IMTMIA 6

Chapter 6

An Opportunity to Prove Her Skill

Translator: Rae

***

When she stepped into the commander’s office, Jude was leaning back deeply in his chair with his eyes closed.

"Are you asleep?”
 

“No.”

He answered quietly, then opened his eyes and turned his head.

His gaze passed Felix and lingered briefly on Asili before he straightened up from where he had been leaning.

“Do you still have something to say?”

“I heard you needed treatment.”

His sharp eyes narrowed immediately at Felix.

“I brought her. We’re in the middle of a war. So, if it festers and turns severe, who’s going to deal with the consequences?”

“...”

Despite Jude’s displeased glare, Felix smiled brightly as usual and held his ground. He casually set the medical bag he had been carrying onto the desk and gently nudged Asili forward.

“Then, Doctor Asili, please take good care of him.”

“Ah—yes.”

 

Her hesitation lasted only a moment before Asili hurried forward and opened her medical bag. Where was he injured? How badly? Her mind raced.

Since she hadn’t noticed anything even up close, perhaps it wasn’t a serious wound, but when it came to Jude, she couldn’t be sure.

Back then, every word he spoke, every expression, every movement had consumed her attention, so she hadn’t had the capacity to notice anything else.

“Please show me where you’re hurt.”

She quickly put on her gloves and looked up—but Jude remained seated just as he was.

“I’ll decline. It’s not serious enough to require treatment.”

“That’s for me, as the doctor, to decide.”

“...”

The gaze he had been ignoring shifted back to her.

His displeased blue eyes met her steady green ones in silence.

“You said you expected something from my skills. This is your chance to verify them.”

“…Ah. That’s right.”

You act like you want to run away at any moment, yet you speak boldly. Her eyes and voice were firm—but her gloved hands trembled ever so slightly.

“If you insist, then gladly.”

Jude removed his uniform jacket.

The white shirt underneath was stained a vivid red with blood across half of it.

Good Lord! Felix let out a shocked gasp.

“You endured it until it got like this? There’s a limit to being careless.”

“Quiet.”

Asili froze at the sight of his blood-soaked torso.

Even when they had spoken at such close distance earlier, he had been in that condition—and yet, she hadn’t noticed despite being a doctor. Why hadn’t she noticed?

No matter who the patient was, she should never forget to look at them as a doctor. And yet her personal emotions had clouded her judgment. That was a failure as a doctor.

"What are you doing?”

“Ah, my apologies.”

Jude’s voice snapped her back to reality, and Asili quickly approached him. Behind the layers of opened, bloodstained shirt, she saw a wound stretching across his chest and side.

Fortunately, despite the amount of blood, the wound wasn’t deep.

“Where were you injured?”

“Where was it…? The collapsed building behind the hospital, I think.”

“Why were you wandering around alone in the middle of the night?”

"Strictly speaking, I wasn't alone.”

“What? Then with who?”

“What would you do with that information?”

Annoyed, Jude shot back curtly. Felix grumbled, but Jude ignored him.

“...”

Listening to their exchange, Asili couldn’t bring herself to react at all.

Because the one who had been with him in that building was herself. He must have been injured while protecting her. And yet, as a doctor, who stood right beside him, she hadn’t even noticed.

For a moment, guilt toward him and frustration toward herself threatened to overwhelm her, but Asili shook her head. The only thing she could do now was treat him to the best of her ability.

She wiped away the dried, clotted blood and carefully examined the wound, tracing its shape and depth.

Then, suddenly, she paused upon noticing an old scar there. Her long lashes lowered slowly as she stared at it.

“It’s an old injury. A doctor in a mountain village and his granddaughter treated it. They were quite skilled.”

“...”

“It was deep and painful, but it healed well. Though the scar didn’t fade very nicely.”

Asili opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again, picking up forceps and suture thread instead. His steady gaze made her hands tremble, and she dropped the thread once or twice—but succeeded on the third try.

She steadied her breathing. She was a doctor. She was treating a patient. Repeating that to herself, the trembling subsided, and her composure returned.

“It would be best to let it heal naturally, but since you won’t be able to rest properly, I’ll stitch it up.”

“What—ugh.”

Before he could question her, a sharp pain shot through him, and Jude frowned.

She could feel his gaze from above, but Asili paid it no mind and began stitching the wound.

"It's going to sting.”

“...”

Shouldn’t she have said that beforehand, instead of immediately bringing out the needle and thread?

Ignoring his incredulous look, Asili worked quickly with the forceps.

She had no choice. Local anesthetics weren’t very effective, so the best option was to finish as quickly as possible, even if it hurt.

“All done.”

Shortly after, Asili set down the forceps and thread.

As she wrapped the wound with a bandage, she didn’t forget to inform him of the precautions he needed to follow.

“Be careful not to let it get wet. I’ll remove the stitches once it heals—within a week should be enough.”

While she spoke, Jude fastened his shirt buttons.

He wanted to change out of the bloodstained shirt immediately, but with a meeting scheduled right away, it wasn’t possible.

“Anywhere else that’s bothering you?”

“No.”

“You should at least change your shirt…”

“That’s not something you need to concern yourself with.”

That may be true, but…

His curt dismissal stung a little, but there was nothing she could do.

The treatment was over, and that was as far as her role extended. Between him—the Grand Duke and commander—and herself lay a gap as wide as their respective stations.

“Anything else?”

Jude’s gaze turned toward Asili. She stood there absentmindedly, eyes lowered, not even having tidied up the medical tools and supplies she had taken out.

“Hm? No, nothing.”

“Then you may go.”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

She finally began stuffing bandages, gauze, and scissors into her medical bag in a haste, but her hand slipped.

The items clattered to the floor in disarray. Startled for a moment, Asili let out a small sigh.

If only she had acted as she did with other patients. Instead, she had tensed up, panicked, and embarrassed herself all on her own. She couldn’t bear how foolish she felt.

“Be more careful.”

“I’m sorry. Ah, I’ll handle it.”

Felix crouched down beside her to help, but Asili firmly refused. She hastily shoved the scattered tools back into her medical bag, slung the strap over her shoulder, and stood up.

“Then I’ll be going.”

“Good work, Doctor.”

As Jude slipped his uniform jacket back on and moved toward the desk, Felix escorted Asili out of the office.

“Take care, Doctor Asili. I’d see you off, but I’ve got to prepare for the meeting—sorry.”

“It’s alright. Thank you.”

With a slight bow, Asili adjusted her bag strap. Through the narrowing gap of the closing door, Jude—already having withdrawn his gaze—was absorbed in reviewing documents, gradually disappearing from view.

It was only a few steps away, a door not even locked—yet the distance to him felt impossibly vast.

*** 

When Felix returned after seeing Asili off, Jude was holding a document, shifting only his upper body slightly from side to side. It seemed the bandage wrapped around his torso was bothering him.

“Stop moving so much. You’ll reopen the wound.”

“...”

Felix approached as Jude shot him a brief glare.

He placed the meeting materials he had prepared in front of Jude and casually stood beside him.

"What is it?”
 

That annoyingly bright smile. He clearly had something to say, and Jude had a feeling it wouldn’t sit well.

As expected, Jude’s intuition wasn’t wrong.

“Doctor Asili, I mean. Seems she’s quite famous among the soldiers—‘the lily of the battlefield,’ ‘the goddess in white,’ and all that.”

“Get to the point.”

Usually, someone of Jude’s rank would be treated by the head of medical staff, yet Felix had specifically brought Asili.

He’d already felt anxious when Felix had rambled about her looking familiar.

“It’s her, isn’t it?”

***

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