He just called her out for being broke, just like that? Sophie Wexler died of embarrassment on the spot.
'Wait a minute. Original owner, you were in the entertainment industry! At the very least, you were a minor noble before you got kicked out of your family. How could you be this broke?!'
The hospital room fell silent in an instant. Sophie felt completely enveloped in awkwardness.
Seeing this, the doctor cleared his throat and said stiffly, "Of course, if you don't have the money, you can try to soothe him yourself. Your Level is low, but it's better than nothing, I suppose."
With that, he turned and left.
Sophie: "?" 'Did I just get mocked?'
But now wasn't the time to dwell on that. The man on the bed had his brow tightly furrowed, and beads of sweat were forming on his temples, as if he were in extreme pain.
Seeing this, Sophie let out a long breath and searched her mind for what to do.
Then, she reached out and took Cillian Forrest's hand. Following the steps from the original owner's memories, she cautiously and clumsily tried to release her so-called spiritual power.
Wisps of spiritual power flowed from her hand into the man on the bed.
"My Level is so low, I don't know if this will even work," Sophie murmured to herself.
Despite thinking this, Sophie didn't let go of the man's hand.
'Didn't the doctor say it was better than nothing? Something is better than nothing. It's a long shot, but I have to try.'
Sophie released her spiritual power bit by bit, and she gradually started to feel uncomfortable. To distract herself, she could only focus her gaze on Cillian Forrest.
Speaking of which, this was the first time she had gotten a good look at him.
The man was very handsome, with sharp, well-defined features. A high-bridged nose, thin lips, and cool, striking eyes. With his eyes closed, he looked a little less formidable.
She had been in the music industry for many years, and a face like his would be considered top-tier in the entire entertainment world.
According to her memories, the original owner had found him unconscious and severely injured.
The original owner had seen his military uniform and subconsciously assumed he was a man of high status, possibly even a High-Rank spiritual power user. Hoping to gain some benefit, she brought him home and spent a fortune to save his life.
Who would have thought the result would be such a disappointment? For some unknown reason, he registered no spiritual power at all. Even if he once had a high Level, his Spiritual Sea was now devastated, and what's more, he was in a Disorder Period.
Not only that, but he had amnesia. The doctor said it was because toxins from a Starbug attack had invaded the functional areas of his brain.
A series of injuries this severe would be difficult to treat even on Celuria, the Capital Planet, let alone on their Low-level Planet. They couldn't even guarantee how long he would live.
'So basically, she saved a cripple? She spent almost all her savings, got nothing in return, and he was about to die anyway?'
This had infuriated the original owner, causing her attitude toward the man to become terrible, almost to the point of being abusive.
This time, she had even drugged him, planning to use him to slander Rosalind Rhodes and ruin her reputation.
'Oh, right,' she remembered. 'Part of the reason the original owner was so broke was because she'd saved Cillian Forrest.'
Sophie sighed at the thought. Even though the original owner had saved him, given the situation in the room earlier, the man probably already hated her guts.
'Once he recovers, I should have him leave as soon as possible. Otherwise, I'm afraid he'll kill me before I even get a chance to become cannon fodder for the male and female leads.'
As she was lost in thought, Sophie suddenly felt the air turn chilly.
She looked down and her eyes met the man's on the bed.
Goosebumps instantly erupted on Sophie's skin, and she instinctively snatched her hand away.
The man's gaze was unnervingly cold and filled with intense aggression. Sophie had to exert all her self-control not to leap out of her chair.
But he wasn't as emotional as she had imagined, nor did he attack her. He just paused for a few seconds, then his gaze slowly drifted down to the hand she had just been holding.
Sophie rubbed her fingertips together and explained, "Um, the doctor said your Spiritual Sea was in disorder and told me to help soothe it."
"Not necessary," Cillian Forrest said, his tone completely flat.
After saying this, he looked away. Sophie couldn't figure out what he was thinking, and a sense of unease grew within her.
'Logically, after what just happened, he shouldn't be acting like this.'
After a moment, Sophie decided to apologize first. "I'm sorry," she began tentatively. "What happened before was my fault. I promise it will never happen again."
The man didn't even look at her, just let out a cold snort.
Sophie: "..."
'So I have absolutely zero credibility with him, huh?'
"I'm serious this time. Once your injuries heal, you can leave."
The moment the words left her mouth, the man lifted his eyes to look at her.
After a moment, a flash of mockery appeared in his eyes. He scoffed, "Leave?"
"Then take this off first," Cillian Forrest said, pointing to his neck.
Following his gesture, Sophie noticed a neck ring around his throat.
It was made of black leather with a metal plate in the center. A small panel was embedded in the plate, glinting in the sunlight.
It was less a neck ring and more a collar. A neck ring was a piece of jewelry, but the thing around his neck was clearly not for decoration.
It was a Slave Collar that the original owner had bought on the black market, afraid he would disobey or run away and all her money would go down the drain.
This device was meant to restrain criminals and slaves. It linked to the owner's spiritual power, forcing the wearer to obey them unconditionally. Any defiance would result in a spiritual power attack at best, and at worst, the complete destruction of their Spiritual Sea, leading to death.
Normally, it only existed in certain restricted places and was banned from public circulation. Many people didn't even know what it was. Sophie had no idea how the original owner had gotten her hands on it.
But that wasn't the point. The point was, she had no idea how to take the thing off. There was nothing about it in the original owner's memories.
Sophie was going crazy internally. 'She really dug her own grave!'
"I can't take it off right now," Sophie said stiffly, her eyes downcast.
The man let out a cold laugh, clearly mocking her previous words.
"But don't worry, I'll definitely find a way to get it off you. When that time comes..."
Listening to Sophie's explanation, Cillian Forrest recalled how scared she had looked when she opened the door. He found it inexplicably amusing.
'She showed no mercy when she drugged me, but now she's putting on this guilty act.'
"Are you afraid I'll kill you?"
Sophie's eyes widened instantly, as if she were right back in that room.
"Don't worry. As long as I'm wearing this neck ring, I won't kill you," Cillian Forrest said slowly, his tone unhurried.
'After all, if he killed her, he wouldn't live either.'
Sophie was freaking out inside. 'Wait, are you talking about murder so casually?!'
'You won't kill me as long as you're wearing the neck ring, but what if you weren't...?'
Sophie couldn't help but shudder at the thought. 'Forget it. For the sake of my own life, he can just keep wearing that neck ring for now.'
'Even if I find a way to remove it later, I'll probably have to wait until he's not so hostile toward me.'