The Healer Princess.

Since then, I've occasionally visited the Vanklyft Family with my father.

Whenever I head to Isabella's cottage, Father contacts Lauren in advance.

"Grandmaaaa!"

"Elen-chan! You're here!!"

We squeeze each other tightly, then look into one another's eyes and giggle.

"Welcome, Elen-sama."

"Grandpa! It's been forever!"

Smiling warmly, I give a ladylike curtsy, and Grandpa returns it with a gentleman's bow. Then, as always, we hug.

Normally, a butler wouldn't hug the household head. But in my heart, Lauren was already like a grandfather, so I figured—why not? As long as he seemed happy, I’d keep hugging him.

I’d decided to stop calling my parents Papa and Mama now that I was twelve. I was about to switch to Father and Mother…

“Papa, it is.”

“Me too, Mama.”

“…………”

Apparently, both parents were really into this.

So I figured, why not try changing Grandma and Grandpa too?

“Grandma’s Grandma, isn’t she? Right?”

“Grandpa’s Grandpa, yes.”

They both smiled—identical, cheerful, and somehow… unnerving.

“…So, Sauvel Uncle is Uncle, right?”

“…Yeah.”

I hesitated, but still double-checked with both parents.

“Oh, Sauvel. Wouldn’t you rather be called Uncle by Elen-chan?”

“…………”

“I’m not calling you that! I’m not, okay?! I’m not!”

I’m desperately resisting. I’m fuming—why do the people around me never stop treating me like a kid?—when Dad grins at me.

“Elen’s just not changing much, you know? It still feels natural to call you that, and it makes us happy.”

Yeah, it’s been four years since then… and I’ve barely grown ten centimeters.

Right now, 130 cm… stretching up, 131 cm. Should be 150 by now, though! Should be 150…!!

“B-b-big people grow, don’t they?!”

I poked Dad’s belly with teary eyes, protesting, but all he said was “Elen’s so small and cute~” like he was in love.

I’m currently feeling extremely alarmed.

Girls usually stop growing by their early teens…

I looked down at my chest and turned completely pale.

＊＊＊

Today I’m heading out to the mine owned by the Vanklyft Family, accompanied by my father and uncle.

We’re quietly increasing what we can secretly extract here.

Originally, this mine was a silver mine. Silver ores include native silver, proustite (a silver-antimony sulfide that forms at room temperature), pyrargyrite (a silver-antimony sulfide that forms at high temperatures), and other varieties like rubysilver—also known as complex silver-antimony sulfide, or crooksite. There’s also a pale red silver mineral where antimony is replaced by arsenic, and then there’s chlorargyrite—silver chloride.

On Earth, there are a few more processed silver types, but naturally occurring silver ores are mostly limited to these.

Honestly, diamonds shouldn’t just pop up in a silver mine like it’s nothing.

Each mine tends to produce a specific kind of mineral—depends on how the mountain formed in the first place. That’s how it usually goes.

Diamonds start as igneous rock formed when magma solidifies under specific conditions, then emerge in large numbers from flat, stable continental plates after years of weathering.

If you look at diamond mines across the world—those places we call diamond mines—you’ll notice they’re usually dug in flat terrain, using spiral-shaped open pits known as “open casts.”

Nothing like silver mining at all. Dig down deep enough to reach diamonds, and you’re guaranteed to hit groundwater trouble.

But whatever. This is me. I’m a spirit.

Forget the usual rules for a second—I conjured a small amount of kimberlite into the silver mine.

Then, even better, I generated natural gold with high affinity for silver.

Since natural gold often contains silver, this won’t look out of place at all.

I kept repeating it bit by bit. Even if we mined just a little each time, by the end of the year, it added up to a decent amount.

It’s not worth the effort, so only a small number of miners work here.

At first, when diamonds or gold were found, gold rushers would swarm in, eager to strike it rich.

The Vanklyft Family’s mines are small. If we dug too hard, they’d be riddled with holes, and honestly, we don’t care that much about them anyway. As long as they bring in some income, that’s enough.

Which is why the miners are all people who serve the Vanklyft Family.

After heading to the mine, I’d go visit the miners with my father.

It started when I leaned in, hoping to solve one of the many illnesses that plagued the mine workers.

Silver mines were especially prone to toxic gas and mercury poisoning. Dust inhalation could lead to respiratory illnesses, and various other mining toxins too.

Minerals seeping into water sources could turn them poisonous, too.

I carefully checked those areas, kept a close eye on the miners’ health.

And that’s how I ended up making something.

I remembered a medicine formula I’d once casually learned from someone I’d helped out before.

Painkillers and antibiotics, basically.

I’d gotten obsessed for a while with calculating total dosage from commercial drug ingredient lists—just a game, really.

Different brands used different proportions for the same effect. I wanted to see what the average was. Naturally, I’d studied the chemical formulas too.

I never told anyone about it—most people just back away when I bring it up. Never thought it’d actually be useful here, though.

You know, if you're more of a science-type than a researcher, there's this thing—once you see a chemical formula, you can't help but double-check it. Seriously.

We all laughed while going over the formula published by the company selling hydrogen water. Hydrogen water, which is literally just hydrogen mixed into water—has a chemical formula...!! Just thinking about it now makes my chest burn.

I'd been quietly detoxing the miners, prescribing medicine while they weren’t looking, and before I knew it, I’d gotten nicknamed “the Healing Princess” across the territory.

***

My visits are always quiet.

Sauvel quietly gathers everyone who needs treatment ahead of time, then treats them all at once.

In this world, medical knowledge is limited—really, really limited.

Just herbs called medicinal plants, or spells like praying to spirits—magic that actually heals a wound directly? Only the great spirit of life, Reven, and the spirit of healing, Crelen, can do that.

Funny thing—when I made painkillers and antibiotics, Crelen got super excited.

Apparently, spirits and humans are built completely differently, so concepts like disease just don’t exist for them. That part was actually the real shocker for me.

***

Today, too, on my way back to the manor after treating people in the territory, Sauvel ran his hand over my head.

"Report says deaths in the territory have dropped sharply since you started using your medicine. Really, thank you."

I feel the scratch of his fingers on my scalp. And for the first time in a while, I really feel… real.

It’s not just the spirits being happy—seeing the people close to me happy, that’s what feels pure and real.

"...hehe..."

Blushing a little, I ask about the fertilizer for the crops.

Six months ago, I’d suggested letting the land rest while growing crops, and talked about compost. It should be showing results by now.

"Ah, Lauren’s been handling that. Lauren was thrilled—says this year’s harvest looks promising."

Sauvel strokes my head again, and I sigh in relief.

"Damn right my daughter’s the best!!"

Suddenly, my father squeezes me in a hug from the side—wheezing in discomfort.

"Muugh—"

"...Brother, Elen seems to be struggling."

Sauvel swiftly pulls me away from Dad and lifts me up.

Lately, he’s been rescuing me from Dad like this.

And he always lets me sit on his left shoulder. Sauvel’s sturdy frame doesn’t so much as twitch when I perch on him.

I’m a spirit, after all—my weight’s only about a fifth of a human’s, so I’m light, but still… impressive.

Still, Dad’s too thin to pull it off. So whenever I get to do it with Sauvel, I’m ridiculously happy.

“Hmph.”

Dad leans his head down onto Sauvel’s, utterly smug, grinding his teeth in a way that’s almost painful to watch. Looks like his good looks are ruined.

That’s how I spend my days—peacefully, casually, with my father and the others.

But this medicine? It wasn’t going to stay hidden from the royal family.

Like the sky shifting from clear to overcast, an uneasy atmosphere crept in—slow, inevitable.