Thirty minutes later.

Seria tapped the screen of the tablet in her hand, reviewing the results of several diagnoses.

She stared at it for a long moment, her brow slightly furrowed, before she finally lowered the device. When she looked back up at Ethea, her gaze was solemn and complex.

Ethea felt her heart sink, a familiar coldness creeping into her chest.

She knew that look.

It was the exact same expression every healer wore before they delivered the final, crushing verdict.

A self-deprecating thought brushed through her mind, ’Guess I was too hopeful after all’.

She braced herself for the standard words of polite regret, ready to lock her disappointment away.

However, Seria’s actual words made her freeze.

"Unfortunately, I seem to be unable to help you," Seria spoke softly, pausing as she looked down at a specific section on her tablet. "However... there is something strange."

Ethea blinked, her confusion momentarily overriding her disappointment. She looked up at the healer, her eyes questioning.

Seria leaned forward, turning the screen slightly toward Ethea, though the raw data looked like a maze of complex lines to an untrained eye.

"I pulled your medical history and compared these new results with your previous data from a month ago," Seria explained, her voice tinged with genuine professional fascination. "Although there isn’t a massive change on the surface, I noticed something incredibly interesting. You... you have actually gotten better than before. Although it is barely noticeable, your condition has certainly improved."

"But the question is, why?" Seria continued, tapping the screen to bring up a comparison chart. "A condition like yours doesn’t just improve on its own. Have you taken any rare medication recently? Or perhaps an elixir or sort?"

Ethea quietly shook her head, her mind racing as she tried to recall the past few weeks. "No. Nothing like that."

"Then did a higher-circle healer perform a treatment on you without your knowledge?" Seria asked, searching Ethea’s face for any hint of realization. "Even a 7th or 8th-circle healer would leave a distinct mana signature behind, but I found absolutely no traces of external energy in your circuits. This healing came entirely from within your own body."

Ethea remained silent, her fingers tightening slightly against her lap.

The only major change in her life over the past month wasn’t a potion or a legendary healer. It was the fact that she had married Soren.

’Could it be related to him?’

The thought seemed absurd, yet the timeline aligned perfectly. Before she could delve deeper into the suspicion, Seria set the tablet down on the desk, drawing her attention back.

"Whatever the cause may be, this is a miracle in itself," Seria said, her tone carrying a mix of professional intrigue and genuine happiness for them. "I want to study your data a bit more thoroughly when I get back to the academy. I’ll research some advanced cases to see if there is any precedent for this."

Ethea nodded, a genuine sense of gratitude smoothing the tension in her expression. "Thank you, Lady Seria."

"Don’t worry about it," Seria casually brushed it off with a wave of her hand, her smile warm. "Just think of it as a small repayment for your husband’s actions."

Ethea opened her mouth to reply, but then hesitated. She looked down at her hands, a sudden thought taking root, before she lifted her head and spoke up. "Lady Seria... is it possible for me to stay here at the hospital until Soren gets better?"

Seria blinked, a bit surprised by the sudden request given Ethea’s own physical limitations. She looked at the wheelchair, then back to Ethea’s determined eyes, and nodded. "The intensive care unit usually has strict visiting hours, but given the circumstances, I will help with the procedures to arrange a room for you."

"That would be a huge relief, honestly," Clara interjected from behind the wheelchair. She stepped forward slightly, explaining the situation to Seria. "The two of them live alone, and I am just a hired caretaker. If Miss Ethea goes back to that empty house by herself, she’ll just spend the whole time worrying. I told her I could stay with her at the house, but she insisted on staying here with Mr. Soren. Actually, I also think that being right here in the hospital is much better for her peace of mind."

Seria nodded in realization, looking at Ethea in a new light.

’So she is just as devoted to him’, she thought, a quiet respect filling her gaze as she witnessed the mutual care between the young couple.

"Don’t worry about her being alone here, though," Clara continued, turning her attention back to Seria. "I will still come every day, and I can even stay here with her for a few days to make sure she has everything she needs."

Hearing those words, Ethea felt a wave of genuine warmth wash over her. She looked up at the older woman, her voice soft with emotion. "Thank you, Clara."

"Then it’s settled," Seria said, a bright smile returning to her face. She checked the time on her tablet and noted that evening was fast approaching. "It’s almost dinner time anyway. Why don’t we have it together? After that, we can take care of the room arrangements and get you settled in."

"Wouldn’t that be a bit too much of a bother for you?" Clara asked, hesitant to impose further on the high-ranking healer.

Seria shook her head with a light chuckle. "Not at all. It’s much better to eat together anyway. Come, follow me."

As Seria turned to lead the way out of the consultation room, Clara stepped behind the wheelchair and began to push. Ethea sat quietly, but as the steady rhythm of the wheels rolled down the corridor, her thoughts drifted away from the conversation and spiraled back to the bizarre diagnostic results.

’My condition improved... but why?’

She searched her memory for anything out of the ordinary over the past month. Still, the only variable that had changed since her marriage was Soren. More specifically, the things he did for her every day.

’Could it be... because of those meals he made?’

The moment the suspicion crossed her mind, pieces of an elusive puzzle suddenly started falling into place. It actually made sense. Every time she finished one of the meals Soren prepared, a subtle, fleeting warmth had spread through her chest. She had always dismissed it as the simple comfort of a hot, home-cooked meal—but now, she realized she had genuinely felt a bit better after eating them.

’He’s... He’s hiding something...’