Chapter 3 : The Evington's Physician

"Celine! Quickly, follow Kylen to the young Lord's room!" shouted Madam Lysa with a panicked expression.

Lord Caspiel was carried by several guards followed by several servants towards his room. Count Derrick didn't even realize that his son had fainted and continued running towards his wife.

Before instructing me to go to Caspiel's room, Madam Lysa handed me several bottles of medicine.

After being laid on his bed, servants cleaned the considerable amount of blood on Lord Caspiel's face. It seemed like he was just healthy moments ago, and suddenly his condition deteriorated drastically.

"Celine, quickly help me change Lord Caspiel's clothes. Lina, quickly fetch a wet cloth to clean the remaining blood on Lord's neck!" ordered Kylen.

"What happened Kylen? Has this happened before?" I asked Kylen, Lord Caspiel's personal servant.

Despite looking very busy and panicked, Kylen's hands remained skillful in unbuttoning Lord Caspiel's shirt one by one. I untied the ribbons on the man's sleeves before assisting Kylen in removing his shirt. Once again, it was white. Why did this man seem to favor whites so much?

"No, this is the first time something this severe has happened. Usually, the lord only faints without nosebleeds and vomiting blood or just nosebleeds alone."

"We're in trouble! Why did this happen at the same time as Countess Anita not waking up?" added one of the youngest servants.

"That's why you should have continued to care for Lord Caspiel 3 days ago, Celine! What happened that you disappeared for so long?" now I was caught in their panic.

'If I knew it would turn out like this, I wouldn't have quit the job!'

After finishing changing Lord Caspiel's clothes, Kylen left the room after instructing me to keep quiet about what I saw behind the white bloodstained clothes. Black lines spread and almost covered the man's body in front of me. Like blood vessels, but they seemed to pulsate and were black. The peculiarity made my hair stand on end.

"Celine..." I faintly heard Lord Caspiel's voice calling me. My eyes widened as I saw the man in front of me had opened his eyes.

"Lord Caspiel! I'll give you your medicine!"

He held my hand trying to reach for the medicine. With difficulty, he attempted to get up from his bed, and I held his shoulder, guiding him to lie back down.

"I don't want to take that medicine, Celine."

"But my lord, I was instructed by Madam Lysa to give you this medicine once you wake up!"

"I don't want to, it tastes bad." Like a stubborn child. Lord Caspiel said that while covering his mouth. I blinked to make sure if the sight before me was real or not.

Ignoring his refusal, I took a spoonful of medicine and brought it close to Lord Caspiel's pursed lips.

'Is this 25-year-old acting like a child? Did his cognitive function get impaired when he fainted earlier?'

"My lord, please," I pleaded. I heard him sigh before opening his mouth. I didn't know what he expected, but his eyes were tightly shut, as if he was about to drink poison.

The spoon entered his mouth, and I saw his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, indicating that he had swallowed the medicine. His eyes widened, and he turned his head towards me.

"How could...," he uttered softly. I, confused, didn't answer.

"Hey servant, did you put something else in the medicine?"

I was sure the question was directed at me.

"No my lord, is there something wrong with the medicine?"

"It tastes sweet, not bitter like usual."

"Really?"

"When I took it myself, the medicine was so bitter that I couldn't swallow it no matter how hard I tried."

'Ah, maybe that's why he fainted today, because he hasn't taken the medicine for 3 days.'

He held his chin, his gaze fixed on the medicine in my hand, then moved to my face. His eyes stared intensely at me. Lord Caspiel had a very handsome face. Growing up with Renald, I was accustomed to his face even though we had been separated for 8 years. But this man's face was even more handsome than Renald's. And perhaps because he was a nobleman, even though he wasn't in the best condition, he still made me feel small in front of him.

I instinctively lowered my gaze. Before I realized it, his cold hand was on my chin, forcing me to look into his eyes.

"Tell me, Celine. What's the reason you keep avoiding to look at my face? Does my illness make me ugly?"

My eyes met his directly. His gaze felt threatening even though his tone of voice was gentle. The man was taken aback, releasing my chin and turning his face away from me.

"Go, your task is finished."

As I stepped outside, a servant was waiting for me.

"Miss Celine, please follow me. I'll escort you to your room."

Although slightly confused, I still followed the servant. My room was only two rooms away from Caspiel's room. It was the most luxurious room I had ever seen after Caspiel's room. Perhaps because I grew up in a humble environment, this was something new to me.

"Miss Celine, Count Derrick's message is to please use this room well. This is a bell that you can use to call us if you need anything. Tomorrow afternoon after lunch, the Count has ordered you to go with Madam Lysa to the city to buy some clothes, as your current clothes are too worn out to be worn in the Evington County infirmary."

"Wait a moment. Aren't I also a servant here? Why should I be served too?" I asked, confused.

"Count Derrick said that from now on, you're not just a servant anymore, but the personal physician of the Evington family. It's only fitting to be treated accordingly." The servant maintained his calm demeanor.

"If there's nothing else you'd like to ask, I'll leave the room." She continued, then walked out of the room, leaving me alone in my chamber.

The room was so spacious that I felt like I could run around freely. The floor was marble covered with a red carpet with gold stripes. The bed was incredibly soft with a shiny blanket.

"That's the mountain that marks the boundary of Evington territory." I walked over to the window next to the bed and watched the sunset behind the mountain.

