Chapter 6
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Fake Lady, Real Lady. (5)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A pair of arms as white and beautiful as marble sculptures.
The only difference between those arms and marble was the sense of softness alone. They had to be incredibly soft. You could tell just from looking.
Someone might snidely remark that you can't know long from short without comparing, but seeing that white arm glisten under the light made it certain. It was definitely soft.
"...Are you really sure about this?"
After admiring the arm for a moment, that was all I could say in response.
She was the one entrusting her arm, yet I seemed to be the more tense one. She nodded readily.
"Half of it is wanting to verify if it's really that kind of medicine."
"And the other half?"
"Another half of a half wanting to check if you're a doctor worthy of entrusting Dia to. The rest is a secret."
I see.
I gave a short reply and pulled out a syringe and cotton from the bag at my feet.
While deftly going through the process of replacing the needle and wiping it with cotton, I didn't forget to set the drug's stats either.
Manufactured Drug
Vitality: -10+
Sensitivity: -0+
Side Effects: -0+
Dependency: -0+
Dependency? Was there such an option?
I felt a bit puzzled why I hadn't noticed it before, but it was clearly an intriguing element.
'Shall I tweak it just a little.'
Though we'd agreed on a drug with no side effects, my curiosity was unavoidable. Just a little, then. Raise it just a bit. That was my agreement with myself.
Dependency: -3+
This minute amount shouldn't matter. Compared to other narcotics with severe dependency and side effects, this barely even qualified as one.
Now, all that remained was injecting the Lady's arm.
After drawing the drug into the syringe, I gazed steadily at the Lady. Abera was still looking right at me. Naturally, our eyes met in midair.
"Lady, are you prepared?"
"If anything, I should be asking you that."
Ah, right.
At Abera's nonchalant joke, I couldn't help but chuckle. As I laughed, she let out a soft puhuhu.
Our eyes still locked. Though the tension had eased somewhat.
Abera regarded me with a somewhat peculiar gaze. With her other arm—the one not extended—she kept subtly brushing her side-swept hair behind her ear.
No reason to delay any further. Tension eased, and I was curious about the effect.
Gently grasping Abera's arm, I carefully pushed the drug into it. Finding the spot and pressing the plunger flowed as familiar, ingrained motions.
Well, of course. It was a doctor's body, after all.
The syringe's plunger wouldn't budge any further. Done? As that question arose.
The exact font from the monitor flashed before my eyes.
I knew exactly what it meant.
"All done."
I set the syringe aside and placed disinfectant-soaked cotton over the spot where the needle had pierced her arm. Lightly pressing it to her hand with the cotton, I spoke.
"Please keep pressure here for about five minutes. Since that's where the needle went in."
"Sure."
With that, she placed her hand over mine.
Hm. Well, that does stop the bleeding, but that wasn't quite what I meant.
Had she misunderstood? As I parted my lips to elaborate.
"I know. Not what you meant. But this is still pressing, isn't it?"
Not wrong. Precisely because it wasn't wrong, I simply kept my mouth shut.
Our distance had closed. A noble fragrance pierced my nose. Even with the room filled to the brim with coffee scent, her unique, precious aroma never faded.
Just pressing an arm with some cotton, yet the atmosphere turned subtly charged.
Glancing at Abera, she showed no sign of looking away from me. To the point where I wondered if staring so openly was even allowed.
She was pretty. Maybe because the first sight of Dia had been so haggard by comparison. A Lady was a Lady, after all.
Couldn't openly stare at the Lady's face and lose myself in thought, so I deliberately turned to other musings.
'Why get pulled into a game this hopelessly ruined, of all things.'
It was only now that I regretted how Lady Overdose had faced massive backlash and zero popularity.
If it had at least progressed far enough for wiki pages to summarize info, I wouldn't have nearly so many worries.
Thank goodness for the cheats. Truly a blessing.
Amid those thoughts, one flitted across my mind.
What if Abera, not Dia, was the real target?
It made sense. What if Dia wasn't the target at all, but someone to avoid?
With zero posts about clearing Dia as the target, the possibilities were wide open.
Dia seemed impossible to from the start, anyway.
'In comparison, Abera...'
Abera gazed straight at me with deer-like eyes.
When our eyes met, she'd glance away, but if I looked aside, she'd stare right back.
How many people in the world stare at a doctor out of sheer curiosity? Maybe not a single one.
At least she didn't seem to hate me. Wasn't she showing every heroine-like reaction there was?
A simple notion at first, but the more I mulled it over, the more traction it gained.
And soon enough, it reached a simple conclusion.
Abera—was she the one I should be targeting instead of avoiding Dia?
