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Chapter 3: The one who took care of me

Chapter 3: The one who took care of me

Leviana’s fingers tightened slightly before quickly losing all strength, but that single small movement alone was enough to keep Lathel sitting motionless by the bed for a long time.

He looked at the cold hand holding the tip of his finger, then looked again at her pale face. Leviana’s breathing had grown more urgent, her eyelids trembling continuously, and the temperature in the room had dropped low enough that a thin layer of frost began to form on the silver cup near the window.

This couldn’t be just an unconscious bodily reflex.

Lathel immediately reached out and pulled the bell cord beside the bed. A clear chime rang through the hallway. Once wasn’t enough; he pulled it two more times, then quickly sat back down beside Leviana.

She still hadn’t opened her eyes, but the current of cold mana in the room kept fluctuating, sometimes strong and sometimes weak, as though something was trying to break through an invisible seal. The flowers in the vase trembled faintly despite the window being shut tight, and the surface of the water in the basin rippled with tiny waves.

Lathel didn’t dare touch her body carelessly. He only held Leviana’s hand in his own, then used the tip of his index finger to write very slowly onto her palm.

"Don’t rush."

"I’ve called for someone."

"Take your time."

He didn’t know whether Leviana could feel those words or not, but after Lathel’s fingertip stopped, the chaotic mana in the room truly did ease a little.

Deep within that motionless body, Leviana heard every word he wrote with perfect clarity.

She had waited far too long for this moment.

Not just the five years of being locked inside a body that couldn’t open its eyes, couldn’t speak, and couldn’t move, but also the long, endless years of her previous life, when she had to live with the regret of waking too late, understanding everything too late, and reaching Lathel’s side too late.

She wanted to open her eyes right now, wanted to confirm that the person holding her hand was still alive, wanted to hold him tight and never let him leave again. But this body had lain motionless for five years, the soul and flesh nearly torn apart from each other, and just moving a single finger sent a pain through her consciousness like thousands of needles piercing through it.

Leviana couldn’t rush.

She had failed once before.

This time, she absolutely could not afford to fail again.

Just a little more.

Just break through the final layer of the seal, and she would be able to open her eyes, to see Lathel, and to confirm with her own eyes that all the people who had destroyed her life hadn’t yet had the chance to act.

Rapid footsteps quickly echoed down the hallway. The door was flung open as two maids and an elderly steward rushed in. When they saw the white frost covering the tabletop and the cold mana flooding the room, their expressions changed immediately.

"What happened?"

Lathel pointed toward Leviana, then signed as fast as he could. The steward didn’t understand all of it, but still grasped the main idea and immediately turned to bark at one of the maids: "Go fetch the herbalist at once! Inform the head of the family, tell him Lady Leviana is showing a response!"

The maid dashed out in a panic. The other one moved closer to the bed, but when she saw Leviana’s hand gripping Lathel’s, she froze for a few seconds before speaking: "It might just be chaotic mana causing her body to spasm. It’s happened a few times before. It doesn’t necessarily mean the young lady is about to wake."

Lathel immediately shook his head.

This time was completely different.

He had cared for Leviana for three years and knew her breathing rhythm, temperature, and reactions in every situation. The previous mana fluctuations had all been very faint, usually lasting only a few seconds before vanishing, and not once had they caused the entire room to grow cold like this.

Lathel leaned down and continued writing on her palm.

"Leviana."

"If you can hear me, move your finger one more time."

The steward stood beside them watching his movements, brow slightly furrowed but not speaking to stop him. A moment later, Leviana’s finger truly curled inward, very slowly but clearly enough for everyone in the room to see.

The maid instinctively stepped back.

"The young lady truly has consciousness?"

Leviana’s eyelids trembled harder. Her long lashes slowly parted, revealing deep crimson eyes that had been sealed shut for five years.

Her gaze was completely unfocused at first. The entire world before her was nothing but vague patches of light and dark, and her head ached so badly she could barely think, but the warmth traveling from that hand was clearer than anything else.

Leviana slowly turned her head.

Lathel’s face appeared in her field of vision.

Not the ice-cold corpse lying in the snow.

Not the man who existed only in memory, nor the silhouette that had vanished behind the family’s doors on the day she was forced to return the betrothal to Aldric.

He was sitting right beside her, his eyes full of worry, his hand still gently supporting hers just as it had been for the past three years.

Leviana’s tears spilled over instantly.

She wanted to call his name, but her dry, burning throat could only produce the faintest sound. She wanted to reach out and touch that face, but her arm was as heavy as if stone were pressing down on it, and she couldn’t even lift a single finger.

