DP

Chapter 146

"...!"

Both twins regarded Raymond with incredulous gazes.

"W-why? You don't want anything from us?"

"Why?"

Raymond folded his arms in contemplation.

"Because I am a healer, and if the people I mend can find happiness, that's all I need."

"..."

Of course, it was a lie.

'I'm going to get paid by Marquis Durak for curing you, and I'm going to make him pay handsomely.'

Ordinarily, it was the parents' responsibility to cover children's medical expenses.

For healers, their role often boiled down to offering comfort and care to ailing youngsters.

Blissfully unaware of Raymond's true motives, the twins found themselves engulfed in a whirlwind of emotions.

"W-what are you...?"

The twins' eyes fluttered.

'There is such a person in the world...'

All the people they knew in the world were ugly, and they couldn't believe that someone like him really existed in the world.

'The... light. Light.'

Rune and Ren fought back the tears that welled up in their eyes.

"...I'll study, like you said."

"I will study, too."

The twins looked at Raymond with determined eyes.

They looked at each other and decided.

'We'll apply ourselves tirelessly, ensuring we can contribute to him and reciprocate his kindness.'

Nothing is free, they thought.

This grace that saved their lives.

They vowed to repay it.

By the way, there was something Raymond didn't know.

The twins' nicknames.

'The Freak Genius Twins!'

As scions of Durak's lineage, the twins had earned this formidable epithet.

Individually brilliant, the twins resolved to harness their talents to the fullest.

All in order to reciprocate Raymond's kindness.

Meanwhile, Raymond remained blissfully ignorant, his thoughts veering in a different direction.

It was time to make peace with Marquis Durak.

It was time to demand payment for curing the children, he thought darkly.

'I'll make him pay for all the trouble he's put me through. I'll rip off a very, very expensive reward in particular.'

***

Deep in the night.

Marquis Durak stepped out of his barracks and sighed.

'I have committed an irreparable act of disloyalty.'

Now, he found himself marching among his subjects, poised to assail King Macapell III.

A profound betrayal had been committed.

'No, it's not merely disloyalty. My transgressions are beyond absolution, even if I am cast into the depths of hell.'