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Chapter 22
How Can I Be This Helpless
At the rough hand of the vagrant reaching for her, Rose reflexively shut her eyes. At that moment, the man’s hand twisted in an unnatural angle.
“I told you not to stay alone.”
“Arsene!”
Arsene grabbed the drunkard’s hand and with a sharp crack flung him hard to the floor. The man, tossed like a ragged sack, clutched his grotesquely bent arm and wailed.
“Ughhh, my arm, my arm!”
“Be grateful it’s only an arm. Take him away.”
The knights dragged the man out. As the vagrant disappeared from view, Rose let out a sigh of relief.
“Than—”
“What in the world!”
Just as she was about to thank him, Arsene barked furiously. Rose flinched and shrank back as he raked his hand roughly through his hair. A moment later, his voice came out calmer.
“Where’s Lance? Why aren’t you with him?”
“Well, Sir Savas said he needed him and took him away.”
“……”
Rose fidgeted with her soot-stained hands.
“I’m not much help right now. At the very least, I should make medicine properly if I don’t want to get in the way… Oh no, the medicine!”
She suddenly remembered the pot she’d left on the fire. Rushing over, she found that nearly half the herbs had already burned. She scrambled to stir the mixture, but the ladle scorched her hand the moment she grabbed it.
“Ow, hot!”
“Your Highness!”
Rose blew on her reddened palm, stomping her feet in distress.
“These precious ingredients will all be ruined!”
She could almost hear the old man’s scolding already. As she stared blankly at the pot, Arsene inspected her hand.
“Forget the medicine—your hand is injured.”
“This is nothing. The medicine is more important—”
“How is it nothing? Lance was assigned to you so he could do this kind of work.”
“But Lance has his own duties.”
“His duty is your protection, Your Highness.”
But the irritable old healer had prioritized the patients over her safety.
“He said Lance’s strength was needed elsewhere.”
“Are you telling me the princess is walking around without her guard? I’ll speak with Sir Savas myself.”
Arsene’s expression darkened as he prepared to confront Savas. Alarmed, Rose grabbed his arm. She was already ashamed of her uselessness; asking for extra help just for her own comfort seemed selfish.
“That’s really not necessary. I don’t want to be a burden.”
“After what just happened, you still say that?”
“Well, yes, but…”
She faltered. The vagrant had only approached because she was alone. What use was a dagger or self-defense lessons if her body froze at the crucial moment? If the knights hadn’t arrived quickly, she might have ended up the patient instead of the helper.
“…Fine. First, let’s treat your injury.”
Just as Arsene pulled her hand, the infirmary doors burst open and people rushed inside.
“Injured! We’ve got injured here!”
“Where’s the healer? They were trapped in the landslide!”
Carrying stretchers, they poured in. Rose stepped aside against the wall to avoid getting in the way.
“Over here, help!”
Knights cleared a path. Arsene glanced at her before taking a patient and laying him down in an empty space. Rose stood frozen. She had nothing useful to do. It felt like time had stopped for her alone.
How can I be this helpless?
She was nothing but a burden. Arsene placed another patient down, already thinking only of getting the princess somewhere safe.
“Your Highness, it’s too crowded here. Please wait inside. If you wish to help, tend to the patients in the wards—”
But Rose no longer heard him. Her eyes fixed on the patient he had just set down. The man’s body was mangled, crushed for hours beneath falling rock.
I’m scared.
She hadn’t known a person’s body could look so bloodied. Unconsciously, she backed away. She shouldn’t have come to the infirmary at all. And yet she had boldly declared she would come with the guards. How foolish.
“Get a hold of yourself and help!”
While she stood in a daze, Savas was already calmly taking charge. In the chaos, he called for her. Jerked back to herself, Rose forced her trembling legs forward. Despite the confusion, the old healer gave sharp, clear orders to the physicians. She felt awe.
How can he be so composed?
Savas guided her to a patient.
“I’ll explain once, so listen well. First, wash the wound with water. If there are fragments lodged inside, remove them.”
He demonstrated swiftly, cleaning and disinfecting with alcohol-soaked cotton, then layering bandages over the bleeding.
“Use clean cloth to press firmly. Tie off the artery near the heart to slow the blood flow.”
He wrapped cloth tightly above the wound. Blood seeped rapidly through the compress.
“It’s not stopping!”
“Don’t remove it. Add more bandages on top and keep pressing.”
“How long?”
“Until it stops.”
And with that, he moved to another patient.
Until it stops? How long is that? How do I even know when it’s stopped?
Before she could ask, he was gone. All around her, priests and physicians were frantically busy. Only she seemed lost. Rose pressed down harder on the bandages, her hands trembling.
Just hold on for now.
She focused only on that, as Arsene laid another injured man beside her. His wounds looked just as bad.
“Your Highness, are you alright?”
“I—I don’t know.”
“Ughhh…”
The man beneath her suddenly stirred, groaning.
“You’re awake? Hold on, just hold on a little longer!”
But his agony was obvious. His twisted face and writhing body would not calm. Rose panicked—Savas hadn’t told her what to do next.
“What do I do? Arsene, we need Sir Savas—”
But before she could finish, the patient convulsed violently. His flailing arm struck her away, and she lost her hold on the wound.
Then came the horror.
The bandages slipped, and blood spurted like a fountain, spraying across the floor.
“Ah!”
Rose scrambled back, then threw herself forward to press down again. If Arsene hadn’t restrained the patient, he would have bled out within moments. Blood soaked her face, arms, clothes. The metallic stench clogged her lungs and made her dizzy.
I’m going to be sick.
She forced the nausea down.
The cloth beneath her hands was already crimson, as if it had always been that color. She shuddered at the sensation.
“Calm yourself, Your Highness. Let me take over. You should clean yourself first.”
Arsene’s steady voice reached her, but Rose shook her head furiously. Shame burned within her.
Calm down, Rose. Are you really going to fail at even this?
She hadn’t come here just to get in the way. If she gave up now, she would forever be branded the foolish, helpless princess who couldn’t manage a single patient. She clenched her teeth and steadied her breath.
I can still do something. I just need to do what I came here for.
Her purpose here: to learn to properly wield the power of Regeneration.
This is the moment.
She focused, calling forth the blessing of the fairies. Closing her eyes, she summoned her will. A white radiance bloomed between her palms.
“Your Highness?”
Arsene sensed something unusual, but to Rose his voice was distant. The light covering her hands filled her with warmth. She sank deeper into the fairy’s power.
Everything else vanished. Only she and Regeneration remained. The glow swelled, flooding the infirmary with brilliant light. Even Savas, tending another patient, was bathed in its radiance.
“Stop, you must stop!”
Someone’s shout echoed, but Rose saw only the wound beneath her hands knitting back together. The flesh rewound as if time itself reversed. Blood faded away, torn flesh closed, and new skin grew smooth and whole.
At last, the brilliant light faded. When she lifted her hands, the injury was completely healed.
“I did it!”
Beaming, she turned to Arsene.
“See? I’m useful after a—”
Suddenly the world tilted.
What? Everything’s spinning…
Her vision twisted sideways. She couldn’t fight the collapse of her body. Arsene caught her as she fell, calling out urgently, but the words didn’t reach her. Darkness swallowed her whole.
