Chapter 9

* * *

And so, I headed once more toward the outer wall monastery.

Reflecting on the lesson from a few days ago, I dressed as plainly as possible. No accessories. Not a single companion gold coin.

The monks and Filio, long since accustomed to my sudden visits, greeted me calmly.

Only the officials who had come from the Castle Office tilted their heads in confusion.

“Why would the embodiment of luxury come without any adornments?”

“Do you think she dressed modestly out of consideration for the situation?”

“No way. I heard she dressed more extravagantly than His Majesty even when the Crown Prince, her father, passed away. She is not the type to care about time or place.”

“Maybe she simply did not want to stain an expensive dress.”

All wrong.

The correct answer was that I did not want to become a donation angel today.

I snorted and let their whispers drift out one ear. Behind me, I heard Baron Conte ripping into the officials.

“Someone here wants overtime, do they? You there. You want to work late? Should I give you extra tasks?”

“…”

The moment the baron uttered the magical word overtime, the officials bowed at the speed of light.

I really did bring the right man. He fought so hard against coming, yet once here he did his job spectacularly.

“Madam, welcome!”

I paused mid-step on my way to wash my hands.

Just then Joseph, the trainee monk, spotted me and rushed over with a bright smile.

“You can wash your hands in this basin. I know it is a bother, but please use soap.”

“How dare a mere monk try to get water on my hands. This is an outrageous insult. I must wash out my ears.”

I attached a long list of excuses while pretending to wash my ears and scrubbing thoroughly between my fingers with soap.

Good. That was natural.

Inside, the clinic still looked shabby and chaotic.

The place was more organized than on the first day of the accident, but it was still packed with critical patients.

Beds were lacking, so many lay on thin sheets spread directly across the cold floor.

‘Why is money still so short?’

I had clearly told them to request additional funds directly from Berthold if needed.

I grabbed a passing monk.

“Did Berthold refuse to provide donation funds?”

“N, no. It is just… we could not meet Sir Berthold at all because of our status…”

“Haa.”

I pressed my aching forehead.

Berthold was not the kind of man to be stingy with money in situations like this. So this could only mean the monks were blocked and never even reached him.

Useless fools.

“Then you must have requested funds from the Castle Office. I saw officials outside.”

“Yes. But they said it will take some time before the supplementary budget reaches the upper decision makers…”

You have got to be kidding me.

No one knew the Castle Office’s rotten reality better than I did. Those officials cared far more about internal ranking and faction fights than whether common people lived or died.

It would take four months just for the proposal to reach the upper desks. Four months to approve. Four months for execution. One entire year gone.

My old trauma surfaced.

I held my pounding head and tried my best to stay calm.

‘No. Think only about living comfortably now. Do not start thinking nonsense.’

It was a blessing I brought no gold coins today.

Just then something else caught my eye. A few people who should have been here were nowhere to be seen.

“Where are the physicians?”

“T, that is…”

Joseph could not answer. His eyes darted everywhere.

From that silence alone, I understood everything. A thick vein bulged on my forehead.

“So they dared ignore my order.”

Annoyance piled on annoyance until I could no longer see straight.

I had not told them to work for free. I had prepaid compensation equal to the days they would miss at the inner wall’s clinic.

And they took the money and ran.

‘So they never imagined I would actually return to this filthy, shabby clinic.’

Well, guess what. It happened.

I stormed outside and barked at the soldiers.

“Drag every runaway physician back here and throw them at my feet.”

“…Pardon?”

“I said go. Now!”

“Yes yes, at once. We will move like the wind!”

The instant I lifted a stick, the soldiers scrambled onto their horses and raced away.

Still seething, I tossed the stick aside and returned to the clinic, collapsing onto a stool.

While everyone else nervously watched me, only one person continued treating patients calmly despite the murderous atmosphere.

He wore a golden badge, the symbol of the Medical Academy.

‘So not all of them ran.’

His clothes were so plain that I had mistaken him for a volunteer or caretaker. Looking again, he was a physician from the inner wall.

“You there.”

Interested, I beckoned him over.

Realizing I was calling him, the physician reluctantly stood from the bedside and approached me.

“What is your name.”

“Gilbert.”

“Sir Gilbert, why are you the only one who stayed?”

“I am not a sir. Just Gilbert is fine.”

I paused. The tuition for the Medical Academy was far beyond what an average commoner could afford.

I had assumed he was a noble.

“The reason I stayed will not interest you.”

“I will decide that. Speak.”

“As you can see, I am a commoner.”

Gilbert began speaking calmly.

He had barely made it into the academy after endless hardship, yet the world did not run on skill alone.

Despite graduating first in his class, professors and classmates ostracized him. After opening his clinic, no noble ever visited.

“If I return, only flies will fill my clinic and I will have nothing to do. So this is better.”

His story struck me harder than I expected.

Though he hid it well, the resentment burning in his eyes reminded me of my former self.

He seemed useful.

“Are you serving as a family physician for any noble house?”

“What kind of noble in their right mind would hire me.”

Family physicians were handsomely compensated and gained connections for higher advancement.

But they also needed to flatter nobles constantly.

Someone like Gilbert, who lacked all such social cunning, was not suited for that world.

Satisfied, I nodded.

“Then become my personal physician.”

“I heard Lombard Castle already has physicians…”

“I did not say work for Lombard. I said work for me. I do not enjoy sharing what is mine.”

Baron Conte, quick to sense what I needed, presented a check and a pen.

“Madam, I prepared these in advance.”

I praised his thoroughness and wrote Gilbert’s annual salary on the check.

“How is this. Too little?”

“That is not the issue…”

Becoming the duchess’s personal physician was a position every Lombard doctor dreamed of.

Yes, this generation’s duchess was Elicia, which was admittedly a huge problem, but some believed that because she was ignorant and simple, perhaps pleasing her would be easier.

In short, the most coveted dream job had fallen right into the hands of the man despised by everyone.

And I never skimped on paying for talent. That was a rule I learned while watching the stingy leaders at the Castle Office.

Gilbert stared at the check in a daze.

“I like principled lunatics like you. And since you will be my physician, I want you to take on one more task.”

At my signal, Baron Conte fluttered toward us like a butterfly and handed me another check.

Happily, I wrote down a hefty sum.

“Stay here until the situation is resolved. Treat the patients and help establish proper structure. Consider this advance payment.”

“But Madam. To pay such a large amount just for treating a few outer wall patients…”

Baron Conte, who had peeked at the amount, nearly jumped out of his skin.

I twisted my lips into a smile.

“Are you paying him? Should I let you?”

“N, no. I meant your generosity is admirable.”

The baron immediately changed his tone.

I then addressed Gilbert, still stunned.

“I reward and punish clearly. For whatever reason, you were the only one who obeyed my command. That counts as loyalty. You deserve compensation.”

“…Then I accept the offer. I will serve as your physician.”

“M, Madam. Please wait a moment!”

The clinic entrance suddenly burst into chaos.

The runaway physicians, having heard the situation, rushed inside in a panic.

“Gilbert is of low birth and his medical skills are lacking. His temperament is naturally rude and he is unfit to treat someone as noble as Madam!”