A rasping wheeze escape Lycoris's lips as she leaned forward. Her vision was blurry, but she couldn't possibly mistake that look… could she?  It made no logical sense, but then again, if she could end up as a vampire now, there wasn't anything stopping Mizar from becoming one either…  The sensation of something tearing made Lycoris seize up, her hands swinging up to cover her chest before she realized what she was doing.

"I'm terribly sorry about my clothes, Mizar. I'd… get changed but…"  "I'm afraid I don't know who this Mizar is. My name is Galahad Lynnvel, practicing pediatrician and currently handling general medicine during this crisis."  "Oh… Right. A pleasure to meet you."

A hot flash of embarrassment spread across her face as her enthusiasm leaked out of her like so much of her blood. Of course it couldn't have been Mizar, he was still inside her locket. The man standing before her was just… similar, if she squinted.  The pediatrician—whatever that meant—who entered the bland white room rubbed his chin with a confused and concerned frown. He raised his hand, holding up three fingers.

"How many fingers am I holding up?"  "Three…? Is everyone else alright? And, what about Athena and Sera…? You need to take care of them…!" She leaned forward on her hands, agitating her wounds slightly.  "Rest assured Your Highness, they're all just fine. Please sit back, and try to relax your body. I'm sure it must be quite painful to move around, and it wouldn't do to cause your mother any extra stress, right?" He shuddered slightly, even while maintaining his soft smile and gentle tone. "Please focus on my pen."

After a brief examination, looking her up and down, he took out his pen and waved it around in the air, focusing on Lycoris's eyes.  Frustrated with his saccharine tone and shifting focus from her question, Lycoris sat back up and glared at the pen. At least it gave her somewhere to put the unpleasant restlessness that her aching body was throbbing with.  It only lasted a brief moment however, before he briskly stuffed it back into his pocket and tapped his lower lip. His eyes fell upon the broken blade sticking out of her shoulder.

"Minor pupil dilation… slightly delayed response, I'm amazed you're still cognizant. Perhaps it goes without saying, but I've never treated a patient of your generation before. You're being quite brave, Princess. Her Majesty must give you lots of praise."  "How'd you—" Her eyes briefly went wide, before she blushed and nodded. "Um, yes… she does but… I'm not sure she'd be that happy about this."  "Well of course not! I can't imagine any mother would want their daughter to end up like… well, this is a rather exceptional case, but… At any rate, please bear with me for a moment here, this might sting."  "I meant me being—ghk!"

Galahad reached down and carefully squeezed her shoulder with one hand, while he lightly placed his hand on the piece of metal he had been eyeing. When he began to apply pressure, a sudden jolt of pain caused her to convulse.

"Mmm. They've gotten lodged in there pretty good," he clicked his tongue and mumbled to himself. "I can only imagine this is the work of her Aphtangloa blood. Her wounds have already completely sealed around the pieces of metal. Guess we'll have to resort to surgical removal after all."  "Surgical…?" Lycoris whined.  Galahad nodded, softening his speech as he addressed her again. "You'll be okay. I promise that You won't even feel a thing, in fact. It'll be just like going to sleep for a little bit, and then when you wake up, you'll be all better. Considering how particularly special you are, I bet you won't even feel any lingering soreness."

He gave her a gentle pat on the head, though the way he addressed her as though she were a little kid brought a sulky pout to her face rather than a relieved smile. She didn't have the energy to try and correct him, nor did it seem like a great idea to even try explaining her situation, after everything she went through with Athena. To say nothing of the political ramifications and fallout that could occur if he somehow connected the dots that Athena seemed to willingly do everything to avoid.  So instead, she mustered up all the patience remaining within her, like an adult would, and instead nodded at him.  Seeing the sign of approval, he turned around and paced over to the wall, where he pressed a sequence of buttons on a little gray box and spoke into it.

"Gebrah, can you bring the anesthesia and gel pads to room 306?"  After a moment, a crackly voice responded, 'Gebrah is tending to some of the new arrivals. Shall I come in her stead?'  "Please do. Her Highness's condition isn't immediately life-threatening, but it would be unwise to leave her like this for any amount of time."  'Understood, Doctor. I'll be right there.'

