“An alloy needle is better. The tip is thin, and it has good elasticity.”
When I said it in a confident voice, the merchant exclaimed loudly in admiration.
“My goodness, how does such a little young lady know all that? That’s truly impressive!”
Even in the face of the compliment, I didn’t let my expression waver and boldly made another request.
“Then please add three more alloy needles.”
“Eh?”
“They said they’d give me four over there.”
As I continued bargaining shamelessly, the merchant eventually nodded as though he had no choice.
“Goodness! All right, all right. Take them!”
Even after accepting the needle case the merchant handed me, I didn’t immediately step away.
Instead, I pointed at a wooden box set separately on one side of the stall.
“What about that?”
“Ah, that’s a rather expensive item. It’s for experienced physicians. The tips don’t become dull easily, and they feel good in the hand, too…”
While the merchant continued explaining, I examined the open wooden box.
Up close, they were distinctly different from the needles I had just bought.
The needles varied in thickness and length, while thin patterns had been engraved on the handles to keep them from slipping.
They looked a little heavy for someone as young as me, but they seemed like they would actually be more stable in the hands of an adult with larger hands.
‘They look like they’d fit Grandfather’s hands perfectly… And the color is so elegant.’
I hesitated for a moment before carefully closing the wooden box.
“I’ll take this, too.”
“Pardon? It might be a little too large for you to use, Young Lady.”
“I’m not going to use it.”
“Then…?”
I cleared my throat for no particular reason.
The truth was, giving a physician a set of needles as a gift was quite meaningful.
To the people of the Medicine King’s household, needles were precious enough to carry with them at all times, and because of that, they reflected each person’s individual preferences.
So if someone who wasn’t particularly close to them gave them needles as a gift, they might consider it rude and refuse.
‘I don’t know if I’m worthy of giving him something like this… And he might refuse, but still.’
Grandfather’s laughter kept coming back to me. Along with the warm look in his eyes whenever he looked at me.
‘Maybe he’ll accept it.’
Thanks to that thought, I was barely able to gather the courage.
‘Perhaps someday, he might truly acknowledge me as his granddaughter…’
If I tried a little harder, that was.
Only after sorting out my thoughts did I quietly murmur,
“I’m going to give it to my grandfather.”
For a moment, Ryu Jin’s eyes widened. Even Heo Jinbyeok’s eyebrows moved ever so slightly.
“To the family head?”
“Yeah. Grandfather has big hands. If he’s going to use them for a long time, these would be better.”
After saying it, I suddenly felt embarrassed, so I deliberately pretended to be nonchalant and lightly tapped the shelf.
“Th-This one, too. And give me that one as a freebie.”
“My, Young Lady. This is already sold as a complete needle case, so there’s really nothing I can add for free…”
“Then give me a cloth for wiping the needles and some oil for storage.”
“……”
“They said they’d give me those over there.”
The merchant stared at me with his mouth slightly open for a moment, then laughed heartily and shook his head.
“My goodness! All right, all right. Since it’s a gift for the family head, I’ll put them in specially.”
When I turned around, Ryu Jin and Heo Jinbyeok were looking at me in surprise.
“Young Lady… amazing…”
“Huh?”
“You know so much… You don’t fall for those tricks to overcharge you… And you even picked out needles as a gift for the family head…”
The merchant beside us gave a small cough.
“As expected, Young Lady truly inherited the young family head’s blood.”
Heo Jinbyeok also let out an admiration that was difficult to tell whether it was praise or not, and silently nodded.
Unused to all the attention and admiration pouring over me, I waved my hands in embarrassment.
“It’s, it’s nothing!”
Even though I had lived for quite a long time through several regressions, this was the first time I had ever received such praise.
It felt strangely unfamiliar.
The useless burden. The defective one.
I, who had always heard nothing but words like those, was being praised by someone else.
I looked down at the two needle cases in my arms before lifting my head a little more proudly.
“Now let’s go look at the medicinal herbs!”
“Yes! Young Lady!”
***
“This one, and this one, please. This one, too!”
Fortunately, the herbal medicine shop had most of the medicinal herbs I was looking for.
After quickly selecting and gathering everything I needed, I stepped outside the shop, and Ryu Jin quietly came up beside me.
“Young Lady.”
“If you’ve gotten everything, would you like to try that?”
“Huh?”
Ryu Jin’s obsidian-like eyes sparkled as she pointed behind us.
Round, dark-brown snacks were neatly stacked on a small street stall.
The delicious smell tickled the tip of my nose.
I unconsciously swallowed and was about to walk over there with Ryu Jin when—
“Huh? What’s going on?”
The murmur of the crowd brushed against my ears.
Ryu Jin and I simultaneously turned our heads toward the source of the noise.
