Kevan stared at her, his gray eyes wide with shock. He stumbled backward, then turned and sprinted down the dark corridor, his footsteps echoing wildly.

Ella turned back to the cell. She reached out and pulled a heavy iron ring of keys from a hook on the wall.

She stepped up to the iron grate. She shoved the largest key into the rusted lock. It ground against the metal with a loud, ear-piercing screech that echoed through the dead silence of the dungeon.

Daulton watched her every move. His muscles were coiled tight. A low, warning growl rumbled in his throat, but he didn't dare step forward to stop her.

Ella pushed the heavy iron door open.

The stench of necrotic tissue hit her like a physical wall. She gagged, pressing the back of her hand against her mouth.

What the hell, she cursed internally. She forced herself to breathe through her mouth, treating this exactly like walking into the worst, most neglected animal hoarding case back in New York. She locked her emotions away and let her clinical training take over.

She walked straight up to Cordaro.

He was a massive man, easily over six-foot-three, built with thick, dense muscle meant for hunting giant monsters. Now, he looked fragile.

Sensing someone approaching, Cordaro's survival instincts flared. He was half-unconscious, but his lips curled back, exposing sharp, terrifying canine teeth. A weak, rattling snarl tore from his throat.

His eyes were glazed over, unfocused and cloudy, but they still burned with a stubborn refusal to die.

Ella ignored his warning. She didn't hesitate. She crouched down and reached her hand straight toward his rotting chest.

"No!" Daulton gasped from the doorway, terrified she was going to dig her nails into his brother's open wounds.

But Ella's hand stopped an inch above the ruined flesh. She didn't touch him. She just hovered her palm there, feeling the heat radiating off his skin.

It was like holding her hand over a lit stove. His fever was dangerously high.

Her veterinary instincts processed the data instantly. The toxin had bypassed his muscular tissue and invaded the lymphatic system. This wasn't a surface infection anymore. His organs were cooking from the inside out.

Cordaro felt the slight shift in air currents from her hand. His body violently convulsed in pain. The heavy iron chains rattled loudly against the stone wall.

Ella looked up at his face. His deep, charcoal-gray wolf ears were plastered flat against his skull, a universal animal sign of extreme distress and submission to pain.

A fierce wave of protectiveness surged in Ella's chest.

Without thinking, she softened her posture. She leaned in slightly, and she whispered under her breath, uttering a strange, melodic string of syllables he had never heard before.

"You poor, big guy."

The words were barely a breath, but Cordaro was a wolf beastman. His hearing was infinitely sharper than a human's.

Even through the thick fog of his fever, his ears twitched. He caught the sound. It was a tone of pure, unfiltered pity. It was a sound that the cruel, sadistic Ella Ortiz had never made in her entire life.

Cordaro's thick eyelashes fluttered. He fought against the heavy weight of his eyelids, trying desperately to focus on the face of the woman crouching in front of him.

Before he could clear his vision, the darkness dragged him back under. His head slumped forward.

Footsteps slapped against the stone floor outside. Kevan rushed back into the cell, carrying a wooden basin filled with steaming hot water.

He stopped dead in his tracks. He saw Ella crouching near Cordaro. She wasn't holding a whip. She wasn't pressing salt into his wounds. She was just looking at him.

The sheer confusion on Kevan's face was obvious.

Ella heard Kevan's ragged breathing. She instantly wiped the pity off her face, replacing it with a mask of deep disgust.

She stood up abruptly. She snatched the basin from Kevan's hands and deliberately slammed it down onto the stone floor.

Water splashed everywhere, hissing as it hit the cold rock.

A splash of scalding water hit Daulton's boots. He jumped back, his amber eyes flaring with renewed hostility.

"Clean the filthy blood off his chest," Ella ordered Kevan, her voice dripping with contempt. "And do it fast. The smell is making me sick."

Kevan didn't dare disobey. He dropped to his knees, ignoring the searing pain in his own sliced hands. He dipped a rag into the hot water and began to carefully, agonizingly wipe away the crusted blood around Cordaro's wounds.

Ella stood a few feet away, her arms crossed. Her eyes were locked on the texture of the wounds, her brain calculating the massive dose of broad-spectrum antibiotics he would need to survive this.

Hot water wasn't going to do a damn thing. This world didn't have IV drips or modern medicine. She had to rely on that stupid System.

She screamed in her mind. Lex Cantor! How do I get medicine for this?

[Host must accumulate Animosity Points to purchase the High-Tier Healing Serum from the System Shop, ] the cold voice replied.

Ella ground her teeth together. She looked at Daulton and Kevan. They were terrified of her, but they didn't hate her enough right now. She needed points, fast.

