"Mother!"

"Are you alright, mother?"

"Where does it hurt?"

Damien along with his siblings rushed over to the bed, Priscilla supported her mother by holding her by curling an arm around her back and shoulders, while Damien quietly studied the condition of Lady Cecil.

She looked tired, with a complexion that seemed to be getting paler with each second. Her breathing was ragged and laborious.

"I am alright, there is no need to worry," said Lady Cecil with a weak smile. She breathed thrice before saying, "Why were you so late Damien? You were gone for more than three days."

"The herb required for the concoction of your disease was rather hard to find which was why it took me some time to return, Mother," Damien made up a lie as he could see that Lady Cecil was not in any condition to suffer any kind of shock.

"Is that so? Dami, you don't need to worry about me, I am alright, you should stay at home and care for your brother and sister," said Lady Cecil with a bluish complexion. "My illness is not as bad as it seems, there is no need for you to run around the entire outskirts for me. Not to mention, they are infested by dangerous beasts."

"Once these six months pass and summer comes, I will be much better. Don't let such a small thing bother you," said Lady Cecil.

"How can I not worry, mother?" Damien asked as he reached forward and then held the hand of Lady Cecil. While holding her hand by her wrist, he examined her secretly.

The more he studied her pulse, the more his brows furrowed. This was not good, from the pulse, it seemed like her illness was related to either stomach, liver or maybe the gallbladder.

"Mother, let me examine you," said Damien in a pacifying sort of voice. "I have been studying a little about your illness, maybe I might be able to find something?"

Lady Cecil looked up at him in surprise, her long lashes fluttering as she emotionally said, "Dami, you—all these months you were studying about my illness? I thought that —"

She trailed off but Damien knew what she was going to say and she wasn't incorrect.

Indeed his predecessor had been looking for a way to get rid of the Tartarite nails that were suppressing his mana, which in turn was making it impossible for him to heal his broken beast nucleus.

However, Damien needed an excuse to examine Lady Cecil so he could only make up another lie. But there was nothing he could do, if there was something wrong with Lady Cecil's stomach or liver, it could be really dangerous.

With the help of Priscilla, he helped Lady Cecil lie down on the bed.

Once Lady Cecil was lying on the bed, Damien stuck out his finger and first placed them on the stomach of Lady Cecil, though she let out a groan she did not scream out in pain.

Noticing this, he raised his finger and placed it where Lady Cecil's liver should be, no sooner did he place his finger on that spot, than the woman yelped out loud in pain.

"AHHH!!" Lady Cecil screamed out, her face contorted because of the pain that she was feeling at the moment.

"Mother!"

"What do you think you are doing to our mother?" Henry shouted at Damien angrily as he rushed forward and snatched Damien's hand away from Lady Cecil's lower abdomen. "She is our mother, and she is sick! How can you do something like this to hurt her?" He questioned with a growl.

"Let go of me, Henry," said Damien sternly. "I am examining Mother, you shouldn't badger me when I am examining her. It could lead to several complications in case I make a mistake."

"Who do you think you are? We have healers for this kind of job! They will treat mother, instead of doing something so useless, why don't you work hard and earn money to hire a healer?"

"I said let go! I told you that I have studied mother's illness for a long time, and I know what I am doing, Henry," Damien did not expect Henry to stop him like this, he thought that the young boy albeit cold was a calm and smart child.

But now looking at him, he seemed a bit of a pompous child, who believed that some jobs should belong and be done by those who were worthy of it.

like the rest of the people, Damie had met till now.

"What do you know?" Henry asked hotly, his face turning red as he tried to stop Damien from wrenching his hand out of his grasp. "Just because you have read a few books half-heartedly, you think that you know better than the healers, Brother Damien?"

"How could you pretend to be a healer after reading a few books? If it was so easy to become a healer after reading books then many of us would become healers!"

"Instead of working hard and earning money, you are doing something foolish! Do you think you can even make the right deduction? You don't even have an ounce of experience!"

"And how do you know that?!" Damien felt a surge of heat rising in his heart as he pulled his hand away from Henry in one go. This time around he didn't hold back causing the little boy to stumble. "Have you been paying attention to everything that I have been doing? Don't forget that you have been a bit busy by yourself as well!"

Henry's expression turned into an embarrassed one and his cheeks flamed up. Indeed, he had been too focused on his swordsmanship lesson as well.

"But—"

"What do you mean by but?" Damien snapped. "You think I am worse than a healer? Haha! I just treated Lord Nicolas when no healer could treat him, if you do not believe it then you can go ahead and ask Xavier. He would tell you the truth if you don't believe me."