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WHEN she stepped into the room again, the air was uncomfortably stagnant.
The girl lay unmoving on the bed, her bones protruding through her fragile skin. Her body was so devoid of energy that it had turned a deathly pale gray color. Her heart struggled to beat, and Lille quickly realized that her soul was connected to her body by only the thinnest of threads. Given how beautiful she was before succumbing to sickness, it was heartbreaking to witness her falling apart.
“I won’t let you die… You’re still alive, see…?”
At the side of the bed sat Leo, obsessively casting healing magic on the girl over and over again. His eyes were sunken, and his appearance was so haggard that he looked ill himself.
It was such a gut-wrenching sight that Lille wanted to look away, but she couldn’t turn back now. What else had she expected when she’d wished to feel Leo’s pain?
Suddenly, with a sharp knock on the door, someone else entered the room. There stood Charles—just as Lille knew him. Despite Charles’s abrupt entrance, however, Leo didn’t look away from the girl. Not even once.
Charles approached him without hesitation.
“It’s time to stop now,” he said, pulling Leo’s hands away from the girl.
“No! Get off me! Mmgh!” Leo struggled in his grip. “Who the heck are you, anyway?! You can’t just let yourself in!” Finally, Leo looked up at Charles. Lille didn’t miss the way his eyes widened for a split second; she’d had the same reaction when she met Charles for the first time.
“My name’s Charles. I’m here to pick you up,” he said calmly.
“Charles…? Are you…that sorcerer from the war?” Leo blinked. Charles nodded, silent. “And? What could someone so powerful want with me? Where are you trying to take me? The infirmary? I won’t let you. I’m never leaving this room.”
“You have to stop trying to heal your sister. All you’re doing is prolonging her suffering.”
“Are you telling me to just let her die?!” Leo shouted hysterically.
“I’m telling you to give her the freedom to rest in peace. Have the kindness to let her pass with her humanity still intact,” Charles told him, speaking more firmly.
Leo went rigid. “What do you mean, with her humanity still intact…?” His voice wobbled. “If she dies, that’s the end… There won’t be any hope left. But right now, she’s still alive…!”
“What don’t you understand?” Charles asked brusquely. His tone was so frosty that Lille could feel goosebumps forming on her skin, even though she wasn’t physically there. He was furious. Not only that—he was miserable. “Your sister’s body is already dead. It can’t support her anymore. And yet you keep dragging her soul back over and over again. Because of your actions, she’s experiencing her final moments in an endless loop. Normally, we only ever have to experience the pain of dying once. Your sister, however, is going through it continuously.”
“Wh—…What…?”
Charles’s words cut like a knife. The cold, hard truth ripped Leo’s heart into a million pieces. Lille could tell that saying them had torn a hole in Charles’s heart, too.
“I suppose no one ever told you what you need to know as a healer. The reason we shouldn’t prolong someone’s lifespan is because they stop being human.”
The sorcerer’s taboo. That person wouldn’t be human anymore. The explanation Charles had once given her now felt so much heavier in Lille’s memory.
“…Aah…” Leo sobbed, his limbs trembling violently. Although his eyes were blurred with huge tears, he refused to relinquish the girl’s hand.
Charles gazed at him with sorrowful eyes. “It’s time to say your final goodbye. You can do it. I know you can,” Charles encouraged him, wrapping his hand around Leo’s tiny fingers. Leo’s entire body shook with sobs, but eventually he nodded weakly.
He let go of the girl’s hand. Without the healing magic keeping her heart beating, her life force gradually grew weaker. Right before she died, spots of orange light surrounded her, but Charles and Leo took no notice. Perhaps Lille was the only one who could see it. The orange lights condensed into a little ball, and disappeared under Leo’s skin, as though he’d absorbed it.
Charles put a hand to the girl’s neck, silent for a moment.
“…She’s now at peace, I believe,” he announced to Leo in a gentle tone.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…!” Leo wailed, wrapping the girl’s lifeless body in a tight embrace. He bawled uncontrollably, his entire being shattered. Hearing his howls of anguish, Lille feared he would destroy both his throat and his mana.
Charles stood at his side throughout his entire breakdown, until eventually, he ran out of tears.
“…You’re not eligible to enroll in magic school anymore,” Charles told Leo, who was so exhausted that he was little more than an empty husk. He glanced up when Charles spoke, but his expression was blank. “We’ll need to keep an eye on you for a year or two to see if you can keep your healing magic under control. Once we decide whether you’re in a fit state to attend school, you’ll be able to apply to the academy again.”
Leo said nothing. He simply stared, his hollow gaze fixated on the girl. Charles placed his fingers under Leo’s chin and tugged, forcing him to make eye contact.
“Until then, come live at my house. You need to learn. You need to fully understand both the power you possess and the wrong you’ve done.” Charles’s sincere, direct gaze was reflected in Leo’s empty irises. “From this day forward, you’ll be my apprentice, Leo.”
Leo took Charles’s hand. Then, fingers interlocked, they left the room together.