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Chapter 137
The priests had left. The moment the door closed behind them, Sharon’s eyes welled up with tears, and she raised her voice.
“Natalie, where have you been all this time? Why didn’t you contact—?!”
“Sharon, go back to your bedroom.”
Duke Ailsden interrupted her with a bewildered expression. It was the first time he had ever spoken to her like that, and Sharon stared at him in surprise.
“Father?”
“You have low blood pressure, remember? You shouldn’t get too worked up first thing in the morning.”
Anatol even began ushering her toward the door. Sharon looked between her family members, utterly confused.
“Take her back to her room. I’ll be in the drawing room.”
Neither of them was paying attention to anything but Natalie.
Leaving her dazed family behind, Natalie headed to the drawing room first.
A short while later, after managing to separate Sharon from them, the duke and Anatol hurried into the drawing room.
“What did you mean earlier? Where did you hear that?”
Anatol questioned her before he had even taken a seat.
Natalie took a sip of her warm tea and smiled brightly.
“You mean the curse?”
The family flinched.
The change in their expressions was obvious. Their faces had gone deathly pale.
“When I awakened my healing power, God told me about it. My curse has completely disappeared now, so I’m going to live my life without worrying anymore.”
“……Do you know what the curse actually entailed?”
The duke, apparently unable to believe it, pressed her for details.
Natalie nodded without hesitation and told them about the ‘curse’ she had discovered within their memories through hypnosis.
“So…… it’s all over now.”
Natalie finished explaining with a proud smile.
Yet her family still seemed unable to comprehend what had happened.
Their crimson eyes trembled again and again, and their faces had gone as pale as their silver hair.
“I won’t have to suffer anymore because of the curse.”
Natalie softened her expression, reassuring them.
“You both cared about me, but the curse made it impossible for you to show it, right? I understand everything now.”
But neither the duke nor Anatol looked any less tense.
Natalie let out a small hum and gave them a meaningful smile.
“You don’t believe me.”
“……For now, it’s difficult to believe. Still, it’s a good thing that you’ve come home.”
The duke spoke with a strange expression before pulling the bell cord.
Perhaps the butler had been replaced, because a different servant soon appeared.
The duke ordered him to prepare Natalie’s bedroom again.
Anatol remained beside the duke, staring restlessly at Natalie with an awkward expression. He did not dare approach her carelessly.
So they’re not going to come near me until they confirm that the curse is really gone.
Then I’ll just have to show them.
Natalie picked up the jam knife sitting beside the plate of refreshments.
And then—
Thud.
“Gasp!”
“Natalie!”
Crash!
The duke and Anatol shot to their feet at the same time.
The teacup toppled over, spilling tea across their clothes, but neither of them paid it any attention. They grabbed Natalie’s wrist in horror.
“W-What are you doing?!”
“Look.”
Natalie calmly held out the palm she had stabbed with the jam knife.
There had definitely been blood gushing from the wound moments ago.
Yet now, as if it had been nothing more than a mirage, the blood had vanished completely. Even the torn flesh had sealed itself without leaving so much as a scar.
The family stared wide-eyed at the miracle before them.
“This is my healing ability. I can’t be hurt by anything anymore.”
Natalie shrugged.
“So that means the curse doesn’t exist anymore, either. Do you believe me now?”
Having witnessed the proof with their own eyes, their expressions began to tremble for an entirely different reason.
The shock seemed to have struck them far more deeply—somewhere much more fundamental.
Natalie rested her chin casually on her perfectly healed palm.
“Oh. One of the curses also made Sharon suffer in my place, didn’t it? I’ll prove that one is gone, too.”
“What……?”
The duke and Anatol were rendered speechless.
As the two of them struggled beneath the mounting shock, silence descended over the drawing room.
Giving them time to process everything, Natalie calmly poured herself another cup of tea.
Several minutes later—
Knock, knock.
The door suddenly opened.
“Natalie? Brother, Father.”
It was Sharon.
The stiffened family members barely managed to turn toward her, while Natalie put on a bright smile as though nothing had happened.
Apparently reassured, Sharon came trotting toward them.
“I’m fine now. I got too excited earlier, but I’ve calmed down!”
“That’s good. Come here.”
“Natalie, how have you been all this time? And what’s with the priestly robes? What do you mean, you’re a Saintess?”
As if you don’t already know.
The Saintess was the player character’s original identity in My End Is Nigh.
Sharon was testing her now.
She wanted to find out whether Natalie had awakened her identity as the player.
Natalie played innocent and answered casually.
“I awakened a healing ability. When I informed the Main Temple, they granted me the position of Saintess. Apparently, the Healing God was the child most favored by the Supreme God.”
“My goodness! That’s incredible.”
Sharon’s eyes sparkled with admiration.
“I’ve never heard of a Saintess before. Do you have any other abilities besides healing?”
“No. But healing is an amazing power, so I suppose that’s why they made me a Saintess.”
“Oh, right! Of course it’s amazing!”
Sharon’s cheeks flushed as she enthusiastically praised Natalie.
She seemed genuinely delighted by the fact that, for the first time in ages, she was sitting across from Natalie and having a peaceful conversation.
Of course, that’s only how it looks on the surface.
Sharon shyly glanced at Natalie before carefully opening her mouth.
“Natalie, thank you for coming back. I was actually so worried that you might have been hurt by what happened……”
At those words, the expressions of the others stiffened slightly.
