Chapter 12: Unfold
The faint sound of birds chirping vibrated through the heavy walls of the house.
Neela and Sky sat together at the kitchen table, quietly chatting as they waited for the bedroom door to open. Neela kept her eyes fixed on the hallway, silently praying that Niel would emerge with good news.
Sky, on the other hand, didn't seem worried at all.
Instead, she was deeply confused—and intensely curious about what exactly the strange, silver-haired boy was doing in there.
To break the heavy anticipation, Neela ladled two steaming bowls of the savory beef stew she had prepared. They ate in relative silence, the rich aroma of the food filling the kitchen.
Suddenly, the heavy wooden door to Adam's room clicked open.
Niel stepped into the hallway, a satisfied grin stretching across his face.
Neela immediately shot up from her chair and rushed toward him, with Sky following at a much steadier pace.
But before Neela could open her mouth and bombard him with questions, Niel beat her to it.
"You shouldn't leave your food uncovered like that," Niel said playfully.
The single, lighthearted comment instantly shattered the tense atmosphere.
Neela and Sky blinked at him in utter confusion.
Without saying a word, Sky simply turned around and went back to cover their stew.
Neela turned her anxious eyes toward the young healer.
"How is he, Niel?"
With a soft, confident smile, Niel simply raised his thumb and pointed over his shoulder toward the bedroom, silently telling her to go see for herself.
Neela stepped past him and entered the room.
Then she froze.
For more than half a year, her husband hadn't been able to sleep peacefully for even a single night.
Yet there Adam lay, completely relaxed, his head resting against the pillows as a soft, steady snore vibrated through the room.
The sight sent an overwhelming wave of joy and profound relief crashing over her.
Neela couldn't take her eyes off him.
"Are you some kind of magician?" she asked softly, her voice filled with stunned disbelief.
Hearing this, Niel simply laughed and shook his head.
"No, nothing like that," he said with a warm smile. "All I did was massage him and wrap the swelling on his feet with cloth. Nothing out of the ordinary."
On the other side of the room, Sky stood perfectly still, staring at Niel with a deeply suspicious expression.
What the hell?
Just two hours ago, Niel acted like a completely different person.
Or was I just imagining things?
She shook her head, trying to make sense of it.
Before she could dwell on her thoughts for too long, Neela's voice pulled her back to reality.
"Sky, come here. Come look at your father."
"Oh yeah, I forgot," Sky muttered to herself before raising her voice. "Coming, Mother."
As she approached the doorway, her eyes fell upon Niel.
He smiled at her excitedly.
Urgh, wipe that dumb smile off your face. Hmph.
It's not like he did anything crazy.
With that thought, she finally stepped into her father's room.
But the moment she saw the completely peaceful state of her father, the only words that escaped her mouth were—
"Well, I'll be damned."
Neela grabbed Sky and pulled her into a happy embrace.
"Isn't this great!" she said excitedly.
Sky remained completely frozen in her mother's arms, her mind trapped in a daze.
How?
Just how could the man I brutally beat up two days ago do something like this?
It's something I never thought was possible.
Her thoughts began piecing together everything she had seen.
Plants.
Herbs.
A bucket of water.
A towel.
Cut-up cloth.
How could things as useless and meaningless as those produce such an amazing result?
All her life, both her father and mother had drilled the same lesson into her head.
The only way to survive in this world was to possess raw strength and power—power that would allow her to reach the very top of the world.
Her eyes drifted toward Niel.
He was still speaking with Neela, gesturing as he tried to explain that he really hadn't done anything special.
Sky's gaze dropped toward the ground as a flurry of dangerous thoughts raced through her mind.
She slowly looked back up at her mother.
Is there something Mother and Father didn't tell me?
She quickly shook the thought away.
No. Mother seems just as surprised by this.
Maybe King Duston knows?
No... if that greedy tyrant knew about this, he would never have sent Niel to us in the first place.
Then a sudden, chilling thought entered her mind.
Could it be... that the entire world is hiding something from us?
If so, that means there have to be more people like him out there.
Sky turned her entire body toward Niel.
Her expression became stern and piercing.
"Niel, where did you learn to do this?"
The sudden question caused an abrupt silence to fill the room.
Neela looked at Sky, a shocked and deeply uneasy expression washing over her face.
Oh no.
A wave of panic hit her.
She's doing it again.
Neela knew she had to stop Sky immediately before she started asking too many questions.
Sky had a dangerous, almost dictatorial nature. Her relentless curiosity always caused her to escalate simple situations into all-out confrontations, turning potential allies into bitter enemies.
It was the exact reason the girl didn't have a single friend to her name.
She simply couldn't stop creating hatred between people.
Trying to intercept her daughter before she ruined everything, Neela quickly cut in.
"Sky, how could you ask him that? Don't you know that a magician never reveals his secrets?"
Despite her mother's attempt to deflect the question, Sky showed absolutely no intention of backing down.
Her dark eyes remained firmly locked onto Niel's golden ones as she took several slow, deliberate steps forward.
She didn't stop until their faces were only inches apart.
Then she stood there, waiting for Niel to answer.
Neela tried to step between them once again, but this time, Niel gently raised a hand, signaling that everything was fine.
To him, this was the perfect opportunity to share his passion for medicine.
"Well, my mother and father taught me how to do it," Niel answered truthfully, his voice steady. "I also read a lot of books."
