Chapter: 03
A stern voice fell upon the duke, who was standing there blankly.
“Why are you moving so slowly? Do you want to watch your aide die?! Move, quickly!!”
Only then did the duke hurriedly run.
Lionel slapped Kaylen’s cheeks without holding back.
“Sir Kaylen? Sir Kaylen, wake up! Where does it hurt?”
“Haa, haa… haa…”
Kaylen’s breathing was abnormally fast. His pulse was rapid and weak.
‘The wound is… left chest. The bleeding isn’t severe, but…’
Lionel placed her ear against his chest and listened.
The breathing sounds on the left side were barely audible, and the movement of his chest was rapidly decreasing.
Meanwhile, the right side was excessively expanded.
‘It’s a tension pneumothorax.’
Kaylen’s face was gradually turning pale.
Right now, air was continuously entering through the hole in his lung but could not escape.
If emergency treatment was not performed immediately, the outcome was obvious.
Lionel gritted her teeth.
“My bag!!”
The duke threw the bag at exactly the right moment, and Lionel immediately dumped its contents out.
Alcohol swabs, a small scalpel, and bandages rolled out one after another, but what she was looking for wasn’t there.
Lionel urgently asked,
“Do you have a long, hollow metal rod? Something fairly long and made of a hard material…”
As she said that, something flashed through Lionel’s mind.
The orange juice bottle Kaylen had brought her during the interview.
“…A straw.”
“What?”
“A metal straw. Hurry, it’s in the guest room!”
This time, the duke ran without asking any questions.
While waiting for him, Lionel took out the scalpel blade.
“It’s going to hurt, but please endure it, Sir Kaylen. It’s better than dying, right?”
Kaylen, whose face had turned pale, nodded with difficulty.
Lionel carefully turned the aide’s body slightly to the side.
With her hand, she felt along the front line of his armpit until she found the ribs.
The fifth intercostal space.
Lionel wiped the area with an alcohol swab.
After taking a short breath, she placed the tip of the blade against it.
“Ugh…”
There was no time to worry about his groan.
Lionel made an incision in the skin and pushed the metal straw she had received straight into his body.
Seeing this, the duke shouted in shock.
“What are you doing…?!”
“Be quiet!! If you have nothing to do, at least hold his hand!”
At her sharp voice, the duke immediately closed his mouth.
Just as Lionel focused on her fingertips again—
“…”
The duke’s large hand covered Lionel’s hand.
When she looked up in surprise, she saw the duke’s sharp profile, as if he was concentrating only on holding her hand.
‘Idiot. Not my hand, the patient’s hand!!’
Either way, time was critical.
Lionel simply tightened her grip and pushed the straw deeper.
The straw passed through the muscle—
Thump.
The sensation of piercing through the pleura traveled through her hand.
At that moment, air burst out like an explosion.
Pssshhh—!!
A powerful pressure escaped through the straw.
Kaylen’s chest quickly sank.
The excessive expansion of his right chest gradually began to decrease.
“Cough…!”
Kaylen gasped roughly.
His lips, which had been completely blue, slowly regained some color.
Lionel, who had unconsciously been holding her breath, finally let out a sigh of relief.
When her pounding heart finally calmed down, Lionel looked at the duke.
Seeing his slightly trembling shoulders as their eyes met, a sense of camaraderie welled up deep inside her.
‘He looked like someone without blood or tears, but he actually has a human side.’
Lionel calmed her breathing and corrected her posture.
The immediate danger had passed, but she still couldn’t relax.
“…First, should we move the patient? Additional treatment is still needed.”
The purple eyes that had been staring at Lionel for a long time closed, and the duke nodded.
Only then did their hands, which were still joined together, finally separate.
“Let’s do that.”
“Treatment is complete.”
Deep into the night, in the same reception room where the interview had taken place, Lionel reported.
“The newly inserted tube will take several days for all the air to escape.”
‘If only I could inject just one dose of clindamycin…’
Lionel desperately missed the antibiotics that had been everywhere in hospitals.
Although this world had medical schools and hospitals, its medical technology was terrible compared to the modern world.
Naturally, there were no antibiotics, and most treatments only focused on relieving symptoms as they appeared.
Furthermore, medicine itself was practically a privilege of the nobility, so countless people could not receive treatment even if they went to hospitals.
