Time Healer Ceres - Chapter 7
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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’d known her parents had passed away, but she hadn’t realized there was another family member besides Antonian.
‘I need to reflect on this.’
Even if she’d only recently awakened in this body, failing to grasp the family’s basic composition was clearly her own negligence.
She’d been so absorbed in her new life that she’d grown careless.
“A sanatorium? What do you mean?”
“Yulia has always been sickly from childhood. She’s currently receiving treatment at a sanatorium.”
“A sanatorium…”
Even back when she was Grace, such places existed.
They were upscale facilities built in quiet, picturesque locations where wealthy people with time and means would stay, attended by private physicians, to focus entirely on their recovery.
‘It wasn’t something you saw everywhere then, but perhaps it’s become common over time. Still, a sanatorium in these circumstances is unexpected.’
“But here’s the thing.”
So this was the real matter.
Ceres nodded to show she was listening.
Why all this hesitation before getting to the point?
“What shall we do? The treatment costs are substantial again.”
“…”
Ceres accepted the documents Agnes handed her and read through them carefully. They were Yulia’s treatment invoices from the sanatorium for the current month.
“Hmm.”
As Ceres read with growing interest, she finished the last page and let out a low laugh.
There was only one emotion she felt.
‘This is ridiculous.’
What kind of treatment regimen is this?
Did the names of medicinal materials change while I was dead?
The ingredients densely listed on the invoice were certainly rare and expensive medicinals, as far as she knew.
The problem was that, to her knowledge, there was no treatment that used all of those ingredients simultaneously.
Some of them were even toxic when combined with others.
This wasn’t a treatment invoice at all—it was just a sheet with expensive medicinal names listed one after another.
Tap.
Ceres set the papers back down on the table without another word.
“What will you do now? You know there’s nowhere left to borrow from. Both the house and the land are already mortgaged—you know that well.”
Could this woman actually have short-term memory loss?
She believed her niece had lost her memory, yet what could she possibly know?
“And?”
“Unfortunately, I have no way to help you either. As I’ve said before, there’s only one solution.”
Both the house and land are already mortgaged, yet there’s still a solution?
“The shop on Delasi 1st Street. This time, we truly have no choice but to sell it.”
Interesting. So there’s still something left to liquidate.
“In truth, the income from that shop barely covers the interest anymore. Now it’s time to give up and settle the matter—”
Bang!
At that moment, the door burst open and a figure rushed in urgently.
“Sister! No!”
It was Antonian.
“Aunt! That shop can’t be sold!”
The boy was breathing hard, as though he’d run there.
She guessed he’d come running the moment he heard she’d been summoned to see his aunt.
When she’d left the room, the maid Jay’s expression had been troubled; it seemed she had gone to fetch Antonian.
“Antonian, where are your manners? What is the meaning of this?”
Agnes made no effort to hide her displeasure at the boy’s entrance.
‘Damn that boy again!’
While Ceres typically agreed with whatever Agnes said, there was one thing about her recent proposal—the shop on Delasi 1st Street—that was different.
It was because Antonian kept blocking it that Agnes hadn’t been able to dispose of the shop as she wished.
“You know what kind of place that shop is, Aunt!”
“Then what? Do you have another solution?”
“That’s…!”
Another solution.
At those words, Antonian couldn’t continue. He knew his own argument was flimsy.
But still…!
“In any case, that shop cannot be sold! I will find another way, no matter what!”
“It is Ceres’s decision to make, as the shop’s owner, Antonian. This is not for you to dictate.”
Agnes, who had maintained a gentle facade, made no effort to conceal her anger now, the mask slipping away entirely.
“Uncle!”
“Be quiet! What method do you think you can find? And what about Yulia’s treatment in the meantime? Are you planning to let the girl die?”
……
At the sound of Yulia’s name, Antonian’s lips pressed shut.
Agnes watched his clenched fists drain of color, and a thin, bitter smile flashed across her mouth before vanishing just as quickly.
“Antonian.”
Her voice softened as she spoke his name.
“I understand how much you care for that shop, but there’s nothing to be done about it, is there? Think of Yulia.”
She seemed to have decided to soothe the boy, for her tone shifted entirely—as if she hadn’t been shouting moments before—and she continued in measured, gentle syllables.
“If only Ceres had managed her affairs a little more cleverly, things wouldn’t have come to this. I truly regret it.”
Agnes shook her head and looked at Ceres with an air of exhaustion, as though all of this—everything—was somehow her sister’s fault.
“Still, don’t blame your sister too harshly. Ceres was only trying to save Yulia.”
“It’s because of you.”
“What?”
“This is all because of you, Aunt!”
Antonian’s jaw worked, grinding his teeth as if holding back a dam, until finally his resentment broke free.
“Because of me?”
“You’re the one who introduced those Usurious Loans!”
…Ha!
Agnes’s eyes widened for a moment before she let out a sharp, bitter laugh, as if she’d just heard something absurd.
Her gaze hardened at once.
“I merely presented a method! It wasn’t I who chose it—it was Ceres!”
“You pressured Sister into making that choice! You told her it was the only way to save Yulia! And now you dump all the responsibility on her shoulders? That’s cowardice!”
“What?”
“The shop is absolutely off the table—don’t you dare bring it up again! As you just said yourself, that shop belongs to Sister, so don’t you dare think of doing anything with it without her consent!”
“You insolent little……!”
Agnes’s hand rose.
Antonian squeezed his eyes shut. Even if the blow landed, he wouldn’t back down.
……?
But time passed, and no impact came.
Antonian cracked one eye open tentatively.
His eyes widened as he took in the scene.
“You have poor habits with your hands.”
“You… you!”
Ceres had caught the hand descending toward Antonian.
Caught off guard, Agnes struggled to form words.
“Let go! Let go of me!”
She wanted to wrench her hand free, but it didn’t obey her will.
Why had her strength abandoned her?
And what was with that cold expression on Ceres’s face?
“Ahhh! Aaahhh!”
The shock faded quickly as Agnes found herself shrieking at the crushing pain radiating from her wrist.
Could a wrist really hurt this much from being grabbed?
She hadn’t even been held that tightly—or so it seemed.
“My apologies.”
Ceres smiled faintly and released the wrist she’d been holding.
‘It’s going to hurt terribly.’
She knew far too well exactly which points of the human body could be touched to inflict excruciating pain.
“I simply hate it when people touch what’s mine.”
“What?”
Agnes cradled her aching wrist with her other hand, staring at Ceres in utter bewilderment.
Was she really making this much fuss over a simple attempt to touch her brother?
……
Meanwhile, Antonian still stood frozen, his expression dazed.
The boy’s face flushed faintly as he gazed at Ceres.
“In any case.”
Ceres picked up the Treatment Invoice she’d set on the table moments earlier.
“Give me some time.”
“Ceres, surely you’re not thinking of stopping Yulia’s treatment? If you don’t send the treatment fees, her condition will worsen!”
“Well, I’m not sure.”
“What?”
According to this Treatment Invoice, even if treatment continued, it doesn’t seem likely to improve much.
“I’m asking for time to assess the situation.”
“What do you——”
“I’ll give you my answer as soon as I can. Whether to sell the shop or not.”
“Sister! That shop is——!”
“And you, stop talking. I asked for time, didn’t I?”
“……”
Ceres clapped her hands sharply at the two of them, both of whom seemed to have far more they wanted to say.
“That’s enough. This meeting is over.”
With those words, Ceres turned and left, leaving Antonian and Agnes with nothing more to say.
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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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