After venting all her anger and frustration, Sky slowly made her way back home.
As she drew closer to the house, a booming voice rang out from inside.
There was no mistaking it.
Her father was furious.
Sky stopped at the entrance and placed her palm against the wooden door, remaining perfectly still as she listened to what was happening inside.
"Niel, you came here to become a warrior! Do not listen to Noelle. I am fine!" Adam roared.
His voice was thick with annoyance.
He wasn't angry at his wife for pleading with Niel, nor was he angry about the condition of his own legs.
What truly infuriated him was that his commands simply weren't getting through to the young man.
Niel instinctively stepped forward, his eyes settling on the severe injuries covering Adam's legs.
"I don't need Lady Neela to tell me that you're hurt," Niel said.
His voice was soft, low, and completely cold.
Adam gritted his teeth, his chest swelling as he prepared to argue back and shout the boy down.
But the moment his eyes met Niel's unwavering gaze, he stopped.
There was a fierce authority in those silver eyes that caught him completely off guard.
A long, defeated sigh escaped Adam's lips.
"Fine..." he muttered. "Do as you wish."
Without another word, Niel knelt beside the bed and gently lifted Adam's foot, bringing it closer to inspect the damage.
"Lady Neela," he said, "could you bring me a bucket of water and a towel, please?"
Neela nodded before quietly leaving the room.
As she stepped into the hallway and turned the corner, she walked straight into Sky, who had secretly returned home and was standing outside the bedroom door.
Neela rubbed her forehead, trying to gather her thoughts.
Then she grabbed Sky by the arm.
"Perfect," she sighed. "You're just what I needed."
She picked up an empty wooden bucket and handed it to her daughter.
"I need you to fill this with water, Sky."
Though thoroughly confused, Sky accepted the bucket.
"Yes, Mother."
She turned around and left the house once again.
Deep in thought, Adam sat silently on the edge of the bed while Niel continued carefully examining his swollen legs.
I've been a warrior for decades, Adam thought.
I've fought in countless wars... survived battle after battle... and with every victory and every scar, I gained lessons that most men could never hope to understand.
His gaze slowly drifted downward until it rested on the silver-haired youth kneeling before him.
One of those lessons...
...was learning how to deal with people like him.
The kind who refuses to abandon a goal.
It doesn't matter if the entire world declares it impossible... or tells them it isn't worth pursuing. They'll continue walking forward because their hearts have already made the decision.
Adam silently studied Niel.
And Niel... is undoubtedly one of them.
"I'm back with the water," Sky called as she lightly nudged the kitchen door open with her foot.
"Good," Neela replied.
She gestured toward the bedroom.
"Take it to Niel."
Sky carried the bucket down the hallway before entering the room.
She carefully placed it beside him.
Instead of immediately turning around to leave, however, she found herself watching him.
Her eyes lingered on him far longer than they should have.
A few moments later, Neela entered the room carrying Niel's heavy leather satchel.
"I've brought what you asked for," she said softly.
She carefully set the bag down beside him.
Inside its dark leather compartments were countless medical instruments, dried roots, carefully prepared herbs, and strange glass jars.
They were items that no one else in the entire kingdom—other than Niel and his parents—knew how to use.
Niel released Adam's leg and slowly stood, taking a single step backward.
He rested one hand against his chin as he disappeared into thought.
Silence filled the room.
A heavy...
Uncomfortable...
Half a minute passed.
Then, without warning—
Smack!
Niel struck both sides of his own face with his palms.
The sharp sound echoed throughout the bedroom.
Everyone froze.
They simply stared at him, bewildered by the sudden, bizarre action.
Finally, Niel lowered his hands.
"Lady Neela," he said, shifting his gaze toward her before looking at Sky.
"And Lady Sky."
He brushed the dust from his trousers before standing upright.
"Could the two of you wait outside?"
He paused briefly.
"I work much better alone."
As Neela and Sky silently looked at one another, the same thought echoed through both of their minds.
Can a skinny boy with almost no muscle... truly heal the damage caused by an entire lifetime of relentless hard work?
For years, they had watched Adam force his body beyond its limits.
Day after day.
Year after year.
He had worked until his muscles failed him... until even his own legs could no longer support the weight they had carried for decades.
In their world, they had always believed that enough determination could overcome any physical weakness.
That if someone simply refused to give up...
...their body would somehow continue to endure.
Yet they had witnessed Niel's own injuries disappear within a single day.
That impossible sight had ignited a dangerous spark of hope within both of them.
Neither woman dared to say the words aloud.
But deep down, they desperately wished that the young healer's mysterious knowledge could succeed where sheer determination had ultimately failed.
