Chapter 13
Unlike the first time, Lucy obediently pulled back the blanket.
Then she held out a small card.
<Thank you for telling me you can cure me, Sister. I believe in you.>
The words were written in crooked, clumsy handwriting.
How adorable.
Kanna smiled and gently patted Lucy’s head.
“Lucy, you’re going to get better soon. But you have to trust me and follow every part of the treatment. Understand?”
Lucy nodded eagerly.
“Good. Tie your hair up so I can see the back of your neck, then lie face down.”
As Lucy did as she was told, Kanna examined the acupuncture needles.
She selected one of the fine needles most commonly used for treatment before speaking quietly.
“All right. Let’s begin.”
Lucy exposed the slender back of her neck.
Just as Kanna was about to insert the first needle into the Fengchi acupointā
“What are you doing?!”
Smack!
Kallen grabbed her wrist.
“I’m treating her. Let go.”
“Treating her? Have you lost your mind? You’re calling stabbing someone’s bare skin with something that sharp ‘treatment’?”
Lucy flinched in fright.
Seeing her reaction, Kanna’s eyes sharpened.
How could you scare her like that?!
When a patient became tense, their muscles stiffened.
That meant inserting the needle could become painful.
Which was why relaxing young children before treatment was the most important part.
And this idiot is interfering with that.
Kanna set the needle down before placing her free hand gently over Kallen’s.
“So…”
“Should I stop?”
Her voice was frighteningly calm.
“Should I stop everything?”
“Should I end the treatment right here?”
Kallen fell silent.
He had grabbed her because it looked dangerous…
But he hadn’t actually decided whether to stop the treatment altogether.
“…I’ve never seen a treatment like this.”
“I already told you.”
“It’s a treatment I discovered while researching alchemy.”
“You trusted those words enough to leave Lucy in my care.”
“Didn’t you?”
“…”
“If you’re going to let me do it, then let me.”
“If you’re going to stop me, then stop me.”
“Choose one.”
“You won’t accomplish anything by standing in the middle.”
Kallen clenched his teeth.
Everything about this felt strange.
How can she be so confident?
Kanna looked utterly composed.
So confident that she almost seemed to glow.
No one could act like that without absolute faith in their own abilities.
Maybe that was why…
She looked right.
The hand resting over his seemed to know the answer.
For one reckless moment, he almost wanted to hold onto it.
Startled by the impulse, he quickly curled his hand into a fist.
Still…
She’s going to stab Lucy with something that sharp…
Granted, the needle had been forged from a healing mana stone said to restore vitality simply by carrying it.
It was also finer than an ordinary needle, so delicate that it would barely leave a wound.
Lucy wasn’t actually in any danger.
Even so…
How could this possibly be a legitimate treatment?
It was absurd.
Then why…
Why doesn’t she look like a fraud?
Why?
A long silence passed before Kallen finally spoke.
“I…”
“…”
“I’ll trust you.”
“Please continue.”
“Then step back.”
“You’re in my way.”
Her tone carried the quiet authority unique to a physician.
Kallen hesitated briefly before obeying.
Finally, the nuisance is gone.
Kanna sighed inwardly before gently rubbing Lucy’s tense shoulders.
“Lucy.”
“You said you trust me too, didn’t you?”
Lucy nodded.
Kanna smiled warmly.
“Thank you for saying that.”
“When you’re all better, maybe we can go somewhere together.”
She continued gently massaging the back of Lucy’s neck to help her relax.
“Where should we go?”
“The weather’s nice.”
“Maybe we could have a picnic.”
Speaking as softly as a spring breezeā
Tap.
She inserted the first needle into the acupoint on Lucy’s neck.
Lucy didn’t seem to notice a thing.
A moment laterā
Tap.
The second needle went in.
“We could all visit the forest together.”
“There are rabbits there.”
“And squirrels.”
She deliberately kept talking about random things to distract Lucy.
Tap.
Another needle.
