Chapter 29
César, holding Sutearnia in his arms, came running into the infirmary.
“Excuse me! Doctor! She’s injured! Please see to her right away!”
“Hm? Injured, you say?”
The middle-aged man who was the primary physician pushed his glasses up sharply and stared at César.
“Well, if it isn’t César. So the injured person is this girl here?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Sutearnia, still being carried by César, looked up at the doctor, her face pale.
“Alright then, have her sit in that chair over there.”
As the doctor pointed to a round stool, César sat Sutearnia down on it.
“Now then, let’s have a look, shall we? Hmm… There are a lot of small scratches. Just where did you get injured?”
The doctor asked Sutearnia in a gentle voice.
“Um… I got hurt in the chicken coop.”
“What? In the chicken coop?”
The doctor’s eyebrows shot up.
“That’s right. She was alone inside the chicken coop. It seems she went in to clean it and was attacked by the chickens.”
César answered for her. In fact, he had asked Sutearnia why she was in the chicken coop on their way here.
“Cleaning the chicken coop…? Don’t tell me she was alone?”
While checking the state of her injuries, the doctor asked.
“Y… yes…”
As Sutearnia gave a small, hesitant nod, the doctor let out a sigh.
“Cleaning the chicken coop is a job that takes several grown men working together… So that’s why you have so many injuries, huh? Being attacked by chickens… It must have been terribly frightening?”
“Yeah… It was scary, and it hurt.”
At the doctor’s kind words, tears welled up in Sutearnia’s eyes.
After that, the doctor treated Sutearnia’s injuries. There were over ten wounds on her cheeks, arms, and legs, but the worst injury was on her left knee. It was a severe abrasion, dirty and oozing blood.
So, the doctor carefully cleaned Sutearnia’s wound, disinfected it with antiseptic, and treated it. All the while, Sutearnia clenched her teeth tightly, desperately holding back her tears.
“There, all finished. You were very brave, you know. You didn’t cry or thrash about during the treatment at all.”
The doctor, having finished applying the bandages, spoke to Sutearnia with a smile.
“O-okay.”
As Sutearnia nodded, the doctor told César,
“César. With these injuries, she must rest for a while. Work is out of the question. You must let her rest for at least a week. Frankly, making a child who’s only six years old work is unreasonable to begin with.”
“That’s true… I’m also against this child working, but…”
As César looked down, Sutearnia suddenly cried out.
“Please! Let me work!”
“Sutearnia?”
“What’s the matter?”
César and the doctor looked at Sutearnia in surprise.
“If I don’t work here, I’ll be thrown out. My mother is gone too… I’ll have nowhere to live. I’ll work really hard… so please, don’t throw me out? Please!”
Sutearnia pleaded desperately with César.
The plea from this young girl of only six, begging not to be cast out if she worked, evoked sympathy from both César and the doctor.
“…It’s alright. We don’t throw out servants just because they’re injured and can’t work. You don’t need to worry about that, okay?”
“Really?”
“Really.”
César nodded to Sutearnia, whose face was half-covered in tears, then spoke to the doctor.
“Doctor, could you look after Sutearnia until I get back?”
“Ah, I don’t mind, but… what are you planning?”
“First, I’m going to inform my grandfather that Sutearnia is injured. There’s also the matter of what to do from now on.”
“Understood. I’ll take care of her, so go on.”
“Thank you.”
César dashed out of the infirmary and hurried off to find Porthos—
