Until the Substitute Saintess is Loved: The Sister Sent to the Convent as the Villainess Heals Everyone's Hearts with Her Healing Powers - Chapter 13

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“Lupina, come on, open wide, say ‘ahhh’.”

Mona-san scooped up some porridge with a spoon and offered it to me as I sat up in bed, but she wanted me to eat this?

I could sense her smiling warmly through her veil.

“I can feed myself…”

“No! You were bedridden for a whole day because of me, so just let me take care of you properly.”

According to Mona-san, I had developed a fever from overusing healing magic and exhaustion.

I felt completely fine after sleeping for a day, but Mona-san wouldn’t take no for an answer. Hesitantly, I accepted the spoonful of porridge she offered.

“How is it? Delicious?”

I nodded eagerly to Mona-san.

“You know, the head chef made this specially for you, Lupina. It has ground Jia fish in it, so it’s packed with nutrients.”

“Thank you, but I really think I can move around now. I’d like to go to the clinic this afternoon if possible…”

“I thought you’d say that, but no, not today. Actually, you won’t be allowed to work at the clinic until you’ve fully recovered your strength.”

“What do you mean?”

“You remember Lord Landrick visited yesterday, right? Apparently, a different flu with symptoms similar to the current Zeka flu is spreading in the neighboring country. So, just in case it’s that more dangerous flu, we’re isolating any patients with coughs. Right now, your immune system is definitely weakened and you’re more susceptible, so no clinic work until you’re completely better.”

“But… but that means I can’t treat emergency patients! Medicine alone won’t be enough for some cases. They need healing magic…”

“Don’t worry. Look at this.”

Mona-san pulled several small stones from her habit’s pocket. Their pale yellowish-green color looked familiar.

“Are those magic stones?”

“Exactly! And they contain healing magic. Because there’s a risk of epidemic, Lord Landrick had them delivered immediately. Everyone at the convent is carrying these healing magic stones now. So, you don’t need to push yourself to use healing magic – we’ll manage fine for a while.”

Magic stones imbued with healing magic were extremely expensive.

I felt a surge of gratitude that he had generously provided so many without hesitation.

Even when I worked as a servant for the Ivor count family, Lord Landrick had used healing magic stones for me. Though royalty, he never looked down on commoners.

“Oh, and when Lord Landrick visits next, make sure to thank him properly, okay? He’s the one who carried you to this room.”

“Wha— He came inside this room!?”

“Well, he had to get you into bed, didn’t he?”

“But… but this room has Sennagi grass…”

The twisted, writhing grass was hardly what you’d call attractive.

I had told the head nun about its throat-pain relieving effects and had her mix crushed Sennagi grass into the usual medicinal tea while observing the patients.

While we achieved excellent results, given its appearance, it’s still only cultivated in mine and Mona-san’s room for now.

“He didn’t seem to mind at all. He was more worried about you being completely exhausted. Though, mana depletion and fatigue are outside healing magic’s scope, so the stones couldn’t help with that. You need to rest properly today. Understood?”

“…Yes.”

When she put it like that, all I could do was nod.

As I obediently let Mona-san feed me porridge, I suddenly realized something.

(Gah! My veil—it’s gone!)

Mona-san laughed at my panicked expression.

“Ah, don’t freak out like that. Your veil is safe and sound. But keeping it on while you’re sick would make breathing difficult, right? So, I took it off. It’s fine to sleep without it anyway.”

Mona-san said it casually, but my heart wouldn’t stop pounding.

Had Lord Landrick seen me too?

My appearance closely resembles that of my sister-in-law, Lupina.

But would someone who knew her well think the same?

“Besides Mona-san…”

“I’m the only one who saw your face. What’s wrong? You’re so beautiful, yet you’re worried about being seen? Well then, I’ll show you mine too.”

Saying this, she lightly peeled off her veil.

The color of her eyes surprised me.

“Hehe, surprised? You hardly ever see anyone with eyes this color. It would’ve been better if they were at least gold. But silver… apparently, it’s creepy. Thanks to that, I don’t even know what my real parents look like.”

She said it so matter-of-factly, but it meant she’d been abandoned by her parents before she could form memories.

“This convent is really wonderful, you know? Everyone hides their face with a veil. No matter what you look like, you’re treated equally.”

Why did we hide our faces with veils?

Not just to represent purity as nuns, but perhaps also to protect us from malice directed at our appearances.

“…I used to hate my appearance.”

I wanted to look like Mother.

My father-like appearance was the target of my stepmother and sister-in-law’s hatred.

If I didn’t closely resemble my sister-in-law, I wouldn’t have been used as her substitute either.

Mona-san simply nodded silently.

“But thanks to this appearance, I was able to meet you, Mona-san. Now, I can be grateful for how I look.”

“I see. I’m glad meeting me made you happy. Well, I showed you because I knew you wouldn’t mind these eyes of mine anyway.”

“I think they’re a very beautiful color.”

“Right? I like them too. Well, society finds them unpleasant, so I hide them. Hmm, you finished your porridge, so I should get going now. Make sure to rest properly, okay?”

After emphasizing it once more, Mona-san cleared the dishes and left.

It looked like it would be my first truly leisurely day in a long time.