Saved Him, Now I'm Obsessed - Chapter 56

The gravekeeper’s house was not far from the cemetery. It seemed that the house needed to be close to the graves to oversee them day and night.

“I thought the place with graves would be desolate…”

There are things that generally come to mind when thinking of cemeteries, aren’t there? A dark and gloomy place, shrouded in fog and desolation. But this place was not like that. Rather, it felt like a beautifully decorated park.

“That looks like a small castle.”

Among the tombstones, there were also structures that looked like houses. The small houses, elaborately decorated with marble, were adorable, as if they were regular mansions shrunk tenfold.

“Those are family burial plots. The remains of family members are kept inside those buildings. People think cemeteries are gloomy, but originally, cemeteries are not places for the souls of the dead to linger. So we beautify them so they can rest comfortably.”

“It’s really pretty. The gravekeeper flowers blooming everywhere make it look even more vibrant. The gravekeeper flower may have an odd name, but it’s truly a beautiful flower.”

“It’s even more beautiful at night. Interestingly, they emit light at night, giving a mysterious feeling as if stars have descended to the earth.”

“I’d love to see that sometime.”

“Feel free to come anytime if you’d like. I always tell those curious about the flowers to come whenever they’re comfortable, but no one has ever actually visited at night to see the flowers. Even during the day, people are reluctant to come to a cemetery, let alone at night.”

“If I get the chance, I’ll definitely come.”

As I excitedly replied to him, Ian, who was beside me, interjected.

“How are you going to come here at night when you have such a poor sense of direction?”

“Having a poor sense of direction doesn’t mean I have poor night vision.”

“You get even more lost at night. And before that, can you even find this place on your own?”

Unable to refute because it was all true, I just puffed out my cheeks. It could be just a polite invitation, or I could come in the mansion’s carriage in the middle of the night, why nitpick everything?

Just then, someone called out to the gravekeeper from afar. The gravekeeper waved his hand at that person with an annoyed expression and said to us.

“It seems we have another visitor today. I must go.”

“A visitor?”

“What else would someone have to see this gravekeeper for? I suppose someone else has died today.”

He said this and then looked at his house. He seemed to be worried about his daughter who was still not waking up there. Even for someone familiar with death, it seems impossible to remain detached when death approaches one’s family.

“If you tell us where it is, we’ll check it out before we leave.”

He let out a deep sigh and turned to us.

“To be honest, I don’t have high expectations for you. When even skilled healers and apothecaries have all given up, I can’t help but wonder what a young doctor like you could do.”

I nodded without answering his words. I wanted to say, believe in my skills, don’t be too heartbroken and have hope…

But in reality, I still didn’t know exactly what her illness was, let alone how to treat it. I couldn’t irresponsibly give false hope.

“But still, the reason I showed you my child is because I want to believe in miracles. I think miracles are brought by fate, not by skill, so I hope you will be the guardian angel who brings a miracle to my daughter.”

His words about hoping for a miracle felt incredibly heavy to me.

“That doesn’t mean you need to feel too much pressure or be nervous. It’s just a wish, after all. Even if you can’t cure my daughter, I won’t resent you. Well then, have a look around.”

He pointed out the area where his daughter usually picked flowers and then left.

“Shall we go to where the gravekeeper flowers are said to bloom?”

“I’m curious, what does that flower have to do with that woman’s illness? I thought we were just going to examine the patient, but do we need to examine the grave too?”

“To be honest, I’m not sure what the patient’s illness is right now.”

“So there are diseases even Jane doesn’t know.”

I burst out laughing at those words, finding them ridiculous.

“Aren’t you overestimating me too much? Of course there are many diseases I don’t know. And there are many people more skilled than me.”

“I can’t believe there are people more skilled than Jane. Even when you went to take the healer’s exam, you put all the healers there to shame. You were even asked to become the capital’s healer by Perman.”

“Ugh! Don’t mention that. It still upsets me to think about it. What’s wrong with being a woman! And those arrogant healers there only know how to lick the boots of high nobles, intoxicated by power. They’re not truly skilled. Real skilled healers are too busy honing their skills by going directly to places with many sick patients to gather for such useless things in the capital.”

“I suppose that’s true.”

“Do you know how important it is to actually see patients? Even the same disease can present different symptoms depending on the patient, so you can never learn just from books. But how often do nobles who live in good places, eat good food, and live comfortably without hard work get sick? Healers who only deal with such nobles can’t possibly be very skilled.”

“So that’s why Jane is competent? But Jane has been like this since childhood.”

I said with a boastful face.

“I may have been young, but do you know how many patients I’ve seen beside my grandfather? My experience is no less than that of most apothecaries or healers. And having better discernment than others has been a great help.”

“You have good discernment, but why is your sense of direction so poor?”

At his words, I glared at him, huffing. After all that praise, why bring up my poor sense of direction?

“Are you teasing me now about my poor sense of direction?”

“I’m not teasing, I’m just curious.”

“Geez, really.”

“Are you upset?”

I strode forward briskly. Ian followed closely behind, repeatedly asking if I was upset.

“I’m not upset. Why are you making me seem petty?”

“It’s not petty, it’s cute.”

“Cute my foot… Oh my!”

As I was walking quickly, I tripped over a rock.

Thud!

As I was about to fall forward, Ian caught me and I ended up in his arms.

‘What is this….’

It happened so suddenly that I was momentarily dazed. I turned my head to look up at Ian.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

He asked me if I was alright in a worried tone. Thanks to that, even though I wasn’t hurt, I felt awkward and grumbled at him.

“I didn’t even fall, how could I be hurt? I could have balanced myself even if you didn’t catch me…”

When did he get so big… Being in his arms made me feel strange. I had known Ian since he was very young, so he always felt like a child to me. But just now, in his firm embrace, I felt his adulthood acutely.

‘He must still be training diligently as a knight, like he did when he was young.’

For a moment, I felt at peace in his strong arms and broad chest. But soon, overwhelmed by embarrassment, I hurriedly left his embrace.

For an instant, he felt like a man, and it was disconcerting.

‘I must be crazy.’

In my previous body, I hadn’t been so conscious of the height difference. Of course, Ian was taller than me even then.

When I was Jane, I was taller than most knights, so even next to Ian, who was taller than most, I didn’t feel such a difference.

But now that I’m in Claire’s body, which is particularly small for her age, I realized just how tall a man he is.

With Claire’s height, my head barely reached his chest. It really drove home how one’s perspective can change based on eye level. Ian had always seemed like a child to me.

Feeling awkward from these unnecessary thoughts, I changed the subject.

“Sometimes it’s important to look at the patient’s surroundings. Especially when you’re not sure what the illness is, like now.”

He nodded and then held out his hand to me. I looked at him, wondering what this was about.

“Take it. Don’t fall again.”

“I’m not a child… Why would I fall again?”

While protesting loudly that I wouldn’t fall, I still took his hand.

Although the gravekeeper managed the cemetery well, it seemed difficult for him to thoroughly inspect this vast area alone, as there were many weeds growing on the paths through the cemetery, and protruding rocks.

Since I’m not completely accustomed to Claire’s body yet, it would be safer to walk holding his hand than to risk falling. His hand was warm.