“…”

“The end of Windsor family would mean the end of their lives as well. We have to be responsible for them too because they have supported us all this time. Therefore, the choice between me and our father isn’t a choice at all. You know that as well.”

Clara nodded vigorously as if she had carved every one of her sister’s words into her heart and would follow those instructions to her death. She would make it her lifelong creed and would become strong enough to make similar sacrifices for the family if the time ever came.

The two sisters held each other close and comforted each other while the others retreated to the edge of the room unwilling to disturb the two sisters.

Unlike the rest of the people, Zach didn’t move an inch from his initial position beside the AI Medical robot. He was still trying to read the instructions of the AI Medical system. But when he heard the two sisters comforting each other in firm but soft voices, he couldn’t help but think that something was wrong.

Where had he given the impression that the bone marrow donation would be life threatening. He scoured through the previous interactions he had with the sisters and the doctor but couldn’t figure out anything that might have even closely implied that the procedure would be deadly.

The more he listened to the girls, the more confused he became until he couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“Don’t be so dramatic. This will be over before you know it.”

He had previously held himself back and hadn’t spoken out because he didn’t want to embarrass the girls in front of the other people especially when Violet was willing to make such an admirable sacrifice for her father. He didn’t want her courage and selflessness to be treated as a joke in front of the others.

Despite his good intentions, Clara glared at him like he was her sister’s murderer. Under that gaze, Zach felt his entire being trembling. He couldn’t stand that cold and lifeless gaze and blurted out the truth that he had been holding back despite the fact that the sisters would feel embarrassed after hearing it.

“Who told you that your sister was going to die? Did I say that? Why are you assuming on your own?”

Zach’s words were directed towards Clara who was giving him the bloodthirsty look. As soon as he said those words, Clara froze completely. Even the blood running in her veins had probably come under the effect of the frost because her face looked extremely pale for some time before the reddish hue crept down from her blood red cheeks and spread to the rest of her skin.

Violet too was completely dumbfounded and tried to remember the discussion that they had with Zach previously. She remembered their previous interaction extremely well and went through it in her mind.

As a result, she discovered that Zach was telling the truth. He had not said a single word that could be interpreted in such a manner. Instead it was the one seven of them who had assumed this on their own and the thought was further fueled by the fact that Zach was a dark mage in the eyes of the sisters.

“Extraction of bone marrow and its transplant is a harmless surgery in most cases and is not life threatening at all. How dare you assume that I would be willing to discard the life of a young person in order to save the old? Even the most worthless of doctors wouldn’t make such a decision. I still have my conscience intact.”

Zach sounded somewhat angry towards the end for having been misunderstood. Although this was not the first time he had been misunderstood and his methods classified as dark magic, he still felt irritated for being treated like that all the time just because these people couldn’t understand his technology.

While understanding dawned on Violet and her face turned crimson, Clara came back to the living world after having stayed in her frozen retreat for more than ten seconds. Her face and her neck had turned extremely red. It could be easily deduced how embarrassed she was feeling from the depth of color on her blushing face.

She tried to think of some way to ease out of the situation she had created for herself by taking her anger out on Zach who had only been trying to help her family. Since she had already shot herself in the foot and under the scrutiny of the eyes of the people boring down on her she couldn’t think of a possible solution.

Even her elder sister retreated back a step as if to distance herself from Clara who was under the firing range of the others.

In her desperation, she screamed like a little girl being bullied and kicked Zach’s shin.

Zach felt his soul escaping his body for a second when he saw her attack coming but there was no time to dodge it.

Clara didn’t actually use any strength. She was only feigning her anger in order to maintain her self-esteem and to mask her growing embarrassment. She needed to put the blame on Zach in order to stop her cheeks from burning.

Had she used all her strength with her augmentation magic, Zach’s leg would have gone flying to the other side of the city. Since Clara was just throwing a tantrum; there was no need for her to use her true strength.

Although it wasn’t all her strength, just the portion of the force of her physical body that she used was enough to bring tears to Zach’s eyes. He felt as if the bone in his calf had been rattled completely by her kick.

Every part of his shin bone was throbbing like an overexcited heart and the pain seeped deep into the very roots but he held himself from screaming out in front of these people. He still needed to maintain his mysteriousness in front of these people so as to not lose his value.

The cascading tears glittering on his face didn’t affect Clara at all. There was no remorse in her eyes as if she felt that he deserved what she did to him.

“Hmph~ I won’t let you bully me us sisters for nothing. These are the tears you should rightfully return to us for deliberately misleading us the whole time. Can you even understand what we had to go through because of that? How much grief you caused us? Can you understand the fear that made our skin crawl when we thought that one of us had to give their life to our father in order to save him?”

Clara appeared to be more indignant even thought she was the one who had hit the victim Zach.

Zach could only hold in his pain and blame her in his heart for assuming everything on her own. When had he ever told her that they needed to sacrifice their own life for their father? How could they put the entire blame on him even though he had never led them to such an outrageous belief?

…

The bone marrow transplant was carried out successfully with the cooperation of Violet. She looked slightly haggard and weakened after donating her bone marrow to her father but she had a smile on her face that clearly revealed her feelings on her face. She was like a blooming flower in spring. It was as if there was a spring in her gait as she looked exceptionally light on her feet after shedding the weight of the responsibility that she would have to bear in case of her father’s departure. ｂ𝚍ｎｏ𝚟ｌ.

After getting a few days to rest, Violet was slowly regaining her lost vitality and her face had grown fuller with each passing day.

Clara on the other hand seemed to be hiding from Zach after the incident on the day of the surgery. Zach didn’t know whether it was her remorse for hitting her even though he was innocent or because of some other reason, the fact remained that she seemed to be avoiding him.

Drew had made several checkups on the old man and was carefully monitoring his situation in order to appease those who didn’t believe that Zach had successfully cured the old man.

These people had been expecting that Zach would work his magic and the old master would awaken in a snap. However these ignorant people couldn’t understand what a bone marrow transplant truly entailed. In reality, curing leukemia wasn’t at all an easy job. Although the bone marrow transplant surgery had been successful, the new blood that would be produced by the bone marrow would only be generated slowly. The process needed some time in order to improve the deteriorating situation of the old master. Therefore, there couldn’t be any instant results in such a procedure.

The lack of knowledge and technology made it impossible for the people to believe Zach. Therefore after Zach’s treatment, Drew had been detailed to conduct a thorough analysis of the old master’s body.

Drew muttered an incantation and his right hand became covered in white light that appeared pure and holy like the light of salvation or the first light after dawn. He placed his hand on Marico’s chest. Tiny strands of light pierced into the body of the old master and began to scan his body from the inside out.

Drew closed his eyes and sensed the changes that the old master’s body had undergone following the transplant. Unlike before when he could barely suppress the illness from surfacing, this time was completely different.