She suddenly lashed out, kicking the wooden basin with her heavy leather boot.

It flipped over with a loud crash, spilling the remaining hot water across the floor.

"You are too slow!" Ella screamed at Kevan.

The wooden basin clattered violently across the stone floor, the sound echoing like a gunshot in the cramped cell.

Kevan flinched so hard he nearly fell over. He yanked his hands back, his face draining of all color until he looked like a corpse.

Daulton didn't hesitate. He threw himself into the cell, placing his body squarely between Ella and his brother. He bared his teeth, a vicious, desperate snarl ripping from his throat.

Ella looked at the fiercely protective wolf boy. Internally, she wanted to praise him for his bravery. Externally, she curled her lip in an ugly sneer.

She lifted her foot and used the tip of her expensive leather boot to kick a dirty, blood-soaked rag toward Daulton.

"Look at you," she mocked, her voice laced with poison. "A pathetic stray dog barking at its master."

[Ding. Animosity Points from Daulton +50. Fear Points from Kevan +30. ]

Ella let out a tiny, hidden sigh of relief. The points were rolling in. But a quick glance at the transparent blue System interface floating in her vision told her it wasn't nearly enough for the serum.

She had to push harder.

She lunged forward, grabbing Kevan by the collar of his ragged shirt. She hauled him halfway to his feet.

Kevan didn't fight back. He just squeezed his eyes shut, his body going completely limp as he waited for her to slap him or pull out a dagger.

The pain didn't come.

Instead, Ella leaned in close, her voice a harsh, demanding hiss.

She frantically sifted through the original Ella's chaotic memories, searching for anything related to local trauma medicine. Two names surfaced in the dark corners of the tyrant's mind.

"Go to the greenhouse behind the estate. Bring me five-year-old Blood-Stop weed and the roots of the White Fresh plant. Now."

Kevan's eyes snapped open. His pale gray irises dilated in pure shock.

Those weren't torture devices. Those were incredibly rare, highly potent medicinal herbs used to treat severe trauma.

Daulton's growl died in his throat. He stared at Ella, his mouth slightly open, a pathetic, confused whining sound escaping his lips.

Ella saw their brains short-circuiting. If they realized she was trying to save Cordaro out of kindness, the Animosity Points would stop. She needed a cover story.

She shoved Kevan backward, wiping her hands on her dress as if he had infected her with a disease.

"Don't look at me like that, you idiot," Ella spat. "Cordaro is a useful tool. I haven't finished breaking him yet. If he dies now, it's a waste of my investment."

The sheer, callous objectification in her words hit the men like a physical blow. To her, Cordaro wasn't a living being; he was a toy she wasn't done playing with.

A fresh wave of revulsion washed over Daulton's face.

[Ding. Animosity Points +100. ]

Ella mentally patted herself on the back for her Oscar-worthy performance.

"Move!" she screamed at Kevan.

Kevan scrambled to his feet. He didn't care that the deep cuts on his palms had torn open again, dripping fresh blood onto the floor. He bolted out of the cell, sprinting toward the greenhouse.

The cell fell into a suffocating, tense silence. It was just Ella and Daulton now.

Ella began to pace the small space, pretending to be impatient and annoyed. In reality, her eyes never left Cordaro's chest. She was watching his respiratory rate. It was getting shallower. He didn't have much time.

Daulton's eyes tracked her every movement. He was hyper-vigilant, trying to figure out what twisted game she was playing.

He noticed something strange. Ella was pacing, complaining about the smell, but she hadn't once reached for the rusted whips or branding irons hanging on the wall. That was completely out of character.

Ten agonizing minutes later, Kevan came sprinting back. He was gasping for air, his chest heaving. Clutched tightly to his chest was a massive bundle of fresh, dirt-covered herbs.

He dropped to his knees and held the herbs up over his head, offering them to Ella. His wrists shook violently from the pain and exhaustion.

Ella snatched the bundle from his hands. She pulled so hard it jerked Kevan forward, making him suck in a sharp breath of pain.

She didn't even look at them. She walked over to a small, flat stone table in the corner of the cell. She grabbed a heavy, smooth rock and began to smash the herbs.

Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.

She crushed the stems and leaves with brutal force. A thick, pungent, intensely bitter smell filled the damp air of the dungeon.

Daulton and Kevan exchanged a look of utter bewilderment.

The cruelest woman in the valley, a matriarch who wouldn't even dirty her hands to eat, was currently grinding herbs with a rock to make a poultice for a consort she had nearly beaten to death.

Just as the herbs turned into a thick, green paste, a bright golden button illuminated on the System panel in Ella's vision.

