WIFA Ch 1

A few months ago.

“Ugh. What the…”

Melissa slowly blinked her eyes.

She came to her senses and wiggled her fingers and toes.

Fortunately, her limbs seemed fine.

However, her head was dizzy from the impact of hitting the ground.

Melissa managed to get up, supporting herself on the ground, and looked around.

“What happened?”

She, a volunteer military doctor, had been riding in a transport vehicle carrying medical supplies just moments ago.

Something had collided heavily, followed by an explosion, causing the vehicle to lurch violently.

There was a second impact, and as the vehicle slid again in the opposite direction, Melissa, who was sitting at the very edge, was thrown out.

“Is everyone alright?”

Judging by the shouts coming from not far away, the transport vehicle was nearby.

Thinking she had to rejoin them quickly, Melissa carefully moved her body.

Her legs were weak, causing her to stumble, but she gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand firm.

Unable to determine the exact direction, Melissa slowly walked, relying on the sounds coming from afar.

Grrrr…

It was an animal sound she had never heard before.

Melissa shuddered at the chilling sound that resonated deeply in her ears.

A large shadow could be seen approaching through the smoke caused by the explosion.

Melissa hesitantly stepped back.

Finally, the large something emerged from the smoke.

Golden eyes gleamed from the head of the dark creature, and saliva dripped from its sharp teeth.

“Is this… a monster?”

As Melissa stumbled backward in surprise, her back hit a tree.

The monster was much more menacing and terrifying than the pictures she had seen in the newspapers.

Even more chilling was the black energy emanating from its entire body.

Her legs gave way, and she collapsed on the spot. With trembling hands, she fumbled at her waist.

“Oh.”

There had been a pistol provided for self-defense, but the holster was empty.

It must have fallen out when she was thrown from the vehicle due to the impact of the explosion.

Melissa looked at the monster approaching again with a panicked expression.

“D-Don’t come any closer.”

Growl.

Melissa tried to move back somehow, but the tree blocked her path, making it impossible.

Her feet, instinctively trying to flee, scraped uselessly at the ground.

Meanwhile, the monster steadily closed the distance between them.

Leisurely, as if toying with its captured prey.

Was this how she was going to die?

On her first day as a military doctor, would she become monster food without doing anything?

Just as she bit her lip in frustration, the monster kicked off the ground powerfully with its hind legs, preparing to pounce.

“Ahhh!!”

Screaming, Melissa covered her face with both arms and squeezed her eyes shut.

“…?”

But nothing happened.

The moment she cautiously opened her eyes, there was a flash, and the monster was split in two right before her eyes.

Thud. Thump.

Hot, black blood splattered onto Melissa’s face and body.

Melissa froze, unable to even scream.

Hot, sticky blood trickled down from her hair onto her face.

She never thought she would experience this feeling of death again.

Melissa’s vision began to blur.

Between the splitting carcass of the monster, a human-shaped silhouette shimmered like black smoke.

The moment her eyes met something blue, shining coldly within, Melissa’s consciousness snapped.

₊˚🦢✩

When Melissa opened her eyes, she saw the ground.

‘What? Why am I…’

In her hazy consciousness, Melissa slowly retraced her memories.

After graduating from medical school and deciding on her career path, she had bravely applied to become a military doctor for the Yellow Knights, a position that offered a high salary and hefty hazard pay.

High risk, high return.

They specialize in monster subjugation, so it’s extremely dangerous, hence the high compensation.

Professor Reynolds, the dean of the medical school and her mentor, had tried to dissuade her, saying those very words, but Melissa hadn’t listened.

Instead, she had boasted that she would make a lot of money quickly and return.

The transport vehicle, which she had boarded, was nearing the Yellow Knights’ encampment when a massive impact and explosion sent her flying.

She had been trying to rejoin the others when she encountered the monster…

“Aaaaagh!”

Despite her sudden scream, the movement didn’t stop.

Looking up, she saw a broad back clad in a black uniform.

“Excuse me.”

No response.

Melissa struggled, placing her hands on the back of the man carrying her, and tried to raise her upper body.

