[Third person's POV]
Following the severe outbreak that lasted through the night, Lord Leopold decides to move Emily to a quiet, fully furnished guest room right inside the Prisce estate. This allows the household to easily assign servants to monitor and care for the girl
However, no matter how warm and comfortable the room is, helplessness still engulfs Cassius.
He stays by the bedside for hours on end. His golden eyes, usually so bright, now bear deep, exhausted dark circles; his face is noticeably drawn and pale. He simply sits there, holding tightly to Emily's cold hand, silently watching the black veins occasionally twitch beneath her fragile skin.
Seeing the child's utterly depleted state, Thomas lets out a long, heavy sigh. He gently pats Cassius on the shoulder, his voice hoarse from lingering coughing fits.
"Go outside and take a walk to clear your head, Cassius. Grab some snacks you like while you're at it. Leave things here to me"
At first, Cassius intends to refuse, but facing Thomas's firm yet pained gaze, he eventually nods. He knows that if he collapses now, things will only get worse.
Stepping out of the splendid mansion, Cassius wanders aimlessly through the streets of the town near the estate. His mind is a complete mess. The hawkers' cries, the clattering of carriage wheels, and the laughter of passersby seem blocked by an invisible wall, failing to reach his ears. Deadlock. A feeling of utter uselessness claws his chest into tiny fragments.
While standing dazed at a bustling street corner, a conversation between two ragged laborers carrying cargo nearby suddenly catches Cassius's ear.
"I heard a wandering female physician just moved into the eastern slums" one says with a smacking of his lips, wiping away sweat with his hand. "She uses magic to cure illnesses without taking any money. People bedridden with malaria are dragging themselves right back up."
"Really? Magic? Probably just some scamming witch"
"Scam my foot! I saw her hands glowing with my own eyes!"
Cassius's eyes instantly lock onto them. Physician. Healing magic.
Amidst the depths of total despair, a fragile glimmer of hope suddenly flashes. Without overthinking, Cassius doesn't hesitate for even a single second, he turns on his heel and dashes headlong toward the slums at the edge of town.
The slums unfold in their signature squalor. A narrow alley, reeking of damp mold and stagnant water. Yet, what strikes Cassius's eyes is a long line of impoverished, sick people patiently queuing up. There is no noisy jostling; everyone waits in a reverent silence.
At the very end of the line, a woman sits on a weathered wooden chair.
Her appearance instantly draws attention. Her ash-gray hair falls messily over her shoulders. Her light brown eyes feature narrow, vertical slit pupils, resembling those of a night-hunting wild beast. The woman's features exude an innate wildness, yet blended with a strange calmness and composure.
Her hands hover in midair, emitting tiny specks of green light. Small, intricate magic circles float around her palms, rotating continuously. The man who just finished treatment recovers a healthy glow on his cheeks, hastily kneeling down to bow in gratitude. The female physician merely smiles faintly, tossing her chin to signal the next person.
Cassius takes a deep breath and obediently steps into line. Anxiety burns through his chest, yet he forces himself to hold back, waiting for each person to leave.
Finally, his turn arrives.
As Cassius steps forward, the physician's sharp gaze sweeps over his golden eyes.
"Need help, kid?" she asks, her voice somewhat deep.
Without hesitation, Cassius concisely and clearly lays out Emily's critical condition. He tells her about the unrelenting high fevers, the black veins bulging all over her neck, and the excruciating pain that left even the finest physicians completely helpless. He earnestly begs her to come with him.
"Alright, I can help you" she replies briefly, agreeing smoothly without any fuss. "Let me finish the last stretch for these few people first. It won't take long."
A short while later, the crowd is cleared. The woman stands up, gathering a few small medicine vials and rolls of bandages into a plain cloth bag.
Cassius hurriedly leads the way, guiding her out of the dingy slums and heading straight for the Prisce estate.
Along the way, curiosity mixed with gratitude prompts Cassius to turn to the woman.
"How should I address you?"
Walking beside him with both hands thrust into the pockets of her baggy cloak, the woman answers leisurely.
"Just call me Mya."
When Cassius pushes open the door to lead Mya into the lavish guest room inside the estate, they encounter Thomas. His eyes fill with apprehension and vigilance at the strange woman's wild and unusual appearance. By instinct, he steps forward to shield Emily's bed.
"Cassius, who is this..."
Cassius quickly explains.
"She's a mana user specializing in healing magic."
