The High Cost of Healing
Canna dismissed Orsini for the moment and finished seeing Raphael off.
“Raphael, you should go.”
“Don’t mind him. Just go.”
Raphael bowed at the waist with formal precision. Only after he had departed did Canna finally turn her gaze toward Orsini.
……
She didn’t even want to exchange words with him.
Canna shot him a look of pure disgust, as if he were something crawling on the floor, then turned and walked back into the room. Orsini followed right behind her.
“What are you doing? Why are you coming in?”
Orsini ignored her completely and scanned the room like an inspector. His eyes landed on the neatly made bed before sliding over to the sofa. When he spotted the medicine bottle and the blood-stained bandages, a derisive smirk twisted his lips.
“Why does that bastard come all the way here to be treated by you? The empire is crawling with physicians.”
It wasn’t even worth answering. Canna pointed at the door.
“Get out.”
Instead of leaving, Orsini dropped onto the sofa as if he owned it.
The sofa is stained with Orsini again!
She had already replaced it once because of him. Now he was doing it again.
Orsini lounged there without a care and reached for the refreshments the two of them had shared earlier. He grabbed a handful of cookies, shoved them into his mouth, and crunched down hard.
All while staring straight at her.
……
The sharp, violent sound of cookies being pulverized between his teeth filled the room like a threat.
“What exactly are you doing?”
“They looked delicious.”
He brushed the crumbs from the corner of his mouth with lazy indifference.
“Why? Is a single cookie too good to waste on me?”
“If you have no business here, leave.”
“Business? Oh, I have plenty.”
Suddenly he yanked up the right leg of his trousers all the way to his knee.
The moment his firm, muscled thigh was exposed, Canna instinctively jerked her gaze away.
“Hey. Look.”
“What?”
“Look at what you left behind.”
When she finally lowered her eyes again, she saw it—a small but deep wound.
“Remember now?”
Instead of answering, Canna stared directly into his eyes.
For an instant, she could almost hear the rain from that day.
Rain hammering down as if it would shatter everything, thick sucking mud, Orsini on his knees looking up at her.
She had humiliated him, grinding her heel into his thigh without mercy. The sharp, pointed heel had dug in with all the force she could summon.
He hadn’t flinched. Not even an eyebrow. He had simply endured the pain in silence. She hadn’t realized it would leave a scar like this.
Canna blinked. Strangely, the memory felt wrapped in scorching heat.
In truth, the weather that day had been bitterly cold.
“So?”
Her voice was flat and dry.
“Do you want an apology?”
“I don’t need anything like that.”
“Then why are you acting like this?”
“At the very least, I believe I have the right to be treated by your hands.”
He leaned back against the sofa with relaxed ease and pointed at the wound on his knee.
“Perfect timing. You already have bandages and medicine right here.”
……
“Surely that bastard is allowed, but I’m not?”
“Don’t call him that.”
Orsini’s eyes instantly sharpened like blades.
“What?”
“His name is Raphael. Not that bastard. Raphael.”
“What utter nonsense.”
He raked a hand through his hair, visibly irritated.
“What does it matter to you what I call that pathetic priest?”
“It wouldn’t matter if you hadn’t barged into my room.”
Canna found the very act of conversing with him unbearable.
“Don’t you have anything better to do? If you’re bored, go find a lover or something.”
How empty must his life be if he came all this way just to pick a fight? Canna clicked her tongue in distaste.
“I heard numerous young ladies are suffering from lovesickness because of you. Why don’t you pay attention to them instead of bothering a woman who isn’t even family?”
Despite that rotten personality of his, his face was handsome enough to make many noblewomen fall hard. She had heard quite a few had lost their hearts to him.
Truthfully, she could understand the feeling. In appearance alone, he was flawless—just like his father.
“I have zero intention of treating the likes of you. So stop wasting time and get out.”
Orsini gave a mocking snort.
“Playing at being a physician, yet you pick and choose your patients. How noble.”
Irritation flared hot in her chest.
Should she just dump the tea over his head?
Canna glanced at the teacup, but it was already empty. What a shame.
“Ah, I see. So you really want me to treat you that badly?”
Muttering to herself, she dropped down onto the sofa beside him. Despite all his earlier whining for treatment, the moment she drew close he tensed visibly.
Does he think I’m going to stab the wound?
It would be an excellent way to torment him, but it wasn’t her style.
“Let me see it.”
Canna reached out and carefully placed her hand just below the wound, resting her palm on his knee.