"A physician? I didn't even go to college, how could I become a doctor just by spoon-feeding a man some medicine?"

It was quite strange and funny to me, but regardless, I would still be earning 100,000 lunar coins per day. That was my main goal.

As the sky darkened, I woke up from the most comfortable sleep I had ever had. Instead of looking at a digital clock, my gaze was fixed on the classic wall clock showing 2:50 AM. I tied my hair up and hurried to Caspiel's room.

"Good evening, Miss Physician." Josh teased.

"Oh, good evening, Sir Knight!" I curtsied like a lady. He chuckled before opening the door.

"What took you so long to come?" grumbled Caspiel. He had a book in his hand, and silver glasses hung on the bridge of his nose. Truly, I wasn't used to conversing with him.

"My apologies, my lord." He snorted and closed the book in his hand.

"There's something I want to ask you, Miss Physician."

"Please just call me Celine as usual, my lord."

"What do you think you're holding right now?"

"Your medicine, my lord."

"Is that so? Quite strange. If it's indeed medicine, why do I feel weaker after taking it compared to yesterday?"

'Huh?'

"That's impossible, my lord. This is the same medicine you've been taking for 10 years."

"So you're accusing me of lying?"

"No! I'm sorry, it's not like that."

"Help me up, we're going somewhere," commanded Caspiel. I just stood there holding the tray of medicine, thinking we were just going to play doctor and patient and then I'd go back to sleep, as usual.

Tonight, the mansion felt darker and colder than usual, perhaps because autumn in Craenitus was approaching. I followed behind Caspiel, trailing him down to the basement. The room wasn't as dingy as described in some novels. It looked more like a state library filled with books with various colored covers. At the end of the room, there was a black door. Without knocking, Caspiel barged in while pulling my hand.

"Caspiel, how many times do I have to tell you, knock on the door first!" A man with black hair and glasses with a chain hanging on the side of his cheek startled awake. It seemed like he had been sleeping on the couch with a book covering his face. From what I guessed, this room was the private room of a librarian, as it was called in my world.

"Arthur, I brought that woman."

"Can you just listen to me for once?" The man stood up from his seat. Although still annoyed with Caspiel, he chose not to prolong his rant and approached me. He observed me from head to toe. Being so close to him, I could feel his warm breath.

My face heated up.

"I-I'm sorry, you're too close..."

"Oh! I apologize, miss. I think I got carried away." He coughed.

"I'm Arthur Aristotle, a researcher in Evington and also Caspiel's childhood friend. I know he won't introduce me to you, so let me introduce myself. Hehe." The man smiled broadly with dimples appearing on only one of his cheeks.

"I'm Celine Brown." I extended my hand to him, hey isn't that how you're supposed to introduce yourself? I thought so until this man did something beyond my imagination.

He glanced at my outstretched hand briefly before reaching for it and bowed his head to kiss my hand with his eyes closed. I instinctively stepped back in surprise.

"Oh? I guess your way of introducing yourself isn't like this?" he asked innocently.

I heard Caspiel sigh loudly and throw himself onto the sofa.

"Forget that Celine comes from the modern world where that's considered strange to do to someone you've just met, Arthur?"

"I apologize, Miss Celine!" I waved my hand as a signal that I didn't think it warranted an apology. Extending a hand and kissing it was common practice in this era, even considered polite etiquette among nobles.

"Oh, right! I apologize, Miss Celine. You just withdrew your hand but I humbly requested to hold your hand for a moment. There's something I need to check."

I glanced at Caspiel, who was sitting and staring at the two of us with a blank expression, hoping he would at least explain to me what we were doing at 4 in the morning in the basement. My gaze was met with a nod, I took it as an order to give my hand to Arthur. So, I did as he wished.

Arthur held both of my hands. It was the first time I had been touched by another man besides Renald. I felt a bit embarrassed, his large hands felt warm compared to my small and cold hands, unaccustomed to the temperature here. Autumn in Reckon City wasn't as cold as this.

"I've never found this before, not even in the history books of royal magic," he suddenly said.

"I'm sorry, what do you mean?" I asked.

After he opened his eyes and looked at me, they sparkled. Like a child seeing a new toy.

"Your body, miss!"

"What???" My eyes glanced downward, examining my own body. I might be slightly heavier than before, but I didn't think there was anything unusual about my body.

"Let me explain, miss. Please, sit down on the sofa first. There are some biscuits on the table, I think they're still edible."

"All living creatures have mana, and mana is also present in our environment, it's just not visible. Mana cannot be seen unless it has transformed into a natural element." Arthur took a chocolate biscuit with almonds on top and continued his sentence.

"In living creatures, mana usually takes the form of a core located in the center of the body. For example, in humans, it's located in the solar plexus, as it's the center of our body."

"Okay, I understand."

"But you, miss! I couldn't find a mana core in your body. At first, I thought your mana was so weak that it couldn't be detected. But then I sensed fairly strong mana energy, and upon further inspection, you indeed don't have a mana core because your mana is dispersed throughout your entire body! In other words, you are a mana yourself, and your body is created from mana!" he exclaimed hysterically.

Information Corner

Mana: Magical life energy created from fundamental natural forces such as gravity and electromagnetism. Not everyone who possesses mana can use magic, but everyone who uses magic has mana.

Mana core: The center of mana found in every living creature. Mana core can be extracted and will cause the owner to lose their life.