Queen of The Scalpel - Chapter 95
And so Elise became a formal doctor. Not only as the highest scorer, but as the youngest. People were curious what she would do next since she was known to be the Crown Princess, but nothing special happened.
She continued to work at Teresa Hospital. If there was something that was different, it was that she was there as a doctor, and not a disciple.
“The lady from the Clarence family is still working at Teresa Hospital? The one chosen to be the Crown Princess?”
“That’s what I heard.”
People looked at her with interest. No one from the Clarence family had become a doctor, and no one chosen to be a Crown Princess had become a doctor either.
“Amazing. It must be difficult looking after everyone in the slums.”
“Yeah. Even men don’t like it. I’m worried she’ll get sick before she becomes the Crown Princess.”
They looked at her positively. Because there was no reason for them to look badly upon the important lady who would become the Crown Princess working at the slum hospital. But there were also some who criticized her.
“Why does she want to be a doctor if she’s becoming the Crown Princess? Isn’t that just for show?”
“Yeah. It seems she’s doing that to look good.”
They were mostly people from the Noble Party. They spread rumors that it was all a show to get popularity from the public. It wasn’t completely wrong. Since Elise was actually getting a lot of fame.
[Future First Lady Elise volunteers to help in slum hospital without worrying about herself!]
It was somewhat a misunderstanding, but people were still in an uproar. Where would they be able to find a Crown Princess like this? It hadn’t even been 50 years since the empress of the Francoen Republic was sent to the guillotine by their citizens’ anger. And the spending of money of the Hamburg family was infamous.
“Cheers to the great Emperor and the Crown Prince, and the Crown Princess!”
The citizens all drank to Elise’s name when they drank to the imperial family. That was how much support she received from the citizens although she wasn’t the Crown Princess yet. Something like that had never happened before, but the receiver of all the attention, Elise, didn’t really care.
‘Since I’m not going to be the Crown Princess anyway.’ She thought firmly to herself. 4 months. She was going to win the bet with the Emperor within that time. And she was going to live a doctor’s life that wasn’t related to the Crown Prince in any way. ‘Do your best, Elise.’
With that mindset, she looked after her patients. No, even if it wasn’t for the bet, she looked after her patients with this much passion and tenacity anyway. Because it was something she liked to do. What she dreamed of. ‘It’s joyful.’
It was great having her medical license. She could diagnose her patients without any supervision, unlike when she was just a disciple. With this opportunity, she gratefully treated her patients. And time passed.
One day. Two days. And one week, then another. One month, then another. It was a happy time for her. Because her body was weak, she became sick several times, but it was still okay.
‘You’re weird.’ She remembered what a close friend of hers said in Korea. ‘How can you be like that? Is it that fun looking after patients? You can feel some happiness. But is it really that much? You’re addicted to your job. A total workaholic.’
Yeah, he might be right. She was weird. Because looking after her patients was unconditionally joyful. But did there need to be a reason for it? There wasn’t a particular reason why an artist liked to draw, or why a singer was addicted to singing. She was just absorbed in her work like then.
Time flowed like that. Days that were so happy that she hoped time just stopped in that moment. But fate didn’t allow her happiness. 3 months. When just one month was left until her adult ceremony, two incidents that changed her destiny occurred. One of them was the participation of the Francoen Republic in the Creme Expedition.
She knew that they would, but there was something that was different. It was the amount of forces they brought. 40,000. It was 40,000. It was more than two times the amount in her precious life, and even the Britia Empire wouldn’t be able to deal with them with the amount of forces they had ready.
And that wasn’t the end. The second incident was the Great Plague of Londo. A mysterious plague started to spread in the city of Londo. And so, Elise de Clarence, a young girl, started to leave her name not only in medical books, but in history books.
***
In the Imperial Palace of the Britia Empire, three people who ruled over the empire were having a discussion with serious faces.
“They must’ve gone crazy. 40,000? This is accurate information, chancellor?”
Emperor Minchester clicked his tongue.
“Yes, Your Majesty. 30,000 from Fracoen, 7,000 from the Black Continent, and 3,000 from Switzen. A total of 40,000.”