Chapter 12
“I’ve applied the dressing for you. As for your clothes… they were a mess, covered in blood and ash, so I had no choice but to change them.”
Despite the polite phrasing, his voice was thoroughly businesslike, cold enough to send a chill through the air.
“……”
Yulaina didn’t respond, but Helmut waited patiently, as if he were truly listening for her voice, before speaking again.
“There was absolutely no… such thing that you might worry about as a woman.”
His tone remained stiff, but his pale face flushed slightly red. Sensing Yulaina’s sharp gaze, Helmut quickly added,
“Because I’m a doctor. I think of you only as a patient; I harbor no other intentions. I wouldn’t do anything to tarnish my honor, so if you were concerned, you can rest assured…”
“Get her something to eat.”
Erich, who had been watching with his arms crossed, suddenly interjected. Unlike Helmut, who was rigidly disciplined, Erich’s eyes held a perpetual slant of dissatisfaction and annoyance. It seemed as though he couldn’t stand the stiff, unyielding military doctor.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
After clearing his throat, Helmut spoke again.
“I’ve asked the cook to prepare some porridge suitable for a patient… It should be brought soon.”
“Tell them to bring it quickly.”
Erich spat the words irritably, and his gaze met Yulaina’s. Whatever courtesy he had shown in greeting her earlier was gone; just locking eyes with her seemed to ignite a sudden rage, and he glared at her before muttering through gritted teeth, as if chewing on the words left in his mouth.
“…And put plenty of meat in it.”
“Yes……”
Helmut hesitated, glancing at Erich’s expression, then pulled a medicine bottle from the bag he had brought.
“After you finish eating later, please make sure to take the medicine I’ve prescribed here. I’ll come by later to check.”
Soon, a small bottle and a glass of water were placed on the bedside table. Once again, Erich interjected abruptly.
“What kind of medicine is it?”
He clearly didn’t trust the military doctor. As he turned the bottle this way and that, eyeing it suspiciously, a slight edge crept into the doctor’s voice.
“It’s painkillers and sedatives.”
“I see.”
Erich’s gaze flicked toward Yulaina. He furrowed his brows as if he had more to say, staring down at her for a long moment before turning back to the table.
“I’ll be reviewing some documents, so finish the treatment and leave.”
“Ah… Yes, then.”
The military doctor strode over to the bed.
“Could you show me your leg?”
He asked permission politely, but his eyes told a different story. Yulaina clutched the blanket tightly and pulled it up, signaling her refusal.
“…You must.”
His emotionless, sunken eyes fixed obsessively on her face.
It felt suffocating. Why was he staring so blatantly? As the silent pressure continued, she had no choice but to loosen her grip on the blanket.
“Then, excuse me.”
The moment the blanket covering her leg slid away.
‘Oh no!’
Yulaina’s face went pale. The knife she had hastily shoved under her thigh got caught in the blanket, exposing it just enough for Helmut to see.
“……!!”
The hand pulling back the blanket froze in mid-air. The military doctor stared down at the knife lying blatantly on the bed, then lifted his eyes to meet Yulaina’s.
What is this? his gaze seemed to ask. At a loss, Yulaina lowered her eyes and noticed the pistol holstered at his waist.
He could draw it right now and call for Erich. But the clear lenses of his glasses merely gazed at Yulaina in quiet stillness.
“……”
In the midst of the subtle silence, Erich, flipping through documents at the table, muttered abruptly.
“Why aren’t you hurrying up?”
“Yes, then.”
Helmut replied while looking at her, then casually reached for his bag as if nothing had happened. He left the knife on the bed, pretending not to see it.
“The medicine I applied to the sole of your foot has soaked through, so I’ll redo the dressing.”
She hadn’t even thought that her foot might have gotten dirty while retrieving the knife. Yulaina bit her lip firmly and watched the military doctor’s expression.
As if nothing had occurred, he moved his hands busily with a dry, expressionless face.
‘Is he pretending not to have seen the knife I hid? But why?’
A cold sweat broke out on her back, making it feel chilled.
Even as her fingers cautiously slid down the sheet, and the hand that grasped the knife again slipped it under the pillow. The military doctor acted as if he had seen nothing, reapplying disinfectant to the wound and carefully wrapping it with bandages.
Was it her imagination that the doctor’s hands, cold as ice, were trembling slightly?
She couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling, but she considered it fortunate that he hadn’t pointed a gun at her or shouted for Erich.
At that moment.
“Lady, your hand……”
The military doctor stared straight at her and slowly rose to his feet.
***
Lieutenant Colonel Shevik was always relentlessly busy. It was wartime, so he had been promoted to lieutenant colonel, but in reality, his role was that of a chamberlain attending closely to the prince, which meant he had to involve himself in nearly every operation and manage the unit’s supplies as well.
Still, Shevik carried out his duties gladly. He knew better than anyone that to Erich, he was more than just an aide.
It was perfectly natural for those who struggled with face-to-face reports to Erich to stop by Shevik first.
