The next day.
Acelia and Naitie’s first meeting was surprisingly calm.
Maybe it was because Naitie had seen Acelia just yesterday, or perhaps Acelia just isn’t a big fan of people.
But it seemed Naitie was curious because she stood there and poked Acelia’s face for a while.
“Ow, Mom, that tickles.”
From that, I realized Naitie was taller than Acelia. By about 3 centimeters?
“Gothberg, how did I send you?”
“Uh? Um… Magic.”
“How many circles were there? What was the structure of the formula? Where did you write the basic circle? How did you combine the equations?”
“I-I’m sorry. I don’t know…”
As Naitie looked embarrassed, Acelia showed a disappointed expression. Seeing her like that made Naitie feel down too.
It felt like a thorn was stuck in my throat. I approached the two of them and lightly put my arm around their shoulders.
“Come on, it’s a monumental day for our family. Naitie, is there anything you want to eat? Let’s go out for lunch together.”
“Ah, yes! I love… cheesecake!”
“Cheesecake sounds great. Acelia, shall we go?”
“Go ahead. I have to prepare some materials.”
“Materials?”
“I’m going to check how she traveled through time. For that, I need to prepare a few things.”
Acelia spoke calmly, but I could tell she was super excited. With such an unbelievable phenomenon in front of her, all sorts of magical ideas must be popping up in her head.
In the end, it was just Naitie and me who headed into town. The awkward atmosphere didn’t last long, as Naitie quickly lit up while looking around.
“Wow, that store is still here! It’s really old. Heh, it’s amazing to see it like this. Is a new road being built over there?”
Naitie’s excited emotions were clearly written all over her. She was practically hopping with excitement.
“But why are you squinting like that?”
“Ugh, it’s too bright… The streets of this time are just too stimulating.”
What on earth has she been doing in a room with no smartphones?
As Naitie wanted, we entered a cheesecake shop and found ourselves a seat. The old town had its famous shops.
I pulled out a chair for her to sit across from me, but Naitie naturally sat next to me.
“Yum, this is amazing!”
Naitie wore such a happy expression.
With her smile, I could see a resemblance. It felt like Acelia was giving a bright smile.
Since I’ve never seen Acelia’s innocent expression, it felt strangely odd. Even when the former Royal Princess smiles, there’s always a hint of sinister charm mixed in.
As the fork moved, the cake disappeared in an instant.
She was eating so well. I absentmindedly grabbed Naitie’s belly.
Squish. I felt her soft, plump tummy.
“Hey, I can eat a bit, can’t I?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Mom is too skinny!”
Naitie complained.
Hmm… there’s something cute about that?
I feel some paternal instinct rising for a daughter I haven’t even had yet.
“How’s your relationship with your mom?”
“Umm… Just like the feeling I had when I saw her earlier?”
“Um… Just the same feeling as before?”
“Seems similar. Well, it was probably because of magic earlier. Your mom really loves magic.”
“No way. Still, mom likes dad more.”
“Your mom likes me a lot.”
Saying that, it sounds like a really weird expression.
“Well, my mom… didn’t really like me from the start.”
“Hey, you’re just bad at expressing yourself.”
“I can express it just fine. I know why mom treats me like that. It’s been like this since a long time ago. I can’t… handle mana.”
“Mana? Are you mana insensitive?”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
There are occasionally people who are born unable to handle mana. The cause of this symptom, called mana insensitivity, is unknown.
Even with this symptom, daily life isn’t really inconvenient. After all, there are more common folks who live their whole lives without ever encountering magic or swordsmanship. Many commoners live without even knowing they’re mana insensitive.
It could be a body where mana doesn’t flow at all, but there’s no name for that kind of symptom. It’s impossible to live in this world, resulting in miscarriages at the fetal stage.
“It must have been tough because of magic.”
“Uuhh. I hate magic.”
Nightingale pouts her lips.
Thinking about Acella’s love for magic, it’s easy to guess she couldn’t accept the fact that her daughter can’t handle it at all.
There must have been a lot of conflicts between the mother and daughter since childhood, especially with Acella being the one involved.
What a hardship.
With that thought, I wiped the cheese pieces off Nightingale’s mouth.
“Ugh.”
What a strange sound this creature makes. Strange, I’ve never given birth or raised one, but I feel a weird attachment.
Is it instinctively drawn to mana?
“Dad likes me.”
Nightingale leans against me, crossing her arms.
It seems her belly is full because she starts dozing off, closing her eyes and gently napping.
Acella is blunt, but she isn’t honest. I thought that if Nightingale resembles her, she’d still be cute.
“Sigh, I really need to do well this time…”
“What do you need to do?”
Now that I think about it, I haven’t heard why Nightingale came at this hour yet.
“Um… I can’t say.”
“Why?”
“I don’t really know, but… they said there would be a problem.”
It seems there is a story Acella shared. I figured it was probably about time paradoxes or something related to the timeline.
Having witnessed so many different kinds of magic, I’ve become somewhat desensitized, but Nightingale’s visit might be an enormous event.
I hope nothing gets twisted or bursts due to time.
I can only believe Acella must have thought it all through.
“So, do you have to achieve that something to go back?”
“Yeah.”
This time, Nightingale responds seriously.
“Got it. I’ll do my best to cooperate.”
“Hehe. I knew I could count on you, Dad.”
