"Good. Now… those will leave scars even if you ask for a fae to heal it, so how about I will sew it up into some fancy pattern?"
"...p-pardon…?"
Happy with the result, the woman grinned and cracked a joke at Rotsard, causing him to choke up on his own saliva.
"I'm jesting! I mean, you will definitely end up with scars, but the way I will sew it up makes no difference… Still, I could make it pretty, it would be a shame to ruin your real looks... Don't worry, I took lessons when I was young."
The nurse laughed, seeing Rotsard's baffled expression, only then explaining herself with a soft smile.
"How come… you seem so… nice to me…? Is it the looks after all?"
"Hmm? Hey! Why, what makes you believe that I'm not so nice to every patient!?"
After a moment of silence, Rotsard ended up furrowing his brows and asking cautiously, but the woman frowned and gasped... still, she was blushing as she did...
"Because you weren't that nice last year."
"Ouch! Didn't you learn to not point out when a lady tweaks the truth a little? And I didn't consider that you actually remembered me!"
Rotsard pointed out, and the woman let out an amused gasp and grumbled at him again.
"..."
Rotsard didn't respond to that and only looked at her with innocent confusion…
"My dad… the Academy's Guardian asked me to treat you nicely because he likes you."
"Academy's…? Wait! YOU'RE A F…!?"
"Of course not. I'm a human, so back down you go."
Upon that revelation, Rotsard almost got up from the bed, but the woman rolled her eyes and scoffed at him, standing up and leaning in to push onto his chest with both hands to make him go back down.
"As if you're the one talk! You're acting as if adopting wasn't a thing."
"...oh… right... sorry…"
Only after she added that, Rotsard ended up realizing his mistake and obeyed while apologizing.
"Just so you know, that undid at least an hour of my progress on your shoulder."
"...sorry…"
The nurse pointed out, and Rotsard looked down with a remorseful expression.
"You can ask about it, I don't mind."
"...!"
As she returned to working on his injury, the woman spoke up casually, causing Rotsard to flinch in surprise.
"...does it happen often? A fae adopting a human?"
In the end, Rotsard was a bit curious, and since everything was better than just laying down in silence, he ended up inquiring.
"I don't think so… Not with the normal ones... but it's quite common with my dad. He often says things like 'this kid is the last one I'm taking care of' but there's always another child in need. Dad always tries to find a better option, of course. Whether it's leaving the child with their family if there's any remaining or with acquaintances who can be trusted, but if all options are spent he will just adopt it himself. In my case, I was sold by the people who brought me to this world, and dad rescued me."
The nurse shrugged her shoulders and started explaining without taking her eyes off the wound as her hands kept moving.
"Funny story, he was traveling back from a wedding of one of his other adoptive children and just accidentally got involved with the human traffickers… So I guess I wasn't completely unlucky."
"Your parents sold you…? Tsk… peasants…"
As she revealed, Rotsard said grimly before clicking his tongue with disgust.
"My parents were nobles, though? Very poor, but actual ones with heritage, traditions, and all. Although in name only."
"...!"
The woman chuckled as she pointed out, and Rotsard's expression turned extremely awkward.
"You know that for some reason, for humans, there's a lot more females than males born? Well, because of some useless tradition, the family I was born into really wanted a male heir and kept trying for one, but no matter what, only girls would pop up! It was to the point that even once I became aware, I couldn't tell how many sisters I actually had because there were so many! To make things worse, apparently, our bloodline weakened so much that basically no one had enough mana to use magic. Most of us didn't even receive the blessing of the faes on the offering ceremony, me included. In both cases, in fact!"
"..."
As she contained, the woman acted and made it sound as if it was a funny story, but the more Rotsard heard of it, the more upset he became.
"But then, one day, a miracle happened, and a boy was born! But that's when those reckless people realized that their finances hit rock bottom. In the first place, neither I nor any of my sisters were getting any education besides basic house chores, sewing included…"
She stopped her story for a moment to show off the needle and thread she was sewing Rotsard's wound as she was just about done with his shoulder.
"So, to get my younger brother a life he deserved… They sold me. And then I was lucky enough to be saved by the Academy's Guardian. I guess even though no fae showed up for my offering ceremony, I ended up blessed by a Great Fae of Nature… and that's about it. Alright, let's see your hand…"
The woman finished her story with a shrug before beckoning Rotsard to reach his left arm to her while she was picking up his severed hand.