The Quack Lady - Chapter 51

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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 51

 

“Yes?”

 

“And when the doctor arrives, immediately lock them in the underground prison and don’t give them even a sip of water.”

 

The knight hesitated for a moment at Selian’s words.

 

“What. Are you saying you cannot follow the orders of me, the duchess?”

 

“I-I will obey your orders!”

 

Now that the marquis had left the manor on the emperor’s orders, everyone in the manor was moving according to Selian’s commands.

 

“Mother…”

 

“Dear child. Nobles must act like nobles. Make sure to teach this to our precious grandchild who will be born soon.”

 

A faint smile appeared on Selian’s lips.

 

She seemed relieved as she satisfyingly stroked Brien’s rounded belly.

 

It was then.

 

“The, the doctor has arrived!”

 

The door opened along with the bustling sounds coming from outside.

 

And what appeared at the door was Rtemeia, her face stained with tears.

 

“Please, please help!”

 

* * *

 

A few hours earlier.

 

As soon as my body floated in the air, something firmly wrapped around my back.

 

And in the blink of an eye, we sank into the water.

 

But.

 

“Mia, Mia! Are you conscious?”

 

I met eyes with Eruten, who was looking down at me worriedly while completely soaked.

 

“I’m, I’m fine… Cough!”

 

I bolted upright and spat out a handful of water.

 

After barely regaining my senses, I raised my head and looked up.

 

The hole we had fallen from looked incredibly far away.

 

‘We survived falling from that height?’

 

When I turned my gaze to the side, I saw a lake so deep I couldn’t see the end.

 

‘If it weren’t for this lake, we both would have died.’

 

Only then did I understand the situation.

 

Eruten watched me looking around and sat down right there, muttering.

 

“Really… really thank goodness. Really…”

 

Covering his face with both hands, he kept muttering only words of relief.

 

Only then could I realize that what had wrapped around my back just before falling was none other than Eruten’s body.

 

“Thank you…”

 

“No. Really thank goodness. I thought you were going to die…”

 

Eruten seemed shocked and couldn’t continue his words.

 

Water was dripping from his wet hair.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“I think so.”

 

I think so?

 

It was what Eruten always said whenever he hid his injuries after getting hurt.

 

I hurriedly approached him and began examining his body.

 

“Why, why are you doing that, Mia.”

 

“Stay still. You…!”

 

And I discovered pink-colored water dripping from behind his back.

 

“Take it off quickly.”

 

“What?”

 

“You’re injured. On your back.”

 

If we had fallen at tremendous speed, and if he had wrapped around and protected me.

 

There was no way Eruten’s back could have been unharmed.

 

At my words, he shook his head.

 

“This level of injury will heal quickly…”

 

“If you don’t treat it quickly, it will get infected.”

 

“B-but…”

 

He seemed a bit embarrassed as he grabbed his shirt front with one hand.

 

No, anyone watching would think I had some ulterior motive.

 

“We don’t have time for this right now. We need to dry our clothes anyway, so you have to take them off!”

 

“What?”

 

“If you keep your clothes wet, your body temperature will drop. Then you’ll get chills, and if the wound area gets infected by bacteria…!”

 

“Wait.”

 

Then, Eruten took a step back, grabbed my hand, and blushed.

 

“No, I just need mental preparation…”

 

“Mental preparation? What mental preparation?”

 

It shouldn’t hurt that much, right?

 

I blinked and spoke to him.

 

“You’re bleeding. It won’t hurt as much as you think, so you don’t need to prepare…”

 

At that moment, Eruten uncharacteristically hung his head low.

 

I could see his earlobes glowing red beside his lowered head.

 

‘What’s wrong, why is he acting like that!’

 

The more I spoke, the more something seemed to get tangled up.

 

Oh, wait.

 

‘Is he embarrassed?’

 

Come to think of it, I remembered that even in my previous life, boys were particularly embarrassed when receiving medical examinations.

 

‘Oh, right. I need to act calm and composed as if it’s nothing.’

 

I recalled that doctors must maintain composure and called Eruten in my usual tone.

 

“Eruten.”

 

“…”

 

“I’m not an official doctor, but I’m a doctor who can treat people. It’s not like I’m seeing a patient’s body for the first or second time.”

 

“…”

 

“So there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I’m just trying to treat your wound and it’ll be over quickly.”

 

However, despite my persuasion, Eruten moved his lips as if he had something to say.

 

“But…”

 

“Yes?”

 

“You are a doctor…”

 

“…?”

 

“But you’re still twelve years old.”