She felt every muscle in his body lock rigid beneath her fingers in an instant.
“It’s deeper than it looks. Must have hurt.”
She deliberately softened her voice, feigning sympathy.
“Not that I care, of course.”
She snatched her hand away. The fake smile vanished as she spoke with complete indifference.
“So go ask someone else. If you truly want treatment from me, you’ll have to pay.”
A heavy silence stretched between them.
The man who had been glaring at her finally spoke, his voice low and sunken.
“How much?”
“One hundred million gold.”
“Fine.”
“What?”
“I said fine.”
Canna stared at him as if he had lost his mind.
She had only said it to provoke him, yet he agreed?
So that was how it was. In that case…
“Sorry. I misspoke. It’s actually five hundred million gold. And I don’t accept checks. Cash only.”
“I’ll have it ready by today.”
What? He really must be crazy…
Who in their right mind would pay such an absurd fortune just for a little ointment and a bandage?
Canna was so dumbfounded she answered curtly.
“Do I look like I’m joking to you?”
“Stop talking nonsense and treat me already.”
He was serious. The man was actually insane.
She had absolutely no desire to treat him, but—
Five hundred million.
For her, who would soon need to flee this place and stand on her own, ready cash was vital.
One application of medicine for that amount? It’s pure profit for me.
Besides, the man was clearly the world’s biggest fool.
To throw away such an enormous sum on something so trivial—he had to be the greatest pushover alive.
“Fine. Don’t you dare change your mind later.”
Canna immediately reached for the medicine bottle.
The moment she scooped out the ointment and began slathering it on roughly, harsh reality slammed into her.
Ah, making a living is truly brutal.
To think she was treating Orsini’s wound.
Not just anyone—Orsini, of all people!
Fury surged through her. Canna pressed down harder, smearing the ointment thickly across his skin.
Yet Orsini’s expression never changed. He remained perfectly still, as if the moment had been frozen in time, simply watching her hands work.
At least pretend it hurts, you bastard.
At that exact moment the door burst open. It was Callen.
“Callen?”
He took one look at Canna and Orsini, then strode forward with a face like ice.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing, Callen? You’re the one who suddenly—”
Canna’s words died in her throat.
From Callen’s eyes, a blazing inferno of rage was roaring. She had never seen him this furious before.
“Why is my sister doing something so filthy?”
“Filthy? Is that the kind of language one uses in a sacred moment of healing?”
Orsini, who had clearly sensed Callen’s approach, didn’t look startled at all. Instead he sneered.
“You must not have known. Your sister here is a kind-hearted physician. I’m injured, so of course she’s treating me.”
“The mansion has resident physicians. So what is this dirty ulterior motive of insisting on being treated by my sister?”
Callen spat out each word as if it tasted vile.
“Remove your hand at once, sister.”
Canna’s mood soured instantly.
Who did this brat think he was, ordering her around?
Still, she had no desire for anyone to mistake this for goodwill, so she stated the facts clearly.
“I agreed to receive five hundred million gold as the treatment fee. So don’t interfere.”
Callen’s mouth fell open. He seemed genuinely speechless from shock.
“Five hundred million gold?”
Of course it was shocking. No sane person would spend such an absurd amount on something so trivial.
“That’s right.”
Canna answered indifferently and continued wrapping the bandage. The next second, every hair on her body stood on end.
She looked up in alarm to find Callen glaring at Orsini with eyes that promised murder.
“You’re pulling quite the filthy scheme, brother.”
“If it upsets you that much, why don’t you come back with an injury of your own?”
A terrible premonition slithered up her spine.
Surely not.
These two looked like they were seconds away from tearing each other apart.
Not in my room!
She couldn’t allow her bedroom to be destroyed the way the laboratory had been!
Canna hurriedly finished wrapping the bandage and shot to her feet.
“It’s done, so get out. Both of you—take it outside!”
“Sister, I am warning you. Never do this to my brother again.”
Callen’s voice was clipped and icy.
“Do you understand?”
Those words struck Canna like a kick to the chest.
What? A warning?
“What did you just say to me?”
It was a line he should never have crossed.
Callen knew better than anyone that it was the one word guaranteed to provoke her completely.
The younger brother who had tried so hard to win his sister’s favor would never have said it before.
But now things were different.
Completely, utterly different.
“Would you like me to repeat it?”
His rage wasn’t directed solely at Orsini.
Those eyes sparked with fury. The scorching, destructive anger poured over Canna as well.
“Never lay your hands on my brother’s body again. Never.”