“One strawberry cream bun, please.”
I bought a strawberry cream bun for what felt like the umpteenth time.
When it was time to eat, I would ask my mother what she wanted to eat, and she would always say strawberry cream buns.
I tried to stimulate her in various ways to revive her feelings with other things, but the only thing she responded to was strawberry cream bread.
‘Does she not get tired of it?’
Thanks to this, whenever we moved from village to village, I had to stop by the market to buy strawberry cream buns.
Still, I couldn’t believe how happy it made me to see her feel this delicious taste and have something she desired.
It gave me a glimmer of hope that I could get my mother back.
She hasn’t fundamentally changed. If I keep trying, someday…
Not only her emotions but also her memories, would be restored.
I will learn all the arts of apothecary, and I will concoct a medicine that will improve my mother’s condition.
But first, I must do something about the Mordheim poison.
I cannot use the same method that cured the Emperor.
I had missed the timing, so I needed to find another way.
“…Sorry.”
As I paid and turned around, I bumped into a man.
Instinctively, I pulled my hood over my head and cowered.
The man mumbled a curt apology and walked away, looking at the ground.
His gait seemed strangely staggered.
I wondered if he’d been drinking in broad daylight, but when he was close, I didn’t catch a whiff of alcohol on him.
‘He’s not sick, is he?’
I tried to ignore the nagging feeling and deliberately looked away.
If he was sick, he’d go to a doctor.
Or maybe someone else will help.
With that thought, I finished shopping for the rest of the items.
“I need some fruit and something to drink. And… I also need a new robe.”
After purchasing everything I needed, I headed towards the market entrance, where my mother and Zenid were waiting.
But as I got closer to the entrance, the atmosphere felt strange for some reason.
The crowd had grown exponentially, making it difficult to move forward.
“Excuse me, coming through!”
After somehow pushing through the crowd and reaching the entrance, I saw a circle of people blocking the way.
It seemed they were blocking the path entirely, making it difficult to come out.
I wondered what was going on, but I looked for my mother and Zenid first.
The location is at the market’s entrance, under a large tree.
“……?”
I hurriedly went to the tree and looked around.
They should have been standing here.
But there was no one there.
Only the leaves fluttered and settled on the ground.
As I realized I had lost them, my heart sank.
Trying to stay calm, I took a deep breath, but the murmurs of the gathered crowd reached my ears.
“Oh my goodness…!”
“Shouldn’t we call a physician quickly?”
“Isn’t that young lady a physician? That’s why she came forward.”
Physician.
Young lady.
With these two words in mind, I immediately entered the crowd, standing in a circle.
People were bustling around, as if they were watching a spectacle.
And in the center of the commotion was my mother.
“What on earth…?”
I couldn’t finish my sentence.
My mother had a gleaming look in her eyes that I hadn’t seen since we reunited.
Her eyes were focused on the man on the ground.
His eyes rolled back, and he was trembling uncontrollably. It was evident at a glance that his condition was not good.
I hurriedly approached my mother. Zenid, who was standing beside her, spoke to me.
“You’re here.”
“What happened? Why is this…”
There were too many eyes watching, so I couldn’t speak freely.
I bit my lip and murmured to Zenid, asking for an explanation.
Zenid understood immediately and gave me a rough explanation.
“Suddenly, this man had a seizure and collapsed. Your mother rushed over immediately. There was no time to stop her.”
“Immediately?”
“Yes. Then she examined him and requested a syringe…”
Zenid’s explanation only deepened my confusion.
My mother was always expressionless and rarely showed strong reactions.
But when she saw someone collapsing, she reacted and rushed to check him out.
She even asked for a syringe, which meant she was going to treat him.
‘Her only desires were to sleep and eat.’
Was it out of compassion that she acted this way?
Or something else.
My mother silently gazed at the man who had collapsed, her eyes glowing with serenity.
I opened the medical bag I always carried with me.
Usually, Zenid would have carried it for me, but since we’d left the palace, I’d been carrying a lot of other stuff.
“I’ll examine the patient.”
My mother wasn’t in perfect condition yet.
Although I didn’t doubt her abilities, I was hesitant to hand her a syringe that could be used as a weapon.
I proceeded to examine the man.
Distracted by my mother, I hadn’t realized earlier, but it was the same man I had collided with earlier.
‘No wonder I felt uneasy.’
I don’t know why my sense of foreboding always hits the mark.
I clicked my tongue low and examined him more closely.
