Chapter 245: Marks on the Hand
A new day began, just like usual. Armand, still lying on the bed, looked much better than before. But he still didn’t show any signs of waking up. He simply lay there quietly, possibly dreaming of something pleasant.
The old butler, Lug, brought some nutritional medicine to help keep Armand’s body functioning. These were medicines Armand often used, he had even asked Lug in the past to give them to him if he ever ended up like this.
Lug had planned to try giving the medicine to Armand himself, but when Evelia saw that it was a powdered medicine meant to be mixed with water, she firmly stopped him.
At first, the butler felt a little uneasy. But when he saw how Evelia had been staying by Armand’s side these past few days, her eyes even red from lack of sleep, and remembering her usual stubborn and determined attitude, he had no choice but to leave it to her.
Once the old butler was gone, Evelia once again used “that method” to give Armand the medicine. Judging from her movements, she had clearly gotten more skilled at it over the past few days. Watching this, Rachel couldn’t help but feel her kidneys ache from secondhand stress.
Even though Evelia didn’t want to leave Armand’s room, especially not his bed or his arms, unlike Armand who only needed water and nutrients while sleeping, Evelia’s body was still very much alive. Her body had been altered through alchemy, but only her gender had been changed. Her stomach still worked the same.
She could endure hunger like she did when she was still an assassin, going without food or drink for days. But now that food was available, she had to eat something to take care of herself.
After being persuaded by Rachel again and again, using the excuse of “you need to take care of your health,” Evelia finally gave in when Rachel said, “If you don’t eat, ‘dad’ will be upset when he wakes up.” Evelia couldn’t let that happen. She still wanted to make Armand smile, to happily welcome her back.
Evelia had some emergency rations stored inside her alchemic sigils, but even though Rachel already knew her true identity, Evelia still didn’t want to reveal where those sigils were on her body.
Just like Armand, no matter how close someone was to him, they would never know where his sigils were either. Because he never publicly used them in his identity as Knight Commander Armand.
Well, Rachel was the exception.
This girl, who might just be the only mentally stable alchemist in this chaotic world, could dig up any secret.
Once Evelia, who had been glued to Armand’s side under the blankets for days, finally left, Rachel quietly breathed a sigh of relief for Armand’s sake.
After all, the way Evelia had acted like she might jump on him at any moment had Rachel feeling a little scared.
While Rachel didn’t exactly disapprove of something happening between them, doing anything while one person was unconscious and unaware… was a different story.
Rachel just didn’t have the stomach for that kind of “meal.”
Still, seeing how the once-male, always-cold Evelia had fallen so hard for Armand. It made Rachel silently admire his charm a bit. Thank goodness her current persona was a three-year-old. Otherwise, she might also have become one of his victims.
No no no—there’s no way I’d fall for him. I’m already mentally over a hundred years old!
But honestly… compared to Evelia, who’s always clinging to and snuggling up with Armand, Rachel wasn’t exactly innocent either, though not in that way.
As an alchemist, Rachel was more interested in the poisons inside Armand’s body.
Whenever Evelia left the room, even for a short while, Rachel would quietly sneak over to Armand’s bedside. Not for anything romantic, but to study the toxins in his blood.
Of course… she still didn’t figure anything out.
She couldn’t even understand how Armand was still breathing normally. Those poisons were strong enough to kill someone instantly. The fact that he was still alive, let alone recovering, was a miracle.
He was basically like a storybook hero with plot armor. Despite the deadly situation, he only had a fever and some nosebleeds. His complexion still looked awful, but he survived.
Rachel had to admit…
That’s really impressive.
If Rachel wasn’t a humanitarian-type alchemist, she probably would’ve already planned to use Armand for research.
As for the antidote to the poison. Of course, she had absolutely no clue.
Right now, she didn’t even have the materials she needed for alchemy. The plan she mentioned earlier about going to find her teacher... that probably fell apart because of everything going on now.
Ugh, how annoying! Second Prince!
Why does he always ruin things over and over again? In the end, isn’t the Second Prince always behind all the bad stuff?!
While thinking angrily about the Second Prince, Rachel puffed up her cheeks and sat next to Armand.
