A faint blue light tapped rhythmically on the glass through the slightly ajar window.
Chirp chirp.
By the sound alone, it might have been an ordinary hummingbird, but the bird with those exquisite blue feathers was no common fowl.
'She's here.'
I walked to the window and carefully opened it.
The blue bird fluttered lightly inside as if it had been waiting, landing in front of the chair beside the bed. I immediately dropped to one knee and bowed my head in a prepared posture.
In an instant, the blue feathers scattered softly, replaced by a swirling vortex of azure mana.
Then a clear woman's voice cut through the air.
"I thought you'd be at least a little surprised... but it seems my transformation magic has become quite familiar to you?"
I shook my head lightly.
"I could never treat the great Princess Evelyn so disrespectfully by calling her a mere 'sparrow.'"
"You sure know how to lay on the sweet talk."
As the swirling blue energy subsided, the chair now held Princess Evelyn in place of the blue bird, her sea-blue hair and eyes gleaming as she sat with one leg crossed over the other.
"The fact that Your Highness has come in person suggests that the information I provided earlier was of some help to you."
I took a deep breath and offered a serene smile, one that made it hard to believe I'd just performed surgery for over eleven hours.
The princess studied my expression in silence for a moment before pressing her temple with the back of her hand and sighing.
"Haa... Yes, Lucas Argent. Just as you said, when we traced the drug distribution in the slums, one thread led back to the Versailles Barony. They were one of the families closest to our imperial house, so we never even suspected them... How did you figure it out first?"
I deliberately averted my gaze and answered curtly.
"Just luck."
"Luck...?"
Princess Evelyn's eyebrow arched subtly.
Her expression mixed surprise, doubt, and a faint, reluctant acknowledgment she was trying to hide.
"Calling it 'luck' when you pinpointed the Versailles Barony—a family so loyal we hadn't even put them on the suspect list... You truly are a remarkably casual recruit."
I shrugged.
Her evaluation wasn't what mattered.
What truly mattered was that, just now, for a fleeting moment, Evelyn had called me a "recruit."
And despite her displeased expression, she tossed me the blue fruit she'd been holding all along.
The remnants of the antidote from Adam and Eve's Fruit.
It was a sign that she recognized me as a member of the Ashen Hand.
I swallowed the fruit carefully and asked,
"Does this mean you've accepted me as a member of the Ashen Hand?"
"Haa... Well, I can't exactly deny it."
Evelyn crossed her arms and turned her head away.
"After all, thanks to your help, the empire is a little cleaner."
She turned back, narrowing her eyes.
"But remember this, Lucas Argent. You're still just a lowly member. I permitted your enlistment not because I trust you, but because I needed you. Don't forget that."
Her tone aimed for sternness, but it came off more like a child pouting over not getting more secrets.
Even the genius princess who became the brains of the protagonist's party in the original story couldn't hide her youthful immaturity.
I chuckled inwardly.
'Whether you trust me or not, I don't particularly care.'
In ten years, when the original story exploded and the Argent family started rolling toward the guillotine, I planned to use the Ashen Hand's influence to quietly slip out of the empire.
Head to some remote area, live peacefully as a village doctor.
I wasn't aiming for a high position in the organization, and I didn't need excessive trust.
As long as I could live quietly like a mouse, this level of distance was perfect.
I nodded, lost in those calculations.
"Understood. In that case... Your Highness. As payment for joining the Ashen Hand, may I make one 'request' now?"
Evelyn's eyes wavered subtly.
"Haa... You even know about that part?"
She slowly scanned my room and shook her head.
"At this point, it's more believable that you're not an Argent spy. No family would tuck away a talent like yours in this rundown annex."
Her words were sharp, but beneath them lay wariness born of undeniable talent she couldn't ignore.
In the original Vengeful Goddesses, when Piel and the protagonist's group allied with the Ashen Hand, Evelyn had granted each of them one wish.
It wasn't mere compensation.
It was her personal ritual for welcoming new comrades, a quiet declaration of trust.
But those wishes came with two rules.
If it was within her current power as princess, it would be granted immediately. If not, it would be fulfilled without fail when she ascended as empress.
And I... had prepared a wish that even the young Evelyn now could grant—one that was more vital to me than anything.
Seizing the moment as she scanned the room and lowered her guard, I spoke quietly.