There was a warbled click as the other end of the call disconnected.  The doctor let out a weary sigh and rolled his shoulders, before turning back around with an out-of-place smile, considering the gravity of things, as he dragged a chair from the wall and set it beside Lycoris's bed.  Even though there was nothing out of the ordinary about it, his extreme calmness caused Lycoris to shudder involuntarily.

"It'll be just a moment, Your Highness. In the meantime, can I ask you to try and lie down on your side? I can help adjust you if you need the assistance, but we can't lay you down on your back obviously."  "Do I… have to?"  Galahad nodded, "You'll be going to sleep for a little bit, we don't want you falling over and aggravating your injuries." And, in a slightly pained voice he added, "Please, don't speak if it hurts to, you should try to keep your lung still. One of the pieces of metal is sticking into it."  "Really…?" Lycoris glanced down at herself, puzzled.

He sighed when she didn't immediately follow his instruction, pensively flicking his chin with his thumb. Either because he was trying to figure out how to convince her, or because he was worried about overstepping his bounds with royalty. Or, possibly both, though he seemed remarkably calm compared to everyone else that Lycoris ever casually encountered. She didn't recognize the name Lynnvel any more than Oxalis, but perhaps he was either used to dealing with nobility, or was from some minor noble family himself.  Of course what had actually surprised Lycoris about him was that he had so casually gleaned her condition with just a glance. Admittedly, there was a lot of metal sticking into her so it was easy enough to guess, but she certainly had no idea where her lung was located. Or perhaps she was more astonished that a Vampire really could be on the same level as one of the Goddess's chosen light-givers. They may have had advanced technologies, but the body was a sacred vessel, and restoring it was considered a miraculous art…

"Judging by your puzzlement, I take it you haven't started Biology yet… I'll tell you what, if you let me lay you down, I'll teach you a little about your body."  "H-Huh!? Aghk…" Lycoris winced as he saw right through her, the bewilderment agitating her injuries again.  "Careful! Goodness, I didn't think it'd be that startling… Are you okay?"  Lycoris nodded. "I'm not a priest at all… is it really, okay to share? Doesn't that violate… your oath?"  "What did I just say about talking?" chided Galahad in a soft tone. "I'm not sure what priests have to do with anything, I'm not planning on sending you to meet your Ancestors, haha! …Ehh…"  "…?"  Clearing his throat after his joke completely bombed, Galahad clasped his palms together firmly. "The only oath I had to take upon becoming a doctor was to swear to do no harm. There's no problem with me telling you, no. …Your Highness."

He gently took her hand and held her side, carefully stretching it out as he laid her on her side. While he was forceful enough to drag her down, Lycoris could tell he was also moving her as gently as he could, to prevent her from wincing in pain. It was a simple thing, but it was comforting to know that he was the saintly sort that he acted like.

"One condition, though…" Even though she was already on her side with her arm stretched above her head.  "I'll do whatever I can for you, Princess."  "Please… treat me like an adult."  "Oh? …Hm, I understand. I'm sure it feels awkward, but please hold this pose. The nurse is bringing some cushioning to keep you in place while you sleep."

He adjusted his tone to sound less fawning and more neutral almost immediately, but he maintained his same comforting smile. Like a well-worn set of armor that he didn't even realize he was sporting, Lycoris could hardly fault him for the habit, though she didn't have the energy to try and pick fault with him in general at present. Laying down and remaining motionless was somehow taxing enough on its own, at present.  Galahad set to work grabbing various tools from the cupboards against the wall, setting them on the countertop and muttering to himself, though the only term that Lycoris picked out of the assortment was the word blood.

After he accrued a veritable toolbox of shiny metallic implements on the countertop, he turned back around and folded his arms as he sat in the plastic chair.

"So, where to begin… What would be most interesting, and possibly beneficial, for Her Highness to learn about anatomy-wise, hmm…"  "Anything is fine, really…"  "There's certainly some important topics I can think of, but… No what am I thinking? Her Majesty would undoubtedly prefer Her Highness learn of that on her terms."  "What in the world are you talking about…?"  Galahad continued muttering to himself, ignoring Lycoris's remarks. "An interesting topic for a child… An interesting…"  "Thought I already said not to—"

Before Lycoris could finish her thought, her stomach growled once more and she curled her legs up slightly.

