As the typhoon passed, the temperature difference between day and night grew larger.
Sharti stretched her stiff body as she got up.
‘Still no sign of opening his eyes.’
The unidentified man who had taken refuge in her cave still hadn’t regained consciousness. He just lay on the low, narrow bed, breathing evenly.
Thanks to Sharti’s care day and night, his life was not in danger.
‘Could it be because of the poison that had seeped into the wound?’
How surprised she had been when she belatedly realized the man had been poisoned.
A poison that didn’t show any outward signs.
If she hadn’t discovered the poison that had seeped into the wound, the man would have been on his way to the afterlife within a day.
‘The detoxification went well. Hmm, looking at the unusual wound recovery, it seems the crisis has passed.’
The man possessed recovery abilities befitting his huge body.
While the recovery was slow when he was poisoned, it progressed quickly once the detoxification was complete. Small wounds were fine with just applying ointment.
‘The burn scars won’t be too ugly either.’
The man had burns on his back, arms, and shoulders as if caught in an explosion, but Sharti had really worked hard to treat them by combining herbs.
Was she trying to prove that she was different from 5 years ago when she had almost no medical knowledge?
Sharti smiled bitterly as she recalled the burn scars remaining on her own body.
She also remembered the grimaces others made whenever they saw her burns.
“……”
If only it had been her face instead.
Then she wouldn’t have had to cover herself with this stuffy robe hood.
‘No, if my body had been even more of a mess, I wouldn’t have been able to live in these mountains.’
Her throat had been damaged, her leg limped, and her hand could barely grip things.
But after meeting Bireta, Birena, and Tein, she succeeded in rehabilitation.
Although large burn scars remained, requiring her to wrap her body tightly in robes, she no longer limped and could clench and unclench her hands.
‘…Let’s live with gratitude.’
She recalled the old log cabin that the villagers had given her just for being a doctor.
In mountainous areas, doctors were a rare profession. In an isolated environment, epidemics and injuries big and small were unavoidable problems.
‘Surviving is quite an achievement, isn’t it?’
Five years ago, what she experienced at the Krianet Palace was the greatest misfortune of her life.
But small connections, fleeting kindnesses, saved her.
That was the greatest fortune of her life.
‘Because I’m alive, I went through that process and felt despair and a sense of achievement. Vividly.’
She was grateful that she didn’t die embracing negative emotions, that she lived to bloom her talents.
‘I should stop thinking about this now.’
The longer she spent caring for a man in a similar situation, the more useless thoughts kept coming.
Had she become depressed from staying in the dark, damp cave for two days?
‘The sunshine is good, so I should go gather some herbs.’
Herb gathering was easier on nice days. Sharti checked on the soundly sleeping man.
Picking up her soil gloves and a light blade, Sharti headed out of the cave.
“……”
Inside the cave where only steady breathing could be heard.
The muscles of the man lying motionless on the bed suddenly twitched. His brow furrowed as if in pain, and beads of cold sweat began to form on his forehead.
It was a symptom that hadn’t appeared while Sharti was nursing him.
“…Ugh, urk……”
A suppressed groan escaped between his teeth.
The white bandages that Sharti had changed several times were slowly turning red.
Blood vessels stood out on the man’s lower jaw and neck as he struggled in pain.
Tat-tat-tat−. Fortunately or unfortunately, Sharti, who had returned to the cave after forgetting her basket, discovered the man’s condition.
“……!”
Sharti threw her gloves and blade far away and hurried to the bedside.
She flinched momentarily at the sight of his contorted facial muscles, but soon sat down beside the silently groaning man and felt his forehead.
‘He has a slight fever? Suddenly?’
Sharti didn’t panic and immediately stood up.
That’s when it happened.
Tak. The man’s large hand grabbed Sharti’s. Startled, Sharti urgently tried to pull her body back, but the man frowned and tossed about.
“…Ha, ah……”
Still keeping his eyes tightly shut and turning his head to the side, the man was breathing roughly as if having a nightmare.
Momentarily grasping her startled heart, Sharti awkwardly turned back towards the bed.
‘…He still seems unconscious.’
Sharti stroked the back of the man’s hand carefully, not erasing the wariness from her eyes.
The man’s large hand, which had been motionless, was now trembling slightly.
‘Is he having a nightmare?’
Just looking at the wounds and scars on his body, it was clear the man had been through something unusual.
Was the psychological shock resurfacing in his unconscious state to torment him?
“……”
Feeling pity, Sharti sat on the edge of the bed.
Sharti too had terrible nightmares for a while.
She touched her throat hidden by the hood. She wanted to speak to him to calm him down, as Bireta had done long ago, but she abandoned the thought.
‘Hearing my voice might make the nightmare worse.’
Sharti only used her voice very occasionally, when she huddled under the blanket on thunderous nights. At other times, even to her own ears, her voice sounded too terrible.
The croaking of a frog. Or the rough, hoarse voice of a witch.
That was Sharti’s voice.
Instead of straining her throat, Sharti wrote letters on the back of the man’s hand that she was holding.
So don’t worry, Sharti engraved the letters on the man’s skin with her fingertips as if rubbing them in.
After continuing her one-sided writing for a while, Sharti realized that the grip on her hand was loosening.
“…Ha, ah……”
The man’s labored breathing became a little more even. Sharti reached out with her other hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead with her sleeve.
The man’s eyebrows twitched each time Sharti’s hand touched him, but he no longer seemed to be in pain.
‘…Phew.’
It seemed he was calming down.
