Shadows of the Darkened Veil

The broker entered the mansion, ascended the stairs, and after a quick turn, stepped into an office. It wasn't Viscount Samul's main office but rather a meeting room. The Viscount sat in a chair behind a table, surveying the modest space—roughly the size of a typical bedroom. Bookshelves lined both walls, filled with countless volumes, while scattered plants lent the room a touch of nature.

Though chairs were available, the broker remained standing as he greeted the nobleman. "Pleased to meet you, Lord…" he said humbly.

"Hmm…" The Viscount was an imposing figure—tall and somewhat corpulent, standing at six-foot-one. "I told you to find me a doctor who could cure my little princess." His voice, though slow, carried weight, revealing his measured composure.

"I got a doctor…"

"Mathew…? He is not the one we were looking for… and you know that…" The Viscount's tone remained calm yet carried an undercurrent of threat.

"No… not Mathew." The broker allowed himself a small laugh. "He is merely an assistant, my lord. The real doctor is a young Akarvan—they call him a prodigy…"

"Prodigy or not… he is still a child… he can make mistakes…" The Viscount's voice grew heavier, his unwavering gaze fixed on the broker.

The broker, no stranger to such negotiations, refused to be intimidated. "Believe me, my lord… This youth has a remarkable talent. He employs black magic as a means to cure such afflictions." This detail caught the Viscount's attention.

"Are you certain?" The Viscount's scepticism began to fade.

"I witnessed it myself… He performed an instant cure—the patient fell asleep and awoke the next day completely recovered." The broker smiled. "There is just one matter, my lord."

"What? Does he demand more money?" The Viscount spoke more rapidly than usual, his excitement and relief evident.

"No… The issue is that with rapid success comes arrogance, and this youth is… difficult to converse with. I advise against letting him discuss his magic or experiences. However, he does enjoy travelling. If it pleases you, you might send him to explore the farmlands with an escort—at least one guard, as he lost his way three times en route here."

"Hmm…" The Viscount rose. "I wish to hear from him directly… to know if he can truly treat my daughter. Could you find no one more experienced?"

"My lord… I tried, but none would accompany me. This youth… somehow we managed to persuade him."

With a resigned sigh, the Viscount said, "Let us meet him…"

Meanwhile, Ravindra and Mathew appeared deep in discussion, though in reality, Mathew spoke while Ravindra merely nodded along.

"That's the Viscount… our target…" Mathew murmured as the nobleman approached. Ravindra continued nodding.

"What are you two distinguished doctors discussing?" The Viscount inquired politely as he took a seat nearby.

"Nothing of consequence, my lord. I was merely telling him about you," Mathew replied, catching the broker's meaningful look. "This is Doctor Praduman, a specialist in this field—truly exceptional."

The Viscount smiled, still harbouring doubts but willing to test the young prodigy's abilities. His butler approached and whispered something in his ear.

"While the servants make preparations, perhaps Lord Praduman might demonstrate his black magic…" Though hesitant, the Viscount made the suggestion—even for his daughter, he wouldn't take unnecessary risks.

'I haven't the faintest idea what black magic even is,' Ravindra thought, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. "Am I some street performer to show Lord Samul tricks? I came to examine the patient… after which I shall depart. I have worlds to explore… can't waste my time…"

'Such arrogance… such pride in his voice… What makes him so special?' The Viscount struggled to maintain his composure—after all, he was the one seeking treatment. "Ha… my lord… I merely wished to witness your miracles. Let us forget what I said. Please rest, then examine my daughter."

"No… I shall see the patient first… then decide my course of action." Ravindra's manner radiated overconfidence and arrogance.

The Viscount signalled his butler. "Very well, let us proceed."

'I'll show you just how superior I am… even though I know nothing,' Ravindra thought as he followed, his demeanour unchanged.

The Viscount himself opened the door to reveal three attendants scattered about the room. Rose, his eighteen-year-old daughter, sat on the floor beside her bed, hugging her knees with her head tucked between them. Her face was pale and lifeless, her eyes betraying countless sleepless nights—she resembled a witch.

"So, who is the patient?" Ravindra asked with supreme confidence, pointing to a worn-out elderly lady in the corner. "Her?"

"Come now, Doctor…" Mathew gestured toward Rose.

"Oh… I didn't notice her…" Ravindra approached. "Hello… anybody home?" She remained unresponsive. "She's not working—I mean, what happened to her?"

"We're uncertain… She neither sleeps nor responds, barely eats, and drinks little water," the butler reported.

'Simple enough—she does nothing, so she eats and drinks less. What's the mystery? Though perhaps it's the sleep… Well, I'll stick to the script.' Ravindra knelt and touched Rose's forehead with a finger shrouded in black energy, it was prop with dark magic which was a copy of Black magic, it just looked mysterious it was literally nothing just dark magic eaten by the atmosphere, giving the feeling of black magic. "Can you hear me? I'm your doctor… What's your name?"

As Ravindra stood with a sigh, Rose began trembling. She clutched her head and tried crawling to a corner of the room. Her latency was really really high, "That's the end of the room—you'll hurt yourself," Ravindra commented.

She stopped there, hands still pressed to her head.

"What's she trying to do?" Ravindra shot Mathew a disappointed, angry look. "This doesn't appear to be a disease…"

"What? My lord?" Samul looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"I mea—" Ravindra began, but Mathew cut him off, knowing how much they could reveal.

"It appears as it is… not a disease, but something else… I know you have the idea" Samul understood immediately and glanced at his butler.

"Everyone out," the butler commanded.

"Wait—can I leave now?" Ravindra asked hopefully, but Mathew shook his head.