However, her arms were weak, and she quickly slid back down.

A moment later, in her inverted view, she saw a paved road and a line of legs in uniform trousers. It seemed they had arrived at the Knights’ headquarters.

“Excuse me? You can put me down now…”

She spoke softly, but again, there was no response.

Today was her first day as a military doctor. She wanted to walk in on her own two feet, but this man, whether he was helping her or not, was completely unresponsive.

She whispered, and saw several pairs of legs belonging to people who seemed to be showing interest, approaching and then retreating.

Embarrassed, Melissa eventually went limp, feigning unconsciousness, and entrusted herself to the man. She just hoped they would arrive quickly.

“Ouch.”

Entering the building, the man tossed Melissa carelessly onto a makeshift cot lying haphazardly in the hallway.

A sharp pain shot through her body, already aching from being rolled on the ground.

How could anyone treat a patient like this?

Even soldiers in the field receive basic first aid training to avoid the risk of secondary injuries.

“What are you…!”

“You’re fine.”

He casually brushed back his messy black hair and patted the shoulder and arm that had carried Melissa, as if something unpleasant had gotten on him.

After straightening his uniform, the man finally turned his gaze towards Melissa.

Looking into his icy blue eyes, Melissa realized they were the same blue she had seen between the splitting monster.

“Ah, earlier…”

However, the man glanced outside, frowned, and walked towards the entrance.

Flustered, Melissa shouted at his retreating back.

“Hey!”

Without any response, the man disappeared from Melissa’s view.

A worn red silk ribbon, incongruously attached to the end of the scabbard at his waist, swayed gently.

“What the…”

“Dr. Melissa!”

“Huh?”

Turning around at the familiar voice, she saw Mora, the nurse assigned to her today, running towards her with tears in her eyes.

“Mora.”

“Thank goodness. I was so worried…”

Mora, who had been running as if to embrace her, stopped abruptly.

Her tearful face, full of relief, changed strangely.

“What’s with that expression, Mora?”

“Doctor, that black stuff covering you from head to toe, what is that?”

“Huh?”

Melissa ran a hand through her hair.

Something sticky and black came off on her fingertips.

₊˚🦢✩

“This is really unlucky, from day one.”

Emerging from the medical ward’s shower room, Melissa muttered as she dried her hair with a towel.

The black monster blood she had been covered in hadn’t been difficult to wash off.

But it was a matter of principle. The lingering unease, as if it hadn’t been washed off no matter how many times she scrubbed.

Moreover, there was something else that bothered her even more.

Even if it was monster blood, she was a doctor, and she had fainted at the sight of blood.

“How embarrassing.”

Sighing, Melissa picked up the bag Mora had brought and entered the locker room.

Opening the locker with her name on it, she quickly put the contents of her bag inside.

With a towel on her head, Melissa pulled out a white shirt and black trousers and put them on.

She put on her boots and tightened the laces firmly.

“Hmm, this isn’t bad.”

Melissa muttered as she clenched and unclenched her fists. Thanks to the hot shower, her hands, which had been trembling from the shock, had calmed down.

Looking in the mirror attached to the locker door, she tied her long, pale platinum blonde hair into a single ponytail.

After finishing getting ready, Melissa gazed intently at the mirror.

The woman reflected in the mirror had become familiar enough to be called ‘me.’

“Melissa Blackwell… huh.”

In the past, after losing consciousness in the explosion, she had woken up in a place called the Sedes Empire, a country she had never heard of, in the Blackwell County estate.

Melissa let out a self-deprecating chuckle.

She had awakened as a wealthy noble lady and started a new life, but it

Above all, the black energy, which seemed like a materialized form of death, instilled an indescribable fear.

“It’s too late for regrets now, huh?”

With a sigh, she had just put on her white coat when the outside became noisy.

Melissa, her face tense, immediately ran out of the locker room.

₊˚🦢✩

“You’ve arrived, Duke.”

Viscount Ferris greeted the black-haired man entering the medical ward.

Alex Norton.

