“Ah. That was tiring.”

After finishing the day’s planned activities, I laid my weary body on the bed.

Gazing at the moonlight streaming through the curtains, I recalled Edan’s appearance today.

Perhaps because I had been continuously pouring healing power into him, he still seemed to be in good condition.

The initial symptom of side effects from this ability in the male leads is a headache.

A headache of unpleasant intensity that feels bad but is not unbearable. However, if one continues to use their power, the pain gradually accumulates.

If they receive healing from the saint in the early stages, the pain subsides, but since it’s not a complete cure, it returns to a mild headache. But if they continue to use their ability without receiving healing, allowing the side effects to build up, they eventually end up like Edan in the original story. Or they might take their own lives due to the unbearable pain.

Fortunately, the current Edan was returning to his initial state without side effects thanks to my healing power.

‘But it’s strange.’

It was a bit puzzling that Edan’s pain had subsided with just my weak healing power stored in the pepper.

I recalled the Edan from the original story before he met Ivy.

By then, Edan was already suffering from the side effects of his ability.

He was somehow enduring with the potion bestowed by the emperor, but he had reached his limit due to the ongoing war… Thinking about it now, I began to suspect that potion might have been fake.

Because it’s a bit odd that the potion containing the saint’s healing power had no effect when even my small healing power is making Edan’s headache better now.

‘Anyway, it’s fortunate.’

If things continue like this, Edan might not need to receive Ivy’s healing immediately on the day of the ball and become obsessed with her.

…Or so I thought.

Life was not about to go according to my plans.

“G-good heavens… Why…?”

It was the day before Ivy’s celebratory ball.

Just a few hours ago, it had been a day no different from usual.

A day spent sprinkling healing-infused water all over the castle to prevent Edan from going mad, and sneaking into his room to infuse his bedding with healing power.

Edan had rarely been away in the north all day, but I thought it was due to preparations since tomorrow was the ball. There was nothing else out of the ordinary.

But then, in the early hours, I heard footsteps passing by my room.

“Master…?”

I unconsciously uttered those words, but immediately realized it wasn’t him.

It wasn’t Edan’s footsteps, which were heavy and walked at a constant pace.

Nor were they footsteps trying to be careful and hide their identity. Rather, they sounded urgent, as if being chased by something.

I opened the door and stepped out.

At this hour, still deep in the night, a bright light was seeping out from the library.

Then, groans of someone writhing in pain could be heard echoing down the corridor.

“Kuhak…!”

The sound of someone gritting their teeth, holding their breath, and then releasing it in short, broken gasps – just hearing it made it possible to guess how much pain the person was in. The sound reverberated throughout the corridor.

My hair stood on end and goosebumps covered my entire body.

The worry of ‘could it be’ flashed through my mind, and then I heard the sound of a door slamming shut behind me.

And then those urgent footsteps from earlier were heard again.

Before I could turn my head in that direction, a gust of wind brushed past me.

Ruben, who had just entered and exited Edan’s room, was quickly running past me.

“Sir Ruben!”

Ruben, with an ominous expression, was clutching three vials of potion in his hand.

I also ran towards the library, following him.

And the moment I saw inside, shock, terror, and uncontrollable anxiety enveloped my entire body.

‘No… This can’t be…’

There was an Edan I had never seen before.

A complexion not just dark and sunken, but deathly pale, with veins bulging as if about to burst across his forehead and neck. A contorted face drenched in cold sweat, unable to breathe properly, writhing in pain.

His golden hair, always beautifully shining, was now a mess, covered in black ash and disheveled, and his cape and uniform were torn to shreds and covered in blood, making it impossible to guess what had happened.

“Kuhak! Huk… Keuheuk…”

Edan couldn’t open his eyes or lift his head, clawing at the floor in agony.

His broken nails and fingertips were bloody, and black blood gushed from his dry, cracked lips.

The scene was so shocking that I felt like I might scream and burst into tears. I hurriedly covered my mouth.

“Your Grace! Come to your senses! Your Grace!”

Ruben opened all three potions he had brought from Edan’s room and poured them into his mouth at once. Edan managed to swallow the medicine, choking and gasping through his throat with bulging veins.

“Your Grace!”

But the medicine didn’t show any noticeable effect. Ruben threw away the empty bottles mercilessly and ran his hands through his hair, biting his lip.

“Damn it!”

Edan, seeming half out of his mind, was still breathing heavily and panting. Ruben, kneeling beside him, looked at Edan with a face that seemed more pained than Edan’s own, then turned his head towards me.

“Miss Latieana!”

“Y-yes!”

“Please watch over His Grace for a moment!”