‘His body is hot, but his breath is cold.’
His heartbeat fluctuated rapidly, then dropped below normal repeatedly.
This could put a strain on his heart.
‘What exactly could be the cause?’
It was an unusual symptom.
While I was inspecting other areas with a puzzled expression, my mother tapped my shoulder.
When I turned, her gaze was fixed on my medical bag.
“Syringe, urgent.”
Her words surprised me once again.
Her expression and the urgency in her voice were evident.
I hesitated before asking,
“What are you going to do with the syringe? Can you explain it to me first?”
“We need to draw blood,”
“Why?”
“It’s necessary for his recovery.”
Her expression was resolute, with tightly pursed lips and serene sky-blue eyes.
I know that look.
‘It’s the expression she wears when she’s confident in front of a patient.’
Could it be a memory of her past self surfacing?
As if mesmerized, I handed her the syringe.
Since there didn’t seem to be any issues from a knowledge standpoint, she might have known enough about the patient’s condition.
“What’s that? A needle?”
“I don’t know what she plans to do with that creepy thing.”
“I vaguely remember a relative who traveled to the Yalon Kingdom and showed me something similar.”
“Yalon? You mean that ominous, ruined kingdom?”
Listening to the murmurs of the surrounding people, I felt a sense of freshness.
While we didn’t use syringes in the Empire, they had some knowledge about their existence and usage. However, here, it seemed like many people were unfamiliar with syringes.
‘Perhaps because this is a rural area?’
We were gradually moving away from the capital towards the southwest.
Our prepared ship for exile was anchored at the harbor located at the southwest end.
With just a little more to go before reaching our destination, I felt anxious about the possibility of someone recognizing us.
‘We need to treat him quickly and move on.’
Once we passed the unknown territory of Mormic, we would reach our intended harbor.
While I was momentarily attentive to the conversations around me, my mother had already positioned herself and smoothly inserted the needle into the patient.
It was a natural, familiar, and unhindered movement.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
Instead of returning to the imperial palace after declaring his departure to find Rohiriel to the emperor, Julion headed to the underground prison.
He received a message that Duke Cassian, who had been wandering in delirium, had awakened.
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”
Acknowledging the greeting from the guards, Julion descended to the deepest part.
As he descended deeper, a musty, pungent odor assaulted his nostrils.
Maintaining his composure, he reached the bottom floor, where not a single ray of light penetrated.
Relying on a single torch, Julion approached the iron bars.
Duke Cassian was there, sitting against the wall.
Blood covered his body, and a wound was oozing from one of his eyes.
Still, the Duke opened his eyes without a single groan.
Looking into his cool silver eyes, Julion spoke.
“The laboratory under the clock tower, countless medical texts are stored.”
These were the massive pieces of evidence left behind by Rohiriel upon her departure.
The investigation revealed that the laboratory wasn’t just a place of confinement for people.
It housed a vast collection of medical texts, not only from the Yalon Kingdom, but also from the Empire and other kingdoms.
What surprised them was that the imperial medical texts, recorded over a century ago, highly praised the Yalon Kingdom’s medical practices.
Even detailed descriptions of medical instruments like syringes, frequently used by Rohiriel, were found.
The assistant chief physician and Dr. Barmid examined only a portion, but it was enough to leave them amazed.
The records, believed to be over a century old, contained practical and rich knowledge, contrasting with the decline in medical texts in recent times.
“Why were these all kept hidden?”
“…….”
“I see you still don’t intend to answer.”
With only one eye remaining, Duke Cassian gazed back at Julion.
Amidst the anxiety, unease, and suppressed anger in Julion’s gaze, the duke let out a sardonic chuckle.
“I don’t know what you’re so impatient about, but it’s too late. The wheels have already begun to roll.”
Instead of replying, Julion shot a glare at Duke Cassian.
But the duke’s mouth twisted in an odd way as he spoke.
“The Empire will soon plunge into chaos.”
Whether it was excitement, anticipation, or anger, it was hard to discern from the blood-stained face.
“I didn’t come here to listen to the ramblings of a defeated man. What a waste of time.”
Julion scoffed outwardly, but what the duke had said stuck in his mind.
‘I see you haven’t given up yet.’
Duke Cassian seems to be orchestrating something.
If that was the case, he needed to find Rohiriel even more urgently.
After returning from prison, Julion headed straight to the palace.
And that night. An urgent report came in from the southwest.
<Request for Lockdown of the Mormic Territory Due to Epidemic>
