Chapter 10
“Hello, Lucy.”
Lucy Addis was hiding beneath her blanket.
“Lucy, you don’t have to be afraid. Will you come out?”
“U-uh…”
A muffled groan came from beneath the covers.
Because of the facial paralysis, her lips were twisted, making it impossible for her to pronounce her words properly.
Having treated many young patients before, Kanna calmly soothed the frightened girl.
“It’s all right, Lucy. You’re only sick for a little while. Once you take the right medicine and receive proper treatment, you’ll get completely better.”
“B-but…”
A tearful voice came from under the blanket.
“T-The doctors… all said… they couldn’t cure me…”
“I’ve met many people with the same illness you have.”
“I’ve even cured some of them myself.”
“You’ll become one of those people too.”
She spoke with unwavering confidence, hoping to earn the child’s trust.
Perhaps it was that certainty in her voice.
Slowly, Lucy lowered the blanket.
At last, her grotesquely twisted face was revealed.
Crunch.
Standing silently behind them, Kallen clenched his fists.
Every physician who had examined Lucy had gasped in horror the moment they saw her face.
Or sighed in despair.
How deeply those reactions had hurt his little sister.
His eyes darkened as he stared at Kanna’s back.
If she hurts Lucy…
I won’t forgive her.
But—
“Now then, close your eyes once.”
“And open them again.”
“Try blinking.”
“Now blink with the other eye too.”
Kanna was already gently touching Lucy’s face while examining her.
She wasn’t shocked in the slightest.
Instead, she behaved as though this were the most ordinary thing in the world.
It was Kallen who ended up stunned.
…Why isn’t she surprised?
How can she remain so calm?
Even he had frowned the first time he’d seen Lucy’s face.
His younger sister and mother had screamed and pointed at Lucy in fear.
Yet…
“Lucy, how does it feel?”
“Can you close your right eye?”
Lucy herself found it astonishing.
Every physician—
Even members of her own family—
Had cried out upon seeing her face.
They whispered that she must be possessed.
But this older sister…
She treated her as though nothing were wrong.
As though this were simply a temporary illness.
Warm hope slowly blossomed inside Lucy’s heart.
This sister… is different.
Now then… what’s causing it?
Meanwhile, Kanna carefully examined Lucy.
Not because the girl’s appearance frightened her.
She had already treated numerous patients with facial paralysis.
She was used to it.
First, I need to determine the cause.
She had confidently declared to Kallen that she could cure Lucy.
But in truth…
It wasn’t quite that simple.
If it’s caused by a stroke or a brain disorder… treatment could be difficult.
The medical facilities in this world are simply too primitive.
A blood test.
An MRI.
Those would reveal the answer immediately.
But expecting such things here was impossible.
She would have to diagnose the illness by carefully evaluating the symptoms.
“Kallen.”
“Does Lucy usually get sick often?”
“She caught minor illnesses from time to time.”
“But never anything this serious.”
“Before her face became like this…”
“Did she have a fever?”
“Or perhaps a cough?”
Kallen’s eyes widened.
She was right.
Not long before Lucy’s condition appeared, she’d fallen into a pond while boating.
Afterward, she’d remained bedridden with a lingering illness.
The physician had diagnosed it as a severe cold.
“That’s correct.”
“She did suffer from a bad cold.”
“But she recovered quickly.”
“I don’t think she did.”
“…What?”
Turning away from Kallen, Kanna looked at Lucy instead.
“Lucy…”
“After that happened…”
“Did your ears hurt?”
“Or did you hear a humming sound inside them?”
“N-No…”
“Lucy never mentioned anything like—”
Kallen’s voice trailed off.
Kanna firmly raised a hand, cutting him off.
“I wasn’t asking you.”
“Kallen.”
His brow furrowed.
If I don’t know, who would?
There’s no way Lucy wouldn’t have told me if she’d been in pain…
“…Y-Yes.”
“I did.”
…What?
Lucy nodded timidly.
Kallen stared blankly.
That couldn’t be right.
Then why…
Why was Lucy nodding?
Her tiny movement struck him like a blow.
Kanna, however, simply smiled with understanding.
“I thought so.”
Fever.
Cough.
Ear pain.
Those were classic early symptoms of facial paralysis caused by a viral infection.
And it’s also the most common cause.
Nearly every facial paralysis patient I’d treated had developed it this way.
She quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
For Lucy.
And for herself.
