Time Healer Ceres - Chapter 6

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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She burst into laughter afresh and flung the window wide open.
The weather was still brilliantly clear.
Yet somehow, the sunshine that had irritated her moments before no longer grated on her nerves.
Perhaps venting her frustration elsewhere, however slightly, made all the difference.
‘Ah, really! Grace, you know your temperament is absolutely dreadful, don’t you?’
‘I know, I know.’
If her disciple had been standing beside her, she’d likely hear another lecture about not taking out her moods on innocent things—how truly vile her nature was.
A faint smile touched the corner of Ceres’s lips again.
Then, spotting a small potted plant sitting at the far end of the windowsill, she picked it up gently.
It appeared to have been neglected; inside the pot lay something withered and desiccated beyond recognition.
No matter how closely she examined it, she couldn’t identify what plant it had been.
She exhaled softly.
But in the next moment, the state of the plant in her hands began to shift.
The withered thing revived rapidly, unfurling verdant leaves until at last tiny purple buds burst into bloom.
“An Elance Flower, then.”
Having identified the plant, Ceres didn’t stop there.
Moments later, the purple blooms withered faster than they had opened, and the lush green leaves shriveled away just as swiftly.
Then everything vanished, leaving only a single seed behind.
“Excellent material for breaking fevers.”
Pleased to see the seed was in good condition, she suddenly went rigid.
She exhaled a short breath and dropped the seed back into the pot.
“What am I doing, exactly?”
Habit truly is a terrible thing.
There’s no need to gather such medicinal plants anymore.
“Tsk.”
Ceres buried the seed in the soil once more.
And again the plant grew rapidly, flowering in full bloom.
‘It’s remarkable, really.’
That she could still use her ability, even though her body had changed.
The Time Reversal Ability.
A mysterious power that allowed her—whether touching an object or a person—to rewind the time of whatever her hands touched into the past, or to unfold it into the future.
This very ability had enabled her to save countless lives and earn the title of Saint.
Simply by rewinding to a time before the afflicted part caused pain, the suffering would vanish entirely.
‘Of course, there are exceptions.’
Congenital diseases—those present from birth.
There was nothing this ability of hers could do against those.
That said, her Healing Art had not gained renown solely because it relied on this peculiar power. It was not something she could use freely at any moment either.
‘There are side effects, after all.’
A small potted plant like this presented no problem no matter how often she used the ability on it, but excessive use took its toll on her body.
Severe headaches could strike, and in the worst cases she might lose consciousness. Nosebleeds were the least of it.
‘That’s why Kai hated it so much.’
There had been once when she collapsed in front of him, and afterward he’d glared at every patient who came seeking treatment as though he might kill them.
‘It was absolutely terrible for business.’
Those murderous eyes, brimming with the silent command to leave at once, had terrified her clients.
More than once he’d personally driven away any who lingered.
“In any case, the important thing is that this ability remained intact, isn’t it?”
Had it been a power bound to her soul rather than her body?
She was grateful that even with her form changed, the Time Reversal Ability had come with her.
‘I fixed the bed on the very first day.’
The horror of sleeping on that squeaking bed that first night!
The following evening, before bed, she’d rewound the bed itself through time.
It was then she learned that simply having a comfortable place to sleep could make a person truly happy.
‘Quite useful indeed.’
She couldn’t help but marvel anew at the power she possessed.
Of course, there had been times when she cursed and resented it.
‘When I discovered it didn’t work on me at all.’
That was during her life as Grace Elrcia.
After learning she had contracted an incurable disease, she’d attempted to use the ability on her own body, but it proved useless.
No matter how many times she tried, all that came back was the devastating side effect the power demanded of her.
And then, for no good reason, her temper flared—a sudden surge of anger that caught her off guard.
Why did she save everyone else while leaving herself to die? How could she possess such a wretched ability? She remembered cursing wildly about it all, though mercifully only for a moment.
‘But it really was just a moment.’
Soon enough, she’d accepted her circumstances, and if anything, her mind had grown strangely at peace—or so she told herself.