People had gathered in front of an old, long-established teahouse in the middle of the marketplace.
A small tea table beneath the shabby eaves had been overturned, and broken ceramic pieces were scattered messily across the ground.
And right in the middle of it all.
Someone with a small frame had collapsed.
‘A child?’
Blue hair and a snow-white face.
It was a boy with strikingly beautiful features that stood out even from a distance.
His black martial uniform was covered in dust, and the fingertips of the hand braced against the ground were trembling slightly.
“Young Master!”
The martial artist beside him tried to lift the boy with a face gone deathly pale.
At that moment—
Hack!
A mouthful of dark-red blood gushed from the boy’s mouth.
“Aaaah!”
Screams erupted from all around us.
I instinctively examined the boy’s face.
‘Poison.’
The blood staining the corner of his lips was far too dark.
A faint bluish tinge had spread around his eyes and beneath his ears.
Symptoms of poisoning.
“Physician! Is there a physician anywhere?!”
The martial artist desperately looked around. Then, suddenly, he stopped and stared toward one side.
Following his gaze, my eyes widened.
‘The Medicine King’s household.’
A carriage bearing a familiar emblem was parked there.
The moment the martial artist spotted the two people beside it, he rushed over.
“Ar-Are you physicians from the Medicine King’s household? Please, help us!”
It was Yeon Hwi-cheon and Yeon Do-pyeong.
Yeon Hwi-cheon flinched at the appearance of the unfamiliar man, but soon composed his expression.
“What is the matter?”
“Our young master is vomiting blood. Please, just take a look at him!”
Yeon Hwi-cheon glanced at the collapsed boy.
Then he soon shook his head with an uncomfortable expression.
“I’m sorry, but we have to return to the main household urgently.”
“But if we don’t treat him right now…”
“I’m not feeling well today, and I also have a lot of matters piled up that need to be handled.”
Yeon Hwi-cheon let out a low sigh as though he were troubled.
“If it’s truly urgent, come to the Medicine King’s household. If you formally request treatment, I’ll take a look at him.”
“He’s in a critical state right now! How are we supposed to take him all the way to the Medicine King’s household?!”
Both his claim that he wasn’t feeling well and his excuse about having too much work seemed nothing more than excuses.
Yeon Hwi-cheon’s complexion looked no different from usual, after all.
Yeon Do-pyeong, standing beside him, glanced at the collapsed boy and scoffed.
“If it’s poison, then all the more reason not to carelessly interfere. If we touch him for no reason and he dies, who’s going to take responsibility?”
Yeon Hwi-cheon frowned, seemingly conscious of the eyes of those around them.
“Do-pyeong. That’s harsh.”
He deliberately raised his voice so that those nearby could hear as well. Yeon Do-pyeong merely shrugged.
“It’s not wrong.”
Then, as though he were annoyed, he waved his hand dismissively.
“Anyway, we’re busy, so move aside.”
With that, the two simply walked past the martial artist and left.
‘Cowards.’
I clenched my teeth.
They must have realized that the boy’s condition was serious.
But if they interfered and something went wrong, they would have to take responsibility.
They were afraid of possibly earning Grandfather’s displeasure.
“Please! Anyone! Please help us!”
The martial artist desperately called out to the crowd.
But no one stepped forward.
It was only natural that people would hesitate to treat someone who had been poisoned.
If they clumsily intervened and the patient died, they could end up being held responsible instead.
‘No.’
I clenched my fists tightly.
‘I can’t step forward yet.’
Of all times, Yeon Hwi-cheon and Yeon Do-pyeong had to be here.
If they found out, they would certainly make an issue of the fact that I, who wasn’t even a formally trained medical student, had recklessly treated a patient.
“Young Lady.”
Heo Jinbyeok called out to me in a low voice.
“Please, let us step away now.”
He must have noticed my agitation.
“Young Lady, it’ll be okay. Another physician… will, will definitely come.”
Ryu Jin also gently grabbed the hem of my clothes, her face filled with concern.
Then—
“Hack, cough!”
The boy’s back arched violently.
More dark-red blood poured from his mouth.
This time, there was even foam mixed in with the blood.
“Young Master!”
The boy’s fingertips trembled violently before going limp.
“No!”
“His breathing… His breathing is getting weaker!”
At that moment, something inside me snapped.
‘If we leave him like this, he’ll die.’
I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them again.
In my previous life, I had struggled desperately countless times because I wanted to live.
I begged people to save me, struggled not to be abandoned, and waited until my very last moment for someone to hold my hand.
Someone like me—
If I turned my back on a person dying right before my eyes…
What would I become?
Tap-tap!
“Young Lady?!”
I shook off Ryu Jin’s hand and ran into the crowd.
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