🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter : 22
The next day. The twins didn’t come, but Raven visited.
“Ahahahaha!”
“…That’s way too funny….”
“I told you I’d turn you into a patient, ahahaha!”
It was something I’d said expecting at least a normal reaction, but still.
“Ah, my stomach… it hurts… ngh, nghh….”
“Whoe saif I’d giev you… gah, I’m gonna give you atropine or something…”
“You are bullying me, aren’t you? I’m suffering from laughing too much.”
Only after a long while did Raven finally manage to calm down. The corners of his mouth, still pulled upward, wouldn’t come down. Then, as if he couldn’t hold it anymore, he buried his forehead on the table again, his shoulders shaking violently.
You, seriously? Weren’t you supposed to be the cold, indifferent type?
‘I did try to cheer him up because he looked oddly down, but now that he’s laughing this hard, it’s kind of annoying.’
This is what a child’s heart is like. It’s fine, I am a child anyway.
If a three-year-old said they were going to build a hospital, anyone would normally laugh—but I was serious. I felt like I could actually do it. Were they laughing because they thought I couldn’t?
I pouted, then sneaked a glance at Raven.
He was still handsome, at least good enough to be eye candy. His smiling face looked far better than his sulking one, so I decided to forgive his excessive laughter.
‘Not that I can really do anything even if I don’t forgive him.’
I quietly buried the reality I didn’t need to face.
Raven had come to see me after several days.
He said he had wanted to come right away the next day, but work had come up and kept him busy. I briefly thought, what kind of work could an eight-year-old—equivalent to a first grader in my past life—possibly have, but then I remembered he was the crown prince.
‘Right… even kids who are princes are busy.’
His cheeks, which should have been plump, were thin, and his eyes—meant to shine with childish innocence—were filled with fatigue and a strangely adult sense of exhaustion.
“What’s so funny?”
“The twins. They’re funny.”
“Oh, so it wasn’t me…?”
“What’s funny about you?”
I felt a bit awkward. I had thought he was laughing at me and had gotten slightly angry.
Raven looked at my face, then smiled.
“Did you think I was making fun of you?”
“Yeah… a little.”
“I would never make fun of you.”
Ah. That’s kind of touching…
“Mine.”
I almost believed him. Of course.
I am great = what I have is great = therefore you are also great…?
As expected of a prince, even his logic was absurdly self-assured.
It was also annoying how well arrogance suited him.
“You said you could treat beastfolk, so opening a hospital might suit you. But if you want to avoid trouble with the temple, you should learn magic.”
“Ah, I can’t.”
“Hm?”
“They say I don’t have enough mana.”
“You?”
“They said it would take me ten years to gather enough…”
“……”
Raven’s expression turned strange.
What? Are you surprised I’m more useless than you expected?
I sulked and kneaded the clay in my hands. So far, there was nothing I couldn’t heal with this clay. Easier said than done—did he even know how amazing that was?
I can’t use magic! That’s the only thing I can’t do.
“Is your ability not magic?”
Raven asked.
“Nope. Mom said it isn’t. Didn’t you know?”
“I didn’t. I just assumed it was innate magic. A talent that manifests before learning spells. That’s what I thought when I first found you, and after learning your background, I assumed it was because you were the duke’s daughter. I thought it might be a form of non-verbal magic that even works on beastfolk. I never actually confirmed it, so it was only a guess.”
Raven frowned. For an eight-year-old, he was far too intelligent and composed.
‘Is he really not in his second life? What kind of eight-year-old is this?’
Maybe it was because he was a prince and had received such education.
Or maybe this world forced people to grow up earlier than my previous life. In my past life, adulthood started at twenty, but in some eras, people married and had children much earlier. Standards differ depending on the world.
Even so, Raven was still excessively sharp. Maybe other people look at me the same way.
After a moment of thought, Raven smiled.
“Then I suppose I’ll be your first client.”
“That’s supposed to be my future dream… I haven’t even figured it out yet.”
“I’ll be an exception. I’m special, aren’t I?”
“…Because you’re a prince?”
“What does that matter?”
Raven asked back as if it was ridiculous.
“I’m your benefactor and your first friend. That makes me special.”
“When were we friends? I’m younger than you.”
“I could make you my little sister.”
“I don’t want that.”
“I figured.”
“……”
“Then there’s only friend left.”
“……”
“I lose five years in this deal, but I’ll allow it.”
Who knew someone could sound so annoying while offering friendship? In another sense, it was almost impressive.
“Is there anyone nearby who’s sick?”
“Yes.”
“Then there’ll be priests and magicians too, right?”
“None of them could cure it.”
“…Then maybe I can’t either…?”
