The Duke’s study
The Duke wasn’t so sure about his choice for the new doctor, but he could see potential in the young man, just the fact that he completed his studies so young as a commoner spoke volumes about him.
Nobody else had wanted to hire him because of his age and origins, but for someone like the Duke such things didn’t matter as long as one worked well and he had planned on hiring him even before the latest event.
However the Duke had meant for Doctor Franklin to mentor him till he retired, not to give the young man a task so daunting from the get go, but now the Duke didn’t have a choice.
He couldn’t find anyone else on such short notice.
Oswald Copperfold was the only valid candidate he had.
Infirmary
Since Miss Hawkings was to tend to Rhea, Kain had to accompany her to her appointment to the doctor and was currently waiting outside the door
‘I hope Lucia can manage Mos and Bos by herself’ she thought as she looked around, she hadn’t got a good look last time due to them being in a rush to get back to Rhea.
It didn’t look too fancy, and it could be mistaken for a normal bedroom if it weren’t for the oblivious medicine and medical stuff visible from behind the glass doors of the several wooden cabinets, along with the tree separate beds along the wall.
It was a cozy atmosphere, one that went well with the previous Doctor but completely crashed with the person currently working there.
Veronique wasn’t sure on what to think about the new doctor, he was younger, way younger then the previous one as a matter of fact she was sure he was seventeen at best.
He was also living twig with glasses too big for his head and a completely shaved head that did him no favors along with his gloves going all the way to the elbow and the face mask.
His suit was a faint brown and as minimalistic as possible, compared to what she had seen other staff members wear it looked a bit cheap
‘I wonder if he’s a germophobe or just overly cautious’ she thought as he examined her, she wished they invented flashlights as she wasn’t too happy with this lit candle near her eyes.
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She wondered why he wasn’t just using the Light skill.
“Did you have any headaches, nausea?” the young man had asked, she wouldn’t say his tone was emotionless just detached
“Mh sometimes my head hurts after a Miss Hawkings lessons, never had nausea” Veronique tried to be as honest as she could, but for oblivious reasons she wasn’t going to tell him Hanging Jaw was right by her side and Little Drag was circling around the Doctor instead of her like usual
‘Should I consider that a betrayal or not… why do I care?!’ she wondered
“Do you remember when you hit your head?” the Doctor had asked another question
“Eh? You mean when I fell the other day?” the redhead was a bit confused about it ‘why was everyone making such a big deal over a mere nosebleed?’
“No recollection” the young man repeated while shaking his head as he wrote it down in his journal
“Is there something I should know?” Veronique inquired alarmed
“I was told you hit your head hard enough to be unconscious for a couple of days and that you have holes in your memories” the Doctor answered her question with the grace of heavy bull rolling down a hill “I am trying to determine if this was caused by the head injury or the excess of mana in your body, do you ever feel anything weird with your head?”
“When I get mad my face feels hot” she had no idea if it was a normal response or the mana making it that way
“I see, fire affinity, danger of self combustion” the man kept murmuring as he wrote it down
“SELF COMBUSTION!?” Veronique, as any sane person would, didn’t appreciate hearing such thing
“Don’t worry we won’t let that happen” the Doctor tried to reassure her
“I sure hope so! I don’t want to set my dogs on fire!” she said back already panicking over such scenario ever happening, after all Mos and Bos were the ones closer to her when she came back from Miss Hawkings’s lessons
“Mh weird attachment to animals over people, consult for psychiatric help” the Doctor went back to writing in his journal and if there were any set of words that terrified Veronique those would be psychiatric help
“Hey! I am right over there!” she called his attention
“Sorry, I like to read aloud my notes” he apologized to her
“Well stop it” it was simply irritating then she added “and by the way I don’t need psychiatric help I can manage just fine!” last thing she wanted was to be sent to the Asylum earlier then the original Veronique did
“Patient is opposed to a possible treatment” the Doctor was back to writing
“Stop that!” she yelled at him
“Are you experiencing anything else unusual?” he asked and Veronique’s eye went to the Checkers buds playing at the table behind the Doctor along with all of the others making this otherwise mostly empty Infirmary quite crowded
‘More like some kind of twisted trauma clinic’ she macabrely thought before she answered the Doctor’s question with another “What’s your name anyway?”
“Patient is avoiding to answer” and back he was muttering and writing notes
“Could you cut it!?” Veronique was one moment from snapping completely at this guy
“Oh steam is coming out of your ears” the Doctor causally said then added “My name is Oswald Copperfold”
“Steam is coming out my ears” Veronique repeated slowly before his words from before about self combustion made her go in full panic mode “Water! I need water” she didn’t want to become a birthday candle and die so young.
“Wait a moment!” Doctor Copperfold tried to stop her, but Veronique had already ran out with the intention of dunking herself in a fountain or something of the sort
That was when Kain had caught her, right outside the door
“I need water before I bust into flames!” she yelled out struggling out of her guard’s grip
“Lady Veronique it was a just joke” Copperfold had sheepishly said from the inside, at that the redhead went slack and when Kaine let her back on her feet she calmly turned towards her doctor before yelling out
“WHAT KIND OF JOKE WAS THAT!”