Behind her, Kallen sucked in a quiet breath.
That really…
Kanna shot him a warning glance.
Kallen immediately pressed his lips together and looked away.
“Close your eyes.”
“And imagine what you’d like to do with the rabbits and squirrels.”
Now the real acupuncture treatment began.
She carefully inserted needles one by one into the Hegu point on the hand and the Zusanli point on the leg, following the proper sequence.
Then she simply let time pass.
The room became so peaceful…
…that Lucy eventually drifted off to sleep.
Kanna removed the needles and gently woke her.
“Turn over.”
Now comes the important part.
The remaining needles had to be placed in the acupoints on Lucy’s face.
The key was making sure she didn’t become frightened.
“You did wonderfully, Lucy.”
“While you were imagining things with your eyes closed…”
“…the treatment was almost completely finished.”
Lucy opened her eyes wide in disbelief.
“It only went so smoothly because you were such a good patient.”
“There’s only a little left.”
“It won’t feel any different from before.”
“So just keep your eyes closed.”
“And imagine where we’re going to play after you’re all better.”
“Okay?”
Lucy nodded again.
Kanna beamed.
“Good girl.”
“You’re such a good girl.”
Meanwhile, Kallen watched the scene with a complicated expression.
Since Lucy wasn’t in pain, his worries had naturally faded.
But something else now bothered him.
Does Sister have a split personality?
Whenever she spoke to him…
She was either cold…
Indifferent…
Or plainly uninterested.
Yet now she was treating Lucy with the kindness of an angel.
Her attitude is completely different.
…Not that it should matter.
Why am I even thinking about something so pointless?
Clicking his tongue, Kallen shook his head.
“Amazing.”
The change appeared after only a single treatment.
The muscles around Lucy’s lips, which had previously been stiff and rigid, had relaxed enough for her to purse them into a round shape.
“I never expected the results to appear this quickly.”
Kanna merely snorted.
“I told you.”
“I knew this would happen.”
In reality…
She hadn’t expected it at all.
I can’t believe the effects showed up this fast!
Although she maintained a cool expression, she was inwardly cheering.
The results are even better than I predicted.
It was all thanks to the acupuncture needles forged from healing mana stones.
“If we continue for just a few more days, she’ll be completely cured.”
“And make sure she drinks the herbal medicine I prepared every single day.”
“Understood.”
“Then I’m going to bed.”
“Sister.”
“Hm?”
Kallen looked at her as though he wanted to say something.
“What is it?”
But after letting out a deep sigh, he took a step back.
“It’s nothing.”
“Please get some rest.”
What was that?
How anticlimactic.
Without waiting any longer, Kanna simply turned around.
He obviously had something he wanted to say…
But she had no desire to press him for it.
She wasn’t curious in the slightest.
No.
Not at all.
She wasn’t curious about anything.
Not what Kallen wanted to say.
Not the Addis family.
Nothing.
She was only using them because she needed them.
He hates me anyway.
Why would I waste my effort trying to get along with someone like that?
When she was young…
She had desperately wanted their approval.
Her younger siblings.
Her father.
Her mother.
She obeyed every word they said.
“Sister, can’t you just stay hidden in the basement like a rat? You’re embarrassing.”
“Get lost, trash!”
“Please stay somewhere I don’t have to see you, Sister.”
Again and again, they told her to disappear.
To stay out of sight.
To get lost.
So Kanna buried herself even deeper in the laboratory.
In truth…
It had been an escape.
It’s not because my family hates me that I’m hiding.
It’s because I love alchemy.
She had comforted herself with that excuse over and over.
Idiots.
I’m actually a wonderful person.
Why would they hate someone like me?
Everyone in this family is an idiot.
A complete fool.
Now…
Kanna no longer wanted their love.
Instead, she laughed quietly to herself as she lay down on the bed.
The exhaustion she had been holding back crashed over her like a tidal wave.
I hope no one wakes me until I wake up on my own.