[Sufficient points reached. High-Tier Healing Serum available for purchase. ]

Ella's hand paused over the crushed herbs. She closed her eyes for a fraction of a second and mentally slammed her finger onto the golden Purchase button.

[Transaction complete. Deducting all Animosity Points, ] Lex Cantor stated flatly.

A faint, almost invisible shimmer of light flashed inside the wide, bell-shaped sleeve of her vintage dress. A cold, heavy object materialized against her forearm.

It was a sterile, modern syringe, filled with a glowing, neon-blue liquid.

Ella opened her eyes. She scooped up a handful of the bitter, dirt-filled herb paste. She turned around, deliberately positioning her body to completely block Daulton and Kevan's line of sight.

She knelt beside Cordaro. She pretended to smear the messy green paste over the horrific wound on his chest.

Under the cover of her own body and the thick paste, she slid the syringe down her sleeve into her palm. She found the thick jugular vein pulsing weakly at the side of Cordaro's neck.

Without a moment's hesitation, she drove the needle in.

The cold steel pierced his skin. Cordaro, deep in his coma, let out a muffled groan of agony. His massive body jerked upward, fighting the intrusion.

Hearing the groan, Daulton lost his mind. He lunged forward, his claws extending from his fingertips.

Kevan caught him around the waist, tackling him to the floor and holding him back with all his remaining strength.

Ella's thumb pushed the plunger down flawlessly. The blue serum vanished into Cordaro's bloodstream. She pulled the needle out and instantly slapped a thick glob of muddy herb paste directly over the puncture mark, erasing all physical evidence of the injection.

The entire process took less than three seconds. It was the muscle memory of a trauma vet.

She slipped the empty syringe back up her sleeve and stood up.

The effects of the System's serum were instantaneous and terrifyingly powerful.

Cordaro's skin, which had been burning up with fever, began to cool visibly. The rapid, wet rattling in his lungs smoothed out into deep, steady breaths.

Most shocking of all, the edges of the deep, festering whip marks on his chest stopped oozing yellow pus. The raw meat began to knit together, forming thick, healthy scabs right before their eyes.

Daulton stopped fighting Kevan. He went entirely limp, staring at his brother's chest. He rubbed his eyes with his fists, convinced he was hallucinating.

Kevan's jaw dropped. He knew exactly what Blood-Stop weed did. It stopped bleeding. It did not regrow flesh and cure sepsis in ten seconds. This was impossible.

Ella looked down at their stunned faces.

She knew she couldn't take credit for this. If she suddenly possessed god-like healing powers, they would know she wasn't the real Ella Ortiz. She would be exposed as a transmigrator, and in this superstitious world, she'd be burned at the stake.

She needed a scapegoat.

Ella let out a loud, dramatic scoff. She crossed her arms, twisting her face into a mask of bitter jealousy.

"Don't look so surprised," she spat. "I mixed a vial of my dear stepsister's Holy Water into the herbs. Kendra's little parlor tricks are the only reason this worthless piece of meat isn't rotting in the dirt."

Kendra Klein. The Oracle. The beloved Saintess of the valley.

At the mention of Kendra's name, Kevan's eyes darkened. A complex, unreadable emotion flashed across his face.

But Daulton swallowed the lie completely. In this world, only the Saintess possessed the power of miraculous healing. It made perfect sense.

The tiny, fragile seed of gratitude that had started to sprout in Daulton's heart instantly withered and died. He didn't owe Ella anything. The Saintess had saved his brother.

Ella watched Daulton's expression harden. She felt a sharp twinge of annoyance at giving that two-faced Saintess the credit, but it kept her safe.

She kicked the heavy trailing ends of the iron chains pooled on the floor. The loud clatter made both men jump.

"Since your brother isn't going to die and ruin my carpet," Ella snapped at Daulton, "get out of here. Go clean the stables. Every single stall. If I see a speck of dirt, I'll whip you myself."

Daulton clenched his jaw so hard his teeth ground together. He looked at Cordaro's steadily rising chest. For the first time since she woke up, Daulton didn't argue. He gave a stiff, jerky nod and bolted from the cell.

Ella turned to Kevan. Her eyes dropped to his hands. The cuts were still bleeding sluggishly.

She needed more points.

"You," she commanded coldly. "Follow me to my study. You got your filthy blood on my dress. I'm going to punish you properly."

Kevan's body gave a violent tremor. He knew what happened in her study. But he lowered his head, hiding his eyes.

"Yes, Master."

Ella turned and walked out of the dungeon. As she hit the stairs, the System chimed again, letting her know new items were available in the shop.