THIRD PERSON'S POV
Sebastian studied his master with worry. His master was not the type to be fixated on women. He even had a low IQ when it came to matters of love and life. Heck, he couldn't even give relationship advice if you asked him for one.
Back home in Wan State, the capital of Thide Country, there were three women from the most powerful families who desperately wanted to bear the title of 'Mrs. Blackwood', yet his master felt no emotional attachment toward any of them. Who would have thought that the man who never looked twice at women would fall in love with a mysterious stranger who had saved his life?
Sebastian found it strange. They had checked all the footage. Sure enough, she was there with a child. But her face was blurry and so was childs. Not even their top hackers could recover the original file or make the footage clearer. Even his master couldn't.
"Sebastian?" Alexander called tiredly.
"Master."
"I went to all the tattoo parlors in Tsep State. I described it, but none of them had it in their records. What should I do? Why did she just abandon me after saving me? Did she see me as a liability or a charity case? I'm much more than that. I am."
Sebastian sighed. This mysterious woman was invoking emotions he never thought his master capable of feeling. Who was she? Why did she save him? Was she truly a righteous Samaritan? Or was she an opportunist?
"Master?" Sebastian called softly, making Alexander look up, weariness etched across his face.
"Go ahead," Alexander said, taking a bottle of water and drinking straight from it- a habit he never had until the mysterious woman appeared in his life.
"You're very good at drawing, Master. Why not sketch the woman's tattoo? It might help us track her down faster."
Alexander sighed. "I thought of that too, but doing so would mean letting both the netizens and my enemies know that something beautiful and glorious has caught my eye... But you do have a point. I'll give the job to Damien. That will be his punishment."
A faint smile touched Alexander's lips, lightening Sebastian's mood.
"Excellent choice, Master," Sebastian said.
Alexander stood and stretched. "What about Grandmother?"
"She's been asking for you to come home. The disease is worsening. She wants to show you some family assets and... other important things."
"Is she alright?" Alexander's voice trembled. His grandmother was the only family he had- the only woman he'd ever shown genuine love to.
"She's paler than before," Sebastian replied softly. "But she said she wants to try out a new nursing consultant who just arrived in Wan State."
"Alright. We'll leave Tsep for Wan State in three days. I don't want her to see me looking pale."
"Yes, Master."
*
At the Federal Hospital in Wan State, Matriarch Helena Blackwood sat quietly, waiting for her turn to see the new nursing consultant. If she were at a private hospital, she would have been attended to immediately but she was in a public hospital and came here because she hadn't been getting better.
She suffered from sleeplessness, vomiting, nausea, back pain, and hair loss. The pills she'd been taking only made her weaker. She was now even afraid to sleep, for fear she might never wake up.
"Number 73? Do we have number 73 here?" a hospital attendant called out.
Helena looked down at her paper. No. 74. Her hands trembled as tears welled in her eyes. For her own sake, she hoped this so-called "genius nurse consultant" lived up to the rumors.
"Alright," the attendant said. "Since number 73 isn't here, we'll go with number 74. Number 74?"
Helena quickly raised her frail hand. The attendant smiled warmly upon seeing the elderly woman and led her toward the consulting room.
Helena stood carefully, clutching her bag filled with her medical results, prescriptions, and drugs.
"Please," she said softly, "I want to see your genius nurse consultant."
"Don't worry, good mother," the attendant replied kindly. "You shall see our genius."
Inside the office sat a woman in scrubs, writing in a folder.
"Madam Helena?" she called.
"Yes, that's me," Helena answered weakly.
"Please, have a seat. I'll attend to you shortly."
Helena sat down and observed the room. Though it was located in the middle-class part of Wan State, everything was neatly arranged. They still used pen and paper for records, yet for some reason, Helena felt at ease.
"So, Helena," the nurse began gently, "would you like to tell me what's been bothering you?"
"I've been having back pains, vomiting, stooling, weakness… I'm even scared to sleep," she whispered, tears streaming down her face. "I feel myself slipping away."
The once strong Helena Blackwood found herself breaking down in front of a stranger.
"Here," Helena said, handing the nurse her bag of medical reports.
The nurse began examining every single item carefully. The door creaked open, and a man in scrubs stepped in.
"Nurse Elena," he called tiredly, "you still have fifteen more patients."
"Alright," Elena replied without looking up, still studying the documents.
She frowned slightly, comparing the drugs and documents. She picked up a packet and read the label slowly: Lirifor.
"Nurse Fredric," she said, "please ask the pharmacist to bring a sample of Lirifor."
"Yes," he said, hurrying off.
Moments later, Elena compared the capsule Helena brought with the new one from the pharmacy. She opened both, sniffed the contents, and her face hardened.
The pharmacist gasped. "This… this is…"
"Mercury," Elena finished grimly.
Helena's eyes widened in horror. "What's wrong?"
"What you've been taking as medicine, Helena," Elena said softly, "is actually poison. We'll need to run several tests immediately. Please, cooperate with us."
Tears streamed down Helena's wrinkled face. Fear wrapped around her like a shroud.
Who could have done this to her?