The sound of birds chirping drifted through the walls of the house.
Neela and Sky sat together at the kitchen table, chatting quietly as they waited for the bedroom door to open.
Neela kept her eyes fixed on the hallway, praying Niel would emerge with good news.
Sky, on the other hand, wasn't worried.
She was simply trying to figure out what the strange, silver-haired boy was actually doing in there.
To break up the heavy anticipation, Neela ladled two steaming bowls of the Savory beef stew she had prepared.
They ate in relative silence, the rich aroma filling the kitchen.
Suddenly, the heavy wooden door to Adam's room clicked and swung open.
Niel stepped into the hallway, a satisfied grin stretching across his face.
Neela immediately leaped from her chair and rushed toward him, with Sky following at a much steadier pace.
Before Neela could bombard him with questions, Niel beat her to it.
"You shouldn't leave your food uncovered like that," Niel said playfully.
The light-hearted comment instantly cut through the tense atmosphere.
Neela and Sky blinked at him in confusion.
Sky silently turned around and went to cover their stew.
Neela turned back to the young healer.
"How is he, Niel?"
With a soft, confident smile, Niel simply raised his thumb and pointed over his shoulder toward the bedroom.
Neela stepped past him and entered the room.
Then she stopped.
For over half a year, her husband hadn't been able to sleep peacefully for even a single night.
Yet there Adam lay completely relaxed, his head tilted back against the pillows as a soft, steady snore filled the room.
Neela stared at him.
"Are you some kind of magician?" she asked softly.
Niel laughed and shook his head.
"No, nothing like that," he said with a warm smile. "All I did was massage him and wrap up the swelling on his feet with cloth. Nothing out of the ordinary."
On the other side of the room, Sky stood perfectly still, staring at Niel.
What the hell?
Just two hours ago, Niel acted like a completely different person.
Or was I just imagining things?
She shook her head, unable to make sense of it.
Before she could dwell on it any longer, Neela called out.
"Sky, come here. Come look at your father."
"Oh yeah, I forgot," Sky muttered.
Then she raised her voice.
"Coming, Mother."
As she approached the door, her eyes fell on Niel.
He smiled at her excitedly.
Urgh, wipe that dumb smile off your face. Hmph.
It's not like he did anything crazy.
Sky finally stepped into her father's room.
But as she looked at the completely peaceful state of her father, all she could mutter was:
"Well, I'll be damned."
Neela grabbed Sky and hugged her happily.
"Isn't this great!" she said excitedly.
Sky remained frozen in her mother's embrace, her mind racing.
How?
Just how could the man I brutally beat up two days ago do something like this?
It's something I never thought was possible.
Plants.
Herbs.
A bucket of water.
A towel.
Cut-up cloth.
How could things as useless and meaningless as that produce such an amazing result?
All her life, both her father and mother had drilled the same lesson into her head:
The only way to survive in this world was to possess raw strength and power—power that would take her to the very top.
She glanced over at Niel, who was still talking to Neela and gesturing as he tried to explain that he really hadn't done anything special.
Sky's gaze dropped to the ground.
Is there something Mother and Father didn't tell me?
She quickly dismissed the thought.
No. Mother seems equally surprised by this.
Maybe King Duston knows?
No... if that greedy tyrant had known about this, he would never have sent Niel to us in the first place.
Then a colder possibility surfaced.
Could it be... that the entire world is hiding something from us?
If so, that means there must be more people like him out there.
Sky turned fully toward Niel.
With a piercing, stern expression, she asked,
"Niel, where did you learn to do this?"
The question brought an abrupt silence over the room.
Neela looked at Sky.
Oh no.
She's doing it again.
Neela knew she had to stop Sky before she started asking too much.
Sky had a dangerous, dictatorial nature. Her relentless curiosity always made her escalate simple situations into all-out fights, turning potential allies into bitter enemies.
It was the exact reason the girl didn't have a single friend to her name—she simply couldn't stop causing hatred between people.
Trying to intercept her daughter before she ruined everything, Neela cut in.
"Sky, how could you ask him that? Don't you know that a magician never reveals his secrets?"
Despite her mother's attempt to deflect the question, Sky showed no intention of backing down.
Her dark eyes remained locked onto Niel's golden ones as she took several slow, deliberate steps forward.
She didn't stop until their faces were inches apart.
She waited for Niel to answer.
Neela tried to step between them again, but this time Niel gently raised his hand, signalling that it was fine.
He saw it as a perfect opportunity to share his passion for medicine.
"Well, my mother and father taught me how to do it," Niel answered truthfully, his voice steady. "I also read a lot of books."