"If you would bestow upon me the 'Water of Life' that the imperial family always carries... I would be eternally grateful."
Evelyn's eyes widened slightly.
"The Water of Life?"
She repeated my words, furrowing her brow faintly.
"That droplet said to restore any wound to its original state? ...Unexpected. I thought you'd demand something much grander. This is surprisingly modest."
She said that, but her voice carried a hint of wariness, curiosity, and faint fondness.
"I figured you'd ask me to casually act like I know you at some noble salon or ball."
"...Me? Ask for something like that?"
"Something like that?"
Evelyn's eyes narrowed.
"Lucas Argent. You know full well how noble society views you... No need for me to spell it out. You know the struggles you went through to cling to your family name, and the pitying looks over your 'birth limitations.'"
That was unexpected.
Did that guy, Lucas, really scramble so desperately just to earn a name?
Even as a bastard, to let that desperation show to everyone around him.
And then grow up venting that rage on innocent slaves... No room for sympathy there.
But something in my reaction irked her further, and Evelyn took a step closer.
"And besides."
She lifted her chin slightly.
"Who am I? The Second Princess of the Abellan Empire. Do you know what a great honor it is for other nobles when I speak to them directly or move with them? They're all desperate for even a word from me, and yet you call that 'something like that'! —That's rude, Lucas Argent."
"Ah... In that case, I apologize, Your Highness."
Her slightly sulky demeanor carried the innocent charm of a girl her age, a far cry from the one who'd just calmly discussed state affairs.
I drew a deep breath and steered back to the main point before emotions could flare.
"Your Highness."
With those words, I stood.
Without looking at Evelyn, I headed straight to one corner of the room.
There, on the bed, lay Piel—the fox beastkin girl barely clinging to life.
I stood by the bed, carefully supporting the child's body, lifting the blanket slightly or angling her head just enough for the princess to see.
"The reason I asked for the Water of Life... is to restore this child to full health."
"...Wait."
Evelyn's eyes widened in shock.
"What's this child? I thought it was just the two of us in the room?"
Only then noticing Piel, she uncrossed her legs and slowly approached the bed.
The princess was also a mage.
She was exceptionally skilled at sensing mana.
But Piel's mana was as faint as a dying ember, so it was no surprise she hadn't detected it.
The moment she saw the child's condition, Evelyn's face hardened completely.
The young beastkin lay there with a slave collar, surrounded by the scent of bandages and herbs.
I'd treated many wounds already, but their brutality remained stark.
"I've done everything within my power to treat her."
I said calmly.
"But her eyeball is ruptured, parts of her organs are damaged... and worst of all, one ear is completely gone."
I gently tilted Piel's head to show it.
"For beastkin, ears aren't just body parts. They're tied to senses, balance, racial pride... everything."
"Even if she miraculously survives..."
Evelyn continued in a faintly trembling voice.
"She won't have a normal life."
She turned her head away, unable to face the severed stump any longer.
In that brief motion, I glimpsed the original story's "princess who cared too much for the weak."
"...You really did all this treatment yourself?"
Evelyn asked quietly.
"I could believe a court physician did it."
"Yes. I have some knowledge of medicine."
I answered plainly.
"Besides, this child is my first slave, a birthday gift. I couldn't let her die."
Evelyn, gazing down at Piel, slowly slipped her hand into her bosom.
What she drew out was a fingernail-sized vial, one only imperials possessed.
Inside, a crystalline liquid gently rippled.
The Water of Life.
The empire's highest-grade healing essence, rarely permitted even in the palace.
"So... that's why you chose this as your wish."
Evelyn whispered.
She fell silent for a long while.
She lifted the bandages slightly, examining the tissues I'd meticulously sutured and arranged.
Her expression... was too complex for a single emotion.
Then she turned back to me, regaining her imperial composure.
"Lucas Argent."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Once this child wakes... what do you plan to do with her?"
She asked seriously.
"Is it just a diversion? Or... is there some un-Argent-like reason I don't know?"
I steadied my breath for a moment.
And—
As a doctor, and now as this child's owner,
I answered honestly, without hiding.
"Does it... really need a reason?"
"...Pardon?"
"The reason I studied medicine is simple. Helping people doesn't require grand motives. I simply... follow my 'beliefs.'"
"!!"