Prilia was in so much pain from the way she had heard her sister talk and behave that had she not been feeling so much numbness because of the red berry, she would have felt like dying.

How could his own sister do this to her? Why?

And Waller? He gained nothing from hurting her.

But he had been the one feeling the killing intent at that time.

If he did not wish to be with Prilia in the long run, he was more than welcome to leave. Prilia had told him as much when she realised how long she would simply have to spend in the clinic, brewing medicine if not seeing patients.

Was there really a need to try killing me?

Prilia felt day pass into the night. She moved in and out of consciousness as her numbness slowly started going away. Over the years, she had learned that it was not possible to poison a healer to death. The only way to kill them was through beheading or some other life-threatening physical injury.

Imagine if people who had to handle so many dangerous substances would get hurt or die if one of them spilled? There would be no healers left.

It was a closely kept secret, one of few that she had not shared with her sister. Along with the proper way to administer red berry poison.

Melodie’s way had been rudimentary, so thankfully Prilia did not have to spend as much time on the floor.

The feeling returned to Prilia’s body very slowly, as her systems were finally able to work over the red berry. The sharp pain in her back was the first thing she noticed, as if someone was trying to rip them from her back.

She was still paralyzed without being able to move and assess the problem with her back, but she guessed it had something to do with the little dance that her sister had performed on her back.

Prilia was busy making herself fight over the poison, which is why she did not notice that someone had actually entered the clinic while she had been struggling and saw her in that state. They left without helping her.

***

Cotterli was assistant to Prilia. She had been selected only last year, so she mostly still did only errand work for Prilia.

Fairies lived a long life, so their process of education was slow unless there was a war-making thing like more healers necessary.

Cotterli will serve Prilia as an errand girl for about another year, learning to recognise ingredients used to make medicines and the state they were in. Only after she had memorised all the ingredients would she be allowed to accompany Prilia as her shadow and learn about medicine making and disease diagnosis.

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That is still such a long way to go.

Cotterli sighed over her long hours, as she thought about her friends and family running around having the time of their lives.

I wish-

Cotterli slapped her cheeks lightly to stop the thought. She may have to work harder than most other people, but such was the nature of work as a healer.

At the end of the day, being a healer was the third highest position of prestige and importance you could have. The first position is that of a teacher and the second is that of the Goddess herself.

At the end of the day, everyone from daily wage laborers to the King was going to have to lie down under a healer’s knife when they got hurt.

Cotterli was busy consoling herself over her long hours and almost stepped on Prilia, who was still on the floor.

Letting out a scream and dropping the raw materials she had been holding to the floor, Cotterli got to her knees immediately and said, “I am so sorry, Ma’am. What are you doing on the floor?”

Prilia gasped for air, before saying, “Red berry.”

Cotterli was a bit shocked. There was no way for Prilia to have ingested the red berry herself. She had always been very careful with her medicine. That was one of the few reasons why Cotterli happily put in the hours that she did. She hoped to become as admirable as Prilia someday.

Cotterli got up and ran to the clinic area, and got Prilia a glass of water with a straw. She helped Prilia by putting the straw in her mouth, which gave Prilia a second wind.

Prilia slowly propped herself up again.

This was when Cotterli finally noticed the state of Prilia’s wings. They looked horribly torn and damaged.

Even someone as untrained as Cotterli knew that it was not a good state to be in.

Just as Prilia was about to take her hands to her back to inspect her back, Cotterli took hold of both her hands and stopped her.

Prilia gave an inquisitive look that made Cotterli bite her lower lip and shake her head in a no.

Cotterli could see that her reaction to the state of Prilia’s wings was making her even more distressed, so she tried to ease Prilia into it.

“Before you check it for yourself, I want you to understand that everything will be fine.

Prilia looked confused to hear words like this from someone who was 100 years younger than her, “Everything is fine.”

Prilia again tried to get Cotterli to let go of her hand so she could check what was wrong and Cotterli held on to her hands even tighter.

“No it is not,” Cotterli said. She took a deep breath before saying, “Your wings are broken.”

Prilia does not panic or react in any expected way. She just blinks at Cotterli a few times, looking confused.

Should I be happy that she is not sad? Or should I worry that she would try s- No, no no. Prilia is one of the most hardcore fairies you know, Cotterli. More than likely, this is just another Tuesday for her. You do not-

Prilia cut off Cotterli’s inner monologue with one sentence, “I had my yearly shedding three months ago. I don’t think that they will come back so soon.”

For a moment, Cotterli was dumbfounded over the thing she had just heard.

Then she wondered why she had ever considered that Prilia had more than one functioning brain cell.

Cotterli tried and failed to control her anger.

“Prilia!”

Prilia opened her mouth, probably to scold her for calling her by her name, but Cotterli cut her off.

“I do not mean your damn sanitary pad’s wings. You idiot.”

Cotterli loosened her wings to make them loose like cloth and then brought one forward. Holding it in both her hands, she got in Prilia’s face again, “These wings! These wings! Your darn fairy wings are torn.”