The Commander of the Yellow Knights and the Empire’s only Duke, he looked remarkably unscathed considering he had just finished a battle.

“What’s the situation?”

“We have a lot of patients, as expected. However, new medical staff and supplies arrived today, so although it will be tight, we should be able to manage.”

Alex slowly looked around the emergency room.

His injured subordinates and the medical staff bustling around, trying to save them.

It was always like this after a battle. This chaotic intensity was the final battlefield that determined life and death.

Alex’s gaze stopped at one point.

“Who is that woman?”

“That’s Dr. Melissa Blackwell. She arrived today. She’s a military doctor.”

“Ah, a military doctor.”

He was seeing her properly for the first time, as she had been covered in the black blood of monsters before.

According to the profile he received this morning, she was the daughter of an Earl, and she certainly looked the part.

Platinum blonde hair, red eyes, a small, white face, and a slender frame.

However, her attire was unusual.

She wore a white shirt that men would typically wear, pants modified from a military uniform, and combat boots.

Viscount Ferris, noticing Alex’s gaze, carefully opened his mouth.

“Procedurally, she should have reported to you before being deployed, but the situation was too urgent.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Replying indifferently, Alex continued to watch Melissa.

She was struggling to restrain a thrashing patient with the help of two nurses, sweating profusely as they couldn’t get him under control.

They say that people have superhuman strength at the moment of death, and even though the patient was small, he seemed difficult to subdue.

Should he help, or send a subordinate?

While Alex was pondering, the patient suddenly grabbed Melissa’s hair, which she had tied back.

“Doctor!”

“Sir, let go of this!”

As if it were a lifeline, the patient clung to Melissa’s hair.

A trolley, bumped by Melissa’s struggling body, clattered metallically against a bed.

Compared to the screaming nurses, Melissa was relatively calm.

“Tsk.”

Just as Alex was about to head over, Melissa moved faster.

While being dragged, she fumbled for scissors on a tray and abruptly chopped off a large section of her long hair.

“Doctor!”

The nurses’ screams grew louder.

The patient’s arm, which had been gripping her hair, fell away, and Melissa took a syringe from a nurse and injected it into the patient’s arm.

Her haphazardly chopped blonde hair swayed chaotically with her movements.

“Is the operating room ready?”

“Yes, yes.”

“Let’s move him right away. I’ll take him.”

The patient, now calmed by the sedative, was transferred to a wheeled stretcher.

Melissa, along with the nurses, pushed the stretcher towards the operating room.

“Hmm.”

Alex, a step too late, stared at the clump of Melissa’s hair that lay on the floor. Viscount Ferris approached him.

“After the situation is under control, I will go and greet Dr. Melissa and the other medical staff dispatched today.”

“There’s no need for that, she seems busy enough as it is.”

“Yes?”

Despite Viscount Ferris’s question, Alex turned around.

With the sudden movement, a red silk ribbon, coming loose from his scabbard, wrapped around his leg.

He pulled the ribbon, and, as it was loose, it easily came undone from the scabbard.

The ribbon, limp in his hand, was worn and faded in places.

Alex tied the old ribbon back onto his scabbard and walked away.

₊˚🦢✩

“……”

Viscount Ferris, the head of the medical ward, silently stared at the new military doctor standing before him.

Yesterday, her first day, she had almost been attacked by a monster, and despite that, she had endured an excessive workload, so praise was due.

Due, but the new military doctor looked a mess.

“Dr. Blackwell. I’m just asking out of concern, but did something happen overnight?”

“Nothing happened.”

“Hmm.”

Viscount Ferris closed his mouth.

Melissa’s hair was still unevenly chopped from yesterday, and her eyes were puffy.

Although her doctor’s coat was covering it, her clothes were also crumpled, as if she had fallen asleep without changing.

“I’m sorry to ask this so soon after your arrival, but we are critically short-staffed. Would you be able to take the on-call shift today?”

Judging by Melissa’s appearance, she didn’t seem to be in good shape.

However, they were short-staffed, and there was no viable alternative to Melissa, who was capable of handling emergency surgeries.

