“…Miss Squirrel?”
“Pardon?”
At the words that had slipped out before he could stop them, Eugene fell silent, flustered.
Eugene Hart. So you finally go and cause trouble, in the end!
Making a slip like that in front of the woman who might become the future Duchess!
Cold sweat trickled down his spine, but thankfully, the physician didn’t seem to have caught what he’d said.
Judging by how she only tilted her head slightly, waiting for his answer.
Eugene hurried to put on his affable, easygoing smile, pretending nothing had happened. At the same time, he decided to steer the conversation elsewhere.
“O-oh, it’s nothing. More importantly, you’re Miss Viola, aren’t you?”
“Oh? You know me?”
She started, eyes going round with surprise.
Her big, clear eyes blinked slowly.
Hm? Eugene made a small sound of realization.
…Now I understand why His Grace calls her a squirrel.
With her eyes gone round and her hands clasped together like that, she really did look exactly like a squirrel holding an acorn.
Among squirrels, she resembled a small ground squirrel more than a bulkier gray squirrel.
Or perhaps, since her hair is pink, a pink squirrel… no, wait, what am I even thinking right now.
Quickly wrapping up his stray thoughts, Eugene put on his signature friendly smile at once.
“Haha, yes. I’d heard a rumor that a highly skilled physician had newly arrived.”
It wasn’t a complete lie. Such talk really had been going around.
Though it had been somewhat overshadowed by the sheer force of the nickname “Miss Squirrel” that emerged afterward—but regardless.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t introduced myself yet.”
Eugene pulled off his dust-covered gloves and placed his right hand over his chest.
Setting aside any playfulness, keeping only a knightly courtesy, he spoke.
“How do you do. I’m Eugene Hart of the Silver Dragon Knights.”
“It’s a pleasure, Sir Eugene. It seems you already know, but I’m Viola. I work here as a physician.”
Viola bowed her head neatly and answered at once.
It was a simple gesture, but the line of her lowered shoulders and the movement of her fingertips gathering her skirt were graceful and elegant.
He’d heard she was a commoner, and yet a noble young lady’s grace seemed to come naturally to her, somehow.
Eugene found his eyes drawn to her without meaning to, then cleared his throat and hurriedly pulled himself together.
“More importantly, what brings you all the way out here? I’d heard you were a busy woman.”
“I heard someone was hurt.”
She answered it plainly, as though it were only natural, but hearing the full story, Eugene’s stomach twisted with guilt.
Ordinarily, this was something the knights’ order’s own dedicated physician should have handled.
But right now, the order had no reliable physician. More precisely, they’d all fled, unable to endure it any longer.
The reason was one and only one: Knight Commander Morden.
Haa…
Even back when they’d had a physician, the knights hadn’t been especially good about getting treated.
Men who’d chosen the path of the sword themselves weren’t likely to fear getting hurt.
Even so, the knights’ order needed a physician. Because if an injury went untreated at the wrong moment, a knight might never be able to hold a sword again.
But Morden thought differently. He saw the whole order, himself included, as consumable tools.
If you don’t want to get hurt, then grow strong enough that you won’t.
You are nothing but swords and shields to be discarded once you’ve served the Dragonblood’s purpose.
And so Morden refused to allow even minor treatment when his men were hurt.
Once, a physician had worked up the courage to object to Morden about it, saying he couldn’t do his job because of the Commander.
Morden had coldly warned him then:
“The Silver Dragon Knights have no need of a physician. If you’re truly looking for a use for yourself, you’d be more helpful shoveling horse manure.”
With that kind of unreasoning attitude, there was no way physicians with real pride in their profession would stay with the order.
As if it weren’t already hard enough to find a physician!
The order’s dedicated physicians tended to see relatively more blood than physicians treating ordinary people, so the post was already something most avoided.
With things as they were, there was little Eugene alone could do to solve it. Especially since most of the order’s personnel authority rested with Morden.
He couldn’t reveal the full truth to his men, worried it might crush their morale.
But regardless, with the Vice Commander away right now, he himself was effectively in charge.
Having failed at his own role, he’d ended up troubling an entirely unrelated person, which left him deeply embarrassed.
“I’m truly sorry. My negligence has burdened you with extra work you shouldn’t have had to do.”
Eugene bowed his head deeply once more.
But it was then.
“Extra work, you say. Please, Sir Eugene, don’t say such things.”
What came back was a voice as clear as an oriole’s. Lifting his head slightly, he saw Viola smiling brightly.
“If I can be of some help to the Silver Dragon Knights even in a way like this, I’m only glad for it.”
“…Pardon?”