Hearing his simple answer, Sky still wasn't satisfied.
She took another aggressive step forward.
Niel instinctively took a step back.
"Oh, really? Well then, where did your parents learn it from?" she questioned sharply.
"Well..." Niel's brow furrowed. "Their parents, maybe?"
He genuinely didn't know the deeper history of his lineage.
"That's not the answer I want!" Sky snapped, her voice growing dangerously loud as she pressed forward. "Adamson... that is a surname I have never heard of before. And yet the people who bear that name have the power to completely heal broken bodies. How come they know, but the rest of the world doesn't? Make that make sense!"
Niel didn't raise his voice.
He never shouted at a woman.
Instead, he looked at her gently, keeping his tone soft as he tried to defuse her intensity.
"I really don't know what you want from me. I told you the truth to your questions... What more do you want from me?"
"I want the truth!" she demanded fiercely.
Her sudden, terrifying shift in tone caused Niel to flinch.
Feeling completely cornered by her aggressive nature, he quickly glanced toward Neela, silently begging her to intervene.
Neela let out a heavy sigh and stepped forward.
"That's enough, Sky. He already told you what he knew. Let's end this conversation."
"No. I'm not satisfied with what he told me," Sky replied coldly, her stubborn, dictatorial instincts taking over as she kept her eyes fixed on Niel.
Neela sighed again.
But this time, her entire demeanor changed.
"Sky. I told you to end it."
Her voice didn't rise.
Instead, it dropped into a tone that was bone-chillingly cold and heavy with absolute authority.
A sudden chill ran down Sky's spine.
She froze in place, her breath catching as she slowly turned toward her mother.
Seeing her mother in this rare and terrifyingly strict state, Sky realized she had pushed her boundaries too far.
She reluctantly backed away, raising her hands in defeat.
"Fine. I'll let it go."
She shot Niel one last venomous glare before turning on her heel and marching out of the bedroom.
She headed straight down the hallway toward her room.
As Sky passed through the kitchen, Neela called after her.
"Aren't you gonna finish your food?"
Without stopping, Sky continued walking.
"I'm not hungry. I lost my appetite. I'll eat it later."
Neela placed a hand against her forehead and rubbed her temples tiredly.
"It's always like this with that girl," she muttered to herself.
She glanced over at Niel.
He was visibly shaken and uncomfortable after the intense interrogation.
"I'm so sorry about that, Niel," she said softly.
Niel quickly raised both hands, waving them off.
"No, no! It's really no problem, honestly—"
"No, Niel," Neela interrupted gently. "I can see your discomfort. You are absolutely terrible at hiding your true feelings."
Niel opened his mouth to protest again.
But before he could say anything, a loud, empty rumble echoed through the bedroom.
His stomach.
Neela heard it and couldn't help but laugh warmly.
"I forgot. You must be starving, aren't you?" she said softly, the tension completely draining from her shoulders.
She turned and began walking down the hallway toward the kitchen.
"Come on. Let's go eat."
At the dinner table, Niel and Neela sat together and ate in relative comfort.
Niel warmly complimented her cooking before explaining in simple terms exactly how he had helped Adam's legs recover.
After a while, however, a heavy silence settled between them.
Niel stared down at his bowl, sinking deep into his thoughts.
His mother's chilling words from his dream came rushing back to him.
The outside world is not a place for people like us.
He found himself dwelling on Sky's aggressive question from earlier.
How come they know, but the rest of the world doesn't?
Niel gently twirled the spoon in his hand.
A somber expression crossed his face.
She's right...
At first, I didn't want to acknowledge it myself.
Since I lived my whole life inside the castle, I always assumed it was only in the kingdom of Newfield where people didn't know how to make medicine or lacked proper medical knowledge.
But now, it would seem that this kingdom is exactly the same.
His heart ached as a sudden, terrifying realization entered his mind.
Am I entirely alone in this world?
Is there really no one else left like me?
Neela noticed his downcast expression and stopped eating.
"Are you thinking about what Sky said earlier?" she asked softly.
Niel slowly nodded.
"I am," he answered quietly.
"Thinking too much about it will only stress you out," Neela said gently, leaning forward. "Niel, I'm going to tell you the same thing I always tell Sky. As time goes by and you grow older, your understanding of the world widens. One day, the truth will reveal itself to you."
She paused for a moment.
"For now, just focus on your main goal. You love that princess, don't you?"
Hearing her reassuring words, Niel couldn't help but smile genuinely.
"Right... Thank you, Lady Neela, for reminding me."
Neela stood from her seat and began stacking the empty wooden plates.
"Don't mention it," she said.
She turned and walked a few paces toward the wash basin, carrying the dishes.
Then she suddenly stopped.
She glanced back over her shoulder.
A soft, incredibly warm smile graced her features.
"And don't call me Neela," she said quietly. "Call me Noelle."
Niel looked at her in open confusion.
"Noelle..."
Suddenly, a memory clicked.
He remembered that Adam had also called her Noelle during their private argument earlier.
Niel nervously scratched through his silver hair.
"I thought your name was Neela?"
"Neela is just a nickname," she explained, her expression softening even more. "It's the name I give to people I don't consider myself particularly close with."
"I get the point," Niel said softly, his cheeks tinting slightly. "But... I only got here a few days ago."
Before he could finish his sentence, Noelle gently shook her head.
"Niel, the things you've done in the short time that you've been here are more than enough reason for me to consider you family."