So, Viscount Ferris could only ask tentatively, his face full of apology.

“Yes, that’s fine.”

There was no way a newly appointed military doctor could refuse a ‘request’ from the head of the medical staff.

Melissa politely smiled and readily agreed, doing her best to appear obliging.

₊˚🦢✩

“Wow, this is inhumane, isn’t it? Overworking me the moment I arrive.”

Melissa grumbled as she pulled down her mask.

It was already dark outside when she emerged from her last surgery.

With a tired face, Melissa casually took off her surgical cap and ran her hand through her hair.

She paused, noticing that the feeling of her hair slipping through her fingers ended sooner than it used to.

She didn’t mind having chopped it off so drastically, but she hadn’t realized it would take so long to even it out.

‘Will I be able to fix it tomorrow?’

Awkwardly smoothing down her hair, Melissa headed to the first-floor station.

The first-floor station served as both the entrance to the medical ward and the emergency room. The patients who had been brought in today had either been treated and returned to their units or transferred to inpatient rooms, leaving the area quiet.

“Oh, Nurse Carol. Haven’t you gone up to the second floor yet?”

Melissa approached Carol, who was organizing charts at the station.

Carol, a veteran military nurse, had various connections to the Knights, as her husband was a soldier in the Yellow Knights.

“I was just about to go up. Did the surgery go well?”

“For now. We’ll have to see how it progresses.”

Melissa sank wearily into a chair inside the station.

Carol’s gaze, as she gathered the charts, fell upon Melissa’s hair.

“You still haven’t fixed your hair.”

“That’s how it is.”

Melissa touched her hair and laughed awkwardly.

Carol, smiling sympathetically, stood up with the stacked charts.

“I’ll go up first, so rest a bit before you come. There shouldn’t be anything until rounds.”

“I will, thank you.”

It was Carol’s way of showing consideration for Melissa, who was on call duty from her second day of deployment.

After Carol left, Melissa, now alone, leaned back deeply in the chair and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Compared to the chaos a few hours ago, it was almost eerily quiet.

“Ouch.”

As the tension eased, her whole body began to ache.

Only then did she remember that she hadn’t had time to examine the bruises she had sustained yesterday.

“Should I at least apply some ointment?”

With a groan, Melissa stood up.

She searched the drawers but couldn’t find the ointment she needed, so she headed to the medicine storage room.

As she entered the corridor, she heard a crashing sound.

Melissa stopped dead in her tracks.

The crashing was followed by a series of clattering sounds.

Melissa pricked up her ears and crept towards the source of the noise.

‘The medicine storage room?’

Stopping in front of the storage room, she carefully pressed her ear against the door.

Creak-

She heard the sound of a drawer opening.

‘Could it be a thief? Or someone on duty?’

After some thought, Melissa concluded it must be someone on duty.

A thief wouldn’t dare enter such a dangerous place where monsters roamed, and only medical personnel had the key to the storage room.

Relieved, Melissa opened the door to the medicine storage room.

In the dim light, a moving dark figure suddenly pushed Melissa against the wall and covered her mouth. She had no time to react defensively.

“Mmm!”

Startled, Melissa’s eyes widened as she stared at the man restraining her.

A familiar blue.

The cold, piercing blue eyes she had seen between the parting monsters.

It was him.

“Mmm! Mmm! Mmph! (What are you doing?)”

“I’ll let you go if you promise not to scream.”

Having said it, Alex couldn’t help but chuckle at how undeniably suspicious he sounded.

However, it couldn’t be helped.

He had his reasons for sneaking in, and he didn’t want to cause a commotion.

“Well?”

When Melissa nodded, Alex finally removed his hand and stepped back.

“What are you doing here? Are you a thief?”

“I need something.”

“Taking things without permission when you’re not medical staff is against regulations.”

“I’m the Duke…”

“I don’t care if you’re the Duke or the Duke’s grandfather, rules are rules.”

“……”

“Anyway, stay right there. I’ll see what’s missing.”

“What?”