"Ugh… It's only been a few hours. Why do I need blood so often?"  Galahad's eyes lit up. "Oh! That's perfect! So, I'm sure you realize that we all need blood as our source of nutrition to function."  "Unfortu—"  "Well, that is because we evolved to be the tip of the food chain, taking in mana directly from the most richly condensed source—i.e. blood." Cutting off Lycoris, he began to talk almost too fast for her to keep up—especially in her dazed malaise. "Mana, as you might already know, is one of the most efficient forms of energy in nature, all things metabolize and process it as fuel, from plants to animals to even our motor vehicles. But the process of refining and utilizing it is quite difficult, and most creatures can only take in sparse amounts from their environment. As for us oh-so-efficient Vampires, we have a specialized organ just beside the heart—called an aethis—that acts similarly to the kidneys, in that it filters the mana—and other essential chemicals—directly from the blood we ingest and processes it into a molecular compound that bonds with the blood pumping through our heart and is spread throughout the body. From there, the body breaks it back apart and uses it to supply our organs with—"  "Excuse me, Doctor?"

As Lycoris began to feel dizzy from trying to process the sudden explosion of words, the door opened and a woman in similar clothing—sans the white coat—to the doctor wheeled in a complex series of metal tubes and boxes.  Galahad immediately stopped in the middle of his expository deluge and pushed the chair back, standing up to greet her. After exchanging something that sounded like coded language, he took some strange blue-white blocks and began gently pressing and molding them into place around Lycoris's legs. The assistant joined in, fitting more of them against her waist and abdomen, and gently lifted her up to slide one under her armpit. Whatever it was, the material felt cold, slimy, and tickled slightly; and, after settling for a bit, the gel hardened and kept her somewhat uncomfortably held in place.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.  While the nurse was checking over Lycoris to ensure she was secured in place, the doctor checked over the equipment she brought in, before wheeling it over and locking it in place beside her bed. He stepped back to check the equipment he earlier took out, while the woman crouched down in front of Lycoris's field of view.  It was quite uncomfortable being completely unable to move, but that was probably the point.

The nurse cleared her throat and spoke in a gentle tone, "Can you hear me, Your Highness?"  "Yeah…"  "It might hurt a little, but I'm going to have to ask you to take a little breath once I put this mask on you, okay?"  "…" She felt compelled to sigh instead, but nodded, "Okay."

The woman gave the doctor a thumbs up before placing the piece of plastic over Lycoris's mouth and nose, and aside from a small twinge of pain as she breathed in, Lycoris—

＊

Doctor Galahad Lynnvel exhumed the troubled breath buried in his lung, the air tasting stale on his lips. He'd been working around the clock with barely a moment of rest for a long enough span that counting hours ceased to hold any meaning, either prepping for or recovering after multiple life-or-death surgeries and procedures with critically injured patients. He wasn't the only doctor in the building, but he was the most senior… and had suffered a rather brutal head injury some vague amount of time prior. In truth, he should have still been resting, but that brief bit of downtime after he was coldcocked was already more than he could allow himself.  And of course, as the moss-covered cherry topping the steeple of his tension, the critical patient he was rushed to deal with was the daughter of the Exaltare. The fact she was even here was a shock that defied rational logic, but he was professional enough to set all of his feelings on that aside and focus on treating the patient instead. Though, he'd never actually had to treat a zeroth-generation Vampire before. There wasn't even anything about it in any of the medical journals he'd studied. As far as he was aware, they were invincible, immortal entities that were fabled to come back from even being sunstruck—though it was just that, a fable. There had never been any recorded injury to a prior Exaltare; not one that they didn't immediately shrug off, at least.  Frankly, Galahad wasn't sure the anesthesia would even work on her in the first place.

After confirming that she was unconscious and her vitals were stable, the nurse stood up and stepped aside to make room for Galahad.  He took a moment to run both his hands and tools dangling his lanyard under the sterilizer he had set up and turned on earlier, the slight tingling of mana-charged air causing the fine hairs on his skin to stand on end and a small crackle of static to spark off of his tools. He nodded to Nurse Skye, who slid a pair of gloves over his hands.

"Ready to begin, Doctor."  "Right. Beginning procedure at… 0137 hours. Subject is Her Highness, Princess Lycoris Aphtangloa, and procedure is… removing twelve pieces of metal lodged in varying locations in her body."