At the phrase "healing magic," Thomas's attitude flips a full hundred and eighty degrees. Finding a mana user capable of healing on this continent is exceptionally rare and astronomical in cost. For him right now, a tiny spark of hope flickers to life. Thomas hurriedly steps back, yielding the way with utmost respect.
Mya steps closer to the bed.
Right at that moment, her gaze inadvertently sweeps past the windowsill. Rimi is curled up there, its sharp yellow cat eyes glaring intently at the newcomer. In a hidden angle unnoticed by both Thomas and Cassius, the corners of Mya's lips curve slightly upward. She smirks and faintly winks at the black furball. Rimi lets out a soft snort, its tail flicking lightly in annoyance, but makes no further reaction.
Mya retracts her gaze, focusing on the girl lying unconscious on the bed.
She extends both palms toward Emily's body. Instantly, a brilliant green magic circle emerges, hovering before her hands. Surrounding the circle, countless tiny rune characters ripple like waves.
Mya holds the circle steady with one hand. With her other hand, she begins executing hand seals with swift, practiced precision.
Not far away, Cassius's eyes widen. He does not miss a single movement. He attentively records every trajectory of the mana flow, the way the magic circle structure forms, and how Mya mobilizes the surrounding energy.
*Clap*
Mya brings her palms together. The magic circle instantly shatters into countless speckles of green light, gently falling and enveloping Emily's entire body. Warm magical currents weave through every layer of skin and flesh.
Only a few minutes later, the light fades and vanishes completely. Mya steps back, dusting her hands together before turning to report to Thomas.
"I cannot completely eradicate the root cause behind this. The girl will still suffer sudden bouts of pain in the future" Mya says in a flat tone. "However, I have soothed and adjusted the underlying afflictions so those painful episodes are reduced to the mildest degree possible. But this is merely using magic to trick the body's senses; her actual bodily organs will still suffer issues and struggle to function properly."
"In the future, there will be more outbreaks similar to the recent one. But I have helped so that she can endure them much more easily."
Hearing those words, Cassius rushes to the bedside.
"She will probably wake up in a short while" Mya adds.
Emily's skin has lost its fiery red feverish flush. The hideous black veins that once strangled her neck have sunk deep beneath her skin, fading significantly. Her broken, wheezing breaths also grow soft and steady.
The suffocating deadlock pressing down on Cassius's chest for days finally bursts open. His eyes turn red, brimming with tears from overwhelming relief. From the window, Rimi silently leaps down, padding over to curl up right against his feet.
Standing behind them, Thomas is so moved that he stammers nervously. Clasping his hands together, he bows repeatedly in gratitude.
"I truly do not know how to repay you for saving her life..."
Mya waves her hand, looking entirely unbothered. "No need for formalities. I am simply lending a hand in passing to earn a little good karma"
She tilts her head slightly, glancing sideways at Rimi, who has turned back to glare at her incessantly. A subtle, meaningful smile flashes across Mya's lips, and then she suddenly turns to look at Thomas.
"Ah, by the way, since I have taken the trouble to come all the way here, would you like me to give you a quick checkup as well?"
Thomas freezes slightly. He hastily waves his hands, shaking his head in refusal.
"No need to bother yourself. This old man only has a minor cough due to age and the weather, nothing to worry about"
Yet Mya does not back down. She takes a step forward, her gaze turning sharp with a firm resolve that permits no argument. The invisible aura emitted by a mana user leaves Thomas unable to refuse further.
In the end, he nods awkwardly. To avoid disturbing Emily's rest and Cassius's space, Thomas leads Mya to a quiet, vacant room right down the adjoining hallway.
The room is silent, devoid of any noise. Thomas sits down on a wooden chair in the middle of the room, looking somewhat weary and resigned.
Mya stands opposite him. She slowly brings two fingers up, placing them right beside her left eye.
Mana fluctuates. A miniature white magic circle etched with complex runes instantly appears directly in front of her eyeball. Under the magical light, Mya's gaze sweeps from top to bottom, scanning and meticulously analyzing the condition inside the middle-aged man's body.
Time passes in silence.
After a thorough examination, the magic circle before Mya's eye slowly fades and disappears. She gently retracts her hand. Mya pulls an empty chair directly across from Thomas and sits down. Resting both hands on her thighs, her previous nonchalant expression vanishes completely, replaced by a terrifying seriousness.
She looks straight into Thomas's aging eyes, speaking in a decisive, unreserved voice.
"I will speak bluntly"
Thomas swallows hard, his hands unconsciously tightening around his knees.
"You are suffering from a very terrible illness" Mya continues coldly, each word dropping like hammer blows into the quiet room.
"You don't have that much time left"