The attendant looked puzzled for a moment.
“Are you planning to mix the honey into the medicine?”
I shook my head.
“No. I’m not going to put it in the medicine.”
The attendant immediately stepped outside the tent.
A low murmur rose around us again.
“Honey?”
“Is she trying to mask the bitterness?”
“What is she trying to add to medicine that’s already been decocted?”
I paid no attention to the comments and examined the man’s complexion.
His eyes were red from dry-heaving, but he had not actually vomited. His breathing was also gradually settling down.
A moment later, the attendant returned carrying warm water and a small jar of honey.
I scooped up only a tiny amount of honey with the tip of a small spoon and held it out to the man.
“Don’t swallow it. Just let it sit on the tip of your tongue for a moment.”
The man stared at the spoon in confusion.
“Will eating this make the medicine less nauseating?”
“I’m not trying to get rid of the bitterness. I want to soothe your mouth and throat a little after they tightened up from the dry-heaving.”
The man hesitated for a moment before placing the honey on the tip of his tongue as I instructed.
As the sweetness spread through his mouth, the corners of his tightly clenched lips relaxed slightly.
I immediately handed him the warm water.
“Now, just take one sip of water. Don’t swallow it too quickly. Slowly.”
The man carefully drank the water.
As the warm water went down his throat, his Adam’s apple, which had been rising and falling roughly, gradually settled.
He rubbed his chest and let out a long breath.
“……I feel a little better.”
“That’s a relief.”
Only then did I place the bowl of medicine back in front of him.
But the man’s expression stiffened again.
He stared at the bowl without reaching for it, then spoke.
“But, Little lady.”
“Yes?”
“I’ve taken other decoctions before.”
The man looked down at the bowl anxiously.
“I’ve never dry-heaved like this just from smelling one.”
After hesitating for a moment, he carefully asked,
“Could it be…… that something is wrong with the medicine?”
Another low murmur spread outside the tent.
“See? Even the patient thinks something’s wrong.”
I ignored the voices around me and looked at the man.
It was only natural that he was anxious.
He had been given medicine he had never taken before, and the moment he smelled it, his stomach had turned.
“The medicine isn’t wrong.”
I spoke calmly.
“The Elders just checked all the medicinal herbs and the prescription. If there had been a problem, I wouldn’t have been able to bring it to you in the first place.”
“Then why did it suddenly……?”
“Because your stomach is much weaker than usual.”
I pointed toward the bowl of medicine.
“You’ve lost a lot of strength from abdominal pain and diarrhea throughout the night. Your stomach has also become sensitive, so your body may react even to a strong smell that normally wouldn’t bother you.”
The man looked at me silently.
“That’s why I told you not to drink it all at once from the beginning.”
I deliberately did not push the bowl any closer to him.
“But if you’re still worried, you can rest a little longer before drinking it.”
The man stared down at the bowl for a moment before slowly opening his mouth.
“Earlier…… I said I would trust you, didn’t I, Little lady?”
I gave a small nod.
The man wrapped both hands around the bowl again.
“Then I’ll trust you.”
“Yes. This time, don’t take a deep breath of the medicinal aroma. Just try a very small amount.”
The man took a long breath, then turned his head slightly to avoid the medicinal scent.
He placed his lips against the edge of the bowl and took a very small amount of the decoction into his mouth.
His brow furrowed briefly at the bitterness.
But this time, he did not dry-heave.
I watched his face and breathing.
“Are you all right?”
The man took a moment to catch his breath before slowly nodding.
“……Yes. I’m all right this time.”
“Then rest for a moment before taking another sip.”
One sip.
Then another.
As he gradually increased the amount he drank, little by little, nearly half the bowl was empty before long.
The murmuring outside the tent gradually died down as well.
Even the examinees who had been saying just moments ago that the patient would not be able to take the medicine had fallen silent, watching us.
The man placed the bowl down on the table and let out a long breath.
I immediately supported his wrist and checked his pulse.
The pulse that had been fast and weakly fluttering was gradually becoming more even.
It had not completely stabilized yet.
But it was definitely better than before.
‘Thank goodness.’
The medicine was working properly.