After going through the routine course of starting a surgery, he immediately set to work, unclipping the small beam-emitter and setting to work cutting the largest chunks of metal off.  Next he carefully created an incision around where the flesh had started to heal around the metal, while Nora wiped away the excess blood, recorded where the incisions were being made, and made sure Her Highness didn't shift at all during the proceedings, all while checking her vitals. They were painfully understaffed, and it was a slow process, especially because Her Highness's body was all but struggling against him, trying to heal the "wounds" he was inflicting. Eventually, however, he managed to push the first and largest piece of metal out, the sinister spear-tube clattering to the floor as he rushed to cover up the hole in her body with gauze.

The rest of the operation went mostly the same, with him marveling over how little he actually had to do once he'd gotten the shrapnel out of her. There was no need for skin grafts or healing magic, as the Princess's body recovered much faster on its own than an ordinary person's would have with his assistance.  He was wiping his brow by the end of it, the stress of treating the Exaltare's daughter fraying his nerves more severely than a normal procedure might, even if her recovery was trivializing several aspects of his job. Glancing at the clock, it was nearly four in the morning.  Once she finished setting aside the last piece of scrapmetal in a large tray and recording where it was removed from, the nurse carefully cut the supply of anesthetic and turned to Galahad.

"Should we ready a blood transfusion?" asked Nora.  "Well, there's only one possible donor, and I feel the situation would be markedly different if she were here," sighed Galahad in return.  "Then, how should we proceed, Doctor?"

It was a fair point. No matter how fast her ability to heal was, Princess Lycoris still had lost a lot of blood in the process, to say nothing of how much her body spent to heal itself. It'd take her time to recover, and in the interim…

"Find whatever the highest quality rations we have on hand are. Keep it to simple flavors; juices, ideally. No complex foods for now," he sighed as he slumped into a chair, keeping an eye on the peacefully resting girl.  "Of course, Doctor."  "Ah, and before you go," he called out to her before she was out of the room, "has anyone named Athena or Sera been brought in?"  "I'm uncertain, though Doctor Kanna and Nurse Gebrah were looking after some of the recent arrivals."  "I see. Can you check for those two names among them? Her Highness mentioned them when I was examining her."  "I'll ask around. Then, if that is all,"  "Ah, perhaps check to see if we have a change of clothes for the Princess."  "Very well."

With a curt nod, the nurse left him alone in the room with Lycoris. They left a sheet over her for the time being, as they had to cut free and remove her shredded and stained blouse. There were probably some donor clothes that would fit, but whether or not Her Highness would be willing to wear them was a whole separate matter.  Princess Lycoris seemed amicable enough, but she was also obviously fatigued beyond reason and critically wounded, suffering from intense blood loss to the point she was mistaking Galahad for a complete stranger. He wasn't entirely sure if he should even ask about this Mizar when she recovered. It only sounded like a case of mistaken identity, but there was no telling what sort of forbidden secrets the daughter of the Exaltare knew.  Galahad may have treated her and quite possibly saved her life, but they had functionally accepted a Class 1 hazardous substance.

He let out a therapeutic sigh, removing the gloves and tossing them in the disposal bin before looking down at the mess of bloodstains on his own scrubs and coat. He sighed again, lamenting their lack of spare surgical aprons, and accepted that he'd have to rush off to change before checking on the rest of the new arrivals.  The intercom crackled to life just as he was debating closing his eyes for a minute, the sound of Nurse Skye's voice distorted by the speaker and background "noise" filling the city.

'Doctor Lynnvel?'  He stood back up and paced over with his third sigh, as all things struck in threes. "Lynnvel here."  'Doctor Kanna's looking after them. They're in a state of torpor, but we're lacking details of their case and condition.'  "Understood. I'll head down there as soon as I finish cleaning up here."  'I'll bring the spare clothes and meal up right away.'  "Thank you, Skye."

