#08. First Night (3)
“Pavel, excuse me for a moment.”
Sasha got off the bed and walked to Pavel’s side to examine him.
In one of her many past lives, she had been a renowned physician.
During that lifetime, she had treated countless patients.
While her surgical skills didn’t carry over as instinct, her experience and medical knowledge remained—still useful even after reincarnation.
Thanks to that, Sasha was able to diagnose Pavel’s condition quickly.
Biting her lip, she recalled something she had heard earlier in the bridal waiting room.
“So it wasn’t a lie.”
The claim that Pavel was too ill to attend the wedding—it had been true.
His condition was indeed poor.
His naturally weak constitution, combined with overexertion, had caused a buildup of fatigue, leading to a severe cold and fever.
With her past-life knowledge, Sasha instantly knew how to treat him. Dozens of remedy formulas came to mind.
But she stayed rational.
“I should call a doctor.”
She trusted her own expertise—but others wouldn’t.
Asking someone to gather herbs for a homemade medicine would sound suspicious coming from a 17-year-old noble girl, not a famed physician.
Rather than waste time trying to prove herself, it was more efficient to call the estate’s doctor.
Surely the Volkov family’s personal physician would be competent.
Sasha quickly tugged the summoning cord to call a maid. Fearing the bell might go unheard at this hour, she shook it several times, with force.
But no one came.
“Why are they not coming?”
She muttered anxiously.
Was it just because it was late at night?
Were they all asleep and didn’t hear the bell from the newlywed couple’s room?
She considered going out herself to fetch the doctor—but she didn’t know the layout of the castle.
If she got lost, Pavel would suffer longer.
The helpless frustration gripped her chest.
Then—
Knock knock.
Finally, the long-awaited knock came.
Bang!
Sasha rushed to the door and flung it open.
Outside stood a messy-looking maid, clearly annoyed to have been disturbed.
“Why are you ringing—yawn—so late at ni—”
“Doctor!”
“Huh?”
“Get the doctor. Right now!”
Sasha gave the urgent command.
“Pavel is very sick. Hurry!”
She expected the maid to be startled and rush off immediately.
It was common sense. Even a half-asleep servant should react quickly if a master was ill—if not out of loyalty, then out of fear of punishment.
But Sasha was wrong.
The maid didn’t rush off in a panic. Instead, she lazily glanced into the room.
Eventually, her slow gaze drifted to the bed, where Pavel was moaning in pain.
Sasha assumed that now, at least, she’d recognize the severity and run to get help.
But again, she was wrong.
Staring at the fevered Pavel, the maid muttered:
“Oh, this again…”
“What?”
“Nothing. I’ll go get the doctor.”
The maid’s indifferent, even rude, attitude left Sasha speechless.
“Why is she so calm when her master is clearly suffering?”
She glared at the hallway the maid had disappeared down.
But she couldn’t stay there long.
“Ugh!”
Hearing Pavel groan, Sasha rushed back to the bed.
Kneeling beside him, she took his hand.
“Pavel, hang in there. The doctor will be here soon.”
“Guh…”
If he cried or threw a tantrum, she might have felt better.
But the way he clenched his teeth and endured silently only made it harder to bear.
Trembling, Sasha whispered to him.
“It’s okay, Pavel. You’ll be okay.”
But despite her soothing words, she kept glancing nervously at the door behind her.
It remained firmly shut.
“Did that maid really go to get the doctor?”
What if she went somewhere else?
After seeing her earlier attitude, Sasha found it a reasonable concern.
Anxious, she moved to ring the cord again—three more times—before the door finally opened.
Bang.
“You called?”
The doctor entered just as leisurely as the maid.
“Quickly—Pavel…!”
“Yes, yes. I’ll examine him right away.”
He strode to the bed and took a cursory glance at the gasping Pavel.
“Tsk! This again. His symptoms are flaring up.”
Muttering loudly to himself, he gave a brief prescription.
“Here, a painkiller. Take this.”
Then, he began packing up his bag, ready to leave.
Sasha frowned and asked sharply,
“That’s it?”
“Excuse me?”
The doctor’s voice was curt, annoyed.
“I mean,” she said clearly, “are you not going to explain exactly why he’s in so much pain or what should be done to treat it?”
“Oh… you must be new to this, ma’am.”
The doctor shrugged.
“The young master suffers from an incurable illness. He experiences these episodes from time to time.”
“So?”
“So, since there’s no cure, all we can do is ease the pain with medication.”
Satisfied with that answer, he turned back to Pavel.
“This will get him through the night. If the pain returns—well, if he takes too much of this, he’ll build up a tolerance, so he’ll just have to endure it.”
His words were laced more with irritation than concern.
Sasha had hoped to hear something more thoughtful—more professional.
But she had reached her limit.
Gripping the painkiller tightly, she spoke coldly:
“…You seriously think your job ends with handing over one pill?”
“Pardon?”
“Even if there’s no cure for his chronic illness…”
She struggled to keep her anger in check.
“Right now, Pavel is suffering from a cold with fever. That much can and should be treated.”
The doctor’s face twisted in annoyance.
“…It’s troublesome when people who don’t understand medicine interfere.”
His tone was that of someone lecturing an ignorant child.
Sasha let out a cold chuckle.
“Troublesome? What’s more troubling is a doctor giving lazy diagnoses with no intention to actually treat the patient.”
The doctor scowled.
“You’re being quite harsh—”
“If you didn’t know better, I’ll tell you what to do. Go and get: Revlon, Altiman, Salpis…”
Sasha began listing herbs fluently.
The doctor scoffed.
“You may have heard a bit about medicine somewhere, but mixing herbs without proper knowledge can be dangerous.”
Exactly as Sasha had expected.
In truth, he was surprised at her use of professional terms—but he brushed it off.
“She must’ve picked up a few things somewhere. Probably just parroting.”
To him, Sasha was just a low-ranking noble girl married off for money.
Besides—
“Revlon and Salpis? Those two are fine on their own, but together they become toxic! Tsk tsk. You’re going to kill someone with that ‘knowledge’ of yours.”
Sasha stared him down coldly.
He was wrong.
She hadn’t picked up bits of knowledge randomly. Nor had she forgotten the compatibility of herbs.
In one of her past lives, she had been a physician—renowned even in historical records of this world.
While most of her past-life memories were sealed, she had kept that one accessible—for the sake of protecting those she loved.
She had even studied modern medicine, worried that some knowledge might be outdated.
With both deep-rooted knowledge and fresh learning, there was likely no physician in this world more knowledgeable than she was.
And yet the doctor hadn’t believed her—because he didn’t know any better.
The formula she mentioned was complex, known only to experts. It wasn’t something average doctors could recognize.
This doctor, though somewhat reputable, didn’t have the skills to match his name.
He worked by habit, following the same generic prescriptions as everyone else. He made no effort to improve.
So when Sasha named ingredients for a high-level, effective remedy, he didn’t even realize what it was.
He had no idea the girl before him was more skilled than he could ever be. All he saw was a naïve noble girl talking nonsense.
So, of course, he dismissed her entirely.
“Kids often want to show off, be noticed. But medicine deals with lives. Don’t pretend to know things and risk—”
“……”
If Sasha spent enough time, she could probably convince him. He’d eventually realize she was right.
That she knew more than he ever would.
But Sasha didn’t have the time or the patience.
There were more urgent things than protecting her pride.
Pavel was suffering—and that was what mattered now.
