One Day My Sister Died - Chapter 1 - Part 1
Chapter 1: Part 1
Yuan Felice scratched her nails against each other as she stared at the tightly closed side room door.
Every time a voice leaked out from behind the door, her face grew paler.
She bit her lip, trembling hands clasped together, not even realizing she was bleeding until Count Felice opened the door to the study and entered.
As the Count clicked the door of the study shut loudly and approached her with a grimace, only
“Isn’t it about time you started welcoming guests on your own? Would it be so hard to go in there with that polished face of yours, smile, and offer them a cup of tea?”
“Today, there are just too many people…”
“How many times do I have to tell you that Felice’s survival depends on those people?”
At the unyielding voice, Yuan bit her lips, tasting blood.
Seeing her hesitant face, her uncle began to coax her as if she were a nuisance.
“Do you think you’re the only one who’s struggling and in pain? I’m in pain too. But what can we do? This is the fate of Felice. Do you think I want to be doing this? Nobles don’t work, but Felice does. Why? The only reason we’ve survived in this prestigious noble society is because of our strength. You, who were born with that strength, must naturally share your abilities with others and work for our family!”
Words she had heard for ten years.
She knew it, but the pain was unavoidable.
Yuan headed towards the side room where her uncle had opened the door for her.
Her steps, foreseeing the pain that lay ahead, were slow and heavy.
A dimly lit room.
Amidst the thick smoke of incense, high-ranking nobles were playing cards, dressed extravagantly.
A woman who was mixing cards with a cigar in her mouth showed irritation at their arrival.
“What took you so long to get here?”
“Haha, my assistant isn’t feeling well today-“
“Stop making excuses and get on with the examination. Where has the reputation of Felice gone? Making me come here in person like this.”
The noblewoman urged Count Felice without smoothing her deeply furrowed brow.
The Count hastily pulled out a stethoscope from his pocket and examined her neck.
Then he shot a sharp glance at Yuan.
Her slender hand gripped the lady’s wrist, feeling her pulse and absorbing her pain.
“Ugh-.”
A sharp pain shot through Yuan’s head.
At the same time, the noblewoman’s furrowed brow smoothed out as if ironed flat.
“What’s this? It feels like my head has cleared for a moment. Is it just my imagination?”
“When you meet a good doctor, just getting examined can reduce stress! Hahaha! Assistant?”
Trembling, Yuan handed over a prescription with her shaky hand.
Her uncle grinned widely as he pulled out several vials of medicine from his coat. Using a dropper, he added a few drops of the medicine into the noblewoman’s teacup.
Glancing at the prescription, he didn’t forget to read the symptoms aloud.
“Feels like needles piercing your head? Like your eyeballs might pop out. Especially on the left side.”
“…Felice is indeed different.”
Yuan pretended to tidy up the shawl the lady was wearing while she sipped her tea happily.
Through the slight touch on her shoulder, all the lady’s headaches transferred to Yuan.
Yuan’s forehead crumpled, showing the pain she had absorbed, her pale and smooth forehead now deeply furrowed.
“Oh my goodness. Felice’s medicine is worth its weight in gold!”
It was amazing how her head cleared up and the headache vanished as if washed away. Isn’t it strange!
Amidst the lady’s admiration, there was commotion all around.
Those lying on the makeshift beds in the corner, their eyes brightened as they made a racket.
“Me too!”
“Me first! I’m in a hurry!”
“Alright, alright. Everyone needs to wait their turn. And remember, you’re all very special individuals receiving treatment here at the mansion. So, you must not disclose this to anyone. It would put me in a very difficult position. We must only treat the most esteemed individuals with our precious medicines. If this special treatment becomes known, it will be difficult for me to see you all! Do you understand?”
A man whose leg was almost crushed in a carriage accident. An old man and woman on the brink of death from a chronic illness. Another man on the brink of losing his shoulder to a hunting arrow.
Terribly injured and sick people laughed grimly in the darkness.
A chill ran down Yuan’s spine as the looming terror approached.
“Yuan.”
“…”
“Think of all this as practice for your sister.”
Yuan stared into the darkness with a pale face as her uncle whispered to her.
“Come on, let’s go. We have duties to fulfill.”
The reason Yuan’s uncle didn’t abandon her, even after her parents passed away and her sister left the mansion, leaving Yuan alone, was very simple.
Yuan was the only one in this mansion who possessed the power of Felice.
***
The one who suddenly embraced Yuan, lying on the floor of the research room like a dead person, was her cousin Frederick.
Yuan’s ears were immediately filled with the whiny voice of Frederick’s younger sister, Regina.
“She’s acting like a queen. Does she think she’s the only one doing research? If she enjoys the privilege of freely entering Father’s study, she shouldn’t be so weak and whiny!”
“Don’t block the way, Regina.”
Regina promptly stepped aside and then walked closely beside her brother.
“Isn’t it ridiculous? Since Uncle died, we’ve taken over the Felice mansion, so why do we still have to look after this crow? At twenty years old, most people are already engaged. Why not just marry her off anywhere? Is the family business so complicated that we need to borrow even these crow hands? Are the academy students just for decoration? Are my brother and I just decorations? It’s frustrating. They don’t tell me anything.”
“Whatever it is, seeing her like this makes me think it’s better we’re not involved.”
With a resentful look, Regina, who had murmured under her breath, chuckled at her brother’s words.
As Yuan, who had been breathing heavily into Frederick’s chest, was suddenly thrown into the room.
Not on the bed.
Not even on the carpeted floor.
Yuan, thrown like baggage, tried to get up by scratching the floor, but Frederick grabbed her hand firmly.
His eyes of disdain scanned the dismal room.
Dirty, smelly, and cold. A room not even fit for maids. It was a room befitting Felice’s crows.
“Brother, let’s go quickly. You promised to help me design my debutante’s shoes, remember?”
Regina’s laughter-tinged voice and Frederick’s displeased footsteps quickly moved away from the closed wooden door.
Only then did Yuan finally release the pain she had been holding inside.
The agony she had absorbed and suppressed all day burst forth as she let her guard down.
Yuan’s body stiffened as if she had been punched in the solar plexus, and then her limbs began to tremble violently.
Her scream of pain echoed into the hallway, prompting Regina to cover her ears.
“That crazy witch. She’s at it again.”
“That wretched crow.”
“We’re housing a girl who should be locked up in Saint Yolona, in this beautiful mansion, and even giving her work to do. Father and Mother are too soft.”
The third floor is silent, everyone is gone.
Only Yuan’s desperate screams echoed.