Chapter 3

My heart gave a sudden jolt, but I pulled myself together and nodded.

Since they already knew, I didn't bother to hide it anymore.

"Yeah, it's true. I won't last much longer," I said.

Christopher's face darkened even further, and he snapped, his voice louder now.

He said, "Didn't you have some kind of power? How could you be dying?

"I know you've always been jealous of Emmy, but that doesn't mean you should risk your own life over it."

I suddenly couldn't read him at all and gave a sarcastic laugh.

I said, "Isn't this what you wanted? You all kept blaming me for Emmy not getting better. Once I'm gone, there's no one left to hurt her.

"She can live a long, happy life with you guys. Isn't that perfect?"

But Christopher couldn't stand to hear any more. He suddenly shot to his feet.

He said, "Stop messing around. Once you're cured, you'll keep praying for Emmy."

I watched him storm off, my mouth opening and closing, but I swallowed my words and said nothing.

The system suddenly spoke up.

It said, "Host, you have only three days left before you're gone from this world."

I lay in bed for a while, trying to steady myself before finally getting up. Just then, I ran into Dad, who was coming to find me.

"Good, you're awake. Go cook a meal for Emmy as an apology. You scared us half to death when you fainted just now," he said.

I nodded and walked numbly toward the kitchen.

After I finished cooking, I instinctively grabbed my plate and headed back to my room to eat alone.

But Mom, in a rare show of mercy, told me to stay.

"Alright, since you're actually listening for once, stay and eat with us. But don't you ever hurt Emmy again, understand?" she said.

I nodded and started shoveling food into my mouth.

Emily looked pretty pleased with herself and even dropped a piece of meat into my bowl.

She said, "Since you're willing to patch things up with me, I've got a favor to ask.

"I heard your church's blood vow for love is super effective. Can you help me and Christopher get together?"

It sounded like she was asking, but I knew if I said no, everyone would instantly gang up on me.

Emily was certain I wouldn't dare refuse, and she shot me a sweet, smug smile.

Since I had already given up on trying to win Christopher's favor, I didn't have it in me to fight back anymore. So I just nodded and went along with whatever they wanted.

I got dragged back to the church to do the ritual and sketch out the charm.

The ritual needed a crazy amount of blood to empower the ritual.

I watched as my blood kept pouring out, filling the whole basin.

No way a normal person could survive losing this much blood; they would be dead by now.

As my face turned ghostly pale, Dad just waved it off like it was nothing.

"You've got that power, so losing a bit of blood is no big deal. Don't think you can trick us," he said.

Mom backed him up right away.

"Giving your blood to help Emmy get better is a privilege for you," she said.

The system suddenly chimed in.

It said, "Your healing power has been removed. Losing too much blood will make you die even faster."

When I finally put down the brush, my vision went dark, and I was left gasping for breath.

"Are you done yet?" Emily asked.

Emily hurried over, snatched up the charm, and nodded in satisfaction.

She said, "Great, it's done."

With that, Emily grabbed Christopher's hand and pulled him into another room.

Emily said, "I heard that statue is really effective. Christopher, let's burn the charm as an offering to it."

Christopher's expression softened as he held Emily's hand, and together they prayed devoutly before the matchmaking statue.

Back before Christopher sent me to the church to become a priest, I used to worship this matchmaking statue, too.

At that time, Christopher and Emily had just met. I was so nervous that I went here, bowing at every step, until I finally got here, praying it would help me win Christopher's heart.

The priest, seeing how sincere I was, handed me a love charm and said that as long as the person I gave it to kept it close, my wish would definitely come true.

I was so happy as I handed the love charm to Christopher, hoping he would smile and accept it, just like he always did with my other gifts.

But this time, he just tossed the charm I begged for straight into the trash, his eyes as cold as ice, like I was nothing to him.

"I hate all that superstitious crap. Don't ever give me that stuff again," Christopher said.

Scared out of my wits by his icy stare, I just kept nodding.

But now, there he was, worshipping the statue with Emily, looking every bit the true believer. Where was all that disbelief now?

I couldn't bear to watch any longer and fled back to my room at the church.