In the Blood-Red Domain
Lina gazed at the Rose Countess in confusion. The once-flushed face of the Countess had now become slightly pale.
"Why? Rose Countess? Why would you choose him, someone you've never offered your first embrace to?"
Lina herself didn't understand why she asked the question. Even as the words left her mouth, there was a strange feeling stirring inside her.
"You could think of it as an 'investment,' or perhaps it's just my way of compensating Dr. Yi Bai," the Rose Countess replied.
The toll of the first embrace had left her somewhat weakened, but a satisfied smile lingered on her face as her eyes fixed on Yi Bai, radiating contentment.
"Investment?" Lina could understand the latter part of the statement, but the first part confused her.
With the Rose Countess's strength, why would she invest in a human?
Though Lina believed Yi Bai to be a remarkable physician—one whose skills were so profound they had solved the Countess's problem—he was still a fragile human. The idea that the Countess would waste such a valuable, pureblood vampire first embrace on a human was simply baffling.
"Call it a hunch. I have this feeling that the cute little fellow might grow into a towering tree one day," the Rose Countess said with a teasing smile. "Maybe then, I'll be able to bask in the shade beneath it. That sounds rather delightful, don't you think?"
As she spoke, her slender fingers, gleaming with a red hue, traced an intricate blood-magic rune in the air. The rune then shot toward Yi Bai's arm and etched itself into his skin, sealing into a small, stamp-like symbol.
After completing this small gesture, the Rose Countess turned her gaze to Lina and said, "When he wakes up, make sure to tell him that through the mark on his arm, anything can be sent directly to me."
"As a noble, I will follow Dr. Yi Bai's instructions. Just let him know when to take the 'medicine'—I'll leave that up to him to decide."
"And remember—don't tell anyone about what happened today!"
"Oh, and one last thing! If a single course of medicine doesn't seem enough for me..."
She giggled, a sound both eerie and seductive, as she withdrew her blood-red domain. With a wink, she left.
Lina stood there, stunned for a moment, unable to fully process what had just occurred. She had never imagined that the same Rose Countess—who had killed several doctors at the Third Hospital, who was feared by all the other monsters, and whom even she, Lina, was afraid of—would show such a side.
In the Consultation Room
The tension among the group of doctors in the consultation room melted away as the blood-red domain disappeared. A brief, collective sigh of relief swept through the room.
The director, who wore glasses and seemed ordinary in appearance, briefly flashed a glint of sharpness in his eyes. The other dozen or so doctors also shifted slightly, relaxed by the fact that Lina had brought in a specialized doctor. They silently congratulated themselves that one of their number—most likely a "lucky" victim—had avoided a terrible fate.
As for curing the Rose Countess's illness? That wasn't even on their radar.
"Hmm?" Suddenly, the director's face darkened, and his voice dropped with suspicion. "Did anyone hear... the Rose Countess laughing?"
"Huh?" The burly wolf-man doctor blinked in confusion, his face stiffening. "I think I heard it too, but—"
Before he could finish his sentence, the door was instantly blasted into pieces by an invisible surge of blood-tinged power.
Bang!!!
The director's face turned ashen. All the doctors, seeing the figure standing outside the door, immediately scrambled to hide behind him. They were desperately trying to shield themselves from facing the terrifying Rose Countess alone.
"Young doctor, I must say, I admire you greatly," a voice, full of both allure and menace, echoed in the air.
No one had expected the Rose Countess to make such a remark before turning and leaving.
For a long moment, the room was silent. The doctors, still in shock, exchanged incredulous looks.
The director's face was still pale, but his gaze held an odd, darker gleam.
Outside the Third Hospital
The Rose Countess left, her elegance in stark contrast to the chaos she had just left behind in the consultation room.
After she departed, however, what had happened in front of the consultation room began to ignite an explosive reaction throughout the Third Hospital.
"It's unbelievable! Rose Countess didn't kill that human doctor?" one demon exclaimed in awe.
"No way! Her mysterious disease was actually cured by a human?!"
"Shit! I lost everything on a bet with that dice monster! Damn it! I'm going to rip that human apart!"
"Uh-oh, here comes the 'gambler loses everything' trope again."
"Haha, kill the human? You really think that just because the Rose Countess praised him, that's all there is to it?"
"Wait... what if that human actually cured her disease? Does that mean his medical skills are... really that good?"
"Watson, you've found the blind spot!"
The reactions in the room were mixed—some demons were overjoyed, others furious. But the most surprised were the demons who needed medical help.
The Third Hospital's doctors had been unable to fully solve their issues, which was why they kept returning as customers. Yi Bai's consultation room, now a hot commodity, was flooded with eager demons, all desperate for a chance to be seen by the human doctor.
In a corner, several human players—who were missing limbs—stood with their mouths agape in disbelief. They could hardly imagine how there could be such a difference between humans. Their pain was momentarily overshadowed by their shock.
While they had to watch out for the slightest mistake in caring for their patients, Yi Bai, having healed a powerful demon's disease, was suddenly the most sought-after physician in the Third Hospital. The demons were now clamoring to see him, and the humans? They had little to no chance of being noticed.
This stark contrast, driven by their different circumstances, filled them with jealousy and awe, and some even started to entertain more dangerous thoughts...