When Rainas eyes opened, red light from a darkening sky was the first thing to greet her. It entered through a bedroom window overlooking the castle districts center from the second floor of Vogels Enchantnts.
Breathing was difficult.
Blood clogged the back of her nose, and a tallic taste filled her mouth. Did Raina have another nosebleed while she slept? With how frequent theyve beco, growing in frequency and intensity by the day, it wouldnt have surprised her.
But it wasnt all bad. The throbbing headache Raina fell asleep with no longer pounded against her skull. Instead, it only pressed down on her forehead. Did her midday nap, interrupted by gasps for air, make her feel better, or was it that
Wait.
The kids!
Did they eat? Was Leona managing the store properly? Although she was a clever girl, her enchantnt skills werent quite there yet. How about Emilia? Were her seal inscribing studies going well? And Angelika. Raina hoped she wasnt fighting with her grandfather again. Was she starving after work?
Raina didnt have ti to waste in bed. She shot up, curling her body into a seated position. Thankfully, the swift movent didnt make her dizzy or nauseous, and her body wasnt fatigued either. Her stomach hurt, though.
Sothing threw itself at Raina, wrapping their arms around her neck, snuggling close with a soft and warm cheek. She didnt have to look to know who it was. Although Angelika was crude with words and quickly beca heated during an argunt, she was also the most affectionate out of all of her children.
Did you eat? How was work? Did Dimitry let you out early? Are you hungry?
Im fine, Angelika said. Everyones fine. How are you?
Her daughter was safe.
A wave of relief washed over Raina, sending cooling ripples throughout her body. She already lost one beloved combat mage to waranother would be too much to bear. Did Mira or her majesty give us any new jobs while I slept?
Who gives a shit? Angelika hugged tighter.
Raina felt warmth and joy and intense guilt. No proper mother would make their children worry as much as she did. She couldnt let the plague take her yet. Ever since Adal passed away in the Einheart Wars and Ignacius vanished, Angelika had clung to Raina as if every mont they spent together would be their last.
A day she thought would co soon.
However, the deep-seated sense of impending doom in the pit of Rainas stomach vanished. She was ready to work. To manage the store, to cook, to ntor Leona. Although she wasnt as healthy as she was a week ago, she felt well enough to take care of the kids.
How are you? Angelika muttered.
Raina smiled as wide as she could. Im much stronger and healthier! She threw out an arm and flexed it to display her newfound vigor.
Angelika pulled back, her eyes half-open and red with dark bags beneath them. Really? Youre not saying that just to make feel better?
Im telling the truth! As healthy as a Raina froze at a sudden realization. Could it actually
Lifting the corner of the enchanted blanket she slept onthe one that Leona brought over that afternoonRaina examined its glow.
It was darker and pinker and more intimidating than the one she made for Dimitry yesterday. She saw nothing like it. Did its magic cure her plague?
Denial and curiosity bubbled up within Raina. How did a re surgeon cast spells that neither she nor anyone else in the Sorceresses Guild could? Invisall, violet-colored illumina, and now this? And it wasnt at its full power, either.
Leona said she weaved a dium-strength enchantnt, so why was the aura denser than last ti? Even the Church couldnt make that. Just how much was Raina ignorant about?
She couldnt die yet.
If her children werent reason enough, studying this magic was!
Mom, why are you staring? Do you feel dizzy again?
Angelika, sweetie did that surgeon friend of yours really make this?
She nodded. He told us to tell him right away if it starts to work. What should we do?
Raina jumped out of bed with sprightly energy. Leona! she shouted loud enough that her daughter downstairs could hear. Close the store and get ready to go out!
Is everything okay?! Leona yelled in response.
Mom?
Sweetie, can you go to the chest and bring a vol ingot? Raina rushed over to her wardrobe and dug through it, looking for sothing cute to wear. Then go get so sleep. Youll get wrinkles if you keep staying up all night.
Light snowfall and freezing winds drifted through a crowded market square filled with rchants, passersby, and panhandling refugees. Their layered voices were loud but stood no match for the town criers. His piercing announcents were the fruit of decades of work experience. In all that ti, however, no one paid him to deliver a ssage as stupid as the one he was about to.
The town crier took off his hat, then swiped a purple hand across its surface to remove a thin layer of snow. After fitting it back atop his head, he cleared his throat, rung his bell, and opened his mouth to convey the sa ssage he yelled for the past three days.
Hear ye, hear ye, good people of Malten! The east market hospital is offering free cures for the plague and curse! Look for a church brandishing Celestes statue! Residents, nobles, and even refugees are welco!
Although the announcent ca out of his own mouth, the town crier didnt believe a single word of it. Why would anyone give away a cure for free? The people of this city were too idiotic to ask themselves that sa question. They flocked like sheep to an obvious scam.
Not his problem.
The job paid well, and the market guards didnt tell him to stop.
Co on, a man in ragged clothing said to his unfortunate female companion. Lets get in line before it grows any larger.
But what about those rumors? Isnt the pale-eyed surgeon a sham?
My buddy said he made his nosebleeds stop! We were neighbors back in Volr. We can trust him!
The muddy-haired woman held out a darkening arm. Which way is it?
Foolish refugees.
They believed every lie the town crier fed them. Not only because of his impeccable delivery and flawless annunciation, but because desperate people acted like idiots. The surgeon who hired the town crier knew that. It was all part of his grand sche.
The town crier snorted the blood pooling in the back of his nose before bellowing the second part of his ssage. For those who cant wait and have coin to spare, an expedient cure is available for twenty-five gold marks! Skip the line and receive better treatnt than the rest!
