CHAPTER 09…………………………………………..
At first, I thought that reaction came from Barak, but it was actually Allen who reacted.
In an era where treatment was monopolized, it was unacceptable for anyone other than a temple priest to heal someone.
Moreover, if a woman possessed sexual power, the temple might react unpredictably.
Unlike before, when I had secretly used my powers, I brought up this issue because the other person was Barak.
“That will never happen…! I’m asking you to look after my sister.”
That made sense. April’s condition must not reach the ears of the temple.
“You came all the way to this remote place to ask for help—don’t you realize that the temple mustn’t know either?”
“You’re speaking too harshly, considering you’re the one asking, Lord Barak.”
Allen, who had been silent until now, finally intervened.
His eyes glinted sharply, and with a look of displeasure, Barak bit his lips and pulled something from his pocket, tossing it toward me.
I frowned at the lavish bracelet, encrusted with several gemstones. It looked expensive at first glance. “Hmph,” I muttered indifferently.
I didn’t care about money.
“What is this?”
“A restraint.”
I had expected him to talk only about money, so this answer made my eyes widen.
He then took another bracelet from his pocket and put it on his own wrist.
The stones were the same sunset color as his eyes. It looked less like a bracelet and more like a modified cuff or shackle.
“You don’t trust me, do you? If you wear the bracelet, you’ll be able to believe me.”
Barak, who never touched me before, was now placing the bracelet on my wrist and looking me straight in the eye.
I felt his hurried, ragged breath just above my head.
“The tighter you make it, the tighter the restraint on my wrist will become. If you activate the magic fully, it could cut off a wrist.”
“…”
“So… just look after my sister, even once.”
He looked like he would even kneel and plead if necessary.
So he was capable of going this far. I swallowed the sneer threatening to escape my lips.
“Please.”
April’s condition must be extremely serious.
Even for a single instance of using sexual power, his effort was excessively far beyond what would normally be required.
Normally, he wouldn’t have done this…
“If you had pushed April with that hand, I wouldn’t be satisfied even if I cut off a wrist.”
“I’m letting this slide because of what’s happened so far. Don’t ever appear before me again—then I won’t be so merciful.”
I recalled Barak, who had broken my wrist with magic when I was expelled from the Duke family.
“Not bad,” I said.
“Miss.”
Allen, who had been listening quietly, called out as if to stop me, questioning if I was serious.
It was unusual even for Allen to see this.
I smiled brightly at Barak.
“Even without a wrist, it’s not like I can’t live.”
“You can live just fine without a wrist.”
That had been Barak’s warning when he had threatened to cut my wrist with magic.
Even as I repeated it now, he had no idea of my true identity.
Of course. After all this time, he must have forgotten everything he had said and done to me.
To him, my existence was just a speck of dust in the wind.
A speck of dust—or impurity of the Duke family.
“Fine. Then I’ll take the payment.”
With his mastery of alchemy and magic, a missing wrist was no problem for Barak.
Now, it was my turn to press for results.
He would not regret this action.
“Good. Let’s write the contract and then go see your sister. Allen.”
Allen sighed and brought two sheets of paper.
I signed quickly. The contract was simple:
- Today’s events remain confidential.
- Anyone revealing the secret is responsible for the consequences.
Barak, in his impatience, signed without reading.
I took the hastily written contract and said,
“Shall we go to where Miss April is?”
“…Alright.”
“Is your sister far from here? I can’t be away for long.”
“Not far.”
Not far? How? He chuckled in response, clearly amused.
Who did he think I was?
Orange light spread widely at Barak’s feet.
“Then let’s go.”
I grabbed Allen’s arm, who looked bewildered, and pulled him along.
“You’re coming with me, Allen.”
His help would be needed for what came next.
“Open your eyes.”
A cold voice whispered next to me. I slowly opened my eyes.
The light wasn’t as dim as when we were coming to the shop—perhaps because dawn was breaking.
We had to return to the Duke estate before full daylight. My heart started to race.
“Follow me.”
Barak motioned briefly with his head.
The location we arrived at was familiar: the summer villa used by the Duke family.
The villa was minimalistic, but now lavishly decorated unlike before.
It looked almost like the Duke mansion’s main hall. Statues and paintings filled the space, though they felt out of place.
The villa had been over-decorated.
Familiar, yet different from the last time I visited—five years ago.
Before I was nineteen, this villa had been frequently used, but after finding April, I had never returned.
After finding April, summer vacations naturally excluded me.
“Welcome, young master.”
The steward bowed to Barak, then gestured to me with his eyes.
“Where is April?”
“In her room.”
“Has she eaten properly?”
“No one was allowed to enter… she had dinner yesterday…”
The steward’s nervous words twisted Barak’s expression into a scowl.
“I told you to make sure she eats on time.”
“We tried, but…”
The steward bit his lip in frustration and bowed again.
I could imagine. Even if meals were brought, with Barak’s temperament, no one could enter the room.
The more they fussed, the more exhausted they became. And yet, they couldn’t speak out in front of him, thinking he would protect them forever.
During the time I hadn’t seen, April must have become a proud, proper Duke’s daughter.
“Prepare her meal again.”
“Yes, young master.”
I saw the steward hurrying into the dining area.
The villa’s lavish but gloomy atmosphere reflected April’s condition.
How bad could it really be?
I climbed to the second floor with that question lingering.
Barak stood before the room I had once used, inhaling sharply, his stiff shoulders showing his tension.
“April, we’re coming in.”
Even without an answer, Barak gently opened the door.
The room was darker than I had imagined.
“April, you haven’t eaten yet, right?”
“…Go away. I don’t want to see you.”
“Get up, anyway. Someone came to help you.”
“You mean those charlatan priests with no sexual power?”
April’s blanket was pulled over her head. Her voice was sharp, irritable—clearly she hadn’t received proper treatment since her injury.
People born with sexual power were increasingly rare, and those few were kept in the capital’s main temple.
“I brought someone with sexual power.”
The blanket shivered slightly.
“They’re here to help you. Think of your brother and show your face, okay?”
Barak’s unusually gentle voice, coaxing her, seemed almost out of character. As I smirked at him, the blanket slowly slid down.
“Is it real…?”
In the dim light, April looked utterly miserable.
Her hair was tangled, her eyes red and puffy from crying.
Her clothes were disheveled. She looked nothing like the April who had once mocked me before I was expelled.
If anyone saw her like this, they would never believe she was the Duke family’s daughter.
“Well then.”
“…A girl?”
April looked at me in surprise. I bowed briefly.
It was the first time Allen had seen April’s face. He froze, then turned sharply to look at me.
Without the artifact, it was my real face—identical to hers.
He was stunned and bewildered, but I greeted April naturally.
“My name is Bernice.”
“A girl… has sexual power?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
The temple had endlessly claimed that only men could possess it, so she must have been shocked.
“Can I see your injuries?”
April hesitated, unsure whether to believe I had sexual power. Barak coaxed her gently.
April slowly pulled down the blanket.
As I was about to draw back the curtain to see her wounds in the dim light…
“Don’t open the curtain!”
A sharp scream made my hand freeze mid-air.
“Just… just leave it as it is.”
Her hysteria was extreme. Allen ignored it and opened the curtain.
“Didn’t I tell you not to…!”
In the faint light, I saw April’s legs—completely ruined.
