chapter 08
Drip. Drip.
A thin line of blood flowed silently from one side of her nose, then began to fall in drops.
“Ah….”
Aston quickly covered her nose with one hand.
White light began to shine from her hand, as if she was about to use her healing ability.
I watched the dark energy swirling beneath her chin and warned her.
“You’d better not use your ability for a while.”
“That’s none of your concern.”
Despite my warning, Aston stopped her nosebleed almost instantly.
Then she irritably pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the blood away.
“More importantly, how did you know about my condition? Is the duke’s family spying on me?”
“Spying? Hah. What would we gain from spying on you?”
I scoffed and added,
“And even if we were, why would I tell you honestly?”
“…Young Lady.”
“I’ll consider this your treatment. You can leave now.”
As I pointed toward the door, Aston bit her lip.
She clearly didn’t like what I said, but she also didn’t want to swallow her pride and ask further.
“….”
After staring at me for a while, she turned sharply and left the room without even saying goodbye.
‘Has she not suffered enough under Edith? Her attitude is terrible….’
I frowned and muttered in annoyance before flopping down onto the bed.
“Whatever. I’ve done enough.”
She was probably reacting that way because she herself felt uneasy.
The early symptoms of rampage were similar to simple fatigue, so many awakened people ignored them.
Of course, it was extremely rare for someone to actually lose control.
Sensitive awakened ones—like the male leads—could feel the dark energy building up inside them, and the state strictly managed such cases.
In the modern world where I used to live, they would send people to isolation centers and suppress their abilities with drugs. In severe cases, they even carried out euthanasia.
But I didn’t know how it worked in this world.
There was barely any mention of rampage in the novel to begin with.
“…Well, the heroine will handle it.”
Right. There was a great Purifier in this world. Why should I worry?
What mattered more was that I couldn’t go outside right now.
“Hm. What should I do….”
I fell into thought.
The reason I wanted to go out was to test something.
Whether I could still use the ability I originally had.
‘After all, the soul is still me.’
Of course, I knew it was almost impossible.
This body had already awakened with a different ability.
And in a world that already had a Purifier, wouldn’t it be strange if another person suddenly appeared with the same purification power?
“Then could I become the heroine too?”
Even as I said it out loud, I laughed at myself.
When I first read this novel, I wondered if it was some kind of threat sent by a rival company.
Because my ability was practically the same as the heroine, Llewellyn’s.
‘Purification.’
Unfortunately, I wasn’t as powerful as Llewellyn, who was praised as a true Purifier.
Even purifying an area the size of my palm exhausted me quickly.
‘Maybe I was around D-rank.’
I never officially tested it, but it was embarrassing to even say I was awakened.
Still, instead of feeling discouraged, I used myself as a test subject and developed Cure-1.
Maybe I wasn’t useful as an awakened, but as a scientist, my education and career weren’t meaningless.
‘I was finally at the last stage of development.’
I was so close to success. And now I was stuck here.
“…Come to think of it, I could’ve tested it on Aston.”
I suddenly realized there was a way to test without going outside and clicked my tongue.
Thanks to this body’s strange ability, I could see rampage levels. If purification worked, I would know immediately.
“I shouldn’t have sent her away. I should’ve just said I’d treat her.”
It was a shame, but there would be other chances to meet Aston.
Just then—knock, knock.
“Young Lady. It’s me, Nancy.”
Nancy entered after knocking.
“Did your treatment go well?”
“Mm, more or less. But what is it?”
“The butler asked me to bring this to you.”
Nancy carefully placed a plate on the bedside table.
I glanced at it and frowned.
“…Chocolate?”
“Yes. The chef just made it. He said you always look for it when you’re in a bad mood….”
It seemed they were quite nervous that I might act like the real Edith.
‘So this is how they used to calm her down.’
An antagonist whose anger melts away with sweets. How simple.
I let out a small laugh, and Nancy quickly stabbed a piece of chocolate with a fork and held it out to me.
“Ah.”
Still lying lazily on the bed, I accepted it.
The soft fresh chocolate melted smoothly on my tongue.
I didn’t usually like sweets, but after eating it, I felt my nerves relax a little.
As I took another piece, I asked,
“Nancy. Where exactly did the gate appear near Ezenia?”
“Oh, you mean Tollen?”
“Aston is from Tollen, right?”
“Yes, that’s right! How did you know?”
“She acts as if I’m her sworn enemy.”
“Ah….”
Nancy laughed awkwardly.
“I’m not sure, but I heard Aston’s younger brother was exposed to dark energy and is in bad condition. Maybe that’s why she’s so sensitive….”
“….”
“O-of course, it was wrong of her to speak to you that way, Young Lady!”
After hearing the story, I roughly understood.
Aston must have poured too much healing power into her brother.
Maybe not just him, but everyone injured in the town.
And then she saw me—perfectly fine—and felt resentful.
It was unfortunate, but healing power could only slow the body’s decay. It couldn’t fundamentally reverse corruption.
“How bad is the damage? Is it serious enough to cause riots?”
“N-no. It was resolved quickly, so compared to other places, the damage wasn’t that large.”
Of course it wasn’t.
Three S-rank awakened had rushed there to save Llewellyn.
I could understand she wasn’t in her right mind because of her brother, but I still felt she had taken her anger out on the wrong person.
‘But Ethan went there to deal with it, didn’t he?’
A question suddenly came to mind.
“Then Ethan… why did he go down to Ezenia?”
“Maybe he went in your place, out of responsibility? Ezenia is part of the duke’s territory, after all.”
But that didn’t clear things up.
‘The gate appeared a week ago. And he’s only now going to calm public opinion?’
To a town that had a villa owned by his disliked stepsister?
It made more sense that he went to silence people with money so the heroine wouldn’t get blamed.
Thinking that way made me feel wronged.
Because of misunderstandings, I was the one who ended up being cursed.
‘If he was going to go, he should’ve gone before I woke up. Honestly, I don’t like him.’
While I grumbled, something touched my lips.
Nancy, watching my mood, had quickly offered another piece of chocolate.
“Your family is safe, right, Nancy?”
“Yes. I worked in Ezenia, but I’m originally from the west!”
“That’s good.”
“You really are kind, Young Lady.”
I had only asked out of politeness, but a faint blush rose on Nancy’s cheeks.
That surprised me a little.
Someone in this awful novel actually thought the villain was kind.
Since I couldn’t go outside, I had nothing to do.
After rolling around in bed all morning, noon arrived quickly.
I ate the lunch Nancy brought and pulled a random book from the shelf, sitting by the large window.
Just as I opened it—
“Young Lady, it’s me. The butler.”
The butler appeared suddenly.
‘What now? Does he want me to praise the chocolate?’
Confused, I let him in.
Perhaps because of what happened earlier, he bowed very politely.
“What is it?”
“Marquis Leandro’s son has come to visit.”
“Who is that?”
“Ah… your memory….”
I had asked because I truly didn’t know, but the butler looked at me with pity.
Then he carefully explained.
“The young marquis has been a very close friend of yours since childhood. His ability awakened at fourteen, and he is now an S-rank awakened….”
“Wait.”
I raised my hand to stop him.
“His name isn’t something like Vincent, is it?”
“Yes, that’s correct!”
Damn it. Why are bad feelings always right?
Vincent Leandro.
Male Lead No. 2.