Sky still wasn't satisfied.
She took another aggressive step forward, causing Niel to instinctively take a step back.
"Oh, really? Well then, where did your parents learn it from?" she questioned sharply.
"Well... their parents, maybe?" Niel answered, his brow furrowing.
He genuinely didn't know the deeper history of his lineage.
"That's not the answer I want!" Sky snapped, her voice growing dangerously loud as she pressed forward. "Adamson... that is a surname I have never heard of before. And yet the people who bear that name have the power to completely heal broken bodies. How come they know, but the rest of the world doesn't? Make that make sense!"
Niel didn't raise his voice. He never shouted at a woman.
Instead, he looked at her calmly, speaking in a gentler tone as he tried to defuse her intensity.
"I really don't know what you want from me. I told you the truth to your questions... what more do you want from me?"
"I want the truth!" she demanded fiercely.
Her sudden shift in tone made Niel flinch.
Feeling cornered by her aggressive nature, he glanced toward Neela, silently begging for intervention.
Neela let out a heavy sigh and stepped in.
"That's enough, Sky. He already told you what he knew. Let's end this conversation."
"No. I'm not satisfied with what he told me," Sky said coldly, her stubborn instincts taking over as she kept her eyes fixed on Niel.
Neela sighed again.
This time, however, her entire demeanour changed.
"Sky. I told you to end it."
Her voice didn't rise.
Instead, it dropped into a tone so cold and heavy with authority that a chill ran down Sky's spine.
Sky froze.
She slowly glanced back at her mother.
Seeing her mother in this rare, terrifyingly strict mode, Sky realized she had pushed her boundaries too far.
She reluctantly backed off, raising her hands in defeat.
"Fine. I'll let it go."
She shot Niel one last venomous glare before turning on her heel and marching down the hall.
As Sky passed the kitchen, Neela called after her.
"Aren't you going to finish your food?"
Without stopping, Sky shouted back over her shoulder,
"I'm not hungry anymore. I lost my appetite. I'll eat it later."
Neela placed a hand against her forehead.
It's always that girl, she muttered to herself.
She glanced over at Niel, who was visibly uncomfortable after what had happened.
"I'm so sorry about that, Niel."
Niel raised his hands.
"No, no. It's no problem, really."
"No, Niel. I can see your discomfort. You're absolutely terrible at hiding your true feelings about this."
Before Niel could respond, his stomach suddenly rumbled.
Neela heard it and couldn't help but laugh.
"I forgot. You must be hungry, aren't you?" she said softly.
She walked toward the kitchen.
"Come on. Let's eat."
At the dinner table, Niel and Neela sat together and ate.
Niel complimented her cooking before explaining how he had helped Adam's legs recover.
After a while, silence settled between them.
Niel stared down at his food, his mother's words returning to him.
The outside world is not a place for people like us.
Then Sky's earlier question surfaced again.
How come they know, but the rest of the world doesn't?
He slowly twirled the spoon in his hand.
She's right...
At first, I didn't want to acknowledge it myself.
Since I lived in the castle, I always thought that only in the Kingdom of Newfield did people not know how to make medicine or possess proper knowledge of medicine.
But now it would seem that in this kingdom, it's the same.
His heart ached as another thought surfaced.
Am I alone in that aspect?
Is there really no one else like me?
Neela noticed his lowered expression.
"Are you thinking about what Sky said earlier?"
Niel nodded softly.
"I am," he answered.
"Thinking too much about it will only stress you out," Neela said gently.
She paused before continuing.
"Niel, I'm going to tell you what I always tell Sky. As time goes by and you grow older, your understanding of things widens. One day, the truth will reveal itself to you."
She smiled softly.
"For now, just focus on your main goal. You love that princess, don't you?"
Hearing her words, Niel couldn't help but smile.
"Right. Thank you, Miss Neela, for reminding me."
Neela stood and picked up the wooden plates.
"Don't mention it."
She walked away carrying the plates.
Then she suddenly stopped.
Turning around, she looked at Niel with a soft smile.
"Don't call me Neela," she said softly. "Call me Noelle."
Niel looked at her in confusion.
"Noelle?"
He remembered that Adam had also called her Noelle.
He scratched his hair.
"I thought your name was Neela."
"Noelle is my nickname and the name I give to people I don't consider myself particularly close with."
Niel tilted his head.
"I get the point," he said softly, his cheeks tinting slightly. "But... I only got here a few days ago."
Before he could finish his sentence, Noelle gently shook her head.
"Niel, the things you've done in the short time that you've been here are more than enough reason for me to consider you family."