CHAPTER 05
“…It seems she has caught a cold.”
“What? That can’t be. She’s the type to whine even if she’s slightly sick, but she clearly told me she was fine!”
Hearing the voice buzzing like someone who had fallen into water, Seraphine frowned.
‘So noisy.’
Her whole body felt heavy.
She didn’t care about anything else—she just wanted to be left alone.
“Just because she doesn’t show it doesn’t mean she’s not in pain.”
“……”
“This happens often enough, so I’m sure the young lady will pull through calmly. Probably.”
Seraphine being ill was nothing new.
Since it was a frequent occurrence, the physician was puzzled to see the Duke of Rubia so flustered.
“She said she wasn’t sick, but then collapsed right in front of me.”
“She usually calls for me at the slightest discomfort. This is quite unexpected.”
The duke seemed deeply shocked by the sight of his daughter fainting with a completely calm face.
Only then did the physician seem to understand and nodded.
“She’ll be fine. She’s endured well so far.”
Leaving words of reassurance, the physician prescribed treatment and left.
The Duke of Rubia stood still, looking down at his daughter’s faintly furrowed brow.
Then a maid came rushing in.
“What is it?”
She had been snooping around the rooms during the commotion and had found that, so she ran straight over without realizing Seraphine had collapsed.
Finding herself face-to-face with the Duke so suddenly, the maid was flustered.
“You wouldn’t have come without a reason. I asked, what is it?”
“Well…”
Hesitating, the maid figured, ‘The duke will find out eventually anyway,’ and decided to tell the truth.
“We found the person who was stealing the young lady’s valuables.”
“What?”
“The young lady suspected something, as things kept going missing. She secretly asked me to investigate. Today, we found one of the missing brooches in the head maid’s room.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes, I saw it with my own eyes. And that wasn’t the only item. If you search her room, you’ll find plenty more.”
The head maid was not poorly paid.
In fact, her salary was quite generous compared to other places.
Seraphine, due to her weak health, spent most of her time at the mansion.
Given that, the head maid was naturally in a position where she had to deal with Seraphine’s whims directly.
The Duke of Rubia had taken that into account when deciding her pay.
His daughter had just collapsed.
And yet the head maid had been stealing her belongings?
Unable to contain his anger at the fact that the maid who was supposed to care for his ailing daughter had been coveting her valuables, the Duke raised his voice.
“Bring the head maid here at once!”
As the surroundings grew noisy, Seraphine buried her face in the pillow.
She had no idea that the trap she had set had caught the head maid and caused such an uproar.
The exhausted Seraphine had simply passed out again.
By the time she regained awareness, it was quiet—no voices, no conversations.
“Water…”
Her throat was dry.
Half-opening her eyes, she flailed her hand, reaching for the bell rope.
“You want this?”
A male voice, unfamiliar, responded.
‘Who’s that?’
Through her blurry vision, she saw golden hair.
“Icarus…?”
“Who’s that now? Another guy’s name? I come to take care of you, and now I have to hear about your boyfriends too?”
His voice was cold, like a splash of icy water.
Seraphine slowly recalled her current situation.
And it didn’t take her long to recognize the man in front of her.
‘Joshua.’
Her younger brother.
With deep golden hair like honey and sharp cat-like features, he was clearly related to Seraphine.
Joshua glared at her with blood-red eyes, full of hostility.
Despite that, he handed her a glass of water with unexpectedly obedient movements.
“Since threatening suicide didn’t work, you’re trying something else now?”
He said, sitting down on the edge of her bed.
Seraphine, who had just managed to sit up, stared silently at her younger brother, two years her junior.
As she just looked at him without saying a word, Joshua became uncomfortable.
Eventually, unable to bear the silence, he started rambling.
“This is what happens when you always use your illness to get attention. Everyone’s fed up with it. And your personality’s terrible on top of that.”
“You must take after me, then.”
The moment Seraphine said that, Joshua looked like his eyes were about to pop out of his head.
Not only was her tone calm, but what she said was clearly an insult.
Even though he had started it, she had effortlessly turned it back on him. Joshua gave her a dumbfounded look.
Still half-asleep, Seraphine sipped her water, unaware of what she had just said.
“Father kicked out the head maid for stealing your things.”
“And?”
It was said the head maid was even whipped, though Joshua left that part out.
Seraphine’s reaction was so calm—it was as if she were hearing about a stranger.
“What did you do?”
“Why do you assume I did something?”
“The head maid claimed you gave her the brooch. That she didn’t steal it.”
“So you trust a stranger’s word over your own sister’s?”
Her tone was flat.
Seraphine, without a single change in expression, stared into the half-emptied cup.
“People say anything when they’re cornered. It’s easier to lie and shift the blame than admit guilt.”
“……”
“If I had really given her the brooch with my own hand—then would I have any reason to falsely accuse her and have her fired?”
“…No, I just said it without thinking.”
Joshua didn’t know how the head maid had treated Seraphine.
He had never cared enough to find out.
If he saw her, he avoided her like a mad dog.
So he had never considered that Seraphine might have been bullied, not the bully.
Feeling awkward, Joshua changed the subject.
“Those damn wings didn’t pop out, at least.”
“It’s just a mild cold.”
By accessing the body’s memories, Seraphine had learned a crucial fact.
The Lady of House Rubia, Seraphine, suffered from a rare disease where wings grew from her back.
Wings—something the Princess of Tilmun never had.
Ordinary humans were never born with wings.
But oddly, this Seraphine had been born with them.
‘Five hundred years ago, you were scorned if you didn’t have wings. Now, divine blood is extinct, and wings are seen as abnormal.’
Humans born with wings usually died before reaching adulthood.
The magic that should have been distributed throughout the body all concentrated in the wings.
‘Wings are essentially massive clumps of magic energy.’
Magic was life energy.
Even ordinary people had magic within them.
Those born with high magic potential became mages; those who weren’t couldn’t even dabble in magic.
Considering that all divine bloodlines were capable of using magic, it showed just how weak humans truly were.
‘Because of that, they probably can’t withstand the magic drain from the wings and die young.’
Unable to properly use the magic stored in the wings, and constantly drained by them, the body was always in a state of deficiency.
‘It’s said to be a phenomenon that appears once in a hundred years. And there’s no cure. If the wings are cut off, the person dies immediately.’
That’s why it was considered a terrifyingly rare disease.
A being of divine blood could carry wings effortlessly, but for a human body, they were a huge burden.
So the original Seraphine had a magical seal engraved on her back as a child to suppress the wings.
It looked like a tattoo—like giant wings etched on her back.
But even that was only a temporary fix.
Like a sneeze that comes out of nowhere, if magic was suddenly overused, the wings could manifest.
When that happened, the body would take heavy damage—or in the worst case…
‘She’d die.’
Such a futile ending.
‘To think, she finally got wings… but they’re nothing but a cursed burden.’
Even with magic seals and medicine, maintaining the body had its limits.
Someone had to continuously supply her with magic to keep her relatively stable and functioning.
The original Seraphine had hoped her fiancé would take on that role.
‘But he didn’t seem interested at all.’
He openly cheated with other women, despite being engaged.
Whether his fiancée lived or died, he couldn’t care less.
Maybe, since the engagement was forced, he was hoping she’d die soon.
“Here. Take your medicine.”
As Joshua handed her the medicine, Seraphine asked,
“Why are you in my room?”
“What? You mad I’m here? Gonna throw a cup at me like usual?”
Clearly harboring some grudges, Joshua responded with a sharp tone.
After a moment’s thought, Seraphine pulled something out of a drawer and really did throw it at him.