The tension that had unknowingly settled in my shoulders finally loosened a little.
“Patient, how are you feeling now?”
But there was no answer.
“……Patient?”
When I raised my head, the man’s eyelids were slowly drooping.
The strength had already left the hand that had been clutching his abdomen.
Thud.
His arm fell limply over the side of the bed.
“……!”
Startled, I instinctively grabbed his wrist again.
“Did he faint?”
Someone shouted urgently from outside the tent.
“The patient collapsed!”
“Is there something wrong with the medicine?”
The main courtyard, which had finally fallen quiet, erupted into a commotion in an instant.
‘What is this?’
His pulse had definitely been more stable than before.
His breathing wasn’t disturbed, either.
Then why……?
Just as Father suddenly shot to his feet—
“Everyone, step back.”
Heo Unbaek’s low, weighty voice rang through the tent.
The four Elders entered one after another.
Heo Unbaek sat beside me and slowly checked the man’s wrist.
He remained silent for quite some time.
Dam Uhyeon examined the man’s complexion and breathing, while Nam Jino carefully pressed his abdomen to check his condition.
Ju Yeonseok examined the remaining decoction before turning his gaze back to the patient.
A silence deep enough that even our breathing sounded loud settled over the tent.
A moment later.
A very faint smile appeared at the corners of Heo Unbaek’s mouth.
“He’s asleep.”
“……Yes?”
I asked without realizing it.
Heo Unbaek withdrew his hand from the man’s wrist.
“His pulse is more even than before. His breathing is comfortable as well.”
Nam Jino also removed his hand from the man’s abdomen and nodded.
“The tension in his abdomen has also relaxed considerably.”
Ju Yeonseok spoke quietly.
“He must have been exhausted from the pain that continued throughout the night. Once the medicine took effect and the pain subsided, all that tension must have left him at once.”
Only then did I let out a small breath.
He had been a man who had not slept at all because of the pain throughout the night.
Once the pain had eased even a little, it seemed the fatigue that had built up had washed over him all at once.
Then it happened.
The sleeping man murmured in a tiny voice.
“……Warm…….”
Everyone’s gaze turned toward him.
“Feels…… like I can…… live…….”
The words failed to connect properly.
The man sank back into a deep sleep.
The tent fell quiet again.
Even outside, where people had been murmuring about whether something was wrong with the medicine, not another word could be heard.
Heo Unbaek gazed at the sleeping patient for a moment before slowly rising to his feet.
Then he turned toward me.
“Yeon Ryeonghwa, examinee.”
I folded my hands neatly.
“Yes, Elder.”
Heo Unbaek looked at me for a long moment.
It was a gaze distinctly different from before.
He was no longer looking at me simply as a child taking an examination.
He was looking at me as a person practicing medicine.
Heo Unbaek glanced once at the sleeping man before continuing calmly.
“Medicine is not merely the art of curing illnesses. It is about examining the patient’s body and mind together.”
His gaze returned to me.
“Today, you properly examined the patient’s pulse and symptoms and prescribed medicine accordingly. When the patient could not take the medicine, you first examined the reason why and helped him take it until the end.”
Heo Unbaek gave a small nod.
“That is sufficient.”
It seemed the final verification of the last examinee had also been completed.
The examiners remaining in the main courtyard began putting things away one by one, while the examinees waiting for the Elders’ final judgment stared anxiously toward the main hall.
Heo Unbaek walked outside the tent.
I followed behind him.
The murmuring gradually died down.
Heo Unbaek bowed toward the main hall.
“Family Head.”
Grandfather slowly rose from his seat.
The entire courtyard in front of the main residence became completely silent.
Heo Unbaek’s voice rang out clearly.
“For the Ip-gwan Examination examinee, Yeon Ryeonghwa, I, this Elder, request that she be declared successful.”
A brief silence followed.
Grandfather looked at me quietly.
His expression was still stern.
But there seemed to be the faintest trace of pride in his eyes.
At last, Grandfather opened his mouth.
“Good.”
The single, short word echoed across the courtyard in front of the main residence.
“From this day forth, Yeon Ryeonghwa is recognized as an official physician trainee of Yakryeong!”
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