She had cut and pierced someone without antibiotics, so infection was a major concern…
But for now, all Lionel could do was hope Kaylen would endure it.
“Doctor Lionel Frencia.”
Why was he suddenly using her full name?
As Lionel became cautious, the duke slightly lowered his head.
“I express my gratitude for saving my aide.”
“Huh? Ah, no. I only did what anyone should have done. I’m actually grateful that you followed my instructions so well, Duke.”
“Indeed. Then, it seems you have finished everything you needed to do…”
The duke lifted his head and leaned back against the sofa.
His atmosphere changed in an instant, and he spoke coldly.
“Shall we begin the interview again?”
“…”
After the adrenaline that had been running wild finally began to decrease, Lionel slowly regained her sense of reality.
The duke was still wearing his blood-stained shirt, open at the chest.
There wasn’t even a scar left on his chest.
‘…I’m screwed.’
Lionel recalled the plot of the novel The Unfading Flower.
Long ago, the male protagonist became immortal because of a curse.
He repeatedly changed residences and identities while living through the centuries, eventually obtaining the position of duke and settling down in one place.
Then he met the heroine, who was like sunlight, and entered into a contract marriage with her.
Like every male lead from a tragic romance novel, the duke became obsessed, the heroine went insane, the duke imprisoned her, and the heroine became even more unstable…
In the end, it seemed like the heroine would break the duke’s curse and create a happy ending.
But instead, it ended with everyone dying.
‘Sigh… I shouldn’t have been happy about finding a patient who didn’t need my help.’
The duke in the novel was a ruthless man.
Everyone who knew his secret, except for his closest confidants, was killed.
Even among his closest aides, anyone who revealed his secret was killed without exception.
That was why his nickname became “Death Maniac,” meaning a man so crazy he could not die.
‘And on top of that, I ordered that Death Maniac around like he was my servant…’
Lionel gathered up every bit of acting ability she had and answered calmly.
“Are you going to kill me? Since I saved your aide’s life, shouldn’t you at least take that into consideration?”
“Doctor, aren’t you curious where all the servants of this estate have gone? Even though this disturbance happened, no one has appeared.”
She had been too distracted to notice, but now that he mentioned it, it was certainly strange.
The duke kindly explained the situation.
“Uninvited guests often come to this estate. Whenever that happens, the servants evacuate to the basement and wait until the situation settles. The knights remain on standby. However, the aide ran out specifically to save you.”
“Then… if I hadn’t been here, Sir Kaylen wouldn’t have been injured?”
“I’m not blaming you, but that could be said.”
‘You’re very clearly blaming me!’
Lionel swallowed the complaint rising to her throat.
Instead, she quickly calculated a way to survive.
“Duke. I am truly sorry that Sir Kaylen was badly injured because of me. But since things have already turned out this way, wouldn’t you consider hiring me?”
That’s right.
If he kills ordinary people who know his secret, then I’ll become someone close to him who knows the secret.
Lionel began promoting herself just like she had during her previous interviews.
“I entered and graduated from the Imperial Medical School at the top of my class! I was also the youngest! I have experience working at a general hospital and as a personal physician. Please hire me!”
‘Of course, I was fired from all of those jobs, but if you hire me here, I won’t try to create things like labor unions. I’ll faithfully play the role of an obedient employee!’
She decided not to say that part because it would probably have the opposite effect.
Lionel anxiously waited for the duke’s answer.
The duke simply pressed his lips into a straight line and stared at her without saying anything.
Despite the serious situation, his face was so handsome that Lionel momentarily forgot reality.
“Whether I kill you or not will be decided tomorrow. For now, go inside and rest.”
“…What? No, I can’t. I need to take care of Sir Kaylen.”
“I will take care of the aide.”
The duke stood up without giving her any chance to respond.
Lionel cautiously followed behind him.
When they reached the guest room, he personally opened the door for her.
As Lionel entered, she repeatedly gave him instructions.
“If he gets a fever, call me. Also, if he has trouble breathing, or if the tube comes out…”
“Lock the door.”
The door shut with a loud thud.
Lionel stood there blankly, listening as the duke’s footsteps gradually faded away.
“…Am I really going to die tomorrow?”
