Chapter 35
“The child… the child is very sick! How much longer do we have to wait?”
“Please wait. It’s not your turn yet.”
“It’s already been five hours since the consultations started! And yet, you haven’t let in a single person. How much longer are we supposed to wait?”
“There are already many others waiting inside.”
“What the…!”
The woman’s eyes welled up with tears of anxiety.
She knew her child’s condition was worsening by the minute—it was unbearable just to stand there doing nothing.
“Should I go somewhere else, even now?”
But she already had. None of it had helped.
This place was her last hope…
Clack, clack.
At that moment, a luxurious carriage rolled up to the front gate.
The attendant speaking to the woman quickly ran over.
“Welcome, Lord Clio.”
The man checked the crest engraved on the carriage and broke into a radiant smile—so different from the cold indifference he had shown the woman moments ago.
“I’ve been feeling rather stiff lately.”
“Yes, please, come inside right away.”
“Thank you.”
The man, who appeared to be in his early fifties, closed the carriage window and hurried through the main gate.
“Click.”
“Sigh…”
“There they go again.”
The people watching nearby sighed in unison.
They were long used to seeing nobles cut the line in front of them—something they’d witnessed countless times since dawn—but familiarity didn’t make the bitterness go away.
“Hey! What about us? When will we be allowed in? Please, let us in already! Why only them?”
The same woman cried again, her voice cracking, tears glistening in her reddened eyes.
She pleaded, insisting it wasn’t fair for someone who arrived later to go in first—but the response was the same.
“Please wait.”
“My child is very sick!”
Of course, she knew it was absurd to expect to be treated like a noble.
But understanding that didn’t help. Her child’s body was burning hotter and hotter—she could feel it.
“Please…!”
She grabbed the attendant’s arm in desperation.
He recoiled, as if something filthy had touched him, and shoved her away violently.
“I said, wait!”
Thud!
“Ah!”
“There’s no one here who isn’t sick!”
The woman stumbled backward and fell. Because she had been holding her child with one arm, the child slipped and tumbled to the ground.
“Zen!”
“Uh….”
A faint groan escaped the child’s lips.
Too weak to cry or even move, the child barely reacted.
“Ugh!”
The woman tried to reach her child, but she had twisted her ankle in the fall and could hardly move.
Rustle.
“…!”
Suddenly, someone else reached down and gently lifted the child before she could.
A pale hand rested on the child’s burning forehead.
“The fever’s bad,” the stranger murmured, clicking her tongue softly.
It was Ceres.
“How long has the child been sick?”
The woman, momentarily stunned by the sudden appearance, snapped back at the calm tone and hurried over.
“Ab–about two weeks. I took him to another clinic, but it didn’t help at all…”
So she had come here—because all the best healers were said to be gathered at this place.
But she couldn’t even get past the gate.
All she could do was watch helplessly as her child’s life slipped away.
Ceres gently patted the woman’s back as she straightened up.
“Let’s move somewhere else first.”
They couldn’t treat a child while standing in the street.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”
The attendant, who had been watching unhappily from the side, shouted and rushed toward them.
He thought Ceres was trying to steal the patient—something that had happened before, when rival clinics would lure waiting patients away.
And right here, in front of the Count of Ellusia’s estate, of all places!
“F***.”
“What—what did you just say?”
The attendant froze in disbelief.
Had that young lady really just cursed at him?
“That’s right. F***.”
Why? Should I add more?
I’ve picked up plenty of colorful language while working at the shop, thanks to our lovely regulars.
Ceres turned slowly toward him, a faint, crooked smile forming on her lips as she held the child in her arms.
He ignored a critical patient—but now he’s upset that someone else stepped in?
“How amusing.”
Antonian, standing nearby, flinched and quickly backed away.
He could tell instantly—his sister was furious.
And when she got like this, the best course of action was to stay out of it completely.
“Hey.”
“Wh–what?”
The attendant’s face twisted in outrage.
Was she insane?
“How long have you been studying healing?”
“What?”
“I asked how long.”
“Why would I study healing?”
“…You didn’t learn healing arts?”
The attendant shouted, red-faced, as if it were absurd to even ask.
But Ceres only let out a dry, incredulous laugh.
“You’re in charge of the gate, and you don’t even know basic healing?”
This place really has gone mad.
Her smile deepened.
“Ugh…”
“….”
She was about to say more when a weak groan from the child stopped her.
“I’d like to move somewhere the child can lie down.”
“Wh–what? Oh, yes!”
The woman, anxious after watching Ceres argue with the attendant, hurried ahead to lead the way.
Ceres followed, her gaze cold and sharp as ice.
“Lord Kainel?”
Aide Del turned to his master in confusion as Kainel suddenly ordered the carriage to stop.
He opened the window and stared outside, prompting Del to do the same.
“It seems there’s some kind of trouble.”
A woman and her small child were collapsed on the street.
“Hm?”
Just then, someone approached and gently lifted the child into her arms—then swore at the attendant in one sharp outburst.
Hoh.
Del couldn’t look away from the woman who, with a calm demeanor, silenced the man completely.
But then—
She looks familiar.
Where had he seen her before?
“…?”
Kainel, beside him, was also staring intently at the woman.
“Do you know her?”
Del was even more surprised. Normally, Kainel showed zero interest in anyone else’s business.
And yet, here he was, openly intrigued.
“The one who feeds me.”
“Sorry… what?”
The one who feeds you?
“Oh!”
Del finally remembered.
She was the woman they’d met at the food shop—the one who had packed their order.
“And also…”
“Yes?”
“…She’s… irritating.”
Kainel’s eyes stayed fixed on Ceres as she walked away, the child in her arms, until she disappeared into the distance.
“Let’s go back.”
“Sir? What about your appointment?”
Del had worked hard to convince him to come to the Count’s clinic today—Kainel’s insomnia had been getting worse lately.
And now he wanted to just go home?
“Find out about her.”
“About who?”
He meant that woman, of course.
Del’s eyes widened.
“…Understood.”
He nodded firmly.
He didn’t know why, but seeing Kainel show even a shred of curiosity about someone was, frankly, encouraging.
“Still, since we’re already here, shouldn’t we go in for your appointment?”
“…”
“…Let’s just go back.”
As Kainel closed his eyes and leaned back, Del sighed quietly.
It looked like they’d have to come back another day.
“Mom…”
“Zen! You’re awake?”
Tears filled the woman’s eyes again.
When she’d first followed Ceres away from the gate, she had hesitated.
Was it really okay to leave?
Shouldn’t she have stayed and waited, no matter how hopeless it felt?
But the moment she saw Ceres kneel down and pick her child up from that cold, dirty ground—when everyone else had turned away—she couldn’t resist following.
Now, back in the inn where she lived, she watched nervously as Ceres examined her son.
Did I make the right choice?
What if something goes wrong? What if my child dies because of this? What then…?
