Catherine was sitting next to me. Taking a close look at the cast and checking its firmness. Suddenly golden threads appeared all around me, suspending my arm in the air and flooding around me with a warm glow. “Are the painkillers working?”

I was too in awe to answer clearly. “That's” ‘What on earth… So this is magic too?’ I looked at each thread, plucking one with my hand. Golden dust dispersed into the air as an enchanted sound echoed through the air. “Wait, sorry what did you ask?”

She swatted my hand. “No touching.”

I quickly brought my hand back to my chest. “Sorry.”

“I asked how the painkillers were working.”

She moved the threads around me spinning them as they recreated what looked like a perfect copy of my arm.

“That's what you're asking first?” ‘I mean, even if they weren't working would it really be that big of a deal? I was never allowed to have any before now.’

She rolled her eyes. “Right, sorry, I meant how are you, my princess.”

I smirked, “That's not what I meant.”

She smiled back, confirming that she wasn’t actually annoyed with me. “Stop assuming people can read your mind. Even if they know what you’re thinking, how you’re feeling is something else entirely.”

I got the feeling we were talking about something else all of a sudden. ‘Mara… I wish I knew what made her change her mind about me.’ “I thought I explained everything pretty well.”

After completely duplicating my arm with magic she began to weave the threads in even more detail, removing the skin and examining the bone. There was still a clear crack, but that was it. It looked more like a microfracture than a clean break.

My mouth went dry thinking about how bad it had looked when it first snapped. ‘Is that really my arm? It healed that much?’

“I know more about your condition than you do, so it's not like I need you to tell me what's wrong. Your stomach probably can't make up its mind whether it's full or not. I'm sure your head hurts too like you haven't slept well in days.”

“Right on the money…” I mumbled.

She let out a sigh, crossing her hands before pulling them away from each other, dispersing the magic into thin air. “Who would have thought that after all this time you would end up crying into her arms of all people.”

My whole body straightened as if I had started walking on pins and needles. “Well, It's not like I had a choice. She wouldn’t let go… And that’s not even what happened…”

“Come on, you know you needed a hug.” She lowered my arm back down and placed her fingers on my temples, staring directly into my eyes.

I knew it was just another part of the examination, but after what she had started saying all of a sudden it only made me embarrassed.

The glow coming from her pupils was almost blinding as it grew more and more intense. After a few moments they faded back to the soft green I was familiar with and she sat back down.

“Siya… Sometimes you know things you shouldn't but do you have any idea… Just how badly you're injured this time?”

‘I mean… I thought I did…’

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“My arm had an open fracture. It will take months to fully heal without magic. Still, as long as I don't use it and let it rest, it should heal since you set the bones properly… If that image really was my arm, then You used magic for sure. It will still take a few weeks though right?”

She let out a sigh. “As far as your arm is concerned you're not wrong. I already used some magic to speed up its healing, so make sure you eat as much as you can. A few weeks isn’t a bad estimate either.”

With a long pause, she stared at me. Her eyes were above mine though, like she was looking through me.

‘Right… Mara said something strange earlier didn’t she?’ “Is this about my magic gate?”

She squinted, licking her fingers and grabbing a large strand of my hair. “You're not aware of everything else that happened then?”

I was beginning to worry, but her calm expression helped to ease the building tension. “Everything else…?”

She pulled down a strand of my hair in front of my face. It was ivory white and shined like a diamond reflecting light. ‘Is this really my hair?’ I followed the strand back to the root to make sure. Only then did I believe it.

‘Wait… Is that such a bad thing though? It's kinda pretty.’ I pulled down more of my hair, but it seemed like only that one streak had changed color. ‘Ha, if my hair looked like this in my past life my dad would have gotten so mad.’

Catherine slowly pushed my hair back again. “Your magic gate was forced open. It's not usually all that dangerous in itself, just uncomfortable. You feel an intense burning through your whole body, but then everything feels normal again after a bit of rest. Sound familiar?”

I nodded. ‘That was exactly what I felt when I was with my father, just before the incident that broke my arm.’

“Right, the problem is what happened next. You completely drained your body off all its natural manna, shattering your gate. Honestly, it's a miracle you're even alive, but I guess it's not surprising given the amount of resilience you have built up. Of course, you had a little help.”

She poked me right over my sternum, her finger pressing a pendant into my chest. ‘The soul stone? Does that mean she knows what it does?’ I pulled it out, looking at it closer, its brilliant light shimmering even more than I remembered.

“What exactly does this do anyway?”

She took it in her hand, looking at it more closely. “That brat. Don't let him see how bright it’s getting, it’ll just make him cocky.”

“What…”

She let out another sigh. “Think of it like a protective charm. Try not to use though.”

‘I guess… That's better than nothing.’ “So if my magic gate or whatever is shattered, does that mean I can't use magic anymore?”

“Not until you fix it at least.”

I leaned back against the headboard. “It's just one thing after another, isn't it…”

“I wouldn't worry, fixing it isn’t hard, the bigger issue is that it happened in the first place. Since it was forced open by someone else, instead of you opening it on your own, it means you don't have a clear understanding of how much manna is in your body. That's the only reason this happened. Normally your body would shut down long before you got close to running out.”

‘I guess it would make sense that the shortcuts I was taking had downsides…’ “Cathy… Did you ever find out who poisoned me?”

Her eyes narrowed. “What brought that up?”

Her guarded reaction was enough to tell me she did, she just didn't want to tell me that it was my father. In fact, she probably knew all along, given that she said from the beginning she thought she had a good idea at least.

“Cathy… You know… There’s something I haven’t forgiven you for either…” ‘I wish you would have just told me… I know you didn’t do anything wrong, but it feels like you were taking his side.’

Her gaze slowly lowered. “You know… Whether you end up hating everyone, or forgiving us all… We're still going to do whatever we think is best for you. Even if you don’t agree with it… Even if we don’t agree with each other.”

Her face saddened, and her eyes grew distant as if she was talking to long-dead children, not to me. Suddenly my words felt incredibly selfish.

She hadn’t said anything about it, but I had no reason to hold a grudge against her. Of all people, she was the most like a real mother to me, even if she still didn’t exactly fit the role. Besides she was friends with my father, she had every right to keep his secrets.

“I know you probably don’t see it like this… But if you had to pick a side, which side would you choose?”

She immediately understood the question. “You said you didn’t hate Mara, what about the others? Would you kill them?”

There was an easy answer. “The only person I hate is Bhaltair… And even though I probably should have, I couldn’t even bring myself to kill him… would have saved me an arm…”

She looked intently into my eyes. “Then I’d choose your side.”

I felt my eyes soften, taking in her face. It was always rugged, battle-hardened, and stiff. In that moment though it was soft, almost like the face of a woman, rather than that of a warrior.

I felt a tear roll down my cheek. “Say it again.”

She raised her hands, clearly feeling awkward and not sure what to do. “Ah, alright already I said I’d be on your side just stop crying.”

I wiped away the few tears I had, knowing I was still holding back many more from everything that had happened recently. Still, just letting out a few was enough.

‘She would leave the lord she has been following for decades since they were adventurers, and she would be on my side? Even if she’s just saying that because she doesn’t think she’ll have to choose, I don't care.’

Hearing someone actually say it meant more than I thought it would, and while I still wasn’t what I would call emotionally healthy by any means, I was finally starting to get to a state where I could think clearly again. Of course, the painkillers were helping too.

I tilted my head back with a deep breath to make sure the tears stopped for sure. ‘Sounds like I have some work to do before I can use magic. I better get started.’