CHAPTER 10………………………………………..
It’s kind of funny.
The moment I saw April’s condition, it became perfectly clear what kind of revenge I would take on the Duke family.
“I told you not to open the curtain!”
April’s trembling voice carried anxiety.
“You need to see the injuries to heal them. Just a moment, calm down, okay?”
Even Barak’s soothing words did little to ease the tension.
I could feel her fear—not just from her leg not healing, but also from the shame of being forced to reveal it to someone else.
No wonder she had called the priests without sexual power quacks. Even if they had sexual power, they probably couldn’t have healed her easily; without it, it was nearly impossible.
Her leg was scarred in multiple places, and from the accident, the bone had twisted slightly, leaving her leg malformed.
“You have sexual power, so you can heal her, right?”
Barak’s voice was almost pleading.
I carefully laid my hands over April’s leg.
Well…
“Say something…!”
April shouted at me, glaring, as I simply stared at her leg in silence.
“How’s the pain?”
“Can’t you tell by looking? Are you a quack too?”
Not exactly the tone you use for someone who came to help. I let out a short, dry chuckle.
This had been her demeanor at the Duke household, shown only to me. Perhaps she’d grown more sensitive after the injury, but she wasn’t hiding it even in front of Barak.
“…It hurts, I can’t walk. It’s been a month and a half since the accident, and it still hurts.”
“…”
“Is that enough of an answer?”
It probably was.
“Allen, can you make a painkiller?”
“You said you need sexual power—why a painkiller?”
“You need to sleep at night. If it hurts, she won’t be able to sleep.”
Seeing her glaring eyes, Allen nodded slightly.
“Yes, I can do that.”
“So, can you heal her with sexual power or not?”
At April’s agitated voice, I straightened my slightly bent knees and answered.
“Not completely. Even at the Main Temple, they’d give you the same answer.”
Even with ordinary sexual power, her condition couldn’t be fully healed—but it wasn’t hopeless.
I could heal her with the sexual power I had, but I didn’t want to do it willingly.
And I had no obligation to.
April might already feel despair at her situation, but I wanted her to taste a greater despair. Something closer to what I had felt.
“But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.”
Placing my hand over April’s leg, a soft, pure white light spread gently from my palm.
Both pairs of eyes—hers and Barak’s—were drawn completely to my hand.
I could see the twisted bones twitch and gradually settle into place.
The bones aligned, but the wounds were not fully gone.
“The bones…”
Though scars remained, the once-bumpy leg began to smooth out. April lifted her head sharply.
“Does it still hurt?”
Her slate-gray eyes blinked slowly a few times before shaking her head violently.
“It doesn’t hurt.”
“Good.”
“You said you couldn’t heal it? So it’s possible?”
“Ordinary sexual power can’t fully heal it. The pain is just temporarily gone.”
“…Temporarily?”
“It will hurt until the bones fully set. You’ll need to move carefully.”
Her previously sharp, haughty attitude had vanished. The siblings nodded gently, almost obediently.
I wanted to savor this moment, to make them rely on me completely.
“If the tendons are severed, we’ll need to monitor for a bit longer.”
I suppressed the crooked smile forming at my lips.
April, lying on the bed, was curious about the pain-free leg. She wiggled her toes a few times, then attempted to get up.
“Ugh!”
She immediately lost her balance, but Barak swiftly supported her, gently wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
“April, be careful.”
Hearing his tender, worried voice made me clench and unclench my fists. Seeing him worry like that… it twisted something inside me.
This was why people needed family and blood ties. I, left with only my father, had long lost a family due to the Duke household.
I had temporarily relieved her pain and realigned her bones, but she wouldn’t walk yet. I hadn’t treated her tendons.
“I can’t be coming all the time, but if things worsen, I’ll come again.”
I gently nudged Allen forward to handle her care.
“He’ll take care of the remaining pain and wounds.”
“So, it can heal eventually.”
April touched her leg, smiling with relief. For now, that was enough.
Just the pain being gone and the bones realigned.
“Thank you.”
I expected April to say it, but instead it came from an unexpected person.
I looked at Barak, who supported April, into those sunset-colored eyes filled with gratitude and complete trust.
I didn’t know how to respond. Memories of nearly ten years of living with him, wanting to help him by any means, came back.
I had run errands for him, to the point of being mistaken for a maid. I had even studied his alchemy to understand it better.
Of course, it had all been useless effort.
Ridiculous, really. Eight years of struggle just to hear a single “thank you” and a kind word—and here it was, finally.
“You’re welcome.”
“You’re still a great benefactor to the Rise family.”
“I just followed the contract.”
And I hadn’t even fully healed April yet.
When I turned to notice Allen’s gaze, he seemed like he wanted to say something but was holding back.
“Still, thanks are thanks.”
April, looking at her leg in awe, grabbed my hand tightly.
“I’ll only trust you. If my leg returns to normal, I’ll repay you however I can.”
This was the day I had been waiting for.
To be treated kindly, to be thanked.
This wish was the same as the one I had at the Duke household.
Back then, I wanted to become their “real” family by any means. After being expelled three years ago, that desire had completely changed.
I only wished for the moment the Rise family would desperately need me—and it seemed the gods had granted it.
This wish was no longer about returning to a family, but about placing a knife in the back of the Rise family when the time came.
They would never know how much I had longed to strike them.
“Why did you do that?”
The orange light surrounding us vanished in an instant, and I slowly opened my eyes.
The first thing I noticed was not the shop, but Allen’s complicated expression.
“What do you mean?”
Allen gave a sly smile, as if to say, how did you trick me?
He sank into the chair, looking up at me.
“You could have fully healed her leg, but you left part of it.”
“You notice too quickly.”
Even with superficial sexual power, it was remarkable how much he knew.
“Maybe you just couldn’t fully heal it?”
“I received sexual power treatment from Irina, and I noticed it.”
Confident tone. Can one really know that much from a single treatment?
“You two know each other? What’s your relationship?”
Allen’s narrow eyes asked subtly, letting out a strange hum.
After all, he had just seen April—identical to me—so he had every reason to be confused.
“She didn’t recognize you because of the face change.”
“…”
“And with the restraint… it doesn’t seem like it was just about money.”
I had always taken customers needing sexual power purely for money.
Not for money, there would be no reason.
To live with Alicia, and to repay her for taking care of my father while I was gone.
“Do you have a grudge against the Duke family or something?”
“…”
“If not, you wouldn’t need the restraint.”
I wasn’t sure if he was just naturally perceptive or if I had given everything away.
The longer the silence, the more Allen’s question could only be answered affirmatively.
The Duke family may have brought me here simply because they needed a temporary substitute, but my reason for coming was clear:
I would make them regret bringing me, just as they had taken my father, I would take their only treasure—their daughter.
Yes. My feelings were closer to the “grudge” Allen had mentioned than the “dislike” the butler had said.
“You probably guessed by looking at the princess’ face. She looked exactly like me, and the Duke family received a lot from her.”
“You really knew the Duke family?”
“Yes.”
I answered brightly