Sharti slowly got up from the bed. As she walked away with her back to the bed, Sharti immediately recalled the herb combination she had used on the man.
‘What herbs should I use for mental treatment?’
Sharti was completely unfamiliar with psychological treatment itself.
But she couldn’t just leave the man like this. If left untreated, he might continue to show seizure-like symptoms like this.
‘Should I go to the village and look for more medical books?’
Of course, she would have to leave after the man’s condition improved a bit more.
‘Since he has a slight fever, I should at least put a wet cloth on his forehead…’
Sharti turned to walk towards the bucket she had prepared in the back of the cave, but stopped in her tracks.
The man she had been caring for on the bed was now staggering to sit up.
“…Huu, ugh……”
The man exhaled several times while clutching his forehead, as if his head was throbbing.
An intimidating aura emanated from him that she hadn’t felt when he was unconscious.
Gulp. Sharti instinctively took a step back.
“…Where……”
Sharti flinched at the man’s rough, deep voice.
The low, rumbling voice, as if drunk with sleep, was quite similar to the man’s voice from two days ago.
The man’s gaze met Sharti’s as he turned his head, trying to survey his surroundings with blurry vision.
“……!”
“…You……”
They were teal-colored eyes.
This time, she clearly saw the sharp light in his eyes that she had noticed at their first meeting.
“…Who… are you?”
The man’s teal eyes, furrowed with confusion, were looking at her.
“Just where is… Ugh……”
The man’s eyebrows twitched as he gritted his teeth and tried to raise his body. He paused momentarily after checking the bandages wrapped around his body.
Meanwhile, Sharti glanced at the man’s sword leaning against the cave wall.
‘Will he try to threaten me with his sword again, misunderstanding like last time?’
Sharti’s mind was racing.
The long staff fixed to the wall and his sword.
Sharti’s thoughts weren’t very positive about who would grab a weapon first.
“…Answer me. Who are you……”
Sharti’s shoulders hunched at the threatening growl between his teeth.
Sharti barely managed to shake her head.
Unfortunately, to the man’s eyes, Sharti, with her face hidden by the robe hood and avoiding answering, only looked suspicious.
‘How, how do I explain?’
She was too scared to approach, but grabbing a weapon first would only increase the chances of being misunderstood.
“…Damn it, my head……”
The man was still confused.
Sharti quietly slipped her hand into the pocket inside her robe.
‘I, I have no choice.’
She felt the small pouches she had prepared earlier with Tein.
“……”
Sharti managed to move her trembling legs and slowly approached the bed.
When the man belatedly noticed the shortened distance and raised his head, Sharti didn’t hesitate to take out a small pouch and throw it.
Poof! As the loosely tied mouth of the small pouch opened, finely ground powder scattered in front of the man’s face.
“Wh-What…!”
The man tried to avoid it by moving his body back, but in the narrow cave, and with his injured body, it was futile.
“…Cough, cough! Urgh……”
The man, who had been coughing dryly, glared at Sharti with eyes that seemed to say he had been betrayed.
“…You−”
But only for a moment, the man’s eyelids began to slowly close.
Thud. The man’s hand and arm, which had been clutching his head, fell limply.
The effect of the anesthetic herb powder was immediate.
“…Ugh……”
The man’s huge upper body also swayed slightly and then collapsed backwards.
Trying to grasp the fading threads of consciousness, the man fixed his gaze on Sharti and mumbled in slurred speech.
“…Just… why, am I……”
The man’s eyes became unfocused, and soon steady breathing could be heard again.
Only after the strength left the man’s muscles, which had been threatening to twitch, did Sharti approach closely and wave her hand in front of his face.
Fortunately, the man was sleeping with a comfortable expression.
‘Thank goodness. He’s asleep.’
Sharti’s legs gave out and she couldn’t get up right away. She pressed firmly near her pounding heart.
It was fortunate that she had prepared the anesthetic herb with Tein.
‘I’ll have to keep him asleep for a while.’
Sharti once again realized the man’s astonishing recovery speed.
It seems she would need to use sleeping medicine quite generously until he fully recovered.
‘It’s a problem when the patient’s body is too strong.’
Her heart raced as the man’s teal eyes flashed before her. Sharti let out a heavy sigh.
Still, as a doctor, she left a written message on the back of his hand with a hint of apology.
It wouldn’t be conveyed, but this was the best she could do.
* * *
Five nerve-wracking days passed, and just as the sense of crisis was loosening, Sharti had gone down to the village early in the morning. Returning to her old log cabin around lunchtime, she was empty-handed again today.
Sharti massaged her aching right leg.
‘I couldn’t buy it today either.’
Of all days, soldiers had come to the village today, making the atmosphere unsettled.
__________
Men In The Royal Harem All Yearn For Her (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The men (young empress, young empress dowager, crown prince) in the harem all yearn to become her consort.
Synopsis:
The female protagonist is a wildly popular heartthrob with a natural halo.
The male protagonist is a crazily obsessed and self-abasing loyal dog.
Qiu Shu, the top scholar’s daughter, is pure, elegant and incomparably enchanting, captivating countless admirers.
Being favored by the eldest prince, the most handsome man in the capital, and becoming his wife in a single move is truly the pride of a poor student.
However, what they don’t know is that the seemingly bright and splendid female protagonist lives in a battlefield of jealousy every day.
The cute and adorable young empress is unusually attached to her.
The gentlemanly and upright young empress dowager has an ambiguous relationship with her.
Even her aloof and proud eldest prince is actually a gloomy and petty jealous husband.
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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