Nightingale smiled brightly, feeling reassured.
At that moment, a knight from the Marquisate came running towards us. The escort knight delivered a message to me.
The story was shared with me.
“Director Gothberg, an urgent message has arrived from the Imperial Family.”
“From the Imperial Family?”
“Ugh, I was on a date.”
I hurriedly returned to the mansion with the disappointed Nightingale. An urgent message between countries requires a response within an hour.
Seeing the seal on the envelope, it was no ordinary urgent message, but a secret letter. It meant that if anyone other than me saw the contents, their head would roll.
Things were getting a bit scary.
“What is it?”
I tore open the seal to check the contents.
“Hmmm.”
It was indeed an emergency. Heike had been struck by an arrow from the barbarians during the eastern expedition and sustained a serious injury. That happened four hours ago.
They teleport-gated him to the Inner Palace, but a surgery was needed.
I was requested for cooperation as I had to operate on no one other than the Emperor.
“I guess I have to go.”
I immediately gathered the surgical team. Fortunately, the surgery schedule was clear.
“Dad, where are you going?”
“I’m going to the Empire for a bit.”
“Is it for surgery?”
“I have my secrets too. It’s almost dinner time, so take some tea to mom.”
I gently pushed Nightingale’s hair aside and tried to wave goodbye, but then she suddenly grabbed my wrist.
Whoa.
“I want to go too.”
“Huh?”
“I can be a nurse.”
“No, it’s not just an ordinary surgery…”
“I want to see Dad’s surgery.”
It’s not just any surgery; it’s the Emperor’s operation.
I couldn’t let her casually observe.
Even if I guarantee her identity.
“It’s an emergency laparotomy for an abdominal stab wound. What are you going to give me?”
“Blade number 24.”
“And after that?”
“Is the organ adherence done?”
“Let’s pretend it is.”
“Castro forceps. Judge the specifications and let me know.”
“Follow me.”
We immediately headed to the teleport gate.
*
Some emergency teleport gates had been reconnected between the Former Country and the Empire.
Thank goodness. I never thought I would use it like this.
I quickly moved alongside the Empire’s Knights.
How long has it been since I entered the Inner Palace? I didn’t need guidance as it was a place I once worked in.
“Wait, is that Director Gothberg over there?”
“Oh my gosh, the legend of the Inner Palace has returned?”
“I’m such a huge fan!”
“Ahh, we made eye contact!”
The doctors and healers were buzzing and excited around. Sorry, but I couldn’t afford to respond to everyone.
I headed straight to the VIP surgical room.
“This way! Director!”
“It’s been a while, Chloe.”
“Yes. Unfortunately, we don’t have time to catch up.”
Chloe had risen through the ranks to become the Emperor’s assistant physician in the meantime. She looks great in her white coat.
“I’ve been promoted to the deputy attending physician. The white coat really suits me.”
Passing through the heavily secured corridor, I entered the waiting room. Together with my team, we sterilized and changed our clothes. At the same time, I received the situation update from Chloe.
“The injury is in the chest, and we removed a foreign substance and did a temporary suturing thirty minutes ago. The arrowhead exploded and shattered, embedding glass shards in the organs.”
“I see we couldn’t remove everything.”
“With the skills of the Inner Palace, it was impossible… but the vitals are still stable.”
“Considering the anesthesia time, we can stretch the limit to 45 minutes. That’s enough. Leave it to me.”
Walking into the surgical room, I looked at Heike lying on the bed. Using my diagnosis, I grasped the situation and mentally mapped where the fragments were located with the X-ray.
“Nowadays, the barbarians craft weapons well. There are forty-six fragments. They’ve lodged themselves nicely in the lungs and liver. The focus area requires an excision; that’ll be quicker.”
Originally, eight people were supposed to be in the surgical room, but now there are nine.
Nightingale approached me, indicating that she would be the head nurse.
I shook my head. No matter how adept she is at medical skills, I can’t enter surgery with a nurse I’ve never worked with before.
“Chloe.”
“Yes.”
A pair of tweezers was handed to me instead of a blade. Chloe knew exactly what I was about to do.
Starting with securing the temporary suturing. Since the surgery content changed with the excision, the incision location has also changed, so the previous cut area is no longer needed.
“Number 24.”
The scalpel glided in smoothly. I made the incision below the chest to check the fragments. The second nurse took care of the bleeding.
I incised a portion of the unusable tissue and began to remove the remaining fragments.
It’s been a while since my last major surgery. But I can’t afford to let my hands slip.
“Wait.”
I noticed something unusual midway.
“There’s one more.”
The tension rose.
Was it because there were no X-rays, or was it because I was more cautious since my patient is the emperor?
Not on the left side of the chest that I was operating on, but beneath the right breast of Heike, in a hidden area that wasn’t easy to see.
There was a mark where another arrow had struck.
Did the shaft break on its own?
“Ugh….”
Chloe almost let out a scream but held it back. Good job.
Judging by the wound’s size, it didn’t seem like the arrowhead had burst severely; it looked like a regular wound.
In any case, that one also needs treatment.
Time is tight. Can I manage this?
Then it happened.
“Remove the foreign substance and suture. Will that work?”
Nightingale stood with both hands raised across from me.
After a brief moment of eye contact with her, I nodded.
“That’ll be enough.”
A forceps was placed in Nightingale’s hand.
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