It was a peaceful day in the hospital wing of the Royal Academy… at least after the obnoxious forced inspection by a group of brutes claiming to be searching for Rotsard Vallhall.
They found nothing, of course, but that didn't change the fact of how much they angered most of the staff, especially nurse Chloe, with their blatant disrespect.
"?"
Still annoyed even after the fact, Chloe was in the storage room sorting all the supplies and equipment that the brutes messed with, when she shivered from a sudden chill that was very much out of place considering how sunny it was the whole day.
With one of the boxes still in hand, she furrowed her brows and walked towards the window to check whether the weather had suddenly changed…
"Miss Chloe?"
"KYAAAH!"
…that's why she was taken by surprise so much she let out a high-pitched scream more fit for a schoolgirl than a working adult when someone approached her from behind without making any noise and whispered into her ear.
She also flinched so much that she threw up the box in her hands and lost her balance while trying to turn around as fast as possible to check who was the one who approached her…
"Tsk. My bad. Sorry for startling you."
The next moment, she found herself being firmly held by none other than the bleached-blond-haired youth, who also caught the box from the air while clicking his tongue at himself before apologizing.
"Miss Chloe, I need your help."
"...e-eh…?"
Rotsard Vallhall leaned in, still with one arm around her waist, and whispered… and for a moment the woman blanked out and muttered while her body and face turned hot despite the chill surrounding the two of them.
"Chloe?! I've heard a scream, are you alri…? Whoa-ho-ho-ohhh! I didn't see anything!"
"..."
"!?"
One of the other nurses showed up at the door, saw the pair, and immediately backed out, turning around and calling out as she ran away, which didn't bother Rotsard in the slightest but certainly allowed Chloe to come to her senses.
Rotsard stepped away from her after making sure that she was fine and could take a proper look at him.
Indeed, he appeared injured, so his request wasn't out of place in the slightest…
…even if he did appear seemingly out of nowhere and exci… surprised her! Surprised her and nothing else!
"Please. Time is of the essence."
"Y-yes, sure. What kind of injury are we talking about?"
Rotsard spoke up with a worried expression, and there was no way Chloe could refuse that look, so she nodded and hurriedly took the box back out of his hands and inquired.
"...it will require stitching together two severed pieces… very important ones, with fine details too that cannot be underestimated…"
"...!"
Rotsard looked back towards the door before leaning in and whispering an explanation, and for whatever reason, nurse Chloe's eyes widened and immediately darted down to the youth's waist and back at his face.
"S-sure…! I… I'll take everything I need and be right on it…! O-on the injury! I mean, the treatment!"
For some reason, the woman couldn't stop stuttering and correcting herself while blushing harder and harder with each slip-up.
"Thank you. I just can't thank you enough. It's so important that… ehem, anyway, it's in the same private room as always. I'll wait there."
"Y-yea… do… do just that."
Rotsard breathed out with relief and smiled at the nurse, causing her to blush EVEN HARDER and nod sheepishly as she watched him leave.
With the bleached-blond-haired youth out of sight for the time being, Chloe lightly slapped her cheeks to clear her mind and nodded at herself before picking up all the necessary equipment fast and efficiently, being ready for treating a patient within less than a minute.
She then rushed into the private room…
"Here."
"Eh? Why aren't you…?"
Rotsard opened the door for her, confusing Chloe as to why he was fully clothed and not at all prepared for the treatment he requested, but she entered the room regardless.
…and upon entering her eyes immediately focused on a decapitated body on the patient's bed, and a severed head, presumably originally attached to that body, rested right next to it.
"WHA-MPPPFHH!?"
Obviously, that sight shook her enough to force a shout, but her mouth was blacked by the bleached-blond-haired youth grabbing her from behind.
"I know. I know how messed up this is, but there was no other choice. Sorry to push it onto you, but is it possible to stitch her back together? I preserved her immediately after the decapitation, and made sure that the decapitation itself was as clean as possible to allow any chances at putting her back together."
"?!?!"
Rotsard explained apologetically while firmly holding the woman in place, while she was staring at him with various emotions very appropriate for the situation.
"Please. She's already dead for the world. Even if the treatment fails, it will at least be an attempt to save her."
"..."
He pleaded with genuine sorrow in his voice, causing Chloe's stare to soften.
"Mfmffmf. Mfffpff."
"Huh? Oh! Sorry!"
Chloe tried to say something, but it only came out as a muffled mumble, making Rotsard flinch with realisation and free her mouth.
"...this is Mary Treedor, the one you were supposed to have the life and death duel…?"
"Yes."
She asked, and Rotsard nodded.
"...you didn't want to, but you had to kill her because it was a life and death duel…?"
"That's right."
Chloe inquired, and Rotsard admitted apologetically.
"...and because you didn't want that, you… made sure to preserve her body for.., this…?"
"I… I know how messed up it is, okay?
She added, and Rotsard murmured in shame.
"..."
"..."
The two of them stayed in silence for a moment before…
"Haaa… fine. I get it. I'll do what I can."
"You will!?"
Nurse Chloe sighed and said calmly, making Rotsard gasp hopefully.
"Well, it's not like I can make her worse than she already is… so… do you think you can let me go to her?"
"Hmm? Oh! Oh, sorry, I'm so sorry!"
Chloe pointed out, making him gasp and immediately pulling his arms to the sides…
He could not back off anymore, though, because he was already leaning against the door in the first place, but it had to be said that even when freed, Chloe did not rush away from him immediately.
"Don't get your hopes up, though. I never heard of someone getting better after decapitation. Not without getting polluted with gedwyld."
"I understand, and I'm sorry for pushing something like that onto you…"
She clarified as she approached the bed and set up the equipment while he apologized once again.
"I did my best to preserve her in a proper way."
"What do you mean, the proper way…? Wait, you mean like when we talked about icing the severed parts?! You do know that was about severed fingers and limbs like arms and legs and not THE head!?"
Rotsard added awkwardly, but his words only caused Chloe to gasp in terror.
"I'm sorry… I… I really should have found another way of doing this… I… I have nothing in my defense. I'm sorry for getting you involved…"
"Oh, don't you worry, I will figure out later what I want as compensation for all of this… You can start by explaining what exactly happened while I make an attempt at saving her."
Rotsard clenched his fists and lowered his head in remorse, but Chloe didn't bash or start lecturing him. Instead, she declared and added while placing the head almost back in its place, about to attempt the reattaching.
"Well… If you want ALL the truth…"
Rotsard breathed out and leaned against the door while looking up to the ceiling…