- Episode 9
“If you want your limbs cut off, I’ll make it painless.”
Devan casually twirled the sword he was holding, then drove it into the floor with a firm thud.
There was nothing flashy about his movement, yet it was graceful—sharp and precise, without a single wasted motion.
He rested both hands on the hilt, one over the other, and stared straight at me.
Though his eyes were covered with cloth, I could still feel a chilling, piercing aura coming from him.
“If you’re thinking of using your healing powers as leverage to threaten me, you’ve made a grave mistake.”
I stepped back nervously. It seemed he had misunderstood my self-inflicted wound from earlier—thinking I had harmed myself in advance, fearing he’d be angry that I fainted during the healing.
“I get the misunderstanding, but that’s not it. I just needed to test my divine power.”
“A test?”
I lightly pressed my hand against Devan’s chest and closed my eyes, focusing.
A surge of divine power flowed from me.
After a few seconds, I opened my eyes again. The wound on my palm had completely vanished.
My body felt fine. Unlike yesterday, when healing Devan made my head feel like it would explode and left me drenched in cold sweat, this time there was only a slight discomfort—and that was all.
Then why had I fainted yesterday?
If something was wrong with lifting his curse, that would be a serious problem. The ten years I endured might have been for nothing.
“How brutal.”
Devan, having already returned the sword to its place, wrinkled his nose. He seemed to dislike the smell of blood.
I shrugged. I may have acted a bit impulsively.
I should have done it outside, or at least in the bathroom. The blood had already soaked into the floor, and my clothes were a mess.
“I heard the temple is looking for me.”
I brought it up as soon as we sat down for our meal.
Devan lifted a spoonful of soup but paused mid-air, frowning.
“Who told you that?”
“Does it matter?”
Feigning indifference, he resumed eating.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you go. Not until you break my curse.”
“…What? Let me go?”
I blinked at him in confusion.
“Didn’t you bring it up because you want me to let you go now that the temple is looking for you?”
“No, absolutely not! You mustn’t let them take me. Has the temple already started suspecting this place?”
“…I don’t think so.”
Whew. I let out a quiet breath. It wasn’t the worst-case scenario yet.
I pushed aside the fresh-looking salad and fell deep into thought.
How could I hide from the temple completely?
Actually, I didn’t need to hide forever—just until I broke Devan’s curse. I planned to leave the empire afterward anyway.
I didn’t know why the temple wanted me, but surely they wouldn’t chase me across the entire empire.
“Excuse me.”
Devan raised an eyebrow at my audacity. But now wasn’t the time to worry about that.
“Please, be more careful.”
“What?”
“I heard you posted an official notice in the capital looking for a healer. Do you know what kind of rumors that’s caused?”
“What kind of rumors?”
He seemed genuinely clueless. I was too embarrassed to say it myself.
“Anyway, the entire capital is buzzing with talk about a young woman coming to this estate. If the temple hears about that rumor—”
“That doesn’t seem like your problem.”
“It is my problem! It’s my life!”
Devan set down his spoon and rested his chin on his hand.
“I’m really curious now. If it’s money you need, wouldn’t it be faster to just ask the temple?”
I pressed my lips tightly together. There was no way the temple would give me money.
In this empire, the temple’s public image was flawless.
They provided shelter for the homeless, food for the hungry, and healing for the wounded.
So no one would believe what I went through inside its walls.
No one knew how they treated children with even a trace of divine power—how those kids were worked to exhaustion in the name of healing, and what became of them in the end.
No one knew the truth behind the temple.
Except for us—their sacrificial lambs.
“…That’s not an option. No matter how this started, we made a deal. I’m here to break your curse with everything I have. So you need to let me leave the empire once I do. Understand? No one can find out I’m here. No one.”
“Not even Count Diego?”
I stiffened.
There was no way he could know, but he hit right on target—as if he did.
When I didn’t answer, he shook his head.
“As I said, as long as you break the curse, I don’t care about anything else. But if you can’t—”
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
I quickly cut him off before he could say something terrifying.