Just as Natalie had expected.
She’s going to bring up the incident with the horse.
Natalie almost snorted.
Instead, she hurriedly put on a deeply moved expression and grabbed Sharon’s hand.
“Sharon, I’m just so happy that you’re healthy.”
“Huh?”
“You were badly injured when you were hit by the horse last time, remember? If I stayed home, I thought the doctors might worry about me too and waste their attention treating me. So I left because I didn’t want to interfere with your treatment……”
Natalie continued, exaggerating her happiness like an actress onstage.
“But you’ve completely recovered, haven’t you? I’m glad. I guess it really was a good thing that I stayed away for a while.”
“Ah…… So that’s why you stayed somewhere else all this time?”
“Of course. What other reason could there have been?”
Natalie blinked innocently.
It was something Sharon herself had always been good at.
That bright, guileless way of responding to something with an entirely different answer—making the other person feel as though they were the twisted one for thinking otherwise.
“Oh, right! Of course!”
Sharon hurriedly waved her hands, clearly flustered.
The duke and Anatol also looked surprised, but neither of them could bring themselves to question or challenge Natalie.
Of course not. How could they say it out loud themselves?
Could they admit that they had intentionally pushed her into becoming jealous and throwing a tantrum over Sharon and the horse?
Could they admit that they had suspected her of stealing the Haim grass so Sharon couldn’t receive treatment?
They probably thought exactly what the former butler and head maid had thought.
But now, they could no longer bring themselves to interrogate or scold her.
Their daughter had returned as a healer—and a Saintess at that.
Besides, Natalie was no longer behaving like a wild horse.
Scolding her over something that was already over would only make them look absurd.
Natalie thought coldly to herself, but her voice remained bright.
“It’s nice to be home after such a long time.”
“I’m so happy you’re back too, Natalie. Oh, right! We’re choosing a villa for our summer vacation soon. Let’s pick one together!”
Sharon was positively thrilled, apparently excited to experience what being close sisters was supposed to feel like for the first time.
Pretending to give in, Natalie joined her in chatting.
“How about this one?”
“I think somewhere near the sea would be cooler.”
Natalie and Sharon chatted cheerfully as though they had never fought, cried, or clashed with each other.
The duke and Anatol sat beside them, utterly dazed, while the conversation continued around them. Every now and then, prompted by Sharon’s insistence, the two men awkwardly joined in and offered their opinions.
They even sat together for both lunch and dinner, chatting amiably as a family.
“I’m so, so happy, Father. Today is the happiest day of my entire life.”
Sharon spoke shyly, her face flushed with excitement.
Natalie wore a smile straight out of a painting and nodded in agreement.
“I’m very happy too.”
At the word happy, the duke and Anatol stiffened almost imperceptibly.
Natalie stared directly at them and smiled meaningfully.
And so, for the first time in their lives, the four of them became a harmonious, loving family.
And then, that night—
“My Lord! Young Master!”
The mansion, which had been resting peacefully in darkness, suddenly burst into light.
The moment she heard the commotion, Natalie shot upright and turned on the light in her bedroom.
Click!
Anatol came running in, panting heavily.
The moment he saw Natalie standing there perfectly fine, he froze.
The duke arrived immediately afterward, his eyes trembling as he looked at her.
“You…… Are you all right?”
“I told you. The curse is gone now.”
Because I had already removed the brainwashing.
Even if she felt happiness now, the hallucinations that had once made her family believe she was suffering enough to die would no longer appear in their minds.
Only the final step remains.
It was time to shatter the illusion that had consumed the Ailsden family for seventeen years.
Natalie calmly walked out of her room.
“Go check on Sharon.”
Only then did the duke and Anatol seem to regain their senses, hurriedly following after her.
The three of them arrived outside Sharon’s bedroom.
The family physician, who had rushed over, was examining Sharon in a panic.
The servants had gathered nervously in the hallway, terrified expressions on their faces.
Natalie glanced into the room.
“Hic……”
Sharon was suffering, drenched in cold sweat.
Natalie hurried inside with her family.
She then dismissed the physician, who could only apologize while insisting that he still had no idea what was causing Sharon’s condition or how to treat it.
“F-Father…… Brother…… It hurts so much……”
Sharon trembled feverishly as she stretched out a pitiful hand.
Grab!
Natalie swiftly stepped in front of the others and seized Sharon’s hand.
Sharon stared at her in surprise, tears welling in her eyes.
“N-Natalie…… It hurts so much. I-I think I’m going to die……!”
“You won’t.”
Natalie answered calmly and released her power.
A dazzling white light bloomed from her hand, enveloping Sharon.
Shimmer!
And in the blink of an eye, everything returned to normal.
The cold sweat covering Sharon’s body.
The raging fever.
Even her complexion, which had repeatedly turned deathly white and then bluish for no apparent reason.
Everything vanished.
“I-I’m healed?”
Anatol, who had witnessed the entire scene from beginning to end, stared blankly at Natalie.
The duke, too, looked at Sharon—who had recovered in an instant—before slowly turning his gaze toward Natalie.
Natalie spoke confidently.
“I told you, didn’t I? There wouldn’t be any problem.”
“……Ah.”
Sharon’s expression faintly hardened.
She had just lost her family’s attention to Natalie right before her eyes.