Lathel leaned down slightly and used his finger to write on her palm.

"Can you see me?"

Leviana blinked once.

Lathel paused, then continued writing.

"Can you hear me?"

She blinked again.

The corner of Lathel’s lips curved upward slightly. The smile wasn’t obvious, but Leviana still saw it. She had seen this smile so many times in her previous life: when he brought her food, when he clumsily tried to comfort her, when he said it was fine even though someone had just hurt him.

By the time she realized how precious that smile was, he was no longer there.

Leviana wanted to look at him longer, but more footsteps quickly sounded from outside. The herbalist hadn’t even appeared yet; the first person to walk in was Aldric.

He seemed to have just returned from the training grounds, still wearing the white outfit trimmed with gold, the short staff already handed off to the male servant behind him. When he saw that Leviana had truly opened her eyes, surprise existed on Aldric’s face for only a flash before swiftly transforming into joy and concern so flawlessly performed that anyone who didn’t know his true nature would have been completely fooled.

"Leviana!"

Aldric strode quickly to the bedside, his voice brimming with emotion. "You’ve truly woken up. In five years, there hasn’t been a single day I stopped worrying about you. I had people searching for countless medicines, invited so many herbalists, all just hoping to see you open your eyes one more time."

Leviana looked at him in silence.

She remembered this voice very clearly.

In her previous life, it was this same gentle voice that had once told her he would protect her, that he would help her family through the crisis, and that he would never let anyone hurt her.

And then, it was also him who had led her into a hidden chamber deep underground.

A black and red array had been carved across the entire stone floor, chains of mana piercing through both her wrists and ankles, locking her body onto a cold sacrificial altar. When Leviana asked him what he intended to do, Aldric had kept the same gentle smile he wore right now.

"Don’t be afraid."

That was what he’d said.

"I’m only taking back what should have belonged to the protagonist."

At that time, Leviana hadn’t understood what the words "protagonist" meant.

She only remembered the array activating, each magic vein in her body being ripped from her flesh and blood like red-hot wires. The pain made her scream until her voice broke, but Aldric simply stood beside her watching, his eyes as calm as if he were stripping a piece of equipment from a corpse.

"A power like this is only wasted on someone like you."

He had leaned down and gently wiped the tears from her face.

"I’m the one who can use it properly."

Back in the present, Aldric’s hand was reaching toward her.

To an outsider, it was merely a gesture of concern for someone who had just woken. But Leviana saw the hand that had once rested atop her head, that had once controlled the array to drain every last magic vein, that had once turned her from a genius the entire family placed its hopes on into a cripple who could no longer sense mana.

She wanted to snap each of those fingers.

Wanted to drive a shard of ice through his throat.

Wanted to watch Aldric kneel on the ground and beg the way her parents had begged him in the previous life.

The cold killing intent that had surged up was immediately forced back down by Leviana.

Not yet.

Her current body couldn’t even sit up, and every breath dragged a dull ache along with it. Aldric was also a Son of Fate, sheltered by the world’s destiny. She had witnessed with her own eyes how he escaped situations that should have been certain death, stumbled upon fortuitous encounters at just the right moment, and always had someone appear to save him whenever he fell into danger.

If she revealed too much, Aldric would grow wary.

She had already died once.

Lathel had also died once.

Leviana would not repeat her mistakes over a moment of anger.

Aldric had no idea what was going through her mind. He continued reaching out, about to take Leviana’s hand, but at that very moment, Lathel had already let go on his own and stepped aside.

He didn’t think there was anything noteworthy about his action.

Aldric was Leviana’s original betrothed. Now that she had woken, the person who no longer had a reason to stand by the bed was him.

Lathel retreated to the wall near the window, where the light couldn’t reach. He stood quietly in the shadowed corner, trying to keep himself from getting in the way of the people gathered around Leviana.

The sudden loss of warmth from her hand made her expression shift.

Leviana didn’t look at Aldric, who was continuing his performance of deep devotion beside her. Instead, she slowly swept her gaze around the room, searching for the person who had just left her side. Only when she spotted Lathel standing near the window did her heart finally settle.

Aldric went on without pause: "Don’t worry, I’ll invite the finest herbalists. No matter how much money or medicine it costs, I’ll help you recover. Everything will return to its proper course."

Leviana slowly looked over at him.

Its proper course.

In the previous life, Aldric had also frequently used strange phrases like that.

He had once looked at the people around him and called them "supporting characters," called chance meetings "story events," and had even said that women with special fates would all eventually stand by the "male lead’s" side.

