With that thought, Lamein swung the reins and increased the speed.

“Wait quietly here.”

Arriving near Traum Village, Lamein and Jane tied the reins to a wooden post.

Between randomly grown wooden posts, small houses came into view.

Without saying a word, Jane, suppressing the sound of her footsteps, followed Lamein, who was heading towards the village.

Crunch, crunch.

Clearing the countless fallen leaves on the ground with the tip of her toe, she concentrated on the village, which was getting closer.

…!

Lamein, who had momentarily stopped walking, opened her eyes wide.

And urgently covered her mouth and nose with her hand.

‘Nosebleed…’

Jane, who was following closely behind, abruptly stopped with a startled shoulder movement.

“Madam, why are you… Oh! Blood!”

Jane’s eye widened with confusion as she looked into Lamein’s face.

Blood, tinted red, dripped down her small, white hands, staining the ground.

“Madam, here!”

Jane handed over a handkerchief and gently wiped Lamein’s chin.
In an instant, the white handkerchief was stained with a bloody hue.

‘Why doesn’t the nosebleed stop?’

Lamein’s face, which tightly clenched the handkerchief stained with blood, was filled with confusion.

“There’s too much blood. What should we do?”

Jane rolled her eyes anxiously, frantically searching for something to wipe the blood.

“Jane, there should be a handkerchief inside. In that bag on the saddle.”

Lamein pointed to the small bag hanging on the saddle.

Despite her effort to keep a calm voice, confusion gradually overtook her.

‘Ah, perhaps…’

With a sharp thought passing through her mind, Lamein’s eyelids trembled.

The nosebleed had stopped surprisingly fast, as it always did.

It was because of her healing ability.

Not satisfied with just wiping with a handkerchief, the palm started to be stained with dark red blood.

The eyes that were helplessly embedded in that gaze were locked in the eyelids.

She swallowed her trembling breath.

‘Is it starting to slowly appear now?’

She could tell that the shadow of death was gradually tightening around her neck.

Thunk.

“What’s this? Is he not coming back again today?”

Cedric’s eyes, standing in front of the firmly closed carpentry shop door without blinking, darkened.

‘Today too, should I just go back?’

A sense of emptiness and anxiety washed over him with repeated unsuccessful encounters.

As he was about to lift the foot that was heavily pressing down on the ground.

Thud, thud, thud.

At the muffled sound of hitting the ground, Cedric quickly turned his head.

In the distance, Evans, walking towards him, tapping the ground with a wooden staff, came into view.

With a stifled breath held in his chest, Cedric, who was slowly exhaling, turned his body neatly towards the approaching old man.

Evans, who was approaching with slow steps, stopped for a moment.

Cedric, with a blank face, gazed at the space where he stood, and Evans tilted his lips diagonally.

“Someone has come to see me.”

Evans, who spoke in a gentle voice, approached Cedric.

“I’ve been waiting.”

As if realizing who had come to see him just by his voice, Cedric nodded, and Evans, holding the key, opened the tightly closed door.

“Come in.”

Cedric followed Evans into the carpentry shop.

Creak. Thud.

“…….”

Only a faint light seeping through the blackout curtain barely illuminated the dark space.

“Please wait for a moment.”

While Cedric, with his feet bound by darkness, kept his position, Evans traversed the store with familiar movements.

“I’ve been on a little journey.”

With a light voice, Evans illuminated the lamp on top of the cupboard on one side of the room.

“Besides, I heard there’s a guest who came to see me. The Earl, I suppose.”

And he approached a small table.

“Come over here.”

Indicating the chair on the opposite side with one hand, Evans sat down.

“I came because there’s something I’m curious about among the things you said.”

Cedric went straight to the point before taking his seat.

“Yes, please tell me.”
Cedric sat across from Evans.

Staring with a long gaze at Evans, who awaited his words, Cedric slowly spoke.

“You mentioned it before. The chances of that child being alive are slim.”

“Yes. I remember.”

“I want to know the reason you said that.”

A heavy voice cut through the air, and Cedric, with a gaze as intense as his voice, stared at the man sitting in front of him.

Evans lifted his long-closed eyelids.

His eyes focused sharply, as if he were a person looking ahead.

For some reason, a creepy feeling came over Cedric, making him swallow slowly.

“About five years ago, you saw that child, right?”

“Yes.”

Hmm. Evans murmured quietly, biting his lips.

Lost in thought, Evans, with a heavy expression, slowly lowered his eyelids.

Cedric clenched his fist in restlessness.

As if finishing his thoughts, Evans lifted his eyelids sharply and slowly began to speak.

“People used to call those from the Myers family with healing abilities blessed individuals for a while.”

“…….”

“But beneath that, there existed a fear unknown to the people.”

Cedric, who didn’t understand Evans’ words, narrowed his eyes.

“The ability that was considered a blessing could also kill them.”

“Could kill them? What does that mean?”

Behind Cedric’s urging voice, a moment of silence descended.

Ah…

At that moment, Cedric’s eyes wrinkled terribly as he made a small sound.

“…… No way.”

With tightly sealed lips, Evans nodded his head slowly. And,

“People who haven’t used their healing abilities for a long time will face death.”

He uttered words that sent shivers down the spine.

No, it can’t be.

As if rejecting the truth, Cedric shook his head.

Behind Cedric, urging for an answer, a brief silence settled.

“No way… That child is either already dead or…”

A firm voice without a hint of doubt.

“Otherwise, they would be standing at the threshold of death.”

It penetrated the ears as vividly as it was cruel.