On our way back home, we ran into Father. He was sitting in the dining room, drinking coffee—a nightly habit. A sign that once he finished his cup, he’d retire to bed. After that, we weren’t supposed to make any noise. And it made sense. He spends nearly all day with the king and sometimes accompanies him on night watches.

  When he saw us enter, he gave us a mocking smile.

  "You two look terrible. Like someone used you to mop the floor."

  How hilarious. Truly, unparalleled comedy.

  "Haha…" Isolde laughed weakly.

  "Don’t be discouraged," Mother cut in, approaching with a towel in each hand. "It’s just a matter of being persuasive and having strong willpower."

  Classic. Motivation in its purest form.

  Still, I took the towel when she offered it and wiped my face. Isolde did the same.

  "Thanks, Mother."

  Not just for the towel, but for her words. She was right. This wasn’t the time to sulk—it was time to use this humiliation as fuel.

  "Yeah! Thanks, Mother!" Isolde shouted, her usual energy returning.

  "We’re going to rest," I said, stepping out of the kitchen.

  "Aren’t you eating dinner?"

  I wasn’t hungry. Truthfully, I hadn’t felt hungry all day. I just wanted to sleep.

  "I’m not."

  "What about you, Issy?"

  "Mmm… No," she shook her head. "I’m going to sleep with Lucy."

  Mother smiled.

  "Good. Rest well, my twins."

  She kissed our cheeks. Isolde ran to Father and did the same. He simply smiled.

  "Get some rest."

  "Thanks, Father."

  With that settled, Isolde and I headed upstairs, talking about our little training session with Alicia.

  "Don’t you think her strength was just… overwhelming?" she asked, her voice tinged with disappointment.

  Yeah, it was. And her speed wasn’t normal either.

  "It was."

  Too fast for a girl her age.

  According to Paradox’s Book, a child barely reaches the strength of an average adult and, with training, can match their speed. A teenager might surpass it. But by adulthood, physical limits cease to be mortal—only the divine remains as the true barrier.

  Alicia had the speed of an adult. Or close to it. But not enough to explain such an absurd gap.

  That could only mean she was using…

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "I have an idea, but we’re going to have to study way more than we should."

  Isolde frowned.

  "What? What do you mean, Lucy?"

  "We’ll have to study healing magic inside and out."

  I smiled.

  Because if my theory was right, the gap that crushed us today wasn’t just about talent or training. It was about knowing how to wield the body at its peak potential. And if that meant unraveling the principles of healing magic to apply them in unorthodox ways…

  So be it.

  ISOLDE

  I felt crushed. Something big, something heavy was on top of me. Oh… oh… it felt like…

  "Lucy, I can't breathe!"

  "Mmm? Oh, sorry."

  Lucy slid off me, finally giving me the air I so desperately needed. How funny! We slept late, tangled up in each other, and woke up in completely ridiculous positions. How did this happen? Who knows—but it definitely wasn’t my fault.

  Lucy yawned and stretched like a satisfied cat.

  "What time is it…?"

  "Mmm… No idea." I tilted my head to the left, peering out the window at the giant clock. Early. "Nine o'clock."

  "Mmm… I think sleeping late and waking up too early isn’t great for your health, is it? But it was worth it. Learning about healing magic was incredible."

  Yeah, fascinating. But also maddening. Atoms, tissues, diseases, concentration—everything had to fit together perfectly, or the result could be… well… explosive.

  "Yeah… but it’s complicated."

  "It can be. But we’ve been through worse, right? Remember gravity magic? We ended up shattering Mom’s plates."

  I let out a laugh. True. No reason to get discouraged. Lucius always found a way to look at things positively, even if his face stayed cold and stoic.

  Lucius hopped off the bed in one smooth motion.

  "Alright, let’s grab breakfast and head to Uncle Reginald’s workshop." He calmly pulled on his boots.

  Lately, we’d been spending way too much time in that workshop. But come on—it was full of strange, dangerous, and potentially deadly artifacts. How could it not be fun?

  My favorite was a tiny mechanical spider with lethal venom. So adorable~! But the best part was that it worked as a sentry and could imprint images directly into your brain.

  Lucius didn’t understand the mechanism. Neither did I. But who cared? It was awesome.

  "Yeah! I’m starving!" I exclaimed, quickly slipping on my boots.

  We bolted out of the room and raced downstairs to the kitchen.

  "Good morning, Mother!" we chimed in perfect sync.

  Our dear mother smiled warmly at us.

  "Good morning, my little twins. You must be hungry. Here."

  Food appeared in front of us. Hot. Delicious. Gone in seconds.

  Father was already gone—as usual, he’d left early with the King. Mom stayed home most of the day, sewing, working… being adorably predictable~

  When we finished, we brushed our teeth—quick, quick, quick.

  "We’ll be back later, Mother."

  "Alright, be careful and come home early."

  "Got it~!"

  And with innocent smiles, we dashed straight to Uncle Reginald’s workshop.

  We were halfway there when suddenly, we ran into someone who, less than a day ago, had been training with us.

  "Alicia!" I called out happily, waving my arm like a lost child in a crowd.

  "Huh? Oh, Isolde."

  Her eyes settled on me. How curious. Yesterday, she’d been so mocking during training—but surely she’d just been trying to provoke us, to push us to do our best. Or maybe she just enjoyed messing with us. I won’t lie, I kind of dislike her… but I also like her.

  "Morning. Didn’t think you’d be up this early to train," she said, her tone casual.

  "Well… things just worked out that way," Lucy replied, a little nervous.

  He leaned toward my ear and whispered:

  "What should we do? Now we can’t go to Uncle Reginald’s workshop."

  Oh~ he’s right. But then again, we could always go another day. It wasn’t like Uncle Reginald was going anywhere. Training, though—that was important. In four years, the academy entrance exam would come, and I had no intention of falling behind.

  Most kids were already training for that exam. Alicia, the kingdom’s only prodigy? Doubtful. We had to push ourselves. Besides, we’d already picked up some blood-control healing magic. And that was actually fun.

  "Mmm… Don’t you think we should go to Uncle Reginald’s another day?"

  "Issy, we already promised we’d study with him. We can’t bail now."

  "Mmm. But you also said something similar. You said if we didn’t show up, Alicia would get bored waiting for us. Wouldn’t that be standing her up?"

  Lucius fell silent. Thinking. He frowned.

  "Either way. We already made plans with Uncle Reginald."

  "I’m not going."

  "What?"

  "You heard me. I’m not going."

  Lucy clenched his teeth.

  "Fine. I’ll go."

  And without another word, he ran off.

  Tch. So annoying. I mean, we couldn’t always focus on studying, right? We needed to train too, improve our physical condition.

  But… if I’m being honest… I felt a little bad.