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Chapter 43
“This is strange. It shouldn’t have the strength to be wandering around….”
At Dr. Selly’s words, Lillian’s heart started pounding so hard she could hardly sit still. Wanting to turn the situation around somehow, she followed the doctor around and kept talking to her.
“M-maybe its body recovered in the meantime? Like self-healing or something like that… I heard that among living creatures there are animals with regenerative abilities. Or maybe an eagle carried it off?”
Scratch. Scratch-scratch.
Just then, a sound like wallpaper being scraped came from somewhere. Dr. Selly’s eyes lit up, and she sprinted down the corridor at full speed.
‘No way!’
Startled, Lillian tried to stop her, but the doctor already had the hamster in her hands.
“Found you! So this is where you were.”
After closely examining the hamster, Dr. Selly frowned.
“But when did it get this healthy? That’s odd.”
The moment their eyes met, Lillian felt as though her heart dropped all the way to her toes.
‘Please, just let it slide….’
She bowed her head and prayed fervently. Just then, the doctor put the hamster back into the glass booth and tilted her head.
“Could it be that the reagent I used finally took effect?”
She then began checking the experiment log.
“Hm. Looks like a mutation, but what exactly happened? Normally, I was planning to dispose of it tomorrow.”
Soon after, the doctor turned to Lillian and asked,
“Do you happen to know anything about this, young lady?”
Startled, Lillian’s voice rose without her realizing it.
“N-no! But now that it’s healthy, you won’t kill it, r-right?”
Dr. Selly answered firmly.
“No. We’ll proceed as scheduled tomorrow morning. Mutants are of no help in experiments.”
“B-but even so, isn’t killing it too cruel? I think you could just release it….”
The doctor didn’t even pretend to listen to Lillian. She simply covered the hamster with a black cloth and threw away the paper.
“Ha… I’ll have to start over from the beginning. Tomorrow, should I try orally, or start fresh?”
Muttering to herself as she weighed her options, the doctor went straight into her room.
“That’s too cruel….”
The hamster was a living being too, yet the doctor treated it like an object. Moreover, when Lillian thought about how many more lives would be sacrificed in the future under the pretext of saving her, she felt utterly miserable.
“What should I do? I can’t watch it die again after I finally saved it….”
But even if she released it again, it was obvious it would come back.
‘Should I just pretend I don’t know anything?’
Suddenly, the words she had heard from the Grand Duke the night before came to mind.
‘What is it that I truly can’t let go of?’
Biting her lip, Lillian finally made up her mind. No matter how precious her own life was, she didn’t want to cling to it by sacrificing others. People die someday anyway.
“If I release it somewhere far away, it won’t be able to come back.”
With her resolve set, Lillian took the hamster out of the booth. At that moment, the door opened and Dr. Selly said in an angry voice,
“I thought so. So you were the culprit, young lady.”
Lillian froze on the spot. Then she calmly slipped the hamster into the inner pocket of her outer garment.
“D-doctor. Can’t you just let it go? No matter what, the hamster is too pitiful.”
“No, that’s not possible. From the perspective of someone like you who doesn’t know medicine, it may seem cruel, but administering a new drug to humans without first testing it on animals is extremely dangerous. So please hand it over at once.”
“……”
Desperate to protect the hamster somehow, Lillian crossed her arms and held her ground. Dr. Selly let out a sigh.
“Fine. But there’s a condition.”
For a moment, Lillian was filled with hope. But the instant she heard the answer, she was plunged into despair.
“Tell me how you managed to save that test subject.”
“But… that’s difficult.”
At Lillian’s firm response, Dr. Selly raised an eyebrow. Feeling uncomfortable maintaining eye contact, Lillian lowered her gaze.
‘No matter what, I can’t reveal my ability.’
Being discovered by the Grand Duke had been bad luck. Fortunately, he hadn’t tried to exploit her ability, but Dr. Selly would be different. Someone who treated animals like objects would likely treat her the same way.
Just then, Dr. Selly suddenly took a vial out of her pocket.
“This is the undiluted solution of the drug I gave that test subject. If you don’t save me, I’ll fall into a vegetative state and die within half a day.”
Without hesitation, she drank the medicine inside.
“Doctor!”
Lillian rushed toward her in shock, but it was already too late. Staggering, Dr. Selly soon collapsed to the floor and vomited blood.
“I spent my entire life in the human experimentation unit run by the late emperor. There, I was taught to pursue the truth. So even if I die here, I have no regrets.”
Lillian was seized by fear. She had never imagined the doctor would be this obsessively extreme.
“Doctor, please tell me the antidote, quickly!”
Despite Lillian’s desperate cry, the doctor merely gave a faint, crooked smile.
“Whether I live or die now depends on you, young lady.”
With that, she lost consciousness.
“W-what do I do…!”
Lillian’s mind went completely blank, as if it had stopped working.
‘I have to call a physician!’
This was the imperial palace—there had to be doctors in the medical bureau. Lillian dashed out of the laboratory, ran down the corridor, then suddenly halted.
Come to think of it, there was one problem she had overlooked.
‘But don’t the doctors in the imperial palace usually serve only His Majesty the Emperor? I doubt they’d move for a mere noble like me….’
Lillian bit her nails.
‘I have to tell the Grand Duke. If it’s the Grand Duke, he can make them move!’
She ran straight to the Grand Duke’s office. Unfortunately, he wasn’t there. According to the secretary, he wouldn’t return for another half day.
“This is bad. What should I do?”
With no other choice, Lillian went back to the laboratory and began rummaging through the room.
“There must be an antidote somewhere.”
No matter how curious the doctor was about her ability, she wouldn’t have done something like this without a backup plan.
But to Lillian, who had no medical knowledge at all, everything just looked different in color and smell. She couldn’t tell what was an antidote.
“There’s no time. If this continues, the doctor will….”
At that thought, Lillian clutched her head with trembling hands.
‘Do I have no choice but to use my ability?’
Dr. Selly was the one who had treated her when she suffered after taking the medicine Bella gave her. Even now, she was conducting research to save her. She couldn’t just let someone like that die.
Left with no alternative, Lillian activated her power of revival. Soon, the doctor, who had been unconscious, took a deep breath and opened her eyes.
“What is this feeling?”
She looked at herself in the full-length mirror and added,
“…It’s like I’ve been reborn.”
Then the doctor began examining her body here and there.
“Oh, there used to be a burn scar here… but it’s gone! This isn’t medicine as I know it. What is this?”
Lillian simply lowered her gaze. Now that her ability had been exposed, she was sure the doctor would thoroughly use her as a test subject.
‘I have to leave for a place where no one will ever find me. Then I’ll have to say goodbye to the Grand Duke too… right?’
Tears welled up in her eyes as loneliness washed over her. Meanwhile, Dr. Selly, who had been excitedly inspecting her body until then, asked with a puzzled expression,
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t think I can stay with you anymore, Doctor.”
The doctor blinked and asked,
“Is it something like magic?”
“……”
Unable to say anything, Lillian could only blink back tears. The doctor shrugged lightly, as if it were nothing.
“Having a special ability is a blessing, young lady. Unlike me, you don’t have to rot away in a laboratory.”
“But you’re going to use my ability, aren’t you?”
At that, the doctor burst into hearty laughter.
