Duke Ruta smiled warmly throughout breakfast. His mood was exceptionally good. Usually stern, he repeatedly asked Rebecca if she liked the food and needed anything else.
Rebecca felt awkward at the old man’s warmth. She just kept nodding. The Ruta Family’s food wasn’t amazing, but it wasn’t bad—certainly edible. Servants nearby stared curiously. Many knew Rebecca was the daughter of the family’s long-deceased eldest son. Older servants who’d seen Duke Ruta’s son Bino whispered how she resembled her father.
Rebecca ignored the strange atmosphere, burying her head in her meal.
“Oh, Rebecca,” Mia broke the tension. “How did you learn medicine? Do you know healing magic?”
Rebecca couldn’t dodge this. “No… healing magic… Dark Lord’s… palace… many books… self-taught…”
“Self-taught??” Mia gasped.
Rebecca nodded.
Charles frowned thoughtfully. “Carina told me your methods are miraculous. Only the Demon Race would have such rare knowledge. Anna had stopped breathing—you saved her. Can you bring back the dead?”
Rebecca shook her head. “Impossible…”
“Piercing under the ribs and mouth-to-mouth breathing saved Anna! It’s incredible—we must note this down~” Mia said, glancing at her father to highlight Rebecca’s skills.
Rebecca kept shaking her head. “Not… for everyone…”
Explaining was hard in a world lacking basic science.
“Enough,” Duke Ruta intervened. “Rebecca isn’t fluent yet. She needs a teacher. Stop bombarding her—see how flustered she is?”
Mia smiled slightly and fell silent. Charles lowered his head to eat.
Breakfast ended in that odd mood. Carina led Rebecca to Anna’s room.
“Father,” Mia said later, “she hasn’t called you Grandpa yet?”
Duke Ruta glanced at her, face calm. “Take it slow. I wonder how she survived all these years. Oh—what about her Goblin friend?”
“He’s in the side courtyard. Arranged,” Charles replied inwardly frustrated. The Ruta Family never housed Goblins—it tarnished their dignity. Yet Duke Ruta made an exception for Rebecca, even planning Goblin servants for the creature that raised his granddaughter. *Goblins with noble treatment?*
But Charles—a rising star in the Kasmo Empire—dared not defy the old duke. A fallen tiger still roared. And Duke Ruta wasn’t fallen yet.
Rebecca ignored Charles’s turmoil. She followed Carina to Anna’s room.
“Sister, sister~” Carina chirped, running over like a cheerful butterfly despite being older than Rebecca.
“Hmm? Carina, aren’t you at school?” Anna asked.
Anna, Charles’s nineteen-year-old eldest daughter, sat elegantly reading. Unlike her weak state two days ago, she now radiated calm. Rebecca finally studied the girl she’d missed during the chaos.
The Ruta Family’s genes shone: bright golden hair, a slender face like Aunt Mia’s, clear blue eyes holding wise serenity. Her lips were pale from illness but shaped like tempting sweets. She was a noble lady—mature yet youthful, innocence clinging to grace.
“This…” Anna froze, recognizing Rebecca.
“Sister, it’s her—the nun who saved you~” Carina grinned.
“Uh…” Anna unconsciously touched her lips. That mouth-to-mouth resuscitation haunted her.
“And she’s Uncle’s daughter! Grandpa confirmed it~” Carina explained Rebecca’s arrival and recognition to her sick, unaware sister.
“Huh?” Anna’s mouth dropped open, forgetting her ladylike poise. The story was too dramatic.
“She’s our sister now~ Hahaha, I’m not the youngest anymore~” Carina laughed.
Rebecca just watched the silly girl, utterly helpless.
“Wound… let me see…” Rebecca ignored Carina’s gloating and pointed to Anna’s waist. She only needed to check for infection.
“Uh…” Anna hesitated, cheeks flushing slightly. She ordered the maid to close doors and leave. Timidly, she walked to the bed and began unfastening her elaborate dress.
Rebecca knew healers should stay detached. But facing such beauty, her gaze briefly clouded. The scene was undeniably alluring…
“Huh?” Rebecca froze as Anna revealed her fair skin.