“Seeing how you fainted yesterday, I doubt it’ll be easy.”
“That was just because it’s been so long. You saw earlier, didn’t you?”
I held up my healed palm triumphantly—then remembered he couldn’t see, and awkwardly lowered it again.
“You mean the smell of blood.”
“Exactly. You don’t smell it anymore, do you?”
“Are you used to injuries?”
“Of course not.”
There was no reason to tell him I had lived under Count Diego’s abuse.
To him, I still wanted to appear as the perfect goddess from the prophecy.
“From now on, don’t do anything that reckless. I don’t want the whole mansion reeking of blood. If you must, come to me instead.”
He frowned as he spoke.
“I’ll go to the bathroom next time.”
“Don’t.”
I pouted.
“Fine.”
It’s not like he’d know what I was doing in the bathroom anyway.
“From now on, your maid will assist you with your baths—as is proper.”
Devan said this in a tone that left no room for argument.
How much did he hate the smell of blood?
I stared at him, then glanced at the old butler standing beside him.
“…But seriously, is there really no one else working in this huge estate?”
“He’s here. And I just hired someone new.”
“I meant other than him.”
“I hate having too many people around.”
He said it coldly as he set down his utensils.
“Why? Isn’t it inconvenient? I mean… especially with your vision—”
I stopped myself before I said something rude.
“If there are too many people, it’s hard to memorize all their footsteps.”
I was taken aback by how calmly he said it and clamped my mouth shut.
An awkward silence hung in the air.
What must life be like without sight? I suddenly felt a wave of sympathy for him—then immediately laughed at myself.
Sympathy?
At least he wasn’t doomed to die from torture and abuse. Who was I to pity him?
I quickly lifted my head. I had no right to pity anyone. Not right now.
“So, getting to the point… why is the temple looking for me?”
“I assumed you’d tell me.”
“Me?”
Devan slowly sliced a piece of meat and put it in his mouth.
“They said they desperately need you. They’ve announced it publicly across the empire, so it must be something serious.”
Across the entire empire?
That was unexpected.
As far as I knew, they had already sold me off to Count Diego long ago. The whole empire knew that. Maybe not in a negative sense like I did—but the temple had stayed out of my life for over a decade.
“Why now? Why would they suddenly look for me like this?”
“Probably because of your divine power.”
But I hadn’t used my power in eight years. Surely the temple knew that.
After so many years, they should assume my power had faded.
It wasn’t uncommon for children born with divine power to lose it over time.
I chewed my lip as I thought.
This sudden change… I had no idea what it meant.
I thought the temple had thrown me away.
I wanted nothing more to do with them.
“Actually, I was curious too.”
“About what?”
“Why would the temple suddenly search for you now, when even Count Diego hasn’t said a word?”
“And? Did you find out anything?”
He put down his fork and knife.
Devan’s plate was completely empty, except for the blood left from the meat.
“They said a young girl is sick. That’s the only incident reported from the temple lately.”
“…A young girl?”
His voice reached me slowly, like time itself had slowed.
“They say she has a divine power as great as yours. The temple has been hiding her until now. I think her name was… Cordelia?”
The strength drained from my hands. My utensils clattered noisily onto the table.
That name from Devan’s lips hit me harder than I expected.
“What… did you say?”
“Oh… I mean, I must’ve misheard—”
I swallowed dryly several times.
The old butler quickly rushed over to clear my plate. I couldn’t even say thank you—I just bowed my head slightly.
He looked at me with concern.
“Your face is pale, miss.”
Devan frowned.
“Is it a name you recognize? Is there a connection between you and the girl the temple’s looking for?”
Without meaning to, I shivered slightly.
“No… no way.”
“Then why—”
“I-I think I need to lie down now. I’ll do your treatment tonight.”
“Hey—”
I cut off Devan’s words and fled the room.
Cordelia.
It was her.
The true heroine of this novel.
Unlike me, she was the real child of prophecy.
Cordelia. Her name echoed endlessly in my mind.
