The carriage came to a stop right at the castle entrance, where two people were already waiting. One of them was a woman in a nurse's gown. Her hair was neatly pinned up, and she wore a trapezoid-shaped headpiece. The sleeves of her gown were rolled up to her elbows. As soon as the carriage halted, she swiftly opened the door.
"I've heard from Ash. Where's the injured girl?" she asked.
Lucy was the first to step out, frowning as she asked, "Has Ash arrived here?"
"Not yet. We have our own means of communication," the woman replied tersely.
Daniel lifted Katherine from the carriage, carrying her carefully. The woman then helped Katherine down and guided her into the academy. She had earlier instructed the girl waiting with her to prepare a room. Lucy didn't know what kind of room it was—she was too captivated by the golden glow of the lanterns that illuminated the castle.
The sound of the departing carriage brought Lucy back to reality. She hurried to keep up with everyone entering the castle, even lifting her gown to follow. She barely had time to notice the rooms, corridors, or turns they made until they reached a large, partitioned room. The space was filled with beds, typical of a nursing home, with chest-high wardrobes and built-in lockers. Curtains acted as dividers, and each bed was furnished with blankets and pillows.
"Lay her down," the woman instructed. With Daniel's help, she placed Katherine onto a bed. Quickly, she cut away the girl's gown and began examining her wounds.
"I managed to heal her wounds, but not the curse," Daniel said.
"Silvia, fetch me some ambrosia," the woman ordered.
The girl who had been instructed to prepare the room was named Silvia. She quickly went to fetch a container of thick potion.
The woman took the potion from Silvia and administered it to Katherine. Her brow furrowed as she looked at Daniel, puzzled. "Ash said her injuries were severe, and her hand was cursed black. But all I see is a wound on her abdomen and a minor curse."
"Oh!" Daniel seemed to realize something. He turned and pointed to Lucy, who was standing near the door. "She's the one with the curse."
The woman rolled her eyes and gently placed Katherine's head on the pillow before standing up. "Why didn't you mention this earlier?" She approached Lucy and said, "Show me your hand."
Lucy extended her hand.
"Silvia, fetch me some ambrosia again," the woman instructed her assistant. She examined Lucy's hand with a deep frown, flipping it over. "Does it hurt?" she asked.
"Yeah, a little."
"A little? What do you mean by 'a little'?" The woman scrutinized Lucy.
"When I touched the demon's skin, it felt like my hand was burning, but not anymore."
"Really?" The woman, seeming incredulous, inspected Lucy's hand. "The curse seems to have stopped. How did you manage that?"
Lucy looked at her blankly.
"Are you a healer?" the woman asked again.
Lucy shook her head. "I've never studied medicine. Even though I'm a noble, I'm poor. So, I only studied at—"
"That's not what I meant."
Lucy frowned.
"Forget my question," the woman said, rolling up Lucy's gown sleeves and drawing a symbol in the air. Although the shape was the same, this symbol was brighter than the one Daniel had drawn earlier. The symbol then moved and entered Lucy's arms.
Lucy shivered slightly when the symbol touched her skin. It felt cold at first, then soothingly cool.
The woman performed the same procedure on Katherine's ankle.
Silvia soon returned with the potion and handed it to Lucy.
Without hesitation, Lucy drank the potion. As soon as it touched her tongue, she spat it out. It was incredibly bitter, and her stomach churned. "Sorry," she said, seeing the woman's disapproving look. "I was taken aback by the taste."
"Did you expect pumpkin juice?" The woman turned and drew the curtain to cover Katherine's bed. "Rest now," she told Katherine.
Turning back to Lucy, she said, "You're fortunate to have encountered Niel and Ash."
"That wasn't an ordinary demon, Ahn," Daniel added. "My sword couldn't harm it."
Ahn, the woman's name, frowned. "You mean it wasn't a lower-level demon?"
Daniel nodded. "Someone must have summoned them from the underworld."
Ahn shook her head and pushed Daniel out of the room. "Don't overthink it. It's probably just a coincidence."
"But—"
"Go home and let them rest peacefully."
"But—"
"I'll take care of them. Don't you trust me?"
Receiving no reply, Ahn closed the door, leaned against it briefly, then turned around. "It's late; you should rest too," she told Lucy and Silvia. She then walked to the back and opened a door leading to another room connected to the one they were in.
Silvia sat on one of the empty beds. "Pick a bed you like," she said to Lucy.
Lucy chose a bed near her sister's and glanced briefly at the curtain separating them.
"She'll be fine," Silvia reassured her. "I'm Silvia from the Standhope family."
"I'm Lucy," the girl hesitated before continuing, "from the Dimitri family."
"Dimitri? I've never heard of it."
"Well." Lucy lay down, exhausted. "Now you have."
"I'll remember, by the way." Silvia also lay down. "What's your magic?"
Lucy yawned. "I don't have any magic. My sister does. She can turn into smoke, you know."
"That's really cool." Silvia sounded genuinely interested. "How did she get her powers?"
Lucy was half-asleep as she replied, "I don't know."
"But if she has magic, you should too. You're siblings, aren't you?"
"Well, maybe not having magic is my magic." Lucy yawned again.
"Well, you'll see tomorrow."
"Hm… What's tomorrow?" The girl sounded sleepy.
"A demon attack isn't new, but wiping out an entire family… well, the academy's higher-ups will definitely be interested. They'll probably interrogate you and your sister tomorrow."
Lucy's forehead furrowed as she closed her eyes. "Interrogate? Does that mean my sister and I are in trouble?"
"It seems so."