37: The Chief Physician’s Examination
“[It’s a pleasure to meet you… I’m Leticia] von Vanderwaals.”
My sister responded to the Chief Physician with the [Official Line].
However, as usual, it was slightly different; she included her surname.
Following the [Text Log] in my head, I felt like she only gave her first name in [Moonlight Liberium].
However, for a noble, it was proper to give their full name, including the family name.
Perhaps this was a result of her noble education.
Could I finally relax?
After all, this [Event] was just a medical examination.
The encounter with Chief Physician Louis was comparatively subdued compared to the encounter with Prince Konrad, tied to the Ceremony of Recognition, and the encounter with Knight Commander Felix, tied to the riding lesson.
He was a fine young man, and his status was no less impressive than the other two, but he wasn’t the type to make young ladies swoon.
While he sometimes seemed unreliable, he wouldn’t be the Chief Physician of the Eustasia Royal Medical Corps if he truly were.
Besides, judging him by my Vanderwaals family head standards was a mistake.
“[Excuse me, I’ll check your forehead.]”
The Chief Physician reached out and placed his hand on my sister’s forehead to check her temperature.
…Palpation was the standard practice of the nomadic people.
They believed that no matter how much medical technology advanced, and no matter how sophisticated the tools became, healing should be done with human touch.
I understood that.
I understood, but…
“[Please open your mouth and stick out your tongue.]”
Leticia stuck out her tongue as instructed.
…Even I had never seen her make that face.
“[Let me see your wrist.]”
The Chief Physician checked her pulse, just like Ciel had done.
Somehow, this felt… different from when Ciel did it.
“[Now, let me listen to your heart.]”
Chief Physician Louis took a stethoscope out of his black leather medical bag.
It was an expensive item, the kind only the Royal Medical Corps used.
Eustasia’s medical technology was renowned as the best on the continent.
Even those from the nomadic people didn’t shy away from using the latest medical instruments.
I knew that, but…
Louis placed the stethoscope on Leticia’s ample bosom, over her nightgown.
…I trusted him. He was a sincere physician.
He was also the only one of the three [Capture Targets] who wasn’t on bad terms with me.
However, I couldn’t help but think that for my sister’s examination, Vanderwaals’ family physician, a woman who fit the image of a kind, elderly lady, would have been better…
There were female physicians in the Royal Medical Corps, and if it weren’t for the [Event], I wouldn’t have specifically requested the Chief Physician.
Besides, he was a surgeon renowned for his godlike surgical skills; his specialty was surgery.
After listening to her heart for a while, moving the stethoscope slightly, he removed it from my sister’s chest and looked at me, a hint of annoyance in his eyes.
“…Lady Adelheid, this is a medical examination.”
“Yes? …I know that.”
This wasn’t good.
I was acting like a concerned older sister.
――As I watched Leticia obediently undergoing the examination, the [Text Log] describing her inner thoughts played in my mind.
[Having the stethoscope pressed against my chest made me blush. …I hope he thinks it’s because of the fever.
This was the first time a man had touched me like this.
Perhaps noticing my gaze, he… Dr. Louis, smiled gently.]
While it seemed like she was confusing the fluster of a medical examination with romantic excitement, it was part of the plot: a young woman, feeling vulnerable due to her illness, developing a slight crush on the kind, handsome doctor who cared for her.
And then I realized.
…Wait, the Chief Physician wasn’t noticing Leticia’s gaze and smiling.
I tried to figure out what was interfering with the event.
And I immediately realized.
…It was me.
Leticia was looking at me.
While her face was indeed flushed, perhaps due to the fever, she didn’t look particularly embarrassed.
Perhaps it was because I had made her promise to ‘cooperate with the examination.’
Since she wasn’t giving him the ‘I’m embarrassed, but I can’t help but look!’ kind of gaze, it was only natural that he wouldn’t give her anything more than his usual doctor’s smile.
…Wait, was this okay?
The other two seemed to have entered a high-favorability route, despite the deviations.
Leticia was currently dazed from the fever, and her somewhat melancholic, fragile air was… well, it was like seeing a new side of my sister, which made my heart race.
――But I couldn’t see a future where the Chief Physician’s favorability towards her would increase.
Anxious, I looked at Leticia… and my sister, though looking weak, gave me a reassuring smile.
What was I supposed to do when she smiled at me like that, concerned about me?
“[There are no other abnormalities… besides the high fever. Please rest, and you should recover soon. …I will insist on it.]”
He glanced at me, his eyes cold.
He probably found it unacceptable that I, the head of a noble family, had left my sister, even if only a half-sister, in this condition.
He was a sincere man with a strong sense of justice, who prioritized his patients.
And then I realized my fatal mistake.
…He was supposed to persuade me, the villainous sister, to provide a more suitable environment for her recovery, but it was already taken care of.
I’m sorry, Chief Physician Louis.
I apologized inwardly to the third [Capture Target].
I had probably ruined all of his key scenes…
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