By the dim candlelight, he could make out the face beneath the woman's pale golden hair.
She had watery blue eyes, sallow skin, and sunken cheeks. Even so, it wasn't hard to see the beauty she once possessed.
Right now, her expression was panicked. She cowered in a corner like a frightened fawn.
But Gallon only felt his heart pounding like a drum.
You... you are...
The resemblance was too strong, just far too strong. This girl was the spitting image of the one who had died on his operating table in his past life. She was just a little younger, a little thinner, and the look she gave him was filled with fear and resistance.
He took another step forward, and the girl fell back onto the bed in terror before quickly curling into a ball in the corner, her arms wrapped around her head.
Gallon clutched his forehead as information about this girl flooded into his mind like a tidal wave.
Her name was Talia, and she was sixteen this year. The siblings had depended on each other since she was six. Logically, their relationship should have been very good.
But the problem was, the original Gallon's parents had died protecting his younger sister. Because of this, he had come to resent her to the extreme.
At the slightest provocation, he would lash out and beat her. Talia knew her parents' deaths were inextricably linked to her, so she never complained and only endured it all in silence.
But her meekness and compliance didn't earn her brother's pity, only more vicious curses and increasingly severe beatings. This was why Talia looked so terrified upon seeing him.
He had to admit, the original Gallon's displaced anger wasn't entirely without reason. But in the end, his sister wasn't the one who killed their parents. He couldn't fight back against the real culprits, so he vented all his hatred on her instead.
Seeing the girl's reaction as he approached, it seemed she had already developed some kind of stress disorder.
Well, so be it. I'll find a chance to avenge the original Gallon's parents eventually.
From now on, whether it's for the girl who died or for the blood ties between us, I'll treat her better.
He took a few more steps forward. Talia trembled uncontrollably but dared not retreat further, merely hugging her head tighter.
Gallon's gaze fell on the girl's bony wrists. He thought about how he had been locked in prison and how she had no means of supporting herself. She must have been starving at home for a long time.
He sighed inwardly and took out three Magic Crystals from his pocket, tossing them onto the floor by the girl's feet with a CLACK.
The girl flinched but didn't dare to look up.
"Enough! Just look at the state of you! Have I been that bad to you?" Based on the memories he'd received from the original Gallon, he had, in fact, been terrible to her. He felt a little guilty even saying it.
"While I was gone these past few days, have you just been lying in this filthy bed? Good heavens, you smell worse than a sewer rat! Have you not changed your clothes at all?"
Pinching his nose, he dragged the shapeless, discolored bundle of bedding off the bed and threw it onto the floor.
"Dammit, what is that smell? Now get out, change into some new clothes, buy something to eat, and then come back here and clean this room. Immediately! Now!"
He wanted to be gentler with her, but the original Gallon had never once been gentle with his sister.
As a half-baked doctor who constantly lived in fear and rubbed shoulders with powerful figures, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he lived life on the edge.
Under these circumstances, a sudden personality change would be no different from handing someone a knife to stab him with.
So, he could only take things step by step and change his personality gradually.
Talia raised her head and looked at the three Magic Crystals by her feet, her expression filled with shock.
Three Magic Crystals... Forget a single meal, that was enough for a person to live on for a whole year!
And he was telling her to replace other things too.
Gallon tore the rest of the things off the bed, revealing the straw-stuffed mattress underneath.
He finally had a rough idea of his own living conditions—dirt poor. Fortunately, that Lord had been quite generous and given him a fair bit of money.
Seeing Talia still hadn't moved, he roared, "What! Are you so hungry you can't even move? Or did you go deaf while I was away? I told you to pick up the money!"
Talia tremblingly extended a hand and clutched the Magic Crystals.
"I just healed a Lord's daughter, a real noble! It's very possible I'll become famous soon! How am I supposed to receive important people in an environment like this!"
He babbled on, his expression a mix of mania and excitement, as if he were showing off to her.
"Don't look at me like that, you cowardly little wretch. You want those distinguished gentlemen to punish me for this?
"Change your clothes! Eat something decent! If you still look half-dead like this and it affects those esteemed gentlemen's opinion of me, I will definitely not let you off!"
He wracked his brain but couldn't come up with any truly vicious words, only managing to scrape together these threats.
Talia nodded. "I understand, brother." Her voice was hoarse and held a hint of a sob.
From Gallon's angle, he could see her reddened eye sockets beneath her dry, frizzy, pale golden hair.
How pitiful...
Gallon muttered to himself, but his face remained fierce.
"Get out of here, and come back soon. Don't go causing trouble for me again!"
The girl put on her shoes, nodded with a soft "mhm," and hurried out of the room.
The moment she stepped out the door, a system prompt sounded in Gallon's mind.
[Ding! Gained +5 Affinity with Talia.]
[Ding! Gained Affinity with a new Non-Human Species. Host has been rewarded with 5ml of Truth Spray. Duration: ten minutes. Uses: 3.]
New Non-Human Species Affinity? Talia isn't human?
Gallon was a little surprised. The original Gallon's father and mother were both pure-blooded humans. How could two pure-blooded humans possibly give birth to a non-human?
In the original Gallon's memories, he couldn't recall anything about his sister's birth at all, and in all their time together, he had never once realized she was a non-human.
He stared into the alley outside the door. He had a vague feeling that Talia, as well as the original Gallon's parents, were all hiding some secrets.
But now wasn't the time to think about that. Who knew if, after truly uncovering Talia's identity, she would turn into some bizarre monster and swallow his head in one bite?
The most important thing right now was to improve his living environment.
The roof leaked, the bedding was damp, and in just this short time, several cockroaches and rats had already scurried past right under his nose.
He was a doctor, so he was a bit of a clean freak. If he lived in an environment like this, he'd drive himself crazy sooner or later.
Sigh. I can't solve the big problems, so I might as well solve the small ones in front of me first!
He sighed and started cleaning up the trash in the room.