Even though this current incident was mostly caused by the people from the House of Nightingales themselves. Still, when the upper beam is crooked, the lower ones will slant too! (In other words, bad leaders cause bad followers.) This must be because there was a problem with how the Second Prince raised and taught them!
Like Evelia, for example. If she had grown up normally, maybe her personality would’ve been really cute? She probably wouldn’t be as stiff and wooden as she is now...
“Whew... I’m kind of curious now...”
While mumbling to herself, Rachel once again lifted Armand’s hand.
She had already figured out that there was poison in Armand’s body because of the "smell of his blood." But what surprised her even more was that the poison in his body was slowly fading.
Forget about how he even survived being poisoned like that. The most unbelievable part was that he seemed to be “digesting” the poison. He was making it weaker, less obvious.
But that didn’t mean the poison was completely gone. It was more like he was hiding it deep inside, like a landmine waiting to go off.
“What kind of body do you have...?”
Rachel even started thinking about dissecting him just to find out.
Of course, it was just a passing thought. Her moral code would never let her do a live experiment on a human being. Besides... Evelia would never allow it either.
She’d probably have her guts ripped out by Evelia before she could even get the knife ready. What a scary woman...
Still, Rachel carefully took out the small dagger she had hidden in the mattress again. If she couldn’t dissect him, maybe just a bit more blood would do. She didn’t have any proper alchemy tools right now, but even a small taste might help her see whether the poison was still being digested.
It was a rare thing, after all. Even if she didn’t find out why, she could at least try to understand how. In alchemy, the most important thing is the spirit of curiosity.
Thinking that, Rachel pointed the tip of the knife at Armand’s finger. Over the past few days that he’d been asleep, she had already stolen quite a bit of his blood. His fingers now had several tiny cuts.
They were nothing serious, compared to the scars on his hands, these were just tiny scratches. But every time she picked up the knife, she still felt a little guilty.
Because she was hurting him, even if it wasn’t a big deal.
But now, seeing Armand slowly recovering, watching him pull through such a close brush with death, Rachel hesitated. She didn’t want to ruin his moment of peace.
He’d only just barely made it back from the edge, was it really okay for her to go cutting him again?
While worrying that Evelia might catch her, and feeling a growing sense of guilt, Rachel just stared at Armand’s palm, hesitating to act.
Ugh... I’ve already cut him several times, so why am I suddenly feeling so guilty now?!
Trying to distract herself and ease her conscience, Rachel looked around the room, then looked back at Armand’s palm.
And then—
“...Huh?”
She noticed something strange.
Alchemy markings, by design, are basically “invisible.” The alchemical seals aren’t easy to detect. Even other users of the same technique wouldn’t know where someone’s marking is unless it’s used right in front of them.
But Rachel could tell. After all, she created this system.
Many alchemists had improved on her work over time, so she couldn’t always spot every marking, but the pattern on Armand’s palm looked very familiar to her.
“...This is...”
This was clearly one of the markings she had made herself. A very old test model.
Although Rachel’s current body looked like a child’s, it wasn’t an ordinary human body. It was made purely through alchemy. That made her far more sensitive to alchemical signatures than most people. And as the creator of the system, she could easily “unlock” that seal in Armand’s hand, if she really wanted to.
But that would be way too risky. Rachel wasn’t stupid enough to mess with that, especially not when she didn’t know the consequences.
Still... why was it there?
She stared at the faint mark on Armand’s palm, puzzled.
That mark came from one of her earliest experimental batches, back before she ever worked for the Second Prince. Back then, she was still doing paid work for the former Second Queen.
After the queen passed away, Rachel ran off for a while. When the Second Prince eventually found her again, she started working for the royal family, until her “death.”
This batch of markings was older than the ones Evelia used. Though it wasn’t unstable, it caused intense pain when activated, like tearing through your own flesh. Only by the time Evelia got hers did they figure out how to reduce the pain.
—So why does this old marking show up on Armand’s hand?
Rachel absolutely recognized her own work. Even though she never signed her name on any of it, the way the symbols were drawn left clear “fingerprints” that any expert could identify.
Hiss... but... the only people who should have this kind of marking are—
Suddenly, Rachel realized something.
She stared at the unconscious Armand.
Her face turned pale with shock.
Don’t tell me...
Armand is part of the House of Nightingales too?!
Oh no. I’ve seriously fallen into the wrong nest of birds!