Reborn To Be The Imperial Consort [BL]-Chapter 166: Preening Black Dahlia — VII

[Bonus Chapter 1]

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Huddled behind the door, peeking through the gap, a small girl, perhaps around five or six, watched fearfully as her father and mother argued furiously.

"I will not allow you to impose the lowly manners of dancers and harlots on my daughter!" Her father yelled, his authoritative voice booming. "She will not need such lowliness to be married!"

In turn, her mother gesticulated wildly. "It was you" —her finger pointed at the man, shaking— "who proclaimed her unfit for martial arts. So, what else is she useful for but to be married?!"

The girl flinched. She may not know what induced such a huge fight, but she did seem to know it was not a good thing.

Shaking, she stepped away from the slightly ajar door and leaned back against it before slowly sitting with her knees to her chest.

Outside the door, behind her, the argument only intensified. Neither of her parents seemed to have noticed her presence. Or they didn’t care.

She was, after all, a disgrace to the clan’s name. She was Namgung who could not be a martial artist.

A shame. A failure. A burden. Contrary to her siblings — both the older and the younger sister — who showed astounding potential, she could not even open up her meridians, much less practice martial arts.

The little girl sobbed, warm tears rolling down her soft, flushed cheeks as she tried to hide her cries. Tears were a weakness. Failure was unforgivable.

She hiccuped, ears aching from the incessant noise of the heated quarrel. Her hands shook like leaves in a storm, eyes closed shut and shoulders quivering, she cupped her ears to keep out the noise.

Hugging her knees closer, the little girl buried her head in between.

’Jihye-unnie, Suyeon-ie... Someone, please save me. Please. Please. Please. Please—’

Her sobs grew louder.

No one cared.

"... Miss Hyein! Young... Hyein!" 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Namgung Hyein flinched, leaned further back against the chair, trying to hide away since there was no escape she could make.

Her feet ached. Her body ached. Her legs refused to work.

Clutching the robe tightly, hands on her chest, Namgung Hyein — pale as a spectre — looked up at the unknown doctor, eyes red and cheeks wet with tears. She huddled away like a sickening habit.

"N... No. No. No, please— stay away— no. It aches so much," she sobbed, her voice tight and hoarse with fear. "My feet are fine! They don’t... They don’t need redressing yet. Please, please—"

Li Xinyuan watched the despairing young lady. His heart ached like it had been stabbed a thousand times over. His eyes were narrowed and critical as they swept down her withered frame.

Bound feet that reeked of pus, with dawning horror, he noted as his eyes caught on her tightly wrapped feet.

Oh dear God. What the fuck?

His breath hitched, the world around him seemed to spin. His head lightened as he stumbled back. Not in disgust. But in sheer astonishment.

He staggered back, eyes fixed on the bound feet. Nausea crawled up his throat. Without his age-old self-control, he was certain he would have thrown up.

This was a woman as young as fifteen. Which absolute monster saw fit to bind her feet?!

As the horror faded away, fury raged in, screaming and thrashing in his heart. But he did not react.

The palpable fear in Namgung Hyein’s face, in her tears made him seize.

It took a few moments of silence. But the burning hot rage in his head cooled till it became freezing ice in his veins.

This was not the time for it.

Slowly, carefully, the surgeon drew in a deep breath to restrain his rage. Hands clenched, he gritted his teeth, only now noticing the grotesque mix of incense meant to cover the reeking necrosis of her feet.

It only made the stench worsen.

"I’m not here to hurt you." He whispered hoarsely, swallowing a whimper in his throat. "I have come with your sisters, in hopes..." he faltered, brown eyes returning to the lady’s feet over and over "... In hopes to— to relieve your pain. If only a little."

He could not lie. At this stage, even he — the genius surgeon from future — was helpless to do anything but try and lessen her agony.

"I am sorry you had to suffer through this... This inhumane thing." He all but spat, slowly lowering himself to squat in front of her while keeping a distance. "I will try my hardest."

His words were a promise. One he wasn’t sure if he could keep.

Namgung Hyein stared at him, daze.

His words sounded like a promise. Like a scintilla of hope that appeared akin to a surreal dream.

She could not believe him so easily. She had once believed a doctor as a child. And this was the result. Not again.

Never again.

"Get out." She whimpered, hugging herself, fingers clawing at her sleeves. Her voice held a desperate strength she did not know she had. "Get out. Get out. Get out—!"

Outside the room, the two Namgung sisters could hear the commotion. They could hear the instability in Namgung Hyein’s voice.

Looking at her little sister over her shoulder, Namgung Jihye bit her lip, fear clawing at her heart.

What if Doctor Baek was not able to handle her outburst? What if Hyein-ie hurt the poor man?

Each thought came worse than the last, more urgent than the last as she kept listening. No, this was enough. She had to intervene.

Before she could structure her thoughts, Namgung Jihye’s body already moved as she slammed the door open and stomped in.

"Namgung Hyein!"

By the window, Namgung Hyein froze still.

Li Xinyuan’s head snapped to look at the door upon hearing the female lead’s voice. He knew they had been listening in from outside. He knew they would come in if need be..

But he had not expected Namgung Jihye to look so... So desperate and angry at once. As if she was afraid.

His gaze again flickered towards Namgung Hyein’s bound feet. He could understand her fear.

The two young ladies strode in, and behind herself, Namgung Suyeon slammed the door shut before approaching.

The loud noise made the young lady sitting in front of him flinch harshly. Seeing her react left him aggrieved.

"Please, Young Miss Suyeon, you must be calm." He pursed his lips, heart full of grievances. "You are scaring Miss Hyein."

"You—" the female lead pointed at her younger sister, face contorted in grief "—will let him treat you."

"N—no... All of you— all of you’re deceiving me." Namgung Hyein broke into tears, wailing. "Liars... All of you’re liars... A physician.... Hurts me!"

It broke Li Xinyuan’s heart. He hated being in the thick of it, the raw despair, the agony in her voice. He hated that she had to bear this suffering.

He despised that he could do nothing to truly help her.

He was more than forty years of age at heart. In his mind, he was a full grown, middle-aged man, a doctor who couldn’t help her.

He wished he could shy away. He wished he had refused to follow Namgung Jihye. But he couldn’t do this. Not to her. Not to a patient so clearly suffering.

Namgung Hyein shook her head violently, expressing her protest in every way she could since she couldn’t run away.

"Please, please— just, just let me help. I swear by my name and my oath, I will help you lessen this pain."

He could not recall the last time he had ever begged a patient to let him help. And right now, he was on his knees begging.

"Young Miss Hyein, I only mean well."