The Extra's Regressor Wives

By the time Leviana was brought back to House Avarenne, the afternoon was nearly upon them.

The room filled with people in no time. The family’s healer, an herbalist urgently summoned from the city, maids, and guards streamed in and out without pause, but Lathel barely noticed any of them. He only stood near the foot of the bed, watching Leviana lie among the people examining her body.

The bloodstained sleeping gown had been changed. The cuts on the soles of her feet had been cleaned and bandaged, and the skin on her shoulder that mana had burned was also treated. Once the blood and the dirt were gone, Leviana returned to that quiet figure with silver-white hair spread across the pillow.

That was precisely what made Lathel feel worse.

She looked too much like before.

Three years he had sat beside a Leviana who couldn’t open her eyes, and she had lain just as still as this.

An elderly healer placed a spirit stone on Leviana’s forehead. Rings of pale blue magic appeared and vanished in succession as he changed his examination method several times, but the light inside the stone continued to flicker only very faintly.

Mirelle, standing beside the bed, couldn’t hold back. "How is she?"

The old healer didn’t answer right away.

Cassian looked at him, his voice dropping low. "Just tell us."

The elder withdrew his mana, then slowly set the spirit stone down. "The external injuries aren’t too severe. Bones, internal organs, and magic veins show no critical damage. But the current problem lies with her soul. The young lady’s consciousness has sunk too deep; her response is even weaker than before she first woke."

Mirelle swayed slightly.

Cassian immediately steadied his wife’s shoulder. "Can she be woken?"

The old healer was silent for a while, then shook his head. "I wouldn’t dare force it. The soul is extremely fragile right now. If stimulated with magic, the condition could worsen. For the time being, all we can do is keep the body stable and continue searching for a method."

Mirelle turned to look at her daughter, her hand slowly closing around Leviana’s fingers. She waited a moment, but this time there was no feeble squeeze, no response at all.

Lathel still stood behind them.

He heard every word.

The hand hanging at his side clenched without him realizing.

’It’s my fault.’

The thought had been there since the moment he carried Leviana back, and now it was clearer than ever.

If this morning he hadn’t insisted on going out, hadn’t walked into that alley, hadn’t stepped into the antique shop just because of some strange feeling, Leviana wouldn’t have had to run barefoot through the city and force her way through a barrier until her soul was damaged.

All he had wanted was to find a job, a place to stay, then quietly leave House Avarenne once Leviana no longer needed him.

In the end, she was the one who paid the price.

Lathel looked down at his hands.

Pandora’s voice immediately sounded in his consciousness.

"There you go again."

He didn’t react.

"I don’t even need to see your face to know what you’re thinking." Pandora sounded impatient. "If you plan to sit there repeating ’it’s all my fault’ until nightfall, save your energy. Self-blame doesn’t heal a soul."

Lathel tightened his grip slightly.

Pandora was quiet for a moment before continuing: "I’m not saying this has absolutely nothing to do with you. But if you truly want to save her, at least put that head of yours to some actual use."

Lathel raised his head.

Mirelle was seeing the healer out. Cassian stayed behind to ask a few more questions, but the final answer was still only that they would continue looking for help.

No one had a solution.

Lathel knew of one.

Soul-Anchoring Herb.

He walked to the table near the window, picked up a board and a piece of chalk, then began writing slowly. Mirelle had just returned when she saw him holding the board.

Lathel held it out to her.

I’m sorry.

Mirelle read those two words, and her eyes, already red, grew even wetter.

"Lathel..."

He took the board back and continued writing.

If I hadn’t gone out, Leviana wouldn’t have had to come find me. She ended up like this because of me.

Mirelle shook her head as soon as she finished reading. "No one here blames you."

Lathel lowered his eyes.

That answer didn’t make him feel any better.

Mirelle stepped closer and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I saw Leviana take that horse and run with my own eyes. She made that choice herself. If you absolutely must find someone to blame, then the first person to blame is me for not being able to stop her."

Lathel shook his head at once.

Mirelle looked at the reaction and gave a sad smile. "You won’t let me blame myself, so why is it all right for you?"

He didn’t know how to answer that.

Cassian spoke from behind: "What’s done is done. Arguing over whose fault it is won’t wake Leviana."