At the time, Leviana had simply thought he was too arrogant.

It wasn’t until she lost her magic veins, her parents were killed, and her entire family was devoured by Aldric that she understood his arrogance wasn’t like that of an ordinary genius. Aldric truly believed this entire world was created to serve him, that all fortuitous encounters, power, and women would ultimately fall into his hands.

In his eyes, other people were not people.

They were merely characters that existed to complete his story.

"The person... who took care of me..."

Leviana spoke. Her voice was so hoarse and weak it nearly dissolved into the air.

Aldric smiled immediately. "The family’s people, of course. I instructed them to use only the finest medicines and to never let you suffer any harm."

Leviana ignored his words entirely, only looking toward Lathel.

"You."

Everyone in the room turned their heads at once.

Lathel was slightly taken aback, then glanced to either side as if trying to confirm who she was addressing.

Leviana looked straight at him.

"Come here."

Lathel hesitated for a moment before leaving the corner of the room. He didn’t approach all the way to the bed, stopping at a distance just close enough for Leviana to clearly see his hands.

She asked slowly: "The person who took care of me... was it you?"

Lathel froze.

Aldric, standing beside her, spoke up at once: "He only did the tasks he was assigned. The medicines and all expenses were prepared by the family. You needn’t pay him any mind."

Lathel looked at Aldric, then raised both hands.

"It wasn’t me."

"The one who took care of you was Aldric."

"I only helped with a few small things over the past three years."

He signed very slowly, worried that Leviana, having just woken, wouldn’t understand. However, after watching every movement, she calmly turned to the others and said: "This person says that for the past three years, he was the one who personally took care of me."

The room went instantly silent.

Lathel froze, looking down at his own hands as though doubting he had signed the wrong thing.

He had clearly said the person who took care of Leviana was Aldric.

Why had she interpreted it as him?

The steward was the first to react, his face full of astonishment. "Lady Leviana, you can understand Young Master Lathel’s hand signs?"

Leviana looked at Lathel, her voice still weak but without a trace of hesitation.

"Yes."

Aldric frowned. "Before your coma, you had barely any contact with him. How could you possibly understand?"

"I once learned a bit of sign language."

Leviana answered with perfect composure, giving him no opening to press further. Then she looked at Lathel again. "You said you’ve been taking care of me for three years, correct?"

Lathel hurriedly shook his head, his hands moving once more.

"No."

"I said Aldric is the one who took care of you."

Leviana watched for a moment, then turned to the steward.

"He says there’s no need to thank him. It was simply what he should have done."

Lathel: "..."

Even the maid standing nearby was looking at him with a strange expression.

Lathel couldn’t tell whether his signs had gone wrong because he hadn’t communicated with anyone in so long, or whether Leviana’s five years of coma had left her memory of this language inaccurate. He wanted to grab the writing board and explain, but the moment he stepped toward the table, he heard her continue.

"Come here."

Lathel turned his head.

Leviana looked at the space beside the bed.

"Stand near me."

Aldric furrowed his brows slightly. "Leviana, you’ve only just woken, so you may not fully understand the situation yet. He’s merely a supporting character the family kept around to..."

The sentence cut off abruptly.

It seemed Aldric had also realized he’d just used a term that didn’t quite fit.

Everyone in the room looked confused, but no one dared ask.

Only Leviana looked at him slowly.

Supporting character.

In the previous life, right before activating the Fate Usurpation Array, Aldric had also looked at her and said:

"Don’t blame me. A female supporting character like you was only ever meant to provide strength and a family for the protagonist."

Back then, she hadn’t understood.

Even now, she still didn’t know all of his secrets.

But at the very least, Leviana had confirmed one thing.

Aldric knew things that didn’t belong to this world.

Perhaps he was the same as Lathel, a soul that had come from somewhere else. The only difference was that Aldric believed knowing part of destiny in advance gave him the right to plunder everything.

"I was speaking to him."

Leviana’s voice pulled everyone back to the present.

A very quiet sentence, but enough to shut Aldric’s mouth.

Lathel looked at her, then looked at the others around them. In the end, he still walked over, standing beside the bed just as he had for the past three years.

Leviana didn’t take his hand right away.

She only looked at the man standing beside her, confirming that he was truly still alive, and then slowly closed her eyes for a few seconds to hide the emotions rising within her.

Aldric, go on with your act.

In the last life, I lost everything because I believed you.

In this life, I will make you watch with your own eyes as everything you thought was rightfully yours falls into the hands of the person you looked down on the most.