Subliminal Wayfarer

It was almost time for her next appointment, so she had to hurry.

Grace’s carriage, after leaving the orphanage, headed straight to Nottia’s clinic.

“Welcome, Grace.”

The moment Nottia saw Grace, she circled around her, checking for any limping, any signs of hunching, and for any bandages or plaster on her hands or feet. Only after thoroughly inspecting her did she breathe a sigh of relief.

“You have no idea how anxious I’ve been since I hadn’t heard from you. I was starting to worry you might have collapsed again.”

“Sorry, Nottia. I don’t know if you’ve seen the news, but I’ve been a bit overwhelmed.”

“Oh! So, was that interview true? My goodness, have you really fallen into a fiery romance? With Duke Lucas Blacke, no less?”

Nottia’s pretty, carrot-colored eyes widened in surprise as she covered her mouth.

Well, she couldn’t exactly deny it, but saying yes wasn’t easy either.

Grace found it hard to answer, so she simply laughed and took a seat.

“Come on, say something, Grace.”

“Haha…”

“Why aren’t you saying anything… Wait, could it be?”

At that moment, Nottia’s eyes, already impossibly wide, grew even larger as she stared at Grace. Her gaze moved from Grace’s face to her neck, to her chest, and then down to her stomach, where it lingered.

Realizing what Nottia was thinking, Grace quickly placed her hands over her stomach and shook her head vigorously.

“N-No, that’s not it!”

“You can be honest with me, Grace. I’ll find out during the examination anyway.”

“No, really! There’s nothing to find! Not even a trace!”

“Really? Are you sure? Then why the rush to get married?”

“Well, um, we’re both getting older, and we’ve been discussing it for a while now…”

“Hmm?”

Nottia narrowed her eyes, still looking suspicious.

Grace, who had been struggling to find the right words, finally gave in and said it.

“A fiery romance, yes, uh… We’re getting married because of that… fiery… love.”

Well, I don’t know anymore.

So this is what it means to fall in love, huh.

“Hahaha. Hahahaha…”

Grace laughed helplessly, letting go of any pretense.

Nottia, though still somewhat doubtful, seemed comforted by Grace’s laughter.

She then carefully examined Grace for quite some time, checking to make sure there were no abnormalities in her body.

Nottia’s expression brightened when she saw how healthy Grace was, even more so than before.

“Did you go off to recover somewhere instead of collapsing? You’re in perfectly good shape. Your breathing is steady, your complexion is good, and your digestive system is especially healthy.”

Grace had lived a near-convalescent life at the Blacke ducal residence, so Nottia’s words weren’t entirely wrong.

She had been worried that the curse, which had now transferred to her arm, might cause some problems, but fortunately, everything seemed fine.

“Nottia, actually, I have a favor to ask today.”

“What is it?”

Nottia asked while putting away her medical instruments on the desk. Grace took a deep breath before finally speaking.

“Could I collect all the documents we’ve gathered so far?”

“Grace…”

“I don’t intend to act on them right away, especially with the wedding so soon, but I think it’s time I started preparing.”

Nottia stared at Grace for a moment, then nodded decisively.

“Wait here.”

Nottia stepped into a small room adjacent to the clinic. After a bit of rummaging, she returned with a large stack of papers.

“Oh… there’s more than I thought.”

Grace burst into laughter when she saw the thickness of the stack that Nottia had brought.

“That’s how much proof we’ve gathered of what you’ve been through.”

Nottia, excited, slammed the hundreds of pages onto the table.

“At last, my obsession with documentation will pay off.”

Nottia grinned as she laid out the papers, organized by date, symptom, and predicted aftereffects.

It was a complete and flawless record, including detailed notes and even the occasional drawing.

 

* * *

 

“Here you go. And Nottia, you have to come too.”

“Of course. Thank you for inviting me. No matter how busy I am, I’ll take the day off to be there.”

Nottia firmly grasped the invitation Grace handed her and nodded.

Nottia was an extremely skilled doctor.

When she had finished her studies and medical training, many noblewomen had tried to hire her, but she had turned them all down and come to this hospital instead.

 

“If I become a private physician for nobles, I’d only be treating a limited number of people. Since I worked hard to learn medicine, I wanted to help as many people as possible, so I came to this hospital.”

 

Nottia had laughed casually when she said that, a bit different from the people Grace had met up until then.

