearby.

“I heard Leti is more likely to have attacks when she’s with me… Maybe I shouldn’t see her anymore…”

At my unintentional whisper of weakness, Leti fought back with her clumsy little words.

“Leti wuvs big bwother lots. I wanna see you everyday!”

Then she looked up at me timidly.

“Do you hate Leti, big bwother…?”

“Of course not. Never. But…”

“Iss okay! I won’t fall down anymore!”

Leti sounded strangely confident, but I was terrified—terrified of losing the happiness I finally had.

I never would’ve imagined myself showing weakness to a child so small, but I was so afraid I couldn’t hold it in.

“If I lose you too, after Mother… I…”

“I won’t die! Never ever!!”

Did she somehow sense something?

After that conversation, our days became relatively peaceful.

And yet, because of Miranda—the maid scheming to become Father’s second wife—Leti was nearly killed.

She barely survived, but knowing such a person existed inside the mansion meant I could never relax.

Father was better than he was after Mother died, but still not in full shape. He wasn’t reliable.

So I swore:

I will protect Leti, even if it costs my life.

Because Leti is my light.

Then Leti invented something she called a “charm.”

She made them using Moko’s fur and some special needles, and their effect was terrifyingly strong—strong enough to instantly heal Father when he was gravely wounded after being attacked by bandits. They were more effective than most magic.

Thanks to the charms, no one with ill intent could enter the mansion anymore, turning it into the safest home in the kingdom.

Then Moko—apparently a kind of spirit—told Leti about a flower that could potentially cure mana overload.

A type of flower called lycoris grown by the queen in the royal palace. The ones in the palace were white with red edges, but a golden version of the flower was said to work as a special remedy for mana overload.

Dr. Robert, hearing this, hypothesized that even non-golden lycoris might have some suppressive effect. After researching it, he found that mild attacks could indeed be prevented.

For a man who had lost his daughter to mana overload, this discovery—moving closer to a true cure—was monumental.