He scratched his chin while pacing toward the countertop. His mind was already beginning to whir back into action, despite his sleepless nights and mounting exhaustion. There were many possible causes for torpor, and while it wasn't an immediately fatal condition, it could leave long-lasting scars if the affected individual was left to "sleep" for too long. The condition of the patient depended heavily on their generation, as a more efficient body could withstand the interruption in the natural cycle and regulation of mana through their aethis for longer.  It was oddly fitting that the topic came up with Her Highness, given their relation. He closed his eyes as he turned his head toward the ceiling, refreshing himself to change gears after surgery.  Generally speaking, torpor was caused by a prolonged absence of blood-intake, starving out the body of its essential components and causing it to gradually shut down. But, that didn't make sense. Her Highness sounded worried for their health, and it was hard to believe she would have trouble finding sources of blood for them, which meant the cause was more likely to be malicious in nature. Poison, in other words; something meant to either forcibly shut down the aethis or otherwise cause it to incorrectly bond mana to blood cells, causing the body to suffocate itself into a state of unconsciousness.  That would have far more dire consequences, unfortunately.

Galahad wasn't a religious man, but he still uttered a token prayer to the Ancestors in his mind. Both for the Princess's companions, and for himself should he have to break any tragic news.

＊　＊　＊

Lycoris's body was heavy under the bedsheet. Her arms and legs refused to heed her commands when she tried to raise them, and her head felt as though it were full of water sloshing around.  She was in a deathly dark and quiet room, the quiet beeping of some machine her only company as a twinge of anxiety stung her.

Was I abandoned? Is everyone gone? What's going on?

While the room was dark, Lycoris had no trouble seeing the familiar cabinets and posters on the walls once she twisted her head to the side. She'd been laid down on her back, her head was just about all she could just about move around, and to the side of her bed—which seemed to have been swapped out for a far more comfortable one than before—she saw a device that was making the beeping sound.  It went without saying, but it felt like all of the weapons had been properly removed from her.

"Hello? Is anybody there?"

Her voice came out as a raspy croak, leaving her mind scrambling to figure out how much time had passed since the woman put that mask over her face and knocked her out.  The steady beeping of the machine to her side was the only reply Lycoris received. The more troubled she felt, the faster it seemed to go. Most likely, it was something to monitor her condition… which meant somebody was still at least aware that she was here. It wasn't much of a companion, but the beeping machine did its best to calm her all the same.  The real problem was how vulnerable she felt. Before, that hadn't been much of a concern to her—she had always stayed in the safety of her "nest" in the imperial palace, and was a remarkable fighter to boot.  But after being ambushed and abducted, the thought of remaining alone while in such a weakened and vulnerable state brought a novel sense of terror to Lycoris.

"Hello…?" she whimpered.

Surely there still had to be people in the hospital. Would they really have forgotten about their own royal princess in their building if they had to flee? Or, had the Whispers broken in and gotten to everyone else? But why would they ignore her if that was the case?  Maybe it was that worthless blue-haired oaf of a Vampire and his assassins again. Maybe he'd actually captured her this time and had her properly abducted. If it meant that she would actually have the chance to meet with Tatyana again, then she could…

No, I don't want to meet her like this! I… I can't tear her throat out if I can't even move. Mama… where are you…?

Feeling her eyes begin to sting, Lycoris's troubled thoughts tumbled back to the only source of solace she'd ever felt. She knew Lilianna wouldn't suddenly burst in the door, and she knew how embarrassing it was to quite literally cry for her mom, but she had gone through the most stressful series of days since becoming a princess, if not her entire life up to that point.

"Mama…"  "YOUR HIGHNESS!!"  "—??"

Lycoris croaked in surprise as the door suddenly burst open, and the shape of a short-haired woman in an ankle length shirt appeared, golden eyes dimly illuminated against her silhouette. She recognized the voice instantly though, her head swiveling as she turned herself toward her maid, wiggling her limp body.

"Ma'am, you shouldn't be up and about, and you definitely shouldn't be going in there!"  "Silence pedestrian!" Athena snapped back at the nurse, angrier than Lycoris had ever heard her. "Your Highness, are you okay!? Fie and woe upon me, a thousand shavings of my flesh wouldn't be enough to compensate for this utter failure in my capacity as your servant!"

Shaking off the nurse trying to hold her back, Athena stumbled into the room and collapsed at the side of Lycoris's bed, wrapping both her hands around Lycoris's limp wrist. That warmth spread to her cheeks, as the tears sliding down became ones of joy, rather than anguish.

"Yes, I'm fine Athena. Welcome back."

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