Carlos furrowed his brows at the unexpected answer.

“…A special ability?”

Ines, who had been gripping her skirt tightly, slowly nodded.

It was an incredibly difficult thing to say.

By revealing her ability, she would have to reveal everything about why she was being blackmailed by Marquis Descartes. Though she feared the aftermath of spilling the hidden truth, she couldn’t bear to endure alone anymore.

After calming her trembling heart, Ines slowly continued speaking.

“You’re right. I didn’t go to the mansion to meet the Marchioness in the first place. From the beginning, I went to visit for the Marquis’s son.”

At these added words, Carlos’s face turned grim. But that was only for a moment; at her next words, his expression changed strangely.

“Because I had to heal the Marquis’s son.”

“…”

“I’ve had healing powers since I was young.”

Ines’s eyes were resolute as she met Carlos’s gaze. She was confident, as if there wasn’t a shred of lie in her words.

She began to carefully reveal the secret she had never voluntarily shared since birth.

“I can heal others’ wounds by placing my hands on them. While I can’t transfer their illnesses to my body, I can reduce their pain. That’s why I went to the mansion – to ease the pain of the sick Marquis’s son.”

Carlos, who had been quietly listening to Ines’s words, let out a derisive laugh.

“Ha, healing powers.”

He tilted his head askew as if he’d heard something absurd. As he mulled over Ines’s words, his eyes turned fierce.

“If you truly have healing powers as you say.”

Carlos suddenly approached the table where the wine glasses were laid out and picked up the wine bottle.

“Prove it to me right now.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than he smashed the wine bottle on the table. As soon as the sound of breaking glass rang out, a red line appeared on Carlos’s arm. He had cut himself with the broken glass.

“Ca-Carlos!”

Ines cried out in shock. But Carlos paid no attention and approached Ines. Bright red drops of blood from his arm fell onto the carpet.

Having reached her vicinity, Carlos extended his arm to Ines. His voice had become calmer than before.

“Didn’t you say you had healing abilities? Show me that power, show it to me too.”

Ines, who had been alternately looking at the glass-inflicted wound and his face, swallowed dryly.

He wouldn’t simply believe in an ability that defied common sense from the start. In a way, Carlos’s current reaction was only natural. So it was right to show him her ability directly.

Ines took a short deep breath to calm herself. Then she reached out to Carlos.

The moment her hand touched Carlos’s arm, Ines closed her eyes to use her ability. She slowly began drawing out her power to heal the wound. Or rather, she tried to.

But.

‘Why…’

The golden light that should have emanated from beneath her hand remained deathly quiet.

Panicked, Ines concentrated all her mental energy to use her ability again. But despite her efforts, Carlos’s wound wouldn’t transfer to her.

“Wh-why is this happening suddenly?”

She had used this ability without any problems at the Marquis’s mansion. So why wasn’t it working on Carlos?

Carlos, who had been watching the bewildered Ines, let out a scoffing laugh. As if he hadn’t expected anything from the start, anger briefly filled his eyes.

“Is that all you can show of your healing power?”

“N-no. Strangely, my ability isn’t working. Usually, this wound should transfer to me, but why…”

As if there was no need to watch any further, Carlos withdrew his arm at her excuse.

“Well, do you have any other excuses? It seems healing power wasn’t a very good excuse after all.”

“It’s not an excuse! It’s an ability I’ve truly had since childhood! Your leg too, I…!”

Ines, who was about to say that she had healed his leg too, closed her mouth. But Carlos, who had already guessed what she was going to say, answered instead.

“What, do you want to insist that you healed my leg too?”

At his words, Ines bit her lip as if she was wronged. Due to her inability to demonstrate her power, Carlos was filled with distrust towards her.

Thinking this couldn’t continue, Ines raised her head.

“I’ll try healing someone else. I don’t know why I can’t heal your wound, but I used this ability at the Marquis’s mansion until just before returning to the palace. There’s no way the ability could have disappeared in that time. So as soon as day breaks, we can find an injured palace servant…!”

“Enough!”

Her voice suggesting alternatives was cut off by Carlos’s shout.

“…Carlos?”

Carlos, who had been hanging his head as if suppressing something, finally spoke.

“Ines, why…”

A voice tinged with anger and betrayal echoed through the room.

“Why do you make me so miserable?”

Carlos raised his head and his eyes met Ines’s in mid-air. His face was contorted in pain. His red eyes directed at her were blazing with despair.

Looking at the man’s face, Ines shook her head.

“No, that’s not it…”

As if truly wronged, Ines denied his words until the end.

“No. Really, it’s not…”

Repeating denials like a mad person, Ines suddenly began removing her clothes.

After taking off her heavy robe, her hands urgently pulled at the strings of her velvet dress. The bodice that had been tightly covering her up to her neck came half undone.

White skin reflected in the burning candlelight. She showed her n*ked body to Carlos.

“You asked then, why there were so many wounds on my body. The anemia and falling down were all lies! My healing ability works by transferring others’ wounds to my body. The wounds on my body are the result of healing others that the Marquis brought!”

She pleaded with Carlos, saying the wounds on her body were proof. Her voice was desperate as she explained each wound one by one.

“This was from an arrow that accidentally hit the Marquis’s younger brother while hunting, and this was from when the Marquis’s son fell off his horse and tore his flesh. And this…”

However, Ines fell silent at the sound of laughter. She stared blankly at Carlos.

He was laughing. Why was he laughing when she was showing him the wounds from using her ability? When there was so much evidence on her body, why…

Carlos, who couldn’t know Ines’s thoughts, answered.

“Herman told me. That the Marquis’s son has a nasty habit.”

“…”

“He apparently enjoys abusing women during s*xual encounters.”

“What are you…”

Ines’s face, which at first didn’t understand Carlos’s meaning, soon turned to shock. She realized he thought the wounds on her body were the result of debauchery with the Marquis’s son.

“These wounds have nothing to do with that! Why won’t you believe what I’m saying? What I’m telling you is the truth!”

“Is that so?”

At her cry, Carlos’s lips twisted.

“Let’s say your words are true then. Then why did you agree to the Marquis’s unreasonable demands?”

“That’s…”

As if the inevitable had come, Ines swallowed dryly.

She knew she would have to say this with her own mouth the moment she revealed her ability.

Even now, endless conflict arose over whether it was right to reveal this truth. But…

‘Either way, it ends in misery.’

Both the suspicion of adultery with another man and the fact that she was an illegitimate child were equally miserable. So at least she shouldn’t be wronged.

Finally steeling herself, Ines opened her mouth.

It was a confession she was making to someone for the first time.

“Because the Marquis had leverage over me.”

She hoped this confession would be her last.

“Leverage?”

Carlos’s eyebrows twitched at the word ‘leverage.’

“Yes. Actually…”

Ines’s voice trembled as she continued. She clenched her fists to calm her shaking body.

“I am Duke Claudia’s illegitimate child.”

—

T/N: Sorry for adding so many notes, but I’m just as angry as you are. Carlos, you stupid f*cking c*nt, for someone being characterized as cunning and smart, you sure as hell have a brain the size of a pea when it comes to the most important thing. Your insecurities are all you can think about. You poor, miserable, ugly, selfish, insecure waste of space. I don’t want you to die and rot in hell, I want you to live a long life of suffering. I will haunt your dreams. I will eat your kneecaps. I will tear you a new *sshole. YOU BETTER SLEEP WITH ONE EYE OPEN