Chapter 9

It was a man whose red hair was cleanly slicked back.

His sharp eyes and pointed nose, which seemed to be carved exquisitely, resembled their father’s.

Kanna immediately recognized the man.

Time has passed, but there is no way she wouldn’t remember that face.

That’s what family is all about.

“Duchess Valentino.”

As she stared into his green eyes, memories from the past are recalled.

“Sister, please stop being a wimp and be strong.”

“The book fell in the garden. Please get it, Sister.”

“Please don’t talk to me. I’m getting dirty.”

The boy who treated her like a maid while calling ‘Sister, Sister’.

Her younger half brother, Kalen Addis.

He was still a kid in her memory……

“What are you doing here?”

Now that he is an adult, the eyes that stared at her looked colder than before.

“There is something I have to do here. That’s all……”

Kanna’s gaze shifted beside him.

Kalen is not alone in the carriage.

Is she asleep? The little girl is sitting quietly.

However, she couldn’t see the girl’s face because she’s wearing a dark veil.

‘Who is that girl……?’

Just then, the wind blew.

The veil fluttered and the girl’s face was revealed.

The moment Kanna saw the girl’s face, her eyes went wide.

That’s……!

“Did you see?”

A chilling voice.

Kalen stared at her as if he wanted to kill her and spoke again.

“I asked you if you saw Lucy’s face.”

Lucy Addis. Born seven years ago, and the youngest daughter of the Addis family.

Soon after Joo Hwa got married, she heard that Lucy Addis was born.

Of course, she never met Lucy before. She only heard the news……

“Did you see?”

Of course she did.

She didn’t mean to, but she saw her face clearly.

A face that is different from normal people.

Kanna, who had been silent for a while, couldn’t suppress her curiosity as a professional and asked.

“Have you been to a doctor?”

“Keep your mouth shut!”

Suddenly, the door of the carriage opened and Kalen went out. He stood right in front of Kanna.

“What you just saw,”

Kalen Addis threatened harshly.

“If you tell anyone, I will kill you.”

The face of the girl, Lucy, is completely twisted.

Grotesquely distorted features, as if someone is forcibly pulling her facial muscles.

Kanna knew very well what it is.

‘It looks like facial paralysis.’

Facial paralysis.

There is no accurate cure in this world. People with this condition are treated like devils.

“Do you understand? If you tell anyone about this……”

“How’s the treatment going?”

“……What?”

“How’s the treatment going?”

Kanna asked, letting her brother’s threat slip through the other ear.

“Are you on your way back from seeing a doctor? What did the doctor say? Can they cure her?”

“……”

At that moment, there was a strong suspicion in Kalen’s eyes.

She was the sister who left the mansion to get married.

The sister whom he didn’t see for a long time.

Besides,

“How long has it been since she had that condition? Did you start treatment right away?”

Kalen was quite perplexed.

It is the first time in his entire life that he ever saw his sister talking with her head raised.

“It’s none of your business, so go back to the Valentino family right away.”

Kanna sensed that Lucy’s treatment isn’t going well.

Kalen’s eyes, voice, and expression could only be seen in a caregiver whose patient’s condition hasn’t improved at all.

“Will you let me help her?”

“……What did you just say?”

“I’ll try to cure Lucy. In return, allow me to stay here for a while.”

“Ha!”

There was mockery in Kalen’s eyes that soon turned into anger.

He ran his hand across his face a couple of times in anger, the veins visible on the back of his big hand.

After a while, he spoke in a very low voice.

“Go back. What can you do when even the best doctors in the west can’t do anything about it?”

Lucy Addis. A seven-year-old girl.

She suddenly had that condition one day.

They thought Lucy was simply ill, but her face started to become distorted.

No one could cure her. Some even said that they should send her to the temple because she was possessed by a devil.

But now what?

She’s saying that she can help her so easily?

“Stop saying nonsense and go back.”

“It’s not nonsense. Just give me a chance to cure her.”

He couldn’t take it anymore.

Kalen grabbed Kanna’s shoulders and brought his face close to her.

“There’s nothing you can do!”

At that moment, Kanna’s mouth hardened. She was lost for words.

His face was close to her.

That’s why he saw her black eyes that peeked through the gap of her shaggy bangs……

“Kalen Addis.”

She was unexpectedly calm.

“Don’t be too emotional and listen to me.”

Her calmness cooled his outpouring anger.

Looking at her serene eyes, Kalen realized that he is very angry right now.

Slowly, the strength in his grip lessened.

“You, do you want your sister to be cured?”

Do you want your sister to be cured?

Of course. Of course he wants that.

But no one could help her.

All the doctors shook their heads.

“I’m sorry, but this is beyond my capabilities.”

“We have no other choice but to send her to the temple.”

It’s ridiculous to even think of sending her to the temple, but it’s the last resort.

So, should we send her?

His eyes were dimmed, as if he was being helplessly sucked into a deep sea.

He wanted to catch anything, but there was nothing to catch.

“I will ask you one last time.”

Suddenly, a big blue whale appears before his eyes.

“I might be able to cure her, so will you let me help?”

“……”

“If you refuse again, I will just leave.”

Kanna gave him an option.

“What do you want to do?”

* * *

Should Kanna say she’s lucky?

There are no other family members in the mansion right now. Everyone went to a party because they were invited by the imperial family.

“For now, I need a needle.”

“Needle? Will that work?”

“It looks like a needle. I’ll tell you the exact size and circumference, so take care of it with the mana stone craftsman. Make sure it’s made of a top-grade mana stone.”

Kalen couldn’t hide his suspicious look.

Although he let Kanna in the mansion as if he was swayed by her words…… What is she going to do with a needle?

Especially when it’s made of an expensive mana stone?

‘Am I pinning my hopes on something useless?’

Nevertheless, he felt like he was able to grasp at straws now.

‘But this is better than sending her to the temple.’

The temple.

The realm of the divine spirit, which purifies the west from all evil.

The empire’s laws don’t work inside the temple.

Neither social etiquette nor common sense would work there.

It is a holy and transcendental place, so it is very dangerous. No one can go in and out of there at will.

That’s why they can’t send Lucy to such a strange place.

“Did you learn medicine?”

Kanna gave a prepared answer right away.

“You know I was into alchemy, right?”

“Yes.”

“I dug deep into alchemy, and this had something to do with it, so I ended up learning it too.”

“Alchemy has something to do with the cure? This is the first time I’ve heard about that.”

Of course you’ve never heard of it, because I just made it up.

Then Kanna continued audaciously.

“At least, that was the case in the alchemy I studied. First, I need to take a closer look at Lucy’s condition.”

‘She turned into a completely different person.’

Did time change everything?

Kanna doesn’t cower anymore, nor does her head and shoulders droop.

She doesn’t stutter anymore too, and she proudly says her opinions.

So different from the sister he knew.

‘How did she change like that?’

What else has changed in her……?

Kalen shook his head.

He shouldn’t think about that right now. It’s not the time to pay attention to impractical things.+

He soon walked after Kanna.