 

“…”

 

My mouth shut tight at the sudden fact that hit me.

 

Because the memories of my previous life felt so natural, I had momentarily forgotten.

 

The fact that my current appearance wasn’t a doctor in her thirties, but a twelve-year-old girl.

 

So a twelve-year-old girl telling a fifteen-year-old boy to undress so she could treat him…

 

‘That is a bit strange.’

 

But I couldn’t back down because of that.

 

Now it was do or die.

 

“T-that may be true, but if we don’t treat the wound, it might get infected later!”

 

“…”

 

“There’s nothing better for wounds than quick treatment…”

 

However, the more I spoke, the more it felt like I was being unreasonable.

 

As I stood there not knowing what to do, eventually a gentle hand came up to rest on my head.

 

“I understand. I know you’re worried about me. So should I take it off?”

 

As if he had made up his mind, he began unbuttoning without hesitation.

 

I was so startled that I hurriedly turned around.

 

I heard a chuckling sound from behind, but I comforted myself that it was something a twelve-year-old would do, so I shouldn’t be embarrassed.

 

“I’m done taking it off.”

 

When I turned around at those words, he was sitting turned around so his back was clearly visible.

 

‘As expected, his skin is red and swollen from the friction.’

 

Fortunately, his spine and other organs didn’t seem to have any major problems.

 

I took out disinfectant from my bag and carefully applied it to the child’s back.

 

“Even if it stings, bear with it. It’ll get better with time.”

 

“…Yeah.”

 

His back flinched.

 

The range of the wound was wider than I had thought.

 

Blood was seeping out from the scraped wounds here and there.

 

‘This happened because he was protecting me.’

 

I felt grateful but also worried on the other hand.

 

But then…

 

“Eruten.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Breathe a little.”

 

“…I am breathing though?”

 

“No, you’re holding your breath. Your back isn’t moving.”

 

At my words, he immediately let out a “puhah” sigh.

 

“Why on earth are you holding your breath?”

 

“…Because your hand tickles.”

 

“What?”

 

“Your hand… tickles every time it touches my back.”

 

“…”

 

It tickles?

 

Even though I had treated hundreds, thousands of patients in my previous life, this was the first time someone said disinfectant tickled.

 

‘Well, I suppose it’s different for each person.’

 

“Still, there’s nothing I can do about it. Bear with it.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Eruten clenched both fists tightly along with those words.

 

As if he was enduring torture.

 

Faced with his reaction where I couldn’t tell if it tickled or hurt, I took out bandages.

 

“Now I just need to wrap the bandages.”

 

In preparation for when he’d put his clothes on later, I wrapped the bandages thinly only around the wounded areas.

 

During this time, Eruten was still holding his breath.

 

‘He really doesn’t listen.’

 

When I deliberately smacked his back with a loud sound, his dejected gaze turned toward me.

 

“That hurt.”

 

“As if it hurt. I’m all done.”

 

As soon as I finished speaking, Eruten immediately picked up his shirt as if he had been waiting and tried to put it on.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“Huh? Since the treatment is all done, I should put my clothes on…”

 

“That wet thing?”

 

Water was dripping from the shirt Eruten had hastily put on.

 

He must have thought this wasn’t right either, as he looked back and forth between me and the shirt.

 

“I’ll turn around. Let’s dry the clothes first. I’ll take mine off too.”

 

“What…?”

 

I began taking off the clothes draped over my body without hesitation.

 

Since I was wearing an undergarment slip underneath, there wasn’t much of a problem.

 

“I’ll, I’ll look for something to make a fire with!”

 

Eruten left in a flustered state to find firewood.

 

Soon a campfire was lit and we hung our wet outer clothes near the campfire.

 

After that, we sat crouched with our backs turned to each other.

 

With the crackling sound of burning wood as background, drowsiness poured over me.

 

‘Ah… I shouldn’t fall asleep.’

 

However, unable to resist and nodding off, Eruten carefully spoke to me.

 

“Are you really okay?”

 

The one who was hurt wasn’t me but Eruten. I answered quietly.

 

“Yeah. Thanks to you. Thank you.”

 

When I casually offered my thanks, Eruten said.

 

“I promised to protect you.”

 

Perhaps because the cave was nearby, strangely Eruten’s voice echoed in my head.

 

I hugged my knees tighter.

 

“Thank you. For protecting me.”

 

The warm warmth of the campfire, and even Eruten sitting steadily behind me.

 

Strangely, I felt reassured.

 

As I closed my eyes like that, my consciousness faded into darkness.

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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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