That was what Grace liked about her, and that’s how they had become friends.

They were both a little different from other people, and because of that, they received some criticism.

People said they didn’t fit the times, called them idealists who were out of touch with reality.

In that sense, the two of them were quite alike, and they both knew it.

“To be honest, Grace, when you first brought up collecting medical records, I wondered what good it would do.”

Grace, surprised by this new admission, responded with a smile.

“Did you really?”

“Yes, how many people in the world are truly reasonable? Especially this hospital—since it’s one of the few with a female doctor, we have a lot of female patients. Most of them come in with wounds they can’t show anywhere else.”

Grace understood what she meant.

Unless they had a private physician, exposing bare skin was somewhat embarrassing for women, even to a doctor.

“Wealthy ladies can go to their private doctors or the temple, but many people can’t afford that. And most of them are the vulnerable in society. They don’t say it out loud, but many show signs of being beaten.”

Nottia shrugged as she spoke.

“I was angry, but honestly, that was it. I thought my job was just to treat them well. Subconsciously, I felt it was unfair but accepted it as inevitable.”

There were already so many people like that, and it had been that way for so long that she assumed it would continue.

“Angry… but that’s where it ended.”

Without realizing it, Nottia had also accepted the reality around her.

She criticized it, but taking action seemed scary and too much for a single person to do.

Then, just at that moment, Grace had come to her.

 

“From now on, I’ll only come to you if I get hurt. Could you record my treatments in detail? I need an official record from an expert.”

 

Grace had been silently preparing for a counterattack.

She didn’t submit. She didn’t accept things as they were.

Hearing Grace’s words had shocked Nottia.

 

“We can fight back.”

 

You don’t have to accept injustice and let it end there—you can push back!

Whether or not that resistance had a significant impact didn’t matter.

The act of resisting itself was important.

“Nowadays, I record all my medical consultations this way. Thoroughly, meticulously. My private office is overflowing with records, but who cares? I like it. It feels like I have a solid backup. And it’s all thanks to you, Grace.”

Grace was left speechless by Nottia’s words.

She hadn’t thought she had done anything at all.

And yet, here was someone thanking her, saying, ‘It’s all thanks to you.’

Grace felt a bit strange.

It was as if the whole world were telling her, ‘You’ve grown so well, we’re proud of you.’

…It was a very strange feeling.

Grace exited the hospital, feeling as though she were walking on clouds.

Still in a bit of a daze, she bumped into a woman entering the hospital, holding a child with her hood pulled low.

“Oh, Milady!”

Julie, who had been following behind Grace without saying a word, was startled and quickly caught her from behind.

“Waaah!”

As the woman fell backward, the child in her arms began to cry.

A startled Grace hurried to help the woman up.

As her robe fell back, a cascade of beautiful pink hair tumbled out.

“Are you alright? I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention because I was lost in thought.”

“No, no, it’s fine. I’m, I’m alright.”

The woman kept her head bowed, repeating that she was fine.

Her hunched back and the way she clutched the child to her chest showed just how frail she was.

The woman quickly tried to pull her robe back on and stand up.

However, it seemed she had twisted her leg in the fall, and with a groan, she sank back down.

“Oh dear, you hurt your leg? I’m so sorry, it’s my fault. Julie, could you hold the baby? Here, take my hand. I’ll help you.”

“N-No, I’m fine, really…”

The woman was flustered, shaking her head rapidly.

But her leg hurt too much to move on her own, so she had no choice but to accept the help.

And with a baby in her arms, there was little she could do.

‘Where has Torres gone?’

She glanced behind her anxiously, but for some reason, he was nowhere to be found.

“Do you have someone with you? Should we wait here? Does it hurt a lot?”

It had been a long time since she’d heard such a kind voice.

The woman—Carol—unconsciously raised her head to look at Grace.

‘Ah…’

Her face was radiant, like sunlight after the rain, bright and clear.

She was so beautiful and so dazzling that Carol couldn’t tear her eyes away.

Once, there had been a time when she, too, had been just as lovely…

Perhaps that’s why she suddenly became acutely aware of the hand helping her.

And for some reason, a surge of anger rose within her.

She didn’t know if the anger was directed at Grace, at herself, or if it was just a culmination of all the frustration she had been bottling up.

“Leave me alone!”

Carol, suddenly overwhelmed, shoved Grace away.