Chapter 126
16. Judge for yourself, don’t be swayed by others’ words; I want you to live with a backbone.
This time, it was for real.
‘It really hurts like hell.’
Daphne, who had not yet regained consciousness, repeatedly muttered the same words within her flickering mind.
‘Is this crazy? Seriously, it hurts? It feels like my lungs are tearing apart? Am I going to die? No, wait. Am I dying right now? Is a revolving lantern of memories unfolding while I’m dying?’
She wasn’t sure if she was feeling this sensation because her body was truly in pain, or if it was because she was mentally exhausted. In any case, Daphne was in immense pain and was struggling desperately.
It was then.
Flash—!
Suddenly, her vision brightened. The world that had been pitch black became white in an instant, and something came fluttering down into the middle of that pure white world.
‘A butterfly?’
Daphne looked at the butterfly that suddenly appeared and flew freely through the world. The butterfly, floating elegantly and flapping its wings softly, looked as if it were dancing in mid-air. Staring at it blankly, Daphne discovered that the butterfly’s wings were stained black.
Half of one of the four wings was stained black. As soon as she saw it, Daphne realized that it was the manifestation of the ‘Black Butterfly disease’ engraved on her body.
Why is that appearing? Suddenly?
Even while feeling pain, Daphne could feel a sense of anxiety. Since it was a phenomenon she had never experienced before, she instinctively became uneasy.
Let’s wake up. I have to wake up quickly.
Daphne thought so and squeezed her eyes shut. However, closing her eyes didn’t mean she couldn’t see what was in front of her. The butterfly continued to roam the sky and dance…….
Soon, an entire wing turned black.
Ah.
Sh*t.
***
Flash!
Daphne snapped her eyes open.
Where this was, or how long she had been unconscious, such things were not important. The only thing that mattered was what had happened to the butterfly pattern on her body!
“Mirror, mirror!”
Approaching the full-length mirror in the corner, Daphne hurriedly unfastened the front of her clothes. And then she saw it. The butterfly pattern with two wings turned black.
“No wonder it hurt so damn much.”
Daphne let out a heavy sigh and dropped her head.
Clearly, when she first entered this body, only half of one butterfly wing was black.
Since Daphne is 5 years old, she had thought there was a certain order, like half a wing turning black every 5 years or so, but seeing it turn blacker so soon after entering this body felt strange.
Could it be…….
“Did the curse manifest faster because I used my power recklessly?”
It was a reasonable suspicion.
Did the effect of the curse improve because she forcibly released her power? Did the curse surge up thinking ‘this is the time’ because the body was being wrecked while using power?
“It’s irritating.”
Daphne sucked in a breath.
“Even so, it is not as if I can choose not to use my power.”
To avoid dying from the manifestation of the curse, she must not use her power,
But if she doesn’t use her power, she will be killed by the black magicians targeting her life.
Where else could such a contradiction exist?
“Tsk.”
For now, it would be best to think about it later. Thinking about it wouldn’t bring an answer immediately anyway, and grasping the situation was the priority for now.
“Where is this?”
Daphne looked around and realized the scenery of the room was quite familiar.
“Have I returned to the villa?”
If so, the important thing was how many days had passed.
Daphne barely moved her feet, which still felt a throbbing pain, and walked toward the door. Until a moment ago, she hadn’t had time to feel the pain while checking the butterfly pattern, but now her whole body was screaming.
Right then, the door swung open.
“Eh?”
“Uh-oh?”
Beyond the open door, she saw very familiar faces.
“Arius? Vifera?”
Standing there were Arius, who seemed to have grown a bit since she last saw him, and Vifera, whose expression had become somewhat brighter.
What. Why are they here? Daphne stared at the children with wide eyes, but the children, rather than explaining the situation, rushed in as soon as they saw Daphne.
“Why are you up! Lie down quickly! Where do you think a sick kid is wandering off to!”
“T-t-that’s right. T-they said y-you must r-rest n-now!”
Arius, who picked Daphne up in a flash, laid her down on the bed just like that. Arius placed Daphne’s head on a soft pillow, tucked the blanket tightly up to her shoulders, and finally even handed her a teddy bear.
“There! Stay lying down like this! Don’t do anything!”
“Y-yes! A-aren’t y-you t-thirsty? S-should I b-bring some w-water?”
Arius smiled proudly, thinking that his recent actions made him look like a cool older brother, and Vifera was so overwhelmed with emotion just from escaping her room-bound lifestyle and coming outside that tears welled up in her eyes.
Whatever their inner thoughts were, they were like siblings taking care of their youngest sister. From the outside, it was just an older brother taking care of his sick sibling with a mature smile, and an older sister who looked close to tears as if she had been very worried. This is exactly what a close-knit family would look like.
Daphne, who hadn’t been able to even resist because she hadn’t properly grasped the situation until then, looked up at them with her mouth hanging open blankly.
Arius and Vifera thought Daphne would be touched in her own way. No matter how willful a child she was, they thought she wouldn’t suddenly have a fit when she had family worrying about her this much and taking care of her so thoroughly…….
“Why are you touching my body as you please?”
“……Huh?”
“It seems you’ve lost your sense because it’s been a long time since you were hit. Fine. If getting hit is your wish, I’ll hit you now!”
“Ack! Wait a minute! Ah, why did her temper get even worse!”
……She’s having a fit.
Vifera stealthily stepped back and pretended not to know Arius, who was being beaten by Daphne. Thwack! Pow! The sound of punches being thrown very high-spiritedly could be heard. To think such a sound could come from the fist of a patient who just woke up…….
“Aaaaagh! It hurts, you brat! Agh! Sister! Aren’t you going to stop her? Try stopping her!”
At the look in his eyes that seemed to say, *Sister, are you abandoning me…?* Vifera flinched, hunched her shoulders, and approached Daphne again.
“I-it, it w-was t-the adjutant’s o-order t-to n-not l-let y-you m-move! Y-you c-can’t m-move! A-and, s-stop h-hitting Arius!”
Vifera squeezed her eyes shut and shouted. It was because she thought a fist would fly toward her next.
Arius thought so too. He thought that if it was Daphne, she would beat him up regardless of whether the person in front of her was an older sister or a younger sibling.
However, that thought was wrong.
“Hmm. It seems you are finally allowed to come outside now.”
“U-uh……?”
“It seems you’ve recovered in your own way? Well done. Since you’re out, rest more before you go back.”
“…….”
Hitting her? What came back were words full of concern. At Daphne’s kind attitude, Vifera’s cheeks flushed slightly. On the contrary, Arius was on the verge of collapsing while clutching the back of his neck.
“Hey! Why do you hit me and not Sister?”
Daphne replied nonchalantly.
“That’s because you do things that deserve a hitting.”
“When did I?!”
“Now, now, now!”
“Aaaaagh!”
Arius, who was hit once again, clutched the crown of his head with tears in his eyes. Vifera once again pretended not to know him.
“Whew. Getting worked up as soon as I wake up makes me hot.”
“I-I’ll o-open the w-window!”
Leaving behind Vifera, who hurriedly ran to the window, Daphne asked again.
“So, why are you two here?”
Arius snapped his head up.
“Naturally, we came because we were worried about you!”
“Me?”
“Yes! You!”
When Daphne tilted her head as if she didn’t quite understand, Arius raised his voice even more.
“They said you haven’t regained consciousness for a full fifteen days, so how could we not come? Of course we had to come and nurse you!”
“……What did you say?”
Fifteen days?
Fif-teen days?
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