Reborn To Be The Imperial Consort [BL]-Chapter 167: Preening Black Dahlia — VIII

[Bonus Chapter 2]

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A few days later.

Stubborn as he was, despite the difficult and rather hopeless nature of Namgung Hyein’s case Li Xinyuan persistently snuck into her resting place to gradually help her.

"Today, I will be performing light surface debridement on your feet. It will be helpful in removal of deceased tissues in them." He tried to explain softly, carefully settling on the ground. "You should, perhaps, abstain from looking." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

He gave her a smile, but it was more a grimace.

Gingerly, he grabbed one of her feet and propped it on his thigh at an elevation. "Look away." He advised before slowly unravelling the loosened binding.

Over the course of these past few days, he had gradually loosened the bindings to allow her feet to breathe. The process itself was slow so that her body may adapt to the eventual change, lest the blood flow and several other things worsen the pitiful state of her feet.

It was still a painful sight to see, despite what he might want to believe with being consistently exposed to it.

The pungent odour was overwhelming, restraining his facial expression to stoicism, he put on a mask after cleaning himself and the room thoroughly using Qi.

Of all the things, the worst thing for now to happen would be infections. Infections could put Namgung Hyein’s life in danger if an amputation was not performed at the earliest.

Unfortunately, after Li Xinyuan had a lengthy conversation with her sister in hopes of understanding the situation, he found out Namgung Hyein was disallowed any external visits, much less going outside herself.

Granted, it was a wise, if extremely abusive decision. Her isolation was the main reason behind her feet still being safe from any infection.

Carefully, with gloved hands, the surgeon began the stressful procedure. He needed to be careful. Even if he had learnt a lot of things in this lifetime and with the dud of a system’s help, his expertise still lay somewhere else entirely.

He could not afford to make any mistakes. No matter how minute.

Even a single mistake would lead to a chain reaction of variables, none of which he was prepared or equipped enough to tackle.

Not to mention that he alone was treating Namgung Hyein. That too in secret.

Lips pursed in displeasure, Li Xinyuan shook his head, eyebrows furrowed together in concentration as he slowly but surely cut away the various black areas of one foot, then the other.

The entire process of debridement took him hours on end. Yet, the surgeon remained steadfast without a single complaint or expression of exhaustion.

He did everything by himself, all the while the Namgung sisters stood guard outside the door and Namgung Hyein remained out of it, owing to the delicately managed opium dosage he gave her to numb the pain.

Outside the window, the sky dimmed, pale winter sun streaked through the vast clouded indigo to sink between the mountains. Birds chirped, flocking back together, gliding through the dusk to return home.

As the night fell and lamps were lit all around the estate, Li Xinyuan heaved a great sigh, an invisible weight rolling off his shoulders.

The debridement was complete. His hands shook, so much so he nearly dropped his instruments. His sigh was weighed down and fragmented, tension rolling off his body in segmented waves.

Now he just had to clean and disinfect her feet before he could apply medicine and redress them.

Panting lightly after the pressure was taken off his person, Li Xinyuan tipped his head back, eyes closing to roll under his lids in a feeble attempt to relax them.

Roused by his movements, Namgung Hyein seemed to return to her senses. However, before she could take even a single glimpse at her feet, the surgeon swiftly covered her eyes, the filthy gloves discarded.

"Don’t look." He warned again, still gently held her feet on his thighs.

Namgung Hyein’s heart stuttered, thumping heavily against her chest. She swallowed, taken by nerves as she nodded.

"I will not." She promised with false conviction. In her drugged up mind, the thoughts of how unsightly her feet must look at the moment circled in a mocking dance. "I will not."

She repeated, the beats of her heart grew louder. Until she could hear it in her ears. Embarrassment flooded her, shame followed after.

How could she..?

In spite of her initially horrible treatment of him, Doctor Baek had stayed. He neither ran nor deliberately caused her pain in vendetta. He was so gentle with her, so kind, and so endlessly patient. Even pulling out of his own thoughts to comfort her frazzled mind.

He was a simple man. He did not look particularly outstanding, nor did he have anything truly remarkable to speak of.

But he was kind. His eyes were kinder than anyone she had ever seen. He was patient with her. He did not look upon her with pity in his eyes.

Rather, every so often, Namgung Hyein would catch a fleeting second of righteous fury not directed towards her flash through his eyes.

It was towards her family. The same family who treated her with less courtesy and benevolence than he, a complete stranger, did.

Just because of him, her thoughts towards doctors were beginning to change.

Her bleary eyes closed, his warm hand over them searing against her very flesh. Against her better judgement, she was beginning to look forward to his visits, to the soft way he talked to her. She was getting used to his healing touch, his dry humour, and comforting laughs.

When Doctor Baek wasn’t around, Namgung Hyein’s chest ached. Oftentimes, she would lay awake in her bed at night, struggling to breathe from how full he made her heart feel.

After Doctor Baek pulled his hand away, she did not disobey him to look.

She was ugly now, she knew that well enough. She had lived with the stench of pus and rot mixed with incense for years of her life.

No one could be more aware than her.

After Li Xinyuan finished dressing her feet loosely, he exhaled in relief. Finally, this part was over too.

Putting a practiced smile on his borrowed face, the surgeon hummed quietly, his voice pleasantly deep.

"You can look now."

Slowly, Namgung Hyein turned her head and opened her eyes, eyelashes fluttering slightly.

"You’ve done so much for me," she bowed her head, chest feeling too full once more. "However, will I be able to repay you?" She asked shyly, not daring to meet the older man’s comforting brown eyes.

After a brief pause, she heard Doctor Baek chuckle in the familiar way she had grown accustomed to hearing.

"Young Miss Hyein getting back to health would be repayment enough. I am in need of nothing else."

Before she could answer with even a single word of protest, Namgung Hyein was scooped off the chair and carried towards her bed in the doctor’s careful arms.

Relaxing her body completely, she all but melted against his chest, squeezing her eyes shut as blood rushed to her pale cheeks.

This had become a ritual. Since she could not walk for herself and her sisters would be away for supper at this time, in order to maintain secrecy, Doctor Baek would carry her to her bed himself.

Like always, the man settled her on the bed and smiled down at her, carefully tucking a strand behind her ear before elevating her feet to the optimal angle and pulling a warm blanket over her.

"Good night." Doctor Baek’s deep, warm voice would greet her for the night before he was gone.

In her bed, shivering slightly — not from the cold — she would cautiously murmur her own final greeting.

She knew he would be back again tomorrow, and the thought was a comfort.