“They may only be apprentices for now, but someday they’ll be proud, full-fledged members of the Silver Dragon Knights, won’t they? I couldn’t just stand by and watch our future heroes get hurt.”
Her eyes, clear as a young leaf holding a drop of dew, were filled with sincerity, without a trace of pretense.
There wasn’t the faintest hint of distaste for a place that smelled of blood and kicked up dust.
Her gently curved, kind eyes seemed to speak for her good nature all on their own.
An angel…?
Ugh, dazzling.
Eugene’s eyes narrowed for a moment.
He had the illusion of seeing a halo shining behind her.
The apprentice knights nearby looked moved too, their eyes welling up.
To think they’d hear such warm words from someone they never expected.
Eugene understood, a hundred times over, the feelings of the apprentice knights behind him, sniffling and pretending they weren’t.
They had no immunity to words like this.
I can’t let this slip away.
Instinct screamed at him. This woman was exactly the talent—no, the treasure—their order desperately needed right now!
Bringing in someone from outside would run straight into the problem of Morden. But Viola was already an insider.
None other than His Grace the Duke’s own person!
Not even Knight Commander Morden would be able to say a word against her.
Thinking about it coldly, it was a ridiculous thing to ask.
Making a request like this of someone already busy working full-time for Jayden’s care.
But driven by worry for his men, and impatience getting the better of him, Eugene blurted it out in a rush, without weighing anything first.
“Miss Viola! Would you possibly be able to check on our men’s condition every once in a while? No, even just one day a week would be fine!”
At the sudden proposal, I only blinked in confusion.
“Ah, I’m sorry. That was far too much of a burden to ask of you. Haa. I’m being rude again, my mind is racing too fast.”
Taking my silence for a refusal, Eugene’s eyebrows drooped glumly.
Despite his large frame, the deflated look on his face made him seem like a huge dog caught in the rain.
His eyebrows sagged so low I almost wanted to pick them back up for him.
…I’ve been noticing this for a while now, but Sir Eugene is quite an amusing person.
The Silver Dragon Knights were an object of admiration to people, and at the same time, an object of fear.
Because they were both the order that protected the territory from monsters, and a ruthless group cloaked in overwhelming force.
Their reputation for slaughtering monsters without mercy alongside the Dragon Duke Cain was said to chill even their allies to the bone.
But after exchanging a few words, Eugene didn’t seem like that kind of person at all.
He seemed considerably strong, and yet not authoritarian at all—if anything, he had a free-spirited feel to him.
Before Eugene could trudge away dejectedly, I hurried to answer.
“No, Sir Eugene! It’s not a burden at all.”
“…Truly?”
“Of course!”
His eyebrows, which had nearly touched the floor, shot straight up in an instant. Color rushed back into Eugene’s face, but only for a moment.
“Ugh, no. Thinking it over again, it really was too shameless a request. You’re a busy woman.”
“It’s fine, really.”
When I answered brightly, Eugene muttered, still looking tormented.
“Are you only accepting because I’ve pressured you into it, unable to refuse…”
Pfft. He really was an amusing person.
Letting out a sound like escaping air, I shook my head.
“That’s really not it at all, so don’t worry.”
Eugene still looked apologetic, but this was, if anything, exactly what I’d wanted.
Having witnessed a major accident like today’s firsthand, I couldn’t just leave it be.
If I did, I’d never be able to sleep soundly at night, that much was obvious.
It seemed like it would put my own mind more at ease if I could keep an eye on things up close.
My main duty under the contract is Jayden’s treatment, so looking after the whole knights’ order all day would be difficult, but…
I did have some free time here and there, so checking on the men in those gaps seemed manageable.
“Just until you find a new dedicated physician for the order, I’ll come check on things whenever I have time.”
It seemed like far too small a help, for something I’d just called offering to help, but—
“Though I do worry whether this alone will be enough to help.”
“What are you saying!”
Thankfully, that much seemed to be more than enough, because Eugene let out a sigh of relief.
“Haa, thank you so much. Thanks to you, a weight’s been lifted off my shoulders. I look forward to working with you, Miss Viola!”
“I look forward to it too!”
I smiled brightly.
The good news that Jayden’s condition had improved spread among the people of the ducal residence, too.
Naturally, that included Knight Commander Morden.
Jayden’s bedroom.
Knock, knock.
“Viola?”
At the sound of the knock, Jayden’s face had brightened for an instant, but it stiffened right away. He’d realized whose presence it was.
The door opened, and the one who came in was his swordsmanship instructor, Morden.
He bowed politely toward Jayden.
“It’s been a while, Young Master.”