A basic trick. The free cure was only there to create competition to make dying nobles more willing to pay for sothing that didnt exist. If he was rich, the town crier would have spent his final monts enjoying his luxuries instead of giving them away to a scamr.
Unfortunately, he wasnt. He had to make what little money he could so that his family could survive when the plague finally took his life. With an ailing grandmother and two hungry kids at ho, the town crier had no choice but to work until he died.
It was a better use of his little ti than standing in line outside so shady hospital.
A rchant with a fyrhound fur coat stood at a nearby market stall, speaking too enthusiastically. And when I finally got inside, the Jade Surgeon told to lie down on enchanted bedclothes glowing a really dark color. Never seen anything like it.
What happened? His gullible companion asked.
I spent half of my morning there. When I left, I thought it was a waste of ti cause I still felt like shit. But look! The rchant pinched the skin on the back of his hand. The Jade Surgeons thods work!
Think we can buy those bedclothes from him?
Damn, I should have asked. With the plague spreading, we could make a killing in Feyt!
A faint glimr of hope lit up within the town criers abdon, filling him with hesitant warmth. He pinched the stiff and purple skin on the back of his hand.
Unlike that rchants, it wasnt getting any better.
He stuffed his bell into his coat pocket and stepped off the podium. Even though he figured out Dimitrys scam days ago, he would stand in the hospitals line to confirm his suspicions.
I need cutters, forceps, and my number ten scalpel. Dimitrys command echoed past the chatter of nurses, patients, and the shouting of watchn outside, who have been chasing away thugs ever since the rumors of a cure have begun to spread.
Yes, Mr. Dimitry! Lili ran on her tiptoes, careful to avoid stepping on ailing people. They lay on tightly packed floor-level mattresses dressed in glowing, dark pink bedclothes. Initially, she thought it strange that Dimitry had most bed fras thrown out, but now it made sensethe furniture took up too much space. Without them, the hospital could fit twice as many patients.
Lili reached the rooms corner, where a small table held up an assortnt of bottles and bowls. A vase among them contained the curious iron tools that a sooty giant wearing only an apron over his bare chest brought over just yesterday.
Cutters were easy to rember. They resembled the nail clippers Lili had back in her fathers manor. The surgical forceps were uniqueblunt blades with looping handles. She plucked both instrunts out from their container, then turned her attention to what always gave her trouble. Scalpels. There were too many, and they all looked so similar.
Mr. Dimitry, which
The one with a fat and curved blade.
Got it! Hoping it was the correct one, Lili grabbed a scalpel and dumped all three tools into an alcohol bath. Apparently, it was for sterilization. She didnt understand what it ant yet, but she was learning. Every day brought new challenges she never faced whilst living in Einheart.
Back then, all she did was read poetry, et with suitors, and care for the stables horses. Although it was only a month ago, it felt like an eternity. Lili often wondered how her parents fared against the growing heathen threat, if her familys estate and its people were safe, but she had other things keeping her occupied now.
Lilis job as a nurse demanded her full attention. When Her Royal Majestys stewardess assigned it to her upon her arrival in Malten, she scoffed at the notion. She believed it below her station to assist common folk. However, the satisfaction she received from helping patients, accepting their gratitude, was worth more to her than any gold armlet a noble chump could offer her.
For once in her life, people needed her.
Relied on her.
No longer was Lili a pretty ornant for n to joust over with increasingly expensive yet aningless gifts.
She found her calling.
Recently, her feelings towards her occupation only grew stronger. Unlike when she worked for Josef, whispering encouraging words into the ears of patients who wouldnt survive by weeks end, Lili now took pride in her work.
They saved lives in this hospital.
With those heartening thoughts in mind, Lili wiped the surgical tools held in her hand with a warm, wet rag, then sprang forth to her ntors side. Ive retrieved them, Mr. Dimitry.
Did you sterilize the blades?
In the manner that youve shown .
Good job. Dimitry lifted a patients purple hand that had three fingers missing. In their place was a big hole filled with milky yellow pus, pink water, and an odor so rancid that it made Lili wriggle her nose. It happened often. The terrible plague, which was not a curse, often caused permanent damage if it festered too long.
Anything else, Mr. Dimitry?
Stay here. He took the clippers from her cupped hands. I want you to watch carefully because I expect you to be able to do this soday.
Her? Do that? A jolt of anxiety shot down Lilis spine. I dont know if I can, Im just a
Youre a smart girl. Out of every nurse here, you learn the fastest. Believe in yourself like I believe in you.
Although it was strange for a man the sa age as Lili to call her a girl, she took his complint graciously. No one relied on her being smart before. Perhaps all that ti she spent studying under the manor tutors had paid off. She took a deep breath and focused on the surgery.
Dimitry clipped away skintough and dry like jerkyfrom the patients hand, small fragnts flying off with each tallic click.
Isnt that painful for the patient, Mr. Dimitry?
No. The tissue is dead.
Lili glanced down at the middle-aged woman, who watched Dimitry slice away her purple skin without a single groan or wince. Although hard to believe, his words must have been true. How did you know?
He held up the wound so that Lili could look into its grueso and murky interior. See how theres no blood coming out?
She nodded.
That ans the skin isnt healthy, and the nerves inside dont work anymore. If we dont get rid of it, itll only get worse, and if we do, new and healthy skin will grow in its place. Thats the purpose of debrident.
Strange words like nerves and debrident had beco increasingly familiar to Lili despite their exact anings remaining unclear. Hopefully, with ti and experience, she would grow to understand them. Could she really learn to do what Dimitry did?
She hoped so.
The prospect excited Lili.
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