He had indeed snuck in and been caught rummaging, but to be treated like a common thief was absurd.

Alex was dumbfounded.

Keeping her eyes fixed on him, Melissa turned on the lights.

Suddenly bathed in light, both Alex and Melissa squinted.

“Are you hurt?”

Melissa, finally getting a good look at Alex’s condition, was shocked.

Alex’s white shirt was soaked in blood. His complexion was pale, and beads of cold sweat dotted his forehead.

“Let me see.”

“Don’t touch me.”

As Melissa approached and reached out her hand, Alex immediately recoiled.

Melissa’s hand hovered awkwardly in the air, taken aback by his sudden display of hostility.

After a moment of awkward silence, Alex was the first to move.

“Get some treatment.”

Melissa caught him as he tried to brush past her.

“You’re hurt, badly. You’re drenched in cold sweat.”

Alex hesitated, then turned around.

“I’m a doctor. I’m quite skilled, so you won’t regret trusting me.”

“I don’t trust doctors.”

“Even a doctor trying to repay a life debt?”

“Is there a difference?”

“There is. I’ll do my best for my benefactor, no matter what.”

Melissa smiled brightly at her decidedly uncooperative ‘benefactor.’

Then she gathered antiseptic, gauze, hemostatic agents, and other supplies, and held them up for Alex to see.

“The doctor is ready, now we just need the patient to be.”

“……”

Assessing his condition, Alex silently sat down on the table Melissa indicated.

Melissa expertly arranged the supplies on the table.

“Take it off.”

“……”

“Should I take it off for you?”

“No.”

Alex slowly began to unbutton his shirt.

‘He must really hate this, why is he so slow?’

She wanted to rip his shirt off, but she had a feeling this man would bolt if she did.

“Oh…”

Melissa was speechless when his upper body was finally revealed.

The wound that needed immediate treatment was on his lower right abdomen. The wound itself was likely to leave a scar, but his torso was already covered in scars of varying sizes.

Had this young man spent his whole life on the front lines? It was a wonder he was still alive.

Well, considering he’d sliced a monster in half with a single stroke, if she were the Duke, she’d make full use of him too.

‘But this is a bit…’

Melissa carefully examined a few scars that bothered her. His muscles twitched with every touch, as if spasming.

“Aren’t you going to treat it?”

Alex grumbled impatiently, uncomfortable with Melissa just touching him.

“I was checking if the other areas were alright. Fortunately, there’s nothing that needs immediate attention.”

Smiling nonchalantly, Melissa picked up some cotton with tweezers and dipped it in antiseptic. The smell of antiseptic filled the small space.

“Ugh.”

It made her nauseous, perhaps because it had been a while since she’d smelled it. This was why she avoided the medical ward whenever possible.

“Does it hurt? I’ll be quick.”

Seeing Alex wince, Melissa’s hands moved faster as she disinfected the wound.

“You should have come sooner. It would have hurt less. There are always people who insist they’re fine, even though they’re not doctors, and then let it fester.”

Melissa didn’t miss the opportunity to nag.

‘So noisy.’

Melissa’s words became a strange, muffled mumble in Alex’s head.

‘I’m in worse shape than usual…’

His head felt heavy, and Alex’s chin gradually dropped towards his chest.

It couldn’t be helped.

It was the first time the gate hadn’t closed for such a long period, and the number of monsters to deal with had exploded.

As both commander and Sword Master, Alex couldn’t leave the battlefield, so he had no choice but to push himself.

“Excuse me.”

Concerned by his silence, Melissa asked cautiously, “Are you alright?”

Melissa was taken aback when he slowly looked up, his eyes meeting hers. The sharp, piercing blue eyes that had shone between the parting monsters were now hazy and unfocused.

“Look at me.”

Sensing something was wrong, Melissa examined Alex’s face. He was paler than before, and covered in cold sweat.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Alex’s gaze fell upon the ‘Melissa Blackwell’ embroidered on her white coat.

In his blurring consciousness, Melissa’s name became distorted.

“Just finish the treatment.”