If so, time to confirm. Whening others, the first step is always securing your own position.
I stared intently at Abera's face. Just as she had been staring at me.
"Ahem, ahem, h-how much longer do we need to do this?"
Surprisingly, Abera cleared her throat and turned her face aside.
Her face seemed faintly flushed. Probably to hide it.
"It's been done for a while now."
"Ah! My apologies."
Only then did her hand lift, bringing our lengthy treatment to an end.
"No need. More importantly, how's your body feeling?"
"Ah, that..."
Elegantly twisting her upper body this way and that to check her condition, Abera suddenly widened her eyes in wonder.
"...Huh? It really feels better. Has the effect kicked in already?"
Her bright expression lit up my own. Joy from having my ability proven effective.
"It's a fast-acting drug. Made solely from top-grade ingredients, so that's to be expected. Any pain anywhere?"
"No. Not a bit."
Her face a mix of joy and wonder as she scanned her body, Abera soon looked back at me and parted her lips.
"Does this drug have a name?"
"Not yet."
"Huh...? So that means..."
I simply nodded to her puzzled look.
"One I made myself. So it's not something circulating out there."
"Why give a drug like that to me...?"
Honestly, I could make drugs with my ability and this was just a clinical trial, but I wasn't idiot enough to say it straight.
Of course, my mind had shifted a bit during that faux-treatment trial.
Abera might be a target too, so best to gain her favor.
Even if Dia was the target, Abera was her sister.
Family ties were never something to ignore.
There had to be some intimate bond between Abera and Dia. That's what family was. Inextricably intertwined.
"If you're concerned about safety, no worries. I've verified it thoroughly."
Abera quietly closed her cherry-like lips and took in my reflection in her eyes. Meaning she was deeply focused on my words.
"If the 'top-grade ingredients' part bothers you, that's even less of an issue. I always put my assigned patients first. Right now, that's your sister."
I subtly gauged Abera's reaction here. Hoping I hadn't misspoke.
But she was still listening intently. Water under the bridge. With a whatever-happens attitude, I wrapped it up.
"It's a natural step. To earn the patient's trust and the trust of the family entrusting her to me. So please don't worry about ingredients or fees at all. Feel free to keep relying on me."
With that, I'd said my piece. I checked her reaction once more.
The eyes we locked drew perfectly soft arcs in the air.
Her red, petal-like lips parted.
"...Ganeghan, I said there was a half-of-a-half thinking if it was safe to entrust Dia. Do you remember?"
"I do."
Abera smiled, truly relieved.
"Mhm. You're truly amazing. A personal physician like this is a first. I'm relieved... and grateful. For being my sister's doctor."
The Lady's smile was blindingly beautiful.
I let out an unconscious sigh of relief. Not a bad start at all.
"No, I just accepted the request."
"So humble it only makes me feel worse. Dealing with Dia can't be easy."
"I never expected it to be."
"Honestly, a bit... She's an embarrassing sister."
"Please don't think that way. Once treatment's done, she'll be excellent like you. I'll do my utmost so she never embarrasses you."
The Lady let out a soft chuckle.
"Guess I'll have to raise your pay. Can't win you in words, so money will convey my heart. Even if treatment fails, don't worry. You'll get the full promised compensation."
"I'm not doing it for pay. And..."
Fiddling with the bag handle, I trailed off.
"...I'll definitely cure Dia Young Lady. She's precious. I won't fail."
It was around then. Knock knock.
"Lady Abera. Pardon the intrusion."
A polite knock and polite voice—Alfred's, the owner.
His tone was different from when he'd knocked on Dia's door. An odd sense of incongruity welled up.
"Ah, yes. Alfred. What is it?"
"Dia Young Lady has woken up."
Aha. So that's it.
Abera muttered that, her expression peculiar. She glanced at me.
I was lost in my own doubts. Dia awake already?
Was the sleeping pill's effect far weaker than I'd thought?
No matter how I turned it over, it spelled trouble. What attitude would the recovered youngest Lady take in reporting the incident? Most scenarios veered negative, naturally stirring anxiety.
"Dia timed it just right for dinner. Lucky."
Dinner. Abera brought it up casually. Come to think of it, the time fit.
But I wasn't so rude as to insert myself into the Ladies' meal. Nor did I fancy a suffocating seat.
So I gave a light bow, grabbed my bag, checked my attire, and stood.
"Then I'll take my leave."
"No."
Abera’s firm voice halted me.
Maybe to remove the cotton on my way out? Puzzled, I turned back.
"We're eating together. You too, Ganeghan."
Her porcelain-white face bore only its ever-radiant smile.
...Things were escalating.