Chapter 151: Red and Black (The Illusion)
Those demons may look just like ordinary folks at first glance. But no matter the season—be it spring, summer, autumn, or winter—sunny days or rainy ones, they’re always draped in dark, murky robes or cloaks.
They call themselves “those who dwell in shadows even the deities can’t see.”
On that frigid night, they stumbled upon a girl lying on a cliff, breathing her last, ready to end her life with a swift stroke. But just then, a black-clothed woman appeared out of nowhere, saving the girl from her grim fate.
After the incident, the girl was in a coma for a whopping thirteen days. When she finally woke up, she found herself in a place so foreign that it made her head spin.
It looked like some kind of artificial cave.
The cave was a labyrinth of confusion, with countless deep tunnels leading to dark chambers marked by jagged rock walls, stretching on endlessly. A foul, decaying odor hung in the air, and from behind the tightly shut wooden doors of the dark chambers, you could hear the faint sounds of sorrowful cries.
And the girl? She was holed up in one of those gloomy rooms.
She was terrified.
But what scared her even more was the complete lack of sensation below her waist—she couldn’t walk or even muster the strength to stand. Her once-white, straight legs felt like they belonged to someone else entirely.
The girl was paralyzed.
She could hardly accept this brutal reality, let alone imagine the bleak life ahead of her. She had lost all desire for the beautiful things life had to offer and even the courage to continue. In the initial days of her cave confinement, she rolled off her bed countless times into the dark, crawling toward the wooden table, clenching scissors in her hand, contemplating ending it all at her neck for what felt like an eternity—she longed for release.
But she never managed to make that cut.
The girl was too scared to d*e.
Compared to the pain of her inner turmoil, quietly perishing here without ever seeing her loving parents and brother again was far more terrifying.
Furthermore…
The girl thought that the middle-aged woman who saved her was actually quite nice.
They called her “Romani Doctor” around here.
Romani Doctor took incredible care of her, ensuring food arrived on time thrice a day, overseeing her medication, and hoping with all her might for the girl’s recovery—promising to do everything in her power to restore the girl’s legs to working order. This gave the girl a sliver of hope, however faint it might be.
But, hey, it motivated her to fight on!
She wished Romani Doctor would heal her and take her back home.
So, no matter how disgusting the things were that the people forced her to eat, or the terrifying red murky liquids they injected into her, the girl chose to shut her eyes and grin and bear it. Even on countless nights when pain soaked her bed sheets with cold sweat and made her feel suffocated, she endured it all alone in silence.
For a little princess used to being spoiled just a month ago, it was unimaginable. But right now… it was nothing.
As long as she could stand again, as long as she could live to go back, the girl was willing to accept any bizarre and painful treatment that came her way.
Besides, she had no other options.
Time passed like a slow snail.
Gradually, she picked up snippets from casual chatter that this place was a covert medical facility known as “the clinic,” designed specifically to house those plagued by awful diseases—abandoned by loved ones and the world over—and treat them in the cave.
And Romani Doctor was the mastermind behind this “clinic.”
Apart from the patients, nearly everyone else wore tightly fitted black robes, their faces cloaked in shadows, roaming about the dark rooms, shoving strange medications into the patients and scribbling notes on filthy leather.
Romani Doctor told the girl that for the vast majority of patients, there was no cure. If they couldn’t provide enough money to donate to the church for divine miracles, they were left to wait for d*ath… and miraculous cures weren’t as omnipotent as one might think. Even the Saint (Female) couldn’t work her magic all the time—like with the girl’s injured spine. Given the current situation, even the strongest miracle would find itself utterly powerless.
Thus, they needed people like them to continue attempting various approaches—to overcome the hurdles of herbal medicine and find more effective means of treatment.
And the girl believed her words.
Even when she occasionally heard someone struggling and wailing, or witnessed bodies being dragged out of other dark chambers, she just figured they were patients who didn’t make it. Fear lingered in her heart, yet she remained convinced that she would get better.
It was all she could think.
Moreover… her physical condition was genuinely improving day by day.
The girl could feel it; though she still lacked sensation below, her spirit was getting better, and she was no longer pessimistic—she even had a desire to see the outside world.
She didn’t know how much time had passed, but the isolation was killing her.
Aside from Romani Doctor, she had no one to talk to. Those robed figures always kept their faces hidden, and the girl was terrified of them. As per the clinic’s rules, patients were strictly forbidden from interacting with each other.
Romani Doctor said some diseases were highly contagious, hence the restrictions—especially for the girl. She couldn’t meet anyone, couldn’t talk to them, only stayed in the dark rooms, wheeled around by Romani Doctor for a short stroll before having to return.
Even so, Romani Doctor’s kindness allowed her the occasional brief encounter with other patients, where she learned a few of their names.
The girl knew she was special here.
Because she was under the careful watch of Romani Doctor. Other patients were seldom even acknowledged by her, let alone checked on.
There was another patient who received Romani Doctor’s special attention aside from her.
It was a very young child, with beautiful silver hair and jewel-like crimson eyes, and the girl had seen her once.
Romani Doctor told her that the little girl was named Iliush and was the youngest patient in the clinic.
The girl couldn’t understand why only they were being cared for. Once, she asked Romani Doctor about it, and the woman just smiled and didn’t answer.
As days passed, more and more bodies were removed from the dark rooms. The girl faced d*ath daily and nightly, leading her heart to become increasingly unsettled, often filled with anxiety.
She recalled the place she had fallen from—an isolated precipice surrounded by steep cliffs, used to discard deceased “patients.” The girl dreaded the thought of returning there one day, plummeting into eternal darkness.
Countless nights, nightmares jolted her awake, making sleep impossible.
She longed to go home.
Deep down, she knew—despite not knowing exactly where the cave was—it couldn’t be too far from Winter City.
She wanted to return, to see her parents and brother in the castle again. They must be worried sick about her, feeling anxious and helpless… the girl couldn’t wait for the day she would be fully healed. Even if it meant just returning for a quick visit to let them know she was alive, it would suffice.
Even if she couldn’t walk, if the journey wasn’t far, she could persuade Romani Doctor to take her in a hired war chariot… it should be possible, right?
After thinking it over, she finally made up her mind.
She proposed her ideas.
And from this point on, everything began to unravel, layer by layer, pulling back the seemingly lavish facade to reveal the grim, dark truth of this “clinic” hidden beneath lies.