“Wh-where are you going, Sir Ruben?”

Ruben hurriedly stood up.

“There should be more emergency medicine left at the Grand Duke’s residence. I’ll be back quickly. That…”

As he was speaking rapidly, about to move into the portal, Ruben suddenly looked at me and twisted his face.

His face was mixed with an indescribable emotion.

I looked at him as if to ask what was wrong, and Ruben, who seemed to be debating whether to speak or not two or three times, finally averted his gaze from me.

“…It’s nothing.”

He turned away, clenching his large hand into a fist.

“I’ll be back. I’ll return soon, so please stay by His Grace’s side for a little while. I beg you.”

Ruben disappeared into the portal, and I was left alone with Edan. Then, the sound of Edan’s agonized groans became even more vivid.

Cold sweat suddenly poured down. I looked at Edan with trembling hands.

“Master…”

Edan writhing in pain due to the side effects of his ability…

What on earth had I been feeling relieved about?

Edan was at war every day, and he could have ended up like this at any time due to the demonic beasts.

Edan’s current state was exactly like the one described in the original story.

That very state of being trapped in pain that Edan was experiencing before meeting Ivy.

What should I do? If Edan meets Ivy in this state… No. That’s not the issue.

He’s in so much pain he can barely breathe. Edan is suffering from pain as if he’s on fire right now. Even I was in so much pain from just a small burn, but Edan… He’s in unimaginably terrible pain that I can’t even begin to imagine.

“…Just a little.”

I approached Edan closely. I slowly extended my trembling hands towards him.

But I couldn’t approach any further and stopped my hand, squeezing my eyes shut.

Edan won’t die here. He’s just writhing in pain that feels like death.

Probably when Ruben brings the medicine, it will somewhat alleviate the pain.

But… he’s in so much agony. And if he goes to the ball tomorrow and meets Ivy in this state…

No. I have to stop it. That’s what I’ve been working for all this time. It’s the only way I can survive, so I should help.

But still…

I approached Edan a little closer again, then stopped and trembled at my fingertips.

“I’m scared… I’m really scared…”

A fear came over me that if I touched Edan, I might die next.

Would my healing power be enough to make Edan alright?

In the original story, it was written that I died while healing low-ranking knights, but it didn’t specify exactly how much I was exploited.

Moreover, I had been using my healing power all over the castle all day recently.

In this situation, using my insignificant healing power to heal Edan required tremendous courage.

The method Ivy used to transfer healing power to the male leads was almost always through physical contact. When they were in too much pain, transferring healing power through physical contact was the fastest way.

Not only that, but ability users could also take healing power for themselves depending on the intensity of the physical contact.

In other words, if I lost control while healing Edan, I might have my power stolen and die as a mummy.

Because the person who wants to be healed usually desires the other person more intensely than the one doing the healing.

That was also one of the reasons why saint candidates died as mummies.

Not only was there not enough time to recover, but the ability-using knights, desperate to escape their pain, would mindlessly steal the healing power from the saint candidates.

What should I do? I was confused.

At that moment, between the cracked groans that sounded like he might breathe his last at any moment, I felt Edan cough up blood again with a rough cough.

I opened my eyes. Then I saw the bandage on my hand that Edan had wrapped.

Even though the wound had almost healed and I could do this much on my own now, I remembered Edan stubbornly applying medicine for me today.

That’s right. Either way, if Edan goes mad, I’ll end up dead anyway.

“Ugh…!”

I squeezed my eyes shut and reached out to Edan, grabbing his neck in a tight embrace.

I felt an unbearably hot temperature from Edan’s skin, and I slowly began to manifest my healing power.

My healing power, starting from my fingertips, bloomed and gradually spread across Edan’s neck, head, and back, enveloping his entire body.

“Please, please.”

Just like when we first met, a strong smell of blood emanated from Edan.

Edan’s hot cheek touched my face, and his neck was wrapped in my arms.

The sticky sweat that had seeped out from his pain spread to me as well. The more this happened, the tighter I held him with all my strength.

At some point, I felt Edan’s arm, which had been scratching the floor, rise up and embrace my back.

“Don’t be in pain. Please calm down, Edan…”

I manifested my power even more strongly.

As the healing power spread more intensely, the pink color that had been strong gradually faded. When the healing color changed to a very light, translucent pink, countless sparkling pearls exploded from within it. The healing power filled the vast library. As the blue light of the portal mixed with the healing light, creating a strange feeling as if we were in another world, Edan’s breathing began to gradually subside.

And then.

“Eek!”

In the blink of an eye, I found myself flipped over and lying on the floor.