So far, there had been nothing my clay couldn’t heal, but I still didn’t fully understand its limits.
“What if I can’t do it? What if you expect too much and get disappointed?”
“Treat it as practice. Think of it lightly.”
“…I should ask Mom and Dad too.”
“That is the hardest part, then. So if the duke and duchess agree, you’ll do it?”
“Ah.”
So that’s how it became?
“W-well… since we’re friends. I’ll give you special treatment.”
“I appreciate it.”
Raven smiled brightly.
‘He really looks like a kid when he smiles.’
Even though I felt like I had been tricked somehow, seeing that smile melted away my sulky mood. If I could heal sick people, that would be a good thing, and I needed to understand exactly what I could do with this clay before I could open a hospital in the future.
More than anything, even though I hadn’t seen him many times, if the reason the always-confident Raven looked so down was because someone was sick, I wanted to help if I could.
‘He really is my benefactor.’
I couldn’t bring myself to say thanks properly because he kept saying annoying things like “you’re mine” or “I picked you up,” but without Raven, I wouldn’t have met my current parents.
“Then let’s go to the duke and duchess.”
“Huh? Right now?”
“Then when were you planning to go?”
Raven stood up and looked at me, as if wondering what I was waiting for.
“W-wait a second…”
“…?”
“…Raven.”
After glancing between my dangling feet and the floor, I raised both arms.
“…Pick me up…”
“Pfft.”
Don’t laugh, you jerk.
Honestly, I expected my parents to refuse.
But even after Raven finished speaking, my parents remained silent for a long time.
Seeing how cautious they were—despite being extremely overprotective of me—it seemed the “sick person” Raven mentioned might be someone they knew.
If that’s the case, I couldn’t just sit still.
Plop, plop, plop!
Making soft, distracting sounds that made it impossible to stay serious, I walked up to them.
“Dad, I want to do it.”
“Shana?”
“I want to try it. Please? Mom?”
“Shana, Mom is against it.”
As soon as I started pleading, I got an answer—but it was rejection instead of silence.
“I’ve said this before. We don’t know what your ability takes as a price. I can never allow something that might put you in danger.”
“But!”
“Shana.”
“I’m fine!”
“You don’t know that. You’re still young—there may already be strain building in your body!”
“No! Look!”
I spread my hands wide and gathered clay into my palms. As I refined it, a faint light became visible. My mother sharply raised her voice.
“Shana!”
“It’s not dangerous. I’m fine.”
My mother’s face stiffened.
“It gathers into the warm thing inside my body. It doesn’t hurt.”
“……”
“It’s nothing. But it can heal sick things.”
“……”
“So isn’t it better if it stops people from being in pain…”
“Shana… you might…”
My mother bit her lip.
“How can you be so kind…?”
“When I grow up, I’ll make money with this too!”
“Huh?”
“I’ll earn lots of money! I’ll buy delicious food for Mom and Dad!”
I grabbed my mother’s skirt and looked up proudly, declaring my filial ambition. Honestly, if I could heal injuries, internal damage, and disease, wasn’t my future extremely promising?
Raven chuckled.
“Shana, no matter how much you earn, you probably won’t beat the Wentworth family’s wealth.”
“T-that’s different!”
Yes, it’s different. Definitely.
“Duke, Duchess. Shana says she wants to build a hospital.”
“Shana does?”
“She wants to use her own power to heal sick people. That’s her dream.”
Through Raven’s words, my rather materialistic dream sounded suddenly noble and admirable. What?
‘A plan to use a naturally gifted ability, exploit two willing workers, and live comfortably off rich parents… wasn’t that basically it?’
Honestly, wasn’t that a bit like a spoiled rich-kid’s plan…? I glared at Raven, but he only smiled faintly, his golden eyes narrowing.
That guy is definitely in his second life.
“Shana… our good girl!”
“Will you buy us delicious food? Mom would even eat poison if it’s from Shana!”
I’m not giving you poison…
“Shana, Dad too! Anything you give us is wonderful. Yes, if our daughter wants it, she should do whatever she wants!”
“Indeed. We can’t keep her locked inside the estate forever.”
“The fact she can even treat beastfolk must stay secret.”
“We just have to fool the temple’s eyes. Honestly, what can they even do if they find out…”
“We were planning to hide it in case they tried to take her as a saint.”
What? Saint?
‘That’s a thing?’
My mother suddenly lifted me into her arms. Every time she held me, I was amazed by how thin her arms were. She hugged me tightly.
“We’ll protect you so the temple can’t dare say nonsense.”
Hearing my mother say it made it sound completely convincing.
My father gently kissed my forehead.
“Shana, do what you want. We will protect you.”
Dad… your eyes look a little intense. It’s kind of scary.
