📚📚📚
SOPHIE Olzon, the only daughter of the wealthy Olzon trading family, was born with a rare and inexplicable skin disease. Even as a newborn, her skin was nearly devoid of smoothness. When she cried, her lips cracked and bled, and the sores she scratched raw oozed a strange, pus-filled liquid. No doctor could explain the cause, and no medicine could ease her suffering. For seventeen long years, she endured this affliction.
Her appearance earned her the cruel nickname “the Monstrous Miss” among her schoolmates. She had no friends—only bullies and the whispers, sneers, and stares that followed her everywhere. Eventually, the cruelty became too much. One day, without fanfare, Sophie left school, never to return. Her parents, kind in their words but helpless in action, reassured her that anything taught at school could be learned at home. And so, she withdrew from the world, confining herself to a single room in her family’s sprawling estate, continuing her studies with home tutors.
At fifteen, unexpected news came: Sophie was magical. But the revelation came with a catch. Her healing magic, as it turned out, was unusually weak. The examiner, with a touch of sympathy, explained that she would likely only be able to heal minor, surface-level imperfections. Most would have been disheartened, but not Sophie. She saw potential in even the slightest glimmer of hope. After all, countless people in the world were suffering from afflictions that seemed to “only” run skin-deep.
Magic—that infamous term given to describe phenomena beyond the purview of natural laws—was something Sophie could now feel within herself. It was invisible but undeniable, swirling beneath the surface. She clung to it, nurturing the warm, inexplicable force, coaxing it to grow stronger. This, she believed, was her path. A fragile but real purpose began to take shape. With time and effort, she might finally carve out a place for herself in a world that had always seemed to turn its back on her.
But then, when Sophie turned sixteen, everything changed. A flare-up of her disease ravaged her body like never before. Her bark-like skin spread, leaving not an inch untouched. Bandages, no matter how often changed, became soaked with foul-smelling pus almost instantly. Her skin split at the slightest touch—holding a spoon could cause deep, painful cracks. Each morning, she woke in a pile of her own skin, her eyes sealed shut by dried pus. Crying became unbearable. Every tear that fell left a stinging trail of pain as it rolled down her cheeks. She bit her lips until they bled, desperate to stop the tears, but they came all the same.
It was as if the gods had noticed her spark of hope—and snuffed it out with cruelty that felt personal, as if mocking her for daring to hope.
That had been the first time in her life that Sophie wanted to die.
✦ ✦ ✦
📚📚📚
FOR a while, Sophie lived as if she were already dead. Her days blurred together in bed, waiting for time to pass or for her suffering to end. Then, one day, the elderly doctor who treated her arrived with a younger face in tow.
Dr. Matthias Adolphin was his name, a rookie under the older doctor’s guidance. He had soft chestnut hair and deep brown eyes, and the moment his smooth, soothing voice reached her, Sophie knew—for the first time in her life—she had fallen in love.
Dr. Adolphin visited only twice a week, but each time, Sophie felt like she was walking on clouds. Her condition hadn’t improved; the check-ups were as intolerable as ever. But now, she lived for those fleeting moments when he would touch her skin or say her name.
It was torture, yet she began bathing again. Even though pus soaked through everything she wore, she started choosing her outfits with care. She pestered Martha and Claire to style her platinum blonde hair—the one feature she proudly inherited from her father—into braids and updos. The meals she once struggled to eat now tasted delicious, seasoned with love. In a hidden corner of her diary, she scribbled “Sophie Adolphin,” only to hurriedly erase it. Her studies, long abandoned when her disease worsened, suddenly felt worth pursuing again. She even rekindled her dreams of using her healing magic, imagining herself at Dr. Adolphin’s side, assisting him with patients.
Her skin, however, didn’t share in her newfound optimism. If it improved one day, it worsened the next—one step forward, one step back. But with Dr. Adolphin in her life, none of that seemed to matter. The world felt brighter, fuller. For the first time, she found herself eager for tomorrow.
One day, during one of his visits, Sophie noticed Dr. Adolphin sneaking glances at the vase of flowers by her bedside. “They’re pretty, aren’t they?” she asked, forcing a smile as she gestured to the delicate white blooms.
“Yes, they’re lovely.” He smiled warmly but hesitated. His gaze softened—bashful, almost—but it filled Sophie with dread. “They, um… They remind me of a friend of mine.”
Of course. That was why his smile terrified her. It wasn’t for a “friend” at all. It was for her. Someone precious to him, someone who held such a special place in his heart that the mere sight of those flowers made him think of her.
After that, Sophie pried bits of information from Dr. Adolphin, pretending to be a curious girl fascinated by love. He spoke of this mysterious woman, explaining that he dreamed of marrying her—someday. But marriage was a distant hope, as they needed money and lots of it. His love had a lifelong illness requiring expensive treatments. The way he spoke about her was filled with love, sorrow, and every emotion in between.
That was when Sophie realized her first love had ended before it had even begun. The truth sank like a stone in her chest, but she forced a smile. The pain—well, she would decide to look past the pain, burying it deep into some dark corner of her mind where it couldn’t hurt her.
Sophie was finally living now. Each day held something to look forward to. Dressing up was fun. Doing her hair was fun. Meals were delicious. Studying felt purposeful. Every visit from Dr. Adolphin filled her with bittersweet joy. Yes, there was a pang in her chest when she saw him, a stab of loneliness and longing, but those feelings paled in comparison to the happiness of being near him. Compared to the days when she wasted away in bed, this was a thousand times—no, a million times better.
Dr. Adolphin had given her this new life. He meant so much to her; she didn’t want to taint the happiness he brought by acknowledging the darker emotions she was suppressing. So she buried them, stamped them down into every mental nook and cranny, convincing herself that life was good. That this—this was enough.