IRMY Chapter 12

The effectiveness of the healing ability heavily depended on singing ability. Helen wasn’t exactly a great singer, but she was competent enough to activate the ability.

If Helen had been a truly exceptional singer, she wouldn’t have needed to become the King’s mistress. A single song would have been enough to cure him completely.

However, because she wasn’t, she had to attend to the King’s needs at night. There was one way to compensate for a lack of singing ability: sexual contact.

By activating the ability at dawn, the time when people are most vulnerable, and then engaging in sexual intercourse, its effects could be significantly amplified.

That was why Yuro was so insistent on finding out about the first night.

Although he hadn’t used his healing ability on the Duke yet, he suspected that a body ravaged by the curse might be difficult to heal with just singing.

The healing ability could only restore a weakened body. It was a temporary measure to prevent the curse from claiming the person’s life.

The curse gradually eroded the body and mind. Considering Melione’s age, the progression would be rapid.

To keep up with its pace, sexual intercourse was practically essential. He wasn’t sure how much would be necessary, but Yuro had already simulated the worst-case scenarios.

‘This is a medical procedure.’

Yuro reaffirmed his resolve. He needed another method to convince the ailing Duke to engage in such an act, but as long as the first night was guaranteed, he had a plan.

‘It would be great if singing alone were enough, but it won’t be that easy.’

Ideally, he would drug Melione with sleeping pills, sit beside him, and sing all night, but he knew instinctively that it wouldn’t be enough.

A body ravaged by a curse wouldn’t heal so easily. Moreover, Yuro wasn’t aiming for temporary pain relief, but a level of health close to that of an ordinary person. This could only be achieved through sexual intercourse.

The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth, so he quickly gulped down his sweetened tea. The sweetness couldn’t mask the bitterness, and he felt a slight nausea.

Fortunately, while the original Yuro Lechis might have been tone-deaf, Kim Yuro was a skilled singer.

The original Yuro Lechis was, unfortunately, terribly tone-deaf. After being separated from his mother and brought to the palace, he received singing lessons from a music teacher at the King’s command, every waking hour except for meals and sleep.

Forced to learn singing without understanding why, he realized for the first time that he was utterly tone-deaf. Helen had never once asked him to sing.

The distinct red mark on Yuro Lechis’s body was clear proof of the healing ability. He didn’t understand why Helen, who must have known about it, never asked him to sing.

He could only assume that whether her son could sing or not, it would only bring back painful memories for her.

It might have been devastating for her, having lost her own healing ability, to see her child possess it. Or perhaps, as a mother, she feared her child would suffer the same fate.

A child born with the healing ability in the slums was destined to be used and discarded. Perhaps, despite her addiction to drugs and alcohol, she still retained enough sanity to protect her son.

Whether Helen was alive, and how she was living, was something the current Yuro, who would never see her again, could not know.

Yuro Lechis received lessons diligently for seven long years. The King despaired at Yuro’s tone-deafness but believed it could be corrected with a few years of dedicated practice.

However, Yuro Lechis didn’t improve in the slightest during that time. Forcing a child to practice was one thing, but once he grew older, his lack of effort and disrespectful attitude drove his teachers away.

And frankly, his attitude wasn’t even the main issue. Yuro Lechis was so tone-deaf that he didn’t even realize he possessed the healing ability.

That meant he couldn’t sing a single note correctly. It was a disastrous result, and Yuro Lechis remained an unwanted burden in Norden.

Since he had already been publicly acknowledged as a prince, they couldn’t banish him. Deprived of any princely education like swordsmanship, horseback riding, or etiquette, and forced to endure only singing lessons, his personality became atrocious.

He was such an embarrassment that the King ordered his servants to keep Yuro Lechis confined to his room and out of sight.

Perhaps it was inevitable that Yuro Lechis fell in love with Clope Lechis. She was the only one who visited and cared for him, treating him like a brother, despite his being abandoned once again after arriving at the palace.

His strange obsession wasn’t simply romantic attraction. Clope was the only one who treated him like a human being, so she must have been his salvation.

However, that didn’t justify everything Yuro Lechis had done. His feelings, whether directed towards blood relatives or not, were too vile to be expressed to someone who had accepted him as family.

In any case, all of this was advantageous for the transmigrated Kim Yuro. If the original Yuro had been able to activate his healing ability, he wouldn’t have been sent to marry the Duke.

As Yuro remained lost in thought, Raymond, who had been observing him, spoke.

“Your Highness, may I ask you a question?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

Yuro nodded readily and met Raymond’s gaze, wondering what he could possibly ask.

“I believe Your Highness is twenty-three years old this year. May I ask why you haven’t been betrothed?”

“Ah, right.”

In this world, most nobles were betrothed by the age of sixteen. Royalty, in particular, were often engaged even earlier.

Yuro Lechis had entered the palace around the age of seven, so he wasn’t too young to be betrothed. However, due to the King’s hope that he might activate his healing ability, he remained unbetrothed until the age of fourteen.

Being illegitimate wasn’t a significant obstacle to betrothal. Since the King had already publicly acknowledged Yuro Lechis as his son, marrying him would have been advantageous for some nobles.

Having royal blood in their family line, however distant, meant a connection to the line of succession. Even after Yuro failed to activate his ability, the King didn’t banish him or conduct a paternity test.

In that case, marrying him off and sending him away from the palace would have been an option. Moreover, there was a chance that Yuro’s child might inherit the healing ability.

Even though the healing ability wasn’t hereditary, considering the cases of Helen and Yuro Lechis, it was worth a try.

However, the King hadn’t done so. Fortunately, this was explained in detail in the novel.

Firstly, although the King had taken Helen as his mistress because he needed her, he genuinely cared for her. He banished her as soon as she lost her healing ability because of the Queen.

The Queen constantly clashed with Helen and wanted her dead. The King, despite being cured of his epilepsy, still suffered from various minor ailments and could die at any moment.

However, the Queen had two sons, and it was already decided that one of them would inherit the throne. If he kept Helen by his side, her future would be a gruesome death.

So, banishing her was a form of protection. This was also why he didn’t banish Yuro Lechis, even after he failed to activate his ability.

It was Helen’s last request. Even if Yuro Lechis remained in the palace and faced death at the hands of the Queen’s sons, the King couldn’t bring himself to banish him.

And the second reason was…

“His Majesty didn’t want me to have children.”

“…”

“He only recognized me as his child, but that was it. That’s why I had no betrothed or fiancé.”

“…I apologize for my rudeness.”

Raymond fell silent for a moment, then apologized to Yuro. Yuro waved his hand dismissively. It wasn’t something to apologize for. It was Yuro Lechis who had suffered, not him.

And since Yuro Lechis was obsessed with Clope, he was grateful that the King hadn’t pressured him to marry.

Thanks to the King’s declaration that he wouldn’t allow Yuro to marry, no one bothered to approach him. Although that wasn’t the only reason.

“No, it’s understandable that you wouldn’t know such details from afar. It’s quite well-known in Norden that I’m a prince who can’t marry.”

“…”

“I’m infertile.”