It was a man with neatly swept red hair.
The fierce eyes and the sharp nose, as if elaborately carved, resembled his father.
Kanna knew who he was right away. He’s gone through the years, but he can go unnoticed.
Because that’s what family is.
“Duchess Valentino.”
Looking into the other person’s green eyes, memories of the past flash.
“Sister, don’t be intrusive and get out of the way.”
“A book fell in the garden. Please pick it up, sister”
“Don’t talk to me. You smell like filth.”
The boy who treated herself as a maid while calling her sister.
Her half-brother, Kalen Addis.
The child who was very small in my memory.
“What are you doing here?”
He had become a complete adult man, staring at her with even more calm eyes than before.
“I came here because I had something to do. However…”
Kanna’s gaze went back to him.
Kalen was not alone in the carriage. A little girl sits quietly. Is she asleep? But she was wearing a hat with a dark veil, so her face could not be seen.
‘That girl…’
Just then, the wind blew.
A veil fluttering loudly. The girl’s face is revealed.
The moment she witnessed it, Kanna’s eyes widened.
‘That…!’
“Did you see it?”
A chilling voice was heard.
Kalen asked, glaring at me.
“I asked if you saw Lucy’s face.”
Lucy Addis.
The youngest daughter of the Addis family, born 7 years ago.
Shortly after Kanna’s marriage, she heard the news that Lucy Addis was born.
Of course, we had never met before. I only heard the story…
“I asked if you saw it.”
Of course I watched it. It wasn't intentional, but I took a closer look.
A face that is different from ordinary people.
Kanna, who was silent for a moment, couldn't overcome her professional curiosity and ask.
“Have you been to the doctor?”
“Shut up!”
Suddenly the carriage door opened and Kalen strode down. He immediately stood in front of Kanna.
“What you just saw…”
Kalen Addis threatened in a threatening voice.
“If you tell anyone, I won't let you go.”
Lucy, that girl’s face was completely distorted.
Her features were grotesquely distorted, as if someone had forcibly pulled her facial muscles. Kanna knew very well what it was like.
‘That looks like facial paralysis.’
Facial paralysis. In this world, the treatment was not accurate, so it was a disease that was treated as a person possessed by demons.
“Do you understand? If you tell someone about this…”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Is the treatment going well?”
Kanna asked, letting her brother’s threats go through one ear.
“Are you still on the way to meet the doctors? What does the doctor say? Can he treated her?”
“...”
For a moment, Kalen’s eyes were filled with intense suspicion.
It was his sister who had left this mansion while getting married. A sister he hadn't seen in a long time.
However,
“How long has it been since she got sick? Did you start treatment right after it onset?”
Kalen was quite perplexed.
It was the first time he had ever seen his sister speak so clearly, with her face raised.
“It's none of your business. So go back to the Valentino family right away.”
Kanna had a hunch that Lucy’s treatment was not going well.
That look, that voice, and that expression of Kalen could only be seen from the caregiver of a patient who showed no sign of improvement.
“Can I help you?”
“...What did you say now?”
“‘I’ll treat Lucy. Instead, allow me to stay here for a while,”
“No way!”
A sneer formed in Kalen’s eyes, which soon turned to anger.
He swept his face two or three times as if he was angry. Vein stood out on the back of his large hands.
After a while he warned in a very low voice.
“Go back. With what skill do you intend to do something that even the great doctor of the West Continent couldn't do?”
Lucy Addis, his 7 year old’s beloved sister.
The disease came suddenly one day. Lucy seems to be suffering from a fever, but his face twisted.
None of the clinics have been able to treated it, and some even say that she should be sent to the temple because she was possessed by a ghost.
But what? You say you can treated her, say it so easily?
“Stop talking nonsense and go back.”
“It’s not bullshit. Give me a chance to treat her.”
He couldn't stand any longer. Kalen grabbed Kanna’s shoulder and pressed her face closer.
“I know what to do!”
For an instant, the corner of his mouth stiffened. Kalen’s words cut off.
A very close face. The black eyes met through the crack in the shaggy bangs.
“Kalen Addis.”
It was frighteningly silent.
“Don't be emotional and listen to me.”
The coldness that does not reach even a handful of the anger he pours out. Calm down. Seeing her quiet eyes Kalen realized that she was now very upset. Slowly, the power in his grapes dissipated.
“Don't you want to treat your sister?”
Of course, of course he wants to treat it. But no one has treated it. All the best doctors shook their heads.
“Sorry, it is beyond my ability.”
“I have no choice but to go to the temple instead.”
Then who should I go to?
His eyes darkened. He was helpless, as if I had been sucked into the depth of the sea. I want to grab something, but at this moment there is nothing to grab onto.
“I will ask you one last time.”
Suddenly, a straw popped out in front of my eyes.
“Maybe I can treated her. So give me a chance to take a good look at it.”
“...”
“If you refuse again, I'll just go back.”
Kanna threw a choice.
“What do you want to do ?”
***
Should I say I'm lucky?
There were no other family members in the mansion now. Everyone was invited to the party by the imperial family.
“I need acupuncture first.”
“What is that?”
“It looks like a needle. I’ll tell you the exact size and girth, so leave it to the magic stone craftsman. Tell them to make it with the highest quality magic stone.”
Kalen couldn't hide his suspicious expression.
As if he was bewitched by Kanna’s words, he brought her into the mansion. What the hell is she going to do with a tool that’s no different than a needle? Even make it with an expensive magic stone?
‘Maybe I'm pinning my hopes on useless things?’
But now he felt like grabbing at a straw.
‘Still, it’s better than sending Lucy to the temple.’
Temple. The realm of a divine spirit that purifies the Western Continent with the World Tree.
Imperial law did not work in the Great War. Neither social rules nor common sense work.
A sacred and transcendent place, a dangerous place. You can't go in or out there at will.
Kalen can't send Lucy to such a strange place.
“Have you ever studied medicine?”
Kanna immediately gave a prepared answer.
“You know I'm into alchemy, right?”
“Yes.”
“Since I dig deep into alchemy, it has something to do with healing. Somehow, I also learned healing techniques.”
“Alchemy has something to do with healing? This is the first time I heard of it.”
Of course it's the first time he heard of it, because I just made it up.
However, Kanna shamelessly went out to the end.
“At least the alchemy I studied was like that. Firts, I need to take a closer look at Lucy’s condition.”
Kalen looked at Kanna’s back with complex subtle eyes.
Has time changed everything?
Kanna no longer hunched over, nor did she hunch her neck and shoulders. Besides, she speaks her opinion confidently without stuttering.
She was very different from the sister Kalen knew.
‘How could you change like that?’
What the hell has happened in the meantime that she has changed that much?
Kalen immediately shook his head.
Let's not mind. Now is not the time to pay attention to useless things. He soon walked after Kanna.
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