Tap, tap.
Ceres was gazing out the window, lost in old memories, when the knock pulled her attention back.
She watched as the maid Jay carefully entered the room.
“Miss Ceres.”
“What is it?”
“It’s… Agne is looking for you.”
“My aunt?”
“I think it must be about what happened earlier. And Miss Agne is quite upset, and I’m worried it might be because of me….”
Tears gathered in Jay’s eyes.
What lies would those three have concocted about Ceres this time?
They must have twisted something—or invented it entirely—to blame her for.
“What happened earlier? What do you mean?”
“I… yes?”
Contrary to Jay’s anxious tone, Ceres responded as though she’d completely forgotten the incident, even seeming genuinely confused.
“I’ll go see her.”
“No, wait—”
Before Jay could say more, Ceres was already waving her hand breezily and hurrying away.
“Oh no, what do I do?”
Jay’s eyes followed Ceres as she vanished, and she began shifting her weight from foot to foot anxiously.
Sighs tumbled from her lips one after another.
* * *
“Welcome, Ceres.”
Contrary to Antonieon’s and Jay’s worries, Agne greeted Ceres with warmth and pleasure.
She even offered her a cup of tea she’d brewed herself, a gentle smile settling on her face.
“You wanted to see me?”
Ceres paid little attention to Agne’s kindly demeanor, sitting down immediately and getting straight to the point.
“What’s this about?”
……
Agne’s brow creased for a moment before smoothing away again.
‘Perhaps what they said was true after all.’
Just moments before, when the three maids had come tattling that Ceres had suddenly splashed them with water, Agne had scoffed.
She’d assumed Ceres was trying to distract her by dragging in her aunt—worried the maids would scold her for ruining their clothes.
Ceres, of all people? Impossible.
The girl was so timid she walked through gardens with careful steps, afraid of crushing even the ants beneath her feet. How could someone like that splash her own maids—servants she clearly struggled to face?
‘I was certain of that….’
But now, looking at Ceres sitting before her, Agne felt unmistakably that something had changed about her bearing.
‘She used to drop her eyes, never quite meeting mine, always wearing the face of a guilty child.’
And it was Agne herself who had made her that way.
How much effort she’d expended on it.
After Ceres lost her parents in an instant, confused and helpless, Agne had worked painstakingly to ensure the foolish niece relied on her and her alone.
‘Ceres, do you truly believe that?’
‘Yes?’
‘Then I respect your choice.’
‘Yes… all right.’
After she’d returned to her family home under the pretext of missing her younger relatives, Agne had refrained from openly criticizing anything Ceres did.
Instead, she’d orchestrated the worst possible circumstances to ensure the girl’s efforts never saw the light of day.
‘Look at this. Is this all you managed to accomplish with your stubbornness?’
‘Tsk, you should have come to me first. What is this?’
‘My goodness… why did you insist on doing such a thing, Ceres? You’ve ruined everything.’
‘Tsk tsk, so this is what your choice has brought about.’
Over the months that followed, Ceres had reached a state where she couldn’t decide anything on her own.
She’d grown afraid of making her own choices, coming to value her aunt’s opinions above all else in every matter.
‘And that was the girl I knew.’
So what was this composed demeanor in front of her now?
“Surely you didn’t call me here just to drink tea, did you?”
Rather than waiting anxiously for whatever Agne might say, Ceres was pressing her for an answer.
An odd light flickered across Agne’s expression.
“The Sanatorium sent word.”
“The Sanatorium?”
Ceres tilted her head slightly at this unexpected announcement.
What on earth was she talking about?
As Ceres stared blankly ahead, Agne let out a heavy sigh.
“Yulia’s collapsed again, it seems.”
“Yulia?”
Who was that?
“My… Ceres, you don’t remember Yulia either?”
Don’t you?
Rather than answer the transparently leading question, Ceres simply stared at the woman before her.
Agne nodded lightly as if she understood everything, and offered Ceres an explanation.
“Yulia is your younger sister.”
“…My sister?”
She had another sister?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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