This type…
I can cure.
A little later, Kanna and Kallen moved to his office.
“Can you really cure her?”
“If everything is properly prepared.”
“What needs to be prepared?”
“A medicinal herb encyclopedia from the Eastern Continent.”
Just as expected, Kallen frowned immediately.
“The Eastern Continent?”
The Eastern Continent.
A newly discovered land first found by the master of the Devor Merchant Guild.
Trade had begun less than ten years ago.
It remained a mysterious continent about which very little was known.
Perhaps because of that mystery…
Its culture fascinated the people of the Western Continent.
It had become incredibly popular.
Eastern tea culture, for example, had spread so widely that nearly every noble household enjoyed medicinal teas.
If Juhwa’s memories are accurate…
Many herbs from the Eastern Continent have already reached the West.
Medicinal tea is fashionable among the nobility.
Since Juhwa’s mother had been a practitioner of traditional medicine, she’d paid close attention whenever her mother spoke about herbs.
But information here is still extremely limited.
Especially regarding Eastern medicine itself.
People knew only fragments.
For example—
Steeping peony root can help with anemia.
That sort of superficial knowledge.
No one understood complex herbal formulas.
Or which herbs enhanced one another.
Or which combinations were dangerous.
Compared to the world Juhwa had lived in, their knowledge was primitive.
So people used the herbs merely as healthy tea.
That’s fine.
The knowledge is already in my head.
Perhaps because of this…
Kallen’s expression immediately became more doubtful.
“You truly believe an encyclopedia of Eastern herbs will be useful?”
“Yes.”
“I need to confirm that the herbs I require are all recorded there.”
Although still skeptical, Kallen finally nodded.
Perhaps he had decided that, having come this far, he might as well trust her completely.
“…Very well.”
Soon afterward, servants entered carrying armfuls of books on Eastern medicinal herbs.
Astragalus.
Angelica.
Red peony root.
Szechuan lovage.
Peach kernel.
Safflower.
Those were the herbs she needed to prepare a decoction for facial paralysis.
Kanna hurriedly flipped through the pages.
Meanwhile…
Kallen silently watched her.
Watching Kanna—her long black hair hanging like a ghost’s as she rapidly turned page after page—
A strange feeling of emptiness washed over him.
…What am I doing?
The sister who had left home as though she’d been driven away…
Had suddenly returned.
And now she was sitting on the sofa in his office reading an encyclopedia of Eastern herbs.
The entire situation was absurd.
Yet…
She doesn’t sound like she’s making things up.
She had correctly guessed that Lucy had suffered from fever and coughing.
And…
She had even predicted symptoms Kallen himself hadn’t known about.
His face darkened.
Lucy admitted that even after her fever disappeared…
Her ears had continued hurting.
She’d also suffered from ringing in her ears.
Then why…
Why hadn’t she told him?
His chest tightened painfully.
Unable to hold back any longer, he spoke.
“…Why did you say that?”
“I’m trying to concentrate right now.”
“I’m looking for something, so don’t—”
“When Lucy admitted that her ears hurt.”
Ignoring her interruption, Kallen continued.
“You acted as though you understood why she’d hidden it.”
“Am I mistaken?”
“No.”
“You’re not.”
Kanna answered casually.
“I figured she might not have told you everything.”
“…Why?”
“Because…”
“If it were me…”
“I would’ve done the same.”
Kallen was left speechless.
Kanna continued in an even tone.
“You’d already taken her to the physician, hadn’t you?”
“So she probably felt guilty about saying she was still in pain.”
“Maybe…”
“She was afraid people would accuse her of pretending to be sick.”
Kallen Addis…
You’ll never understand that.
You grew up loved and admired by everyone from the day you were born.
You’ll never know what that kind of fear feels like.
“…That’s impossible.”
“I’ve done everything I could to make Lucy feel comfortable in this house.”
Only after a long silence did Kallen finally object.
Kanna couldn’t help letting out a faint scoff.
“Are you the only person who lives in this house?”
“…”
“Lucy’s the daughter of a maid, isn’t she?”
“Even if you’re kind to her…”
“Your older brother Orsini isn’t.”
“Neither your younger sister nor your mother would ever treat her that way.”
At least Kallen seemed to care for Lucy.
That was probably why she dared tell him when she was hurting.
At least she had someone willing to listen.
…
But why is Kallen so kind to Lucy?
It’s strange.
He never treated me that way.