Today, it was Cook Yonas’s turn.
“Lieutenant Colonel Shevik, Lieutenant Colonel Shevik!”
He had finally gotten a few minutes to catch some fresh air, but from the bottom of the hill, the squat cook came running, calling out to him breathlessly.
“Yonas, take it slow. What’s the matter?”
“Chamberlain—ah, no, Lieutenant Colonel, what do we do? The meat’s all spoiled!”
“What……?!”
Shevik’s face crumpled.
“His Highness ordered us to feed the soldiers well.”
“That’s right.”
“He said the war’s over, but we’ve dragged them to this harsh place without rest, so feed them well!”
“I know… but!”
Yonas grabbed his hair and grimaced.
“Lieutenant Colonel, you left the chest open yesterday! I know you sneaked some sausage because you were hungry at dawn.”
“Ahh……”
“The meat was right next to it. Lieutenant Colonel, it’s spring—spring! It’s getting warmer.”
Shevik, feeling guilty, bit his lips hard.
‘His Highness emphasized it so much—what am I going to do?’
With his eyebrows drooping dejectedly, Shevik sank into thought for a while.
Baa, baaa.
As if mocking his already frustrated state, goats and sheep grazed leisurely right beside him.
‘There’s no clever solution, so… I guess I’ll have to tell His Highness the truth… Hmm?’
Shevik’s gaze fixed on a sheep grazing at his feet. It looked freshly shorn but still quite plump.
“Yonas, problem solved easily. This place is full of livestock!”
“Huh?”
Yonas blinked and looked around.
“Wait… why didn’t I think of that? My head must be messed up. We can make stew!”
“Ahaha, just call it a special meal. Right? I’ll report it to His Highness appropriately. Pick a nice plump one.”
“I’ll simmer it until it’s tender and prepare it deliciously.”
Problem solved! Shevik and Yonas patted each other’s backs in delight.
***
Yulaina let out a sigh of relief. Her small hand was being carefully treated atop the military doctor’s palm.
She had grabbed thorny bushes barehanded, clutched tree roots in that state, and dirt and sand had gotten into the wounds, leaving hardly any unscathed spot.
“You have remarkable endurance.”
As he plucked out the thorns one by one with tweezers, Helmut murmured lowly. It was the first conversation that could be called personal.
“I was running from the devil.”
“Ah.”
Though Erich was still at the table reviewing documents a short distance away, Helmut left only a brief reply, perhaps mindful of his superior, and focused back on the treatment.
Yulaina gazed absently at her palm, now coated with red antiseptic. It seemed he had soaked and removed the thorns she couldn’t fully extract yesterday.
‘Why on earth is he pretending not to know?’
Thinking of the knife hidden under the pillow, Yulaina scrutinized the military doctor thoroughly.
But she was so absorbed in thoughts of the hidden knife that she failed to notice how rigidly tense Helmut was, his whole body stiff. She didn’t see the tweezers missing their mark in the air several times.
In truth, Helmut had already learned a great deal about her. Last night, just as he finished treating Yulaina and turned to leave, Shevik had handed him a notebook.
“I’m no good with medicine, so take a look, Major. Roughly, what’s the level?”
As Helmut flipped through the notebook with a stern face, his expression gradually flushed red.
“What, she’s studied quite a bit?”
After a long silence, Helmut finally snapped the notebook shut. His voice, forced out with difficulty, carried a strange tremor.
“This… person has studied as much as I did, having graduated from medical school. I don’t know how it’s possible. In a mountain valley, all alone.”
Helmut was profoundly shocked. The level was impressive, but he felt ashamed.
Compared to him, who had graduated from medical school with excellent grades thanks to his family’s solid support, she seemed infinitely more diligent and passionate.
Someone like her should have had the opportunities instead of trash like me. Suppressing his anguished feelings, Helmut gripped the notebook tightly.
“This notebook… May I look at it more?”
Shevik, busy packing other items, nodded readily.
“Sure, it’s not anything particularly important anyway.”
“Yes.”
Helmut hesitated, unable to leave easily, and cautiously asked again.
“Her father was a doctor, right?”
He knew only that the operation involved finding a doctor; beyond that, details were classified, so he just needed to fulfill his assigned duties.
“Ah, that. Yes. Walter Dorf. He was an imperial physician who got in on Marcus’s recommendation back then.”
Helmut’s eyes widened dramatically. For the usually impassive military doctor, it was quite a reaction, and Shevik glanced at him.
After a moment’s hesitation, Helmut murmured,
“An imperial physician… He must have been remarkable. Why would someone like that end up here?”
“Well, remarkable? He was more like a madman.”
Shevik shook his head and patted Helmut on the back.
“It was from our fathers’ generation, so you probably don’t know. Be careful not to let it leak.”
Helmut nodded ambiguously. Then, staring blankly at the notebook again, he carefully tucked it into his chest.
It was the moment when the woman named Yulaina Dorf created a tremendous turning point in the arid life of the man named Helmut Ausgunt.