"It's a curse… Has any other black magic practitioner touched your daughter?" Mathew asked directly.

"No… Doctor Praduman is the first." A lie everyone in the room understood immediately as it was practically impossible to curse someone without touching them for a very long time.

"The curse must be causing this seemingly incurable condition." Mathew approached Rose and placed his hand on her back, channelling light magic with hydro—like water, but transparent and shifting with the colours of the room and Rose's clothing.

"Nothing… I can do nothing… It's incurable." Mathew exchanged meaningful looks with the broker.

"Surely there must be something you two can do…" The broker delivered his lines perfectly.

Ravindra sighed and shook his head, meeting the Viscount's gaze. "This isn't what I came here for…"

The Viscount stepped forward. "You can cure her, can't you?"

"No one I know cures curses—it's practically the most worst possible thing… most worst… that's not even proper grammar…" Ravindra tried to maintain his composure despite his racing heart. This was crucial—they needed to convince them that they were essential to the girl's survival. "She'll just waste away… There's nothing we can do about curses. Trying to break one forcefully only makes it worse… Maybe I can but I might end up killing her and she is in a lot of pain, not physically but a lot mentally."

"Curses are black magic—surely you can do something to save her, you are the only one so far to figure out the real issue, there has to be a way to save the young lady without harming her?" The butler interjected, seeing Samul's hope fading.

"It's because I used black magic to look for impurities but that ended up in a failure because of a curse and why should I dispel someone else's curses? It's not my responsibility…not something I meant to do, curses are not something one to should play with"

"You did it for another—you can do it for my daughter." The Viscount remained calm, not easily deceived, he was not going to lose his character so simply after all he was a viscount who had potential deals with enemy states.

"What?"

"I heard you cured someone's nightmares and sleeplessness…"

"How did… Word of mouth travels fast… Interesting…" He smiled at the broker. "That was a real good advice by you"

"Can't you—can't you do the same for my daughter?" The Viscount was nearly pleading now, everything making sense—no doctor could help because it was a curse, black magic coursing through her veins, preventing even basic rest.

"That was different…"

"No, it seemed exactly the same…" The broker sided with the Viscount. His act was right on the point for a second Raivndra might not look like a prodigy doctor but the butler was a pro. Flawless.

"Who's the doctor here? Me and… him." He gestured toward Mathew.

Meanwhile, Mathew continued analyzing the situation. 'It's definitely a curse—at least that detail was accurate. Determining its nature will be challenging. Ravindra will handle the act… I should examine it again. Black magic might not detect the curse, but dark magic can penetrate anything—only another dark magic could block it. Fascinating… my first encounter with a curse. Why was this poor young woman cursed? Is it connected to the Viscount? His reaction to the curse suggests he knows something…'

Mathew called to Ravindra, "Could you try that again?"

"What? Oh… you mean black rendering. It's like cursing—you know what I mean… That's what frightened her before."

"I know, but she might die… she's at the edge… we must take the risk…"

She wasn't at the edge—the Viscount was. Their plan to make him desperate was working.

They repeated the procedure, and Rose trembled again. Mathew applied his light magic of hydro, this time with warm water for its medicinal properties.

"Hot… hot…" Ravindra's hand beneath Mathew's recoiled. "It burns!" He cried out, though only the person being healed should find it pleasant. To Ravindra, it felt like scorching steam.

"Let me see…" The butler rushed forward, using his cryomancy. That's when Ravindra noticed the missing left thumb and flinched.

"Oh… you're missing a thumb?"

"Lost it years ago…"

"Startled me for a moment." Ravindra turned, squatted, and whispered to Mathew—all part of their performance.

"No…" Ravindra announced loudly enough for the Viscount to hear.

"What's wrong, my lord?" The Viscount had reached his breaking point—he and his butler were now firmly in the grip of Ravindra's prodigy doctor act. "I'll do anything to help my daughter recover… even risk her life… She's all I have left, the others… they died… You must do this…"

"Very well… I can try to analyze the curse's nature and its bindings… I'm only attempting this because Doctor Mathew believes she can be saved. Don't raise your hopes too high."

Mathew approached the Viscount. "You know how curses work… Everyone knows the stories. Tell me who did this… Such a curse couldn't be cast in days or weeks… This is no tale from a historical play but reality." His solemn voice probed for truth in Samul's mind, but Samul buried it beneath his emotions. Provoking Samul's emotions was crucial to winning his complete trust.

"I-I can't." Samul clenched his fists, head bowed, face muscles taut. His calm facade cracked, revealing natural weakness—everyone has their vulnerable points.

"Then, there is nothing we can do…" They started moving out of the room, Mathew went past the butler and then, when Ravindra was going past him, he grabbed his hand, startled again. The Butler looked into the eyes of Ravindra and emotionlessly he spoke.

"The late lady of the house practised black magic… She was her real mother…" The butler delivered this revelation with unsettling detachment

The silence was echoing through the room, they all were feeling sad except Raindra was trying to feel sad, he was calm now, their plan was a success, and the Viscount now trusted them with their secrets, Ravindra was only thinking ahead, 'So, it was her mother who cursed her, makes sense when Mathew talked about them, the curses are fragile when they are being implanted- The question now is… What are we going to do with her, since she is actually cursed, we have to take care of her, can't let her die, I need to make the Viscount dance on my palm, how will I do that though…Hehe… I have a hunch how it will go…'

'Her own mother… This is truly interesting, why was she cursed? Why was Samul so unrested about it… That lady is his weakness, right now all that remains are mysteries… This is will be fun' Mathew was sad to know the reality but he was not an easy person, his personality was complex. His intensions looked as if he wished to solve this pulze or there was something else going on with his thoughts.