How to Survive as a Princess in a Reverse Harem Game - Chapter 82
Before I could even express my confusion, my body reacted first. A searing heat surged through me, leaving my entire body tingling.
‘What is this……?’
No matter how much I tried to breathe, it felt like the heat was suffocating me. With every breath falling short, I found myself gasping, hah, hah, as if I were drowning. Dizziness swept over me, as though I might lose consciousness at any moment.
“Haa, uh, hngh…….”
Despite the eyes on me, I barely managed to keep myself upright, but I was at my limit, teetering on the verge of collapsing. It was Reno, standing closest to me, who noticed my change first.
“Your Highness? Are you all right?”
He reached out, grabbing my arm as if to support me. I needed to say I was fine—but I wasn’t.
“R-Reno… ngh…”
Unable to take more than a few steps, I ended up leaning heavily against him, panting. Realizing the severity of my condition, Reno immediately steadied me.
“Healer……!”
“Ah, no……!”
I clutched Reno’s collar tightly, stopping his movement as if he intended to summon a healer. My urgent cry must have puzzled him—I could sense his confusion.
“Your Highness, what on earth is…….”
“T-To the palace…… hngh, quickly…….”
Calling for a healer might have been the usual response, but this wasn’t something a healer could fix. As the system messages kept reminding me, this was a problem caused by the buildup of mana.
“I-Isaac, call Isaac…….”
I couldn’t even finish my sentence. All I could do was gasp for breath and hope Reno understood what I meant.
Ding!
[ Lower your mana accumulation immediately.]
[―Current Mana Accumulation: 91% (Danger)
(※Warning※) If the character dies, you will also die in reality.]
Everything around me was hazy. The system alert echoed with urgency, but my blurred vision made it impossible to properly see the window. Even now, it felt like my entire body was being consumed by fire.
What if I died like this? If the mana spiraled out of control before Isaac arrived…? No, that couldn’t happen… it mustn’t… Somehow…
As I flailed helplessly, a faint sensation of heat escaping through my fingertips reached me. It was a minuscule change, but even that felt like salvation.
Desperately, I tried to cling to it, as though it were my lifeline.
* * *
“Ha~ah…….”
Reno carried Nepheli in his arms, hurrying toward the princess’s quarters. He had already asked a spirit to summon Isaac.
Nepheli, cradled against his chest, writhed the entire way. Her tightly furrowed brow and the soft moans of pain revealed the depth of her agony.
She had seemed fine earlier, so Reno couldn’t fathom what had caused her sudden collapse.
However, when she refused a healer and insisted on returning to the palace to summon Isaac, he had no choice but to realize what was happening.
‘Mana Overload.’
It dawned on him belatedly what the scent that had bothered him all morning signified. Like the sweet juice of overripe fruit beginning to seep out just before bursting, the mana accumulating in Nepheli’s body had started to leak, releasing its distinct aroma.
‘What a careless mistake.’
In the past, if he so much as faintly caught that scent while guarding her, he would immediately notify Isaac. It always meant that a mana overload was imminent.
But lately, it had been so rare for him to notice the scent that he had let his vigilance slip.
“Your Highness, please hold on a little longer. We’re almost at the palace. Isaac will be here soon.”
“Hngh, ah…….”
Reno gently shifted his supporting arm to cradle her back, soothing her shoulder with his fingertips. He quickened his pace, making steady strides until they finally arrived at the palace.
The maids were startled as Reno briskly approached the princess’s bedroom, but upon seeing Nepheli squirming in his arms, they immediately rushed to open the door to her bedroom.
Once Nepheli was safely laid on the bed, the sound of the maids whispering among themselves reached Reno’s ears.
“But Lord Isaac said he wouldn’t return until evening. What do we…….”
“He’ll be here soon. I’ve summoned him through the spirit.”
“But Her Highness’s condition…….”
“Would you mind checking whether Isaac is on his way? In the meantime, I’ll monitor Her Highness’s condition.”
The maids hesitated but eventually left the room. Truthfully, there was no need to send them away—Isaac’s arrival would be announced by the spirit regardless.
Normally, Reno would have waited patiently until Isaac arrived. Though Reno was also a guardian and fully capable of tending to Nepheli, there was one reason he always deferred to Isaac, Nepheli had allowed her body to be touched by Isaac alone.
He knew well it wasn’t because Nepheli disliked him.
Even before losing her memory—and now, even more so—she had always been unusually gentle toward Reno compared to others. Unlike the majority, Nepheli never mistreated or avoided him for being a Medietas.
Nepheli, unlike most royalty, had a strong aversion to engaging with multiple partners. It was a stance that might have left most guardians feeling slighted.
Guardians could receive mana from royalty and wield it as ‘aura’, a skill every knight dreamed of mastering.