His voice was still low and steady, but the weariness was already plain in his eyes.

Lathel was silent for a while, then wrote:

I’ll find a way to save her.

Mirelle looked at that line for a long time.

The heartache in her eyes told Lathel exactly what she was thinking.

Even the best healers House Avarenne could find were powerless. What could someone who had barely begun to learn magic possibly do?

Lathel bit his lip lightly and began writing more.

There’s a type of medicinal herb called...

"Hold on."

Pandora’s voice cut in abruptly.

Lathel’s hand stopped.

"You’re about to write Soul-Anchoring Herb?"

He frowned faintly.

Pandora sighed. "I used to think you were just a bit slow. Turns out I was giving you too much credit."

Lathel: "..."

"Who are you? Some grand herbalist?"

He shook his head by reflex.

"A mage who specializes in soul research?"

Another shake.

"A secret member of the Church?"

Lathel was starting to lose patience.

Only then did Pandora speak plainly: "So why would a mute who just opened his first mana channel, who has never set foot inside a Magic Academy, know the secret of the Soul-Anchoring Herb growing in the Garden of Eden?"

Lathel looked at the words on the board.

"The moment you say it, they’ll ask who told you." Pandora deliberately switched to an innocent tone. "’Pardon me, Duke, but there’s a strange box living inside my soul. She says there’s a type of grass inside the Church’s restricted zone that can save your daughter.’"

Lathel: "..."

"Sounds very believable."

Pandora laughed softly.

"If I were her father, I’d immediately call the Church’s people over to crack your soul open and have a look."

Lathel pressed his lips together.

Pandora’s way of putting things was unpleasant, but he had to admit she was right.

If anyone found out Pandora existed inside his soul, there was no telling which way things would go. Leviana had also just fallen into a coma after an incident connected to Pandora. The moment someone decided the thing inside him was the cause, everything would become even harder to resolve.

Lathel slowly erased the unfinished line.

Mirelle watched the motion. "What were you trying to say?"

He thought for a while, then rewrote.

I’d like to go out and find another healer.

Mirelle had barely finished reading before she handed the board back.

"No."

Lathel looked up.

"You’re not going anywhere."

He was slightly taken aback, then immediately started writing:

But...

Mirelle plucked the chalk straight out of his hand.

Lathel: "..."

Pandora burst out laughing inside his head. "How interesting. Only known you a few days and she already knows how to handle you."

Mirelle placed both the board and the chalk on the cabinet behind her, then looked at Lathel with a gentle expression that held absolutely no room for negotiation.

"If you need healers, we’ll find them. If you need medicine, House Avarenne can buy it. If someone has to go somewhere dangerous, the family has guards for that."

She paused, her hand slowly closing around Lathel’s wrist.

"Leviana just woke after five years and is already lying down again. I watched her steal a horse and ride out of the estate because of you. If even you disappear..."

Mirelle’s voice caught.

Lathel looked at her.

Mirelle took a deep breath, then said: "I don’t want to lose both of you."

He froze.

Both.

Just one simple word, but it took Lathel several seconds to fully grasp its meaning.

Mirelle was placing him and Leviana on the same side.

Not a guest.

Not a stand-in.

Not some useless person Kirlinghalm had pushed over to take on a betrothal they no longer wanted for their real son.

Cassian stepped up beside his wife and said: "You stay here."

Lathel turned to him.

"That’s not a request."

Pandora immediately commented inside his head: "Oh, this time they’re not even pretending."

Cassian had no idea someone was speaking in Lathel’s consciousness. He continued: "I’ll have guards posted outside the door. When Leviana wakes, you can talk about going anywhere then."

Lathel looked at him helplessly.

Cassian answered calmly: "Don’t look at me like that. After everything today, I don’t trust you to stay put without someone watching."

Lathel couldn’t argue.

Because the Duke had guessed correctly.

His gaze slowly drifted to Leviana lying on the bed.

The Soul-Anchoring Herb was still at the Magic Academy.

No one in this room knew that.

Three years.

Pandora had said he only had three years.

Lathel clenched his fist, then quickly released it before Mirelle could notice.

He didn’t want to add to their worry.

But he also couldn’t stay here.

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