The mingled stench of antiseptic and blood was so nauseating that his mouth felt dry.

Concerned by his condition, Melissa placed her hand on Alex’s forehead.

“Thermometer, where’s the thermometer?”

Alarmed by the intense heat, Melissa tried to move, but Alex grabbed her arm. His grip was so tight that Melissa involuntarily winced.

“Do you know you have a high fever?”

“……”

He didn’t respond, only blinked slowly. Moreover, he seemed to have no intention of releasing her arm, even though the increasing pressure was becoming painful.

“It’s okay.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Melissa gently took hold of his hand.

“Ha…”

Strangely, as her hand touched him, his clouded consciousness seemed to clear slightly.

“Ah.”

As his mind regained some clarity, Alex abruptly released Melissa’s hand as if he’d been burned.

“I have to go back.”

“Where are you going? I’ve only disinfected the wound.”

Without replying, Alex picked up his discarded shirt, slipped his arm into the sleeve, and stood up.

“Hey!”

Melissa quickly grabbed him. His bare skin felt burning hot to the touch.

“I told you not to touch me.”

“You have a very high fever!”

“I know. That’s why I’m going back.”

Alex swayed as he reached for the doorknob.

He didn’t fall because Melissa had wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.

Melissa’s nagging continued behind him, stretching out like an echo in the fog.

His vision narrowed, and a high-pitched ringing filled his ears.

Anticipating what was about to happen, Alex managed to speak before losing consciousness.

“Don’t tell anyone.”

“What? Whoa!”

Melissa collapsed to the floor, still clinging to Alex. Because she had instinctively held on to protect his wound, she ended up completely underneath him.

“Hey, get off!”

She struggled, but he didn’t budge. Alex seemed to have lost consciousness.

“Maybe I’m really not suited for this place.”

Sighing deeply, Melissa wriggled out from under Alex.

“What kind of bravado made you hold on for so long?”

Seeing him unconscious made her feel both exasperated and annoyed.

“First, I need to move him to a ward… Ugh, seriously.”

His last words before collapsing – “Don’t tell anyone” – bothered her. He had sounded quite desperate, so perhaps it would be troublesome if others found out.

After a moment of hesitation, Melissa ran out of the storage room.

She returned with a pillow, blanket, and sheet from an emergency room bed. She laid the sheet and blanket on the floor and, with considerable effort, dragged Alex onto them.

“First, let’s finish with the wound…”

Melissa retrieved the tray she had left on the table.

She carefully stitched the wound closed, minimizing the potential scarring.

“Just what kind of life have you lived?”

She didn’t know his story, but she could understand why a man with such scars might have a difficult personality.

Melissa carefully covered Alex with the blanket and stood up.

The wound was treated, so now it was time to check for a fever.

Melissa returned to the station and grabbed a thermometer and antipyretics.

“I need to figure out why he has a fever. It doesn’t seem like an infection, but I should run some tests just in case… sigh.”

Melissa sighed deeply as she walked back to the warehouse.

“He told me not to tell anyone. What is it, really? If it wasn’t for the fact that he saved me…”

Grumbling, she opened the warehouse door. Fortunately, Alex was lying quietly.

“What’s this?”

From his motionless body, the same black energy that the monster emitted was swirling.

₊˚🦢✩

The next morning, Melissa woke up inside the medical supply warehouse. On top of the blanket she had used to cover Alex, no less.

She blinked her sleepy eyes, trying to grasp the situation. Then, she abruptly sat up.

“That jerk! I treated him and he took off without a word?”

Melissa hurriedly got up and headed to the station.

“Nurse Carol!”

“Oh my, Nurse Melissa! Where were you all night? I was worried because I couldn’t find you…”

“Have you seen a tall man with black hair? A man with bright blue eyes! Extremely handsome!”

“Excuse me?”

Carol just blinked, clueless.

“Why? Why are you looking for him?”

“Well, it’s just that…”

Only then did Alex’s words, telling her not to tell anyone, come back to her.

Seeing Melissa awkwardly avoiding the question, Carol smiled meaningfully.

