Insufferable wounds

An adamant advocate of justice within the Emorian society, Adelaide de Lanark did not have the faintest desire to change a thing about Egon von Conradie's offer.

All that Egon had asked of her was to ensure the sustainability of the practice. No roof. These were the two words he used when she asked him about the number of coins that he was willing to part with for that purpose.

He must truly be sitting atop one too many mana mines...

That was Adela's newest conviction about the mystifying man who at times seemed as heartless as the stones of Lanark's mountains, and at others, more inclined to the principles of nobility than most gentlemen around her.

She had made up her mind. There was no harm in gathering information while leaving a long-lasting improvement in the infrastructure of her homeland, a revolutionary one at that. The two of them could simply progress in parallel lines.

Other than how nerve-racking it was being under his hawk-like analytic gaze at all times, the first days of her collaboration with the merchant were fruitful.

She worked with a pertinacious resistance to the awkwardness, choosing the north-western annex — the closest to the street that goes by the estate — for smooth patients' transportation in case of an emergency, then creating a list of what can be stockpiled without worries about expiries and what had to be adjusted as per day-to-day necessities.

Financial forecasting which was the task she often struggled with most was needless and operating under a 'no roof' policy when it came to costs was a rare bliss.

Her next step was putting together a team of scholars to train, but that fell second to finding the correct person to handle management issues since she could not be forever present to supervise the facility. When she asked Egon to provide her with suitable candidates for that job, he brought the last person she would have expected.

The young man peeked around the corner of the wall at her.

"…Nicolas, carry that box over there and leave it by the grand cupboard,"

"Yes, My Lady!" Came his cheerful response. A striking opposite to his timid attitude around her two days earlier.

Her eyes scanned the space around her, thankful that though neglected on the outside, the King's former estate was in a fantastic shape interior wise. She had stayed up all night thinking about how to use the annex in the most efficient way possible and ended up getting one short hour of sleep. But she was not the least bit fatigued now as she sorted out the appliances she had ordered.

"Look, My Lady!" Nicolas placed the box where Adela had asked him to and then pointed at the window on his right with a broad smile, "More boxes are coming!"

They certainly obliged in no time. She was just musing about it in the morning, how Lanarkians were certainly exhibiting their very best to the von Conradies.

"Should I get this one too to make space for the ones coming, My Lady?"

"No,"

The box Nicolas gestured to had breakable things inside, and she was convinced that she had more strength in her than the thin young man who was still recuperating.

She was lost in thought when a deep voice reverberated in her ears.

"What's in that?"

Though she did not hear him coming with his extraordinary ability to make no sounds regardless of the surface he walked on, his presence seemed natural around her. A welcomed one even.

She bit her lips at that thought.

"Tubes, slides, and a microscope. You see that room over there?"

He nodded.

"The infirmary cannot perform complicated tests, but that room will serve as a laboratory,"

He stroked his chin, "A laboratory?"

She held her breath, this was an impulsive move on her behalf and not a part of their agreement.

"Yes. Dealing with emergency cases is good and all. But such cases can be reduced significantly if our people had access to health care. Prevention is far more feasible than curing that of which had already progressed,"

"Prevention?"

"...Yes, prevention,"

He looked surprised at first, but the slip of bewilderment quickly faded. The corners of his lips twisted up making a pleasing shape to Adela's eyes and boosting her confidence.

"You have done well,"

A beloved Lady of house de Lanark, Adela was never short on compliments, yet his was like rain to a desert, a few words of praise seemed to fill thirsty voids she did not know took space inside of her.

"Lady Adelaide! For the love of God! I beg you! Help my brother!"

Adela flinched when two men went through the door followed by many of Egon's guards who looked at a loss of what to do about it. One of the men was wailing hysterically, half dragging the other who bled from shoulder to waist, his trousers mudded knees downwards.

The crying man's free hand shook as it pointed at the box in front of her.

"I-I delivered these boxes in the morning My Lady, you do remember me, don't you?... You have got to help my brother! This fool is an ill mother's only joy in this world! P-Please take a look!"

The man allowed his brother to slowly slip all the way to the ground, face forward. Adela gasped at the sight of his nearly skinless back.

"W-We cannot… This man must have committed a grave sin!" Came Nicolas's objection as he stood closest to Adela.

Since the man was walking freely in daylight, the only explanation for his current state was that he had received a public whipping. The Archduke's knights were the one authority with permission to implicit such a punishment only for the gravest of all sins, and it was strictly prohibited to provide aid to those punished at the risk of receiving the same punishment.

"Bring him over to the table and get me a bottle of alcohol immediately!"

"M-My Lady?" Nicolas stuttered.

The man on the ground groaned woefully causing Adela's hair to stand on end.

"Do it now!" She snapped.

"Stop," Egon ordered, his eyes on Adela as if waiting for what she had to say about it.

She gave him a betrayed look, "You cannot possibly ask me to ignore him!"

"I told you before, I have nothing to hide. I do not intend on changing that anytime soon,"

His calm attitude mixed with the constant groans the man on the floor exceeded drove her to the edge of her patience in one heartbeat.

"It was you who also told me to start a place where commoners can receive first aid without discrimination!"

He glared at her, "And it was you who called me Master twice yesterday. You shall answer to me in here,"

She suppressed the urge to scream and looked up at him definitely, "If you are so worried about receiving the same punishment, then by all means, leave this instant! And if it was me who you are so concerned with, I will have you know that the man who dreams of laying hands on me has not been born yet!"

As if to prove her wrong, her mind conjured images of Egon pushing her on a hill, they were followed by more images of him pinning both her hands to a wall in an abandoned cottage.