No one would go out on white mist days, because of those who did, not a single one ever returned.
If someone occasionally forgot to close their doors and windows, the mist would seep into the house, and what burst in afterward wouldn't just be mist, but some kind of monster.
Tragedies like this occurred in the territory once or twice almost every year.
Lovene had learned from an old fisherwoman that after Viscount Marcus resigned from his post due to contamination and returned to the territory, the nights by the sea were not peaceful.
At that time, the white mist that lingered year-round did not yet exist. In the dead of night, the locals could often hear a massive rumbling coming from the sea, as if some heavy object had crashed into the deep ocean, or like something was fighting on the seabed.
Accompanying the rumbling was a slight tremor in the ground, and sometimes it would trigger minor tsunamis that crashed against the stone foundations of the docks.
Later, those sounds stopped.
About a few months later, mist began to rise during the day. At first, it was just a thin layer, but it grew thicker and thicker until it could no longer disperse. Then, people started going missing when they went out during the day.
Marcus had passed away before this. The lord's wife had personally arranged the funeral, and the coffin was sealed tight, with no one allowed to look inside. However, according to the old fisherwoman, the coffin was incredibly light, as if there was no body in it at all.
The funeral was very grand.
According to another resident, it was the most decent funeral Oswell had seen in nearly a decade. Black drapes hung all the way from the lord's manor to the cemetery, and the choir's singing echoed through the mist for a long time.
Yet from beginning to end, Elena was the only one who had seen what was inside the coffin.
After the burial, a tombstone was erected, carved with Marcus's name and dates of birth and death. Flowers were placed before the grave year-round, and locals went to pay their respects every day.
But no one knew whether there was actually a corpse inside the coffin.
Lovene narrowed her eyes, piecing together the fragments she had gathered over the past few days. A suspicion gradually surfaced in her mind.
...
The air inside the clinic was stuffy and damp, the light from the blue lantern casting a halo in the corner of the wall.
Vera crouched behind the counter, rummaging through the drawers with both hands. Prescriptions, old envelopes, and other items were tossed out one by one, scattering all over the floor.
A few strands of hair had slipped from her bun, clinging to her sweat-dampened forehead. Her breathing was rapid and erratic.
“What's wrong, Physician Vera?”
The nurse turned around from the medicine cabinet, a handful of herbs still clutched in her hand.
Vera didn't even look up, her voice suppressed with an anxiety that was on the verge of snapping.
“I'm looking for my travel documents. Strange, I clearly remember leaving them on the desk. Where did they go?”
“Travel documents? Are you leaving the territory?”
Vera's body stiffened.
She straightened up, wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, and forced a stiff smile.
“Uh, yes, yes. Just leaving the territory temporarily. As you know, I'm very busy as a Physician. There are some nobles from other territories who want me to treat them.”
She spoke while gathering the scattered papers into a stack, her movements frantic.
The nurse frowned, hesitated for a moment, and still spoke up:
“But is that really okay? There are still some regular patients in the clinic. What will they do if you leave? Right now, you're the only Physician we have in the clinic.”
Vera's hand froze in midair. She lowered her eyes, her eyelashes casting a small shadow beneath them. After a few seconds of silence, she took a deep breath and said coldly:
“Them? Why don't you just tell them to go find that Saintess? Her Holy Light is far more useful than medical skills anyway. There's no need for me to exist.”
Treating regular patients?
What a joke. If she didn't run now, forget about treating regular patients—she wouldn't even be able to save herself!
Any slower, and Elena's guards would arrive!
The nurse opened her mouth, wanting to say something else, but Vera cut her off with a wave of her hand.
“Hang the closed sign on the clinic. Go quickly.”
The nurse lowered her head, muttered an “Oh,” and turned toward the door.
The door hinges creaked slightly as she took a wooden board from behind the door. It had the word “Closed” painted on it in black lacquer. Just as she was about to hang it up...
The wind chimes outside the door suddenly rang.
The crisp tinkling sound pierced through the rain, echoing inside the clinic. The nurse's hand froze in midair. A figure wearing a white holy robe stood at the entrance, rainwater dripping from the edge of her umbrella, splashing in tiny droplets onto the stone steps.
Behind her followed another silent young female knight.
The moment the nurse clearly saw who had arrived, the wooden sign almost slipped from her hand. Nevertheless, showing her professional ethics, she said:
“Sorry, we have just closed for the day.”
Lovene lowered her umbrella, revealing a face so pale it was almost bloodless. Her golden eyes looked exceptionally clear in the blue light, and tiny water droplets still clung to her eyelashes.
“The rain is heavy outside. May I come in to take shelter for a moment?”
There was a gentle warmth in Lovene's voice that was impossible to refuse. The nurse stood dazed in place. After a few seconds of hesitation, she looked back at Vera with a trace of expectation.
Vera was the one who could make the decisions in this clinic.
“S-Saintess?”
Vera looked up at Lovene. The moment she recognized who it was, her face turned deathly pale, and the papers in her hand silently fluttered to the floor.
Her unusual behavior naturally caught Mia's attention. The young knight took a step forward, revealing the hilt of the sword at her waist.
Vera gasped. She hurriedly bent down to pick up the papers, stammering, “Yes, of course, please do.”
As she spoke, her heart pounded wildly.
To her, this Saintess and her Holy Knight had clearly come for her. The lord's wife must have told them everything; she was doomed.
Mia would draw her sword, point it at her throat, and sentence her to death.
She would die. She was really going to die!
“Vera! Change my dressing!”
“Oh, right away...”
An impatient shout from a patient in the corner dragged Vera out of her panic.
She jumped up abruptly, her knee slamming into the corner of the drawer. She groaned in pain, but she didn't have time to rub it as she stumbled toward the medicine cabinet.
She grabbed a jar of ointment, unscrewed the lid, and without even looking at the label, scooped out a large dollop with her finger and smeared it onto the patient's bandage.
The patient was an old butler of a wealthy merchant. He had a wound on his leg that hadn't fully healed yet, and his dressings were usually changed using a pale yellow ointment.
But the ointment Vera applied was emerald green, and the moment it touched his skin, it burned like fire.
“Sss! Vera, what are you doing? Is this the right medicine?!” The old butler grimaced in pain and shoved Vera's hand away.
Vera looked down at the green ointment on her finger, her pupils shrinking sharply.
“Ah, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!”
She scrambled to grab some clean gauze to wipe away the ointment, but her elbow swept against a nearby iron stand.
The stand wobbled a few times before crashing onto the sickbed. The medicine bottles, tweezers, and scissors on it clattered all over the floor, and a copper basin slammed against the patient's shin with a dull thud.
“You bastard! What are you doing?!”
The old butler gasped in pain, slamming his fist against the bed frame.
Vera retreated repeatedly, her heel stepping on a medicine bottle on the floor. She began to fall backward, but just as she thought she was going to crash, a hand steadily supported her shoulder.
The hand was slender, yet soft.
“Vera? Are you alright? You seem a bit distracted.” Lovene's voice came from behind her, warm and calm, like an angel's.
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