“Why are you so urgently looking for a tall, handsome man with black hair and beautiful blue eyes this early in the morning?”

“Um, well, we were together, and he disappeared without saying anything…”

“Oh my! You were together all night with someone you didn’t even know?”

“Huh?”

It didn’t take long for Melissa to understand Carol’s implication. She blushed furiously and protested.

“No, that’s not it! It wasn’t like that…!”

To the flustered Melissa, Carol chuckled softly.

“I was just joking. There’s no way he would do that.”

“Is he famous enough for you to recognize him so easily?”

“Of course.”

Carol smiled brightly and asserted,

“He’s Duke Alex Norton.”

“…Who?”

“The only person who fits the description you gave is Duke Alex Norton.”

“Huh…”

Melissa’s face went blank.

Wait, what kind of Duke sneaks around without getting treatment, rummages through a medical supply warehouse, and tells people not to mention he’s sick?

And what about me? I treated him like a thief and nagged him without knowing he was a Duke!

“I’m doomed…”

A strong sense of foreboding washed over her, a feeling that perhaps she wasn’t meant to be here.

₊˚🦢✩

A few days later.

Carol hurriedly informed Melissa, who had just returned from making her rounds.

“The Duke is looking for me?”

“Yes, just now. I think you should go see him quickly.”

Carol urged her excitedly, but Melissa was indifferent.

“It’s probably nothing. It must be about the wound I stitched up last time.”

“The Duke received treatment from you?”

“Yes. I happened to find him. As a doctor, I couldn’t just leave him.”

“Wow.”

It was rare for Alex Norton to be injured, but it was even rarer for him to show it to anyone.

Carol grinned and grabbed Melissa’s arm.

“Let’s go together.”

“Where?”

A look of apprehension flickered across Melissa’s face as she looked at Carol questioningly.

“Where else? The Duke’s office.”

“Wait, hold on.”

Carol dragged the hesitant Melissa along.

Of course, Melissa knew. In the workplace, if a superior requests your presence and you are absent, it’s natural for them to inquire about the reason.

However, since she had been quite rough with him when she didn’t know his identity, Melissa felt awkward facing him.

But as a doctor, she was genuinely curious about the patient’s condition: whether the wound was healing properly, whether the fever had subsided, and how he had been feeling since then.

“I’ll go. I’ll go on my own two feet, so let me go, Nurse Carol.”

Melissa sighed as if she had given in to Carol’s insistence.

Only then did Carol release Melissa’s arm.

“But you really didn’t recognize the Duke?”

“No. Did you think someone of his stature would be wandering around like that?”

“Well, I suppose. But he does it quite often.”

“What? What kind of leader walks around without an escort? What if something happens?”

“He’s a Swordmaster, you know?”

“…”

Melissa had witnessed firsthand the Swordmaster’s skill in cleaving a monster in two with a single stroke.

Still, when he was sick, he was just like an ordinary person.

The only difference was that he didn’t show any signs of pain.

‘But is that really necessary?’

Even a Swordmaster is human. Why not get treatment and tell someone when he’s in that condition?

Melissa suddenly wondered if there was a reason for him to go to such lengths.

As they reached Alex’s office, his adjutant recognized Carol and stood up from his seat.

“Is the Duke inside?”

“Yes. Deputy Commander Osern is inside, but he should be out soon.”

“Please let him know. Oh, only Nurse Melissa Blackwell will be going in.”

“Huh?”

Melissa reflexively accepted the first-aid kit Carol handed her.

“Aren’t you coming in?”

“No. He only asked for you.”

“Then why did we come all the way here…?”

“To guide you. You haven’t been here long.”

“…”

Melissa hugged the first-aid kit tightly, feeling uneasy about Carol’s beaming smile.

‘No, I didn’t do anything wrong, right?’

I didn’t know his identity, and he didn’t reveal it either. Even if I was rude, it’s not my fault, is it?

That’s right. What could I have done if I didn’t know?

Thus, Melissa reassured herself inwardly and suppressed her nervousness.