The Villainess Is My Cute Daughter

Chapter 226: Financial Healer

Her bottom lip started trembling. She bit her lip, but it didn’t work. Tears spilled down her cheeks. She wiped her face hard with her sleeves and took a long breath.

"Okay." Aria said. "You can leave."

Aria just sat in her chair and watched Celeste turn around to walk out.

"Big sis Celeste." Aria called out softly.

Celeste stopped in the doorway and turned around, looking slightly surprised. It had been over two months since she had heard Aria calling her that. And considering the fact that Aria didn’t call her that even after the two of them saw each other, Celeste had a feeling that Aria just didn’t like her anymore.

And for some unknown reason, the sudden nickname actually made Celeste extremely nervous. Even she didn’t know why she was feeling this nervous.

"Yeah, Aria?" Celeste asked cautiously.

"How is big sis Claire?" Aria asked.

Celeste took a deep breath.

"She is in a much better condition than Lord Adrian." Celeste explained. "She should recover. But even she will need a few weeks or even months to recover completely. Even with the best treatment we can provide, it will take weeks."

Celeste looked down at the floorboards.

"And even after she heals," Celeste added. "She might never swing a sword the same way again."

Aria just gave a slow nod.

Celeste stood by the doorframe. Aria gave her nothing else to work with, so the apothecary just stepped out and pulled the door shut.

’Maybe when Papa wakes up he can just fix her arm.’

Aria sat in the chair for another minute. Then she got up and stepped closer to the bed. She took his large hand, stood there in the quiet room and ran her thumb across his swollen knuckles.

She took a shaky breath.

She dropped his hand and walked out into the hallway. The guest bedroom was right next door, the room where Claire was currently in.. She shoved the door open to see that Claire was asleep.

Aria walked right up to the edge of the bed. She stared at the thick bandages wrapping the knight’s calf. The fabric was soaked dark red. Then she looked at the massive wad of white gauze bundled around Claire’s right hand. It covered the exact spot where the monster chewed her flesh off.

Aria rested her small fingers against Claire’s open palm. The skin was rough and smelled heavily of bitter medicinal paste.

Claire stirred and her eyelids fluttered open. She turned her head on the pillow and stared at the kid standing by the bed.

"Oh, Aria." Claire croaked. Her voice sounded like she had been gargling crushed glass. "What are you doing in here?"

She tried to put on a smile.

But her face was covered in fresh bruises. The muscles pulled tight and she winced. She flinched. She yanked her hand away from Aria out of pure muscle memory. But doing that sent a spike of pain shooting straight up her arm.

She hissed through her teeth.

Aria just watched her.

"I just wanted to see you." Aria mumbled.

Claire tried to force the smile back. It ended up looking like a painful grimace.

"Well." Claire whispered. "I am here now."

The smile faded a second later. Claire looked at Aria’s dirty clothes and the dried blood crusting on the kid’s pale cheeks. Her expression dropped into a heavy, worried frown.

"How is Lord Adrian?" Claire asked.

Aria took a slow breath.

"Big sis Celeste said Papa’s condition is stabilized." Aria said flatly. "But it will take him a really long time to recover."

Claire just nodded. She looked down at the massive, thick white bandages wrapped around her own ruined leg. Then she looked at the heavy gauze covering her right hand.

A sigh escaped her lips.

She planted her good elbow into the mattress and pushed up. She made it about halfway off the bed before her muscles just gave out. She dropped right back down onto the bloody sheets with a loud groan.

She laid there staring at the ceiling boards for a second. Then she rolled her head back to face the kid.

"Well." Claire rasped. "Why don’t we play a game?"

Aria blinked. She just stared at the knight for a bit, then she slowly nodded.

The teleportation circle in the Ashford territory lit up.

Serena stepped out onto the clean stone platform.

Hugo walked out right behind her. The teenage boy just kept his head down. He was built like a brick wall, but he followed her quietly. Serena had brought him because Aria had asked her to. Hugo was an E-Rank knight, but his Angel’s Touch blessing made his healing output ridiculously strong. Hugo also had a curse called Healer’s Burden. He felt the pain of every single person he healed.

Serena ignored the scenery. She marched right down the paved stone path heading straight for her father’s estate.

She walked right past the armored guards at the entrance and stepped straight into the living room.

Duke Silas sat in his plush armchair.

A man sat right across from him. Serena recognized the face right away. She had not talked to him much before. But she knew exactly who the guy was.

’Why is the financial minister sitting in our house?’ Serena thought.

She went through the motions anyway. She grabbed her dirty skirt and offered a stiff bow.

Then she looked at her dad.

"Did you bring a healer for Adrian?" Serena asked. She threw the polite greetings out the window. After all, she had a dying man to worry about.

Duke Silas gave a dry chuckle. He tilted his chin and pointed at the man sitting across from him.

Serena turned her head and looked at the guest again.

’He’s a healer too?’ she thought as she stared at Roderick. She had no idea the ruthless man who ran the empire’s money was a healing mage.

But she really didn’t care about all of it right now. She just wanted a healer and he was one.