The Quack Lady - Chapter 24

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 24

There were stories written about Rtemeia, who had recently begun to gain word-of-mouth fame.

Throughout, there were embarrassing phrases like “divine medical skills” written as well.

‘At this level, it’s understandable that the Count’s family would send a carriage immediately.’

I felt secretly proud and somehow boastful.

It was when his eyes had been scanning down the parchment for quite some time.

“So, what is your reason for falsely claiming to be a doctor?”

Pairon’s gaze immediately turned toward the Countess.

Her eyes, which didn’t even twitch, contained no emotion whatsoever.

A moment of silence passed. Pairon and Ditten only looked at each other without saying a word.

Pairon took a small breath, then answered with forced composure.

“What are you saying now… Even lower nobles and commoners can receive medical qualifications if they can handle herbs.”

“You know that the doctor I’m referring to isn’t that kind of doctor, don’t you?”

She immediately stared at the paper placed on the table.

Within the content filled with praise for Rtemeia, there were direct titles like “she” or “saint.”

Pairon, who finally realized this fact, squeezed his eyes shut.

He had fallen into the Countess’s trap.

The Countess stared at Pairon sitting across from her with a stern face.

“Actually, since there was only one little girl among the women you brought, I couldn’t believe it even seeing it with my own eyes. So just in case, I asked again. Whether that little girl was really the protagonist of all this praise.”

“…”

“Moreover, that little girl didn’t raise her hand when asked who the doctor was. Rather, she avoided my gaze. That’s when the guild master raised his hand. As if trying to protect her.”

She picked up the teacup in front of her and gently savored the tea.

* * *

“Hmm-.”

It was a morning that made me hum naturally. By now, those detestable Pairon gang members would have headed to the Count’s Manor.

‘Acting all high and mighty just for donating some herbs, serves them right.’

When I first overheard the herbalists’ conversation, I couldn’t believe it.

Medical skills bordering on miraculous from a mere twelve-year-old maid.

However, that fact wasn’t important to him.

If it was medical skill with utility value, he just needed to use it.

‘Besides, if she’s a maid, it would be perfect for pinning crimes on her too.’

Just the thought sent shivers through his entire body.

‘How hard I worked to secure this position as head of the infirmary. I can’t be kicked out before making proper money.’

Afterward, secretly meeting the Countess again, he persuaded her with added exaggeration.

Even she, who initially seemed uninterested, gradually became swayed as time passed.

‘Still, I didn’t expect her to send a carriage this quickly.’

It was when a satisfied smile crossed his lips once again as he recalled this fact.

Knock knock-

A cautious knocking sound came from outside the door.

When he nodded slightly, the attendant standing at the door opened it with organized movements.

And what appeared there was his right-hand man and deputy director of this infirmary, Jerit Iveten.

“Huff huff… D-Director, something terrible has happened!”

“What is it this time?”

Jerit, being naturally timid, would make a fuss over trivial matters.

And knowing this fact, Lenoven crossed his arms and asked as if it was nothing serious.

However.

“Well, Guild Master Pairon is treating that Count’s Manor’s young master, no. The Young Baron!”

“What?”

His surprised eyes instantly widened as if they would pop out.

‘The target was the Young Baron?’

Now he seemed to understand why the procession of nobles heading to the Count’s Manor had decreased.

“They say the Young Baron’s illness is incurable! But he’s stepping forward to treat it!”

Jerit approached him with his characteristic waddling gait and shared the information he had just heard from a servant of the Count’s Manor.

Soon, Lenoven’s expression began to contort fiercely as he listened.

“Prepare a carriage to head to the Count’s Manor immediately!”

* * *

Cold sweat trickled down. Pairon immediately bowed his head toward her.

“If I have displeased you, I apologize. However, the child’s medical skills may have been exaggerated, and I don’t want the child to perform any more medical procedures.”

At Pairon’s firm words, a chill instantly appeared in Ditten’s eyes.

Soon she slowly set down her teacup.

“That’s for me to decide, since I’m the one who summoned you here.”

It was a firm voice. Pairon’s throat bobbed at the intimidating presence beyond imagination.

“Just as the guild master wants to protect that small child, I too want to protect my child. So much that I want to rush to the drawing room right now, grab that little girl’s arm, and quickly find out what Demian’s illness is.”

“…”

“The reason I called out the guild master separately, and the reason I went along with your shallow scheme, isn’t for anything else.”

“…”

“Order that little girl to do her best to treat him.”

“…”

“Whether it’s an order, a request, persuasion, or whatever, I don’t care. So…”

She quietly grasped the hem of her dress.

Noticing this, Pairon’s gaze slowly moved downward.

She was agitated. Her hands were trembling finely as if trying to swallow down surging emotions.

Before this precarious command that seemed ready to collapse at any moment, he swallowed a bitter breath.

‘She’s asking me to persuade her to provide treatment.’

When he couldn’t continue speaking, the Countess slowly caught her breath and said.

“If I lined up all the doctors I’ve met so far, they would reach the castle walls. That’s why I could tell just by looking at that child’s expression. That child has no intention of providing treatment.”

“That’s…”

Pairon couldn’t bring himself to refute.

Throughout the carriage ride, Rtemeia had certainly shown a skeptical attitude toward treating anyone from the Count’s family.

“If the other party were an adult, I could at least offer money, but since she’s a child, I don’t know what she might want. She doesn’t seem like a child who would be moved by toys or food.”

Pairon was momentarily startled.

“I’d probably entrust it even to a quack if they said they’d treat him. That’s how desperate I am.”

It was because Rtemeia’s prediction had hit the mark exactly.

The Countess before him was treating Rtemeia as a proper doctor.

As if she had to.

“So you, as her caretaker, make that child promise to do her utmost to treat our Demian. Then I too will pay a corresponding price.”

Then the maid behind Ditten brought over a small safe and opened it.

Click.

Inside the small jewelry box-like container, diamonds, sapphires, rubies and other gems the size of fingernails were mixed together in disarray.

It was an amount that would be more than enough to buy several huge mansions.

‘Truly befitting the Light of the Eastern Region.’

The Bernov family, said to shine even after sunset due to the countless accumulated jewels.

Seeing the amount offered by that family, it was true that he felt greedy.

However.

He turned his gaze away from the jewels and spoke in a more serious tone than ever.

“Isn’t it the Countess who knows better than anyone that the child’s heart cannot be moved?”

He had to save the child somehow. He had to get the child away from this danger.

Because he was an adult.

When he carefully took a step back, the Countess’s eyes instantly changed.

“…Then, would it be better if I used other methods?”

“….”

“This is as nice as I’ll be about it. Guild master.”

She adjusted her clothes and warned him in a tone colder than ever before.

A strong will that could pierce through anyone at any moment glittered in her eyes.

Had she been desperate enough to put all her cards on the table for negotiation?

‘Is it unavoidable because she’s a parent?’

Pairon could fully understand her actions.

He too had to make quite a few sacrifices to save his own small, precious gem.

Reminded of this, his heart moved with a loud sound.

“Very well. However, the child’s safety is also the most important matter to me. Considering she’s still a child, please promise that even if she fails to identify the illness, you won’t punish or scold her.”

“….”

“Also, if you promise to help the child leave this manor safely no matter what situation arises, I will try to persuade her.”

“Does that condition include the guild master as well?”

Soon a sharp question pierced into Pairon’s chest.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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