On Official Duty, My Heart Worries for the Realm

Serena Feng, Simon Sun, and the Eighteen Riders traveled light and arrived around noon at the border between Eastlyn and Night City. From afar, Serena saw the welcoming troops and was not surprised—if Ninth Royal Uncle didn’t send someone to receive her, that would truly be strange.

"Master." Simon Sun didn’t see Ninth Royal Uncle and, worried Serena Feng would be upset, tried to comfort her—only to realize she didn’t care at all.

"Let’s go. We’re here for official business." If Ninth Royal Uncle disregarded his status and came to greet her, the soldiers in camp would be the first to object.

There were generally no women in the army; women in camp usually had only one role—as camp followers. Serena Feng had come openly, under her official identity as a physician. She and Simon Sun, with their current status, could not accept a personal greeting from Ninth Royal Uncle.

Since everything was handled according to official procedures, Ninth Royal Uncle could only send a deputy general to receive Serena Feng—anything more would be too conspicuous and might stir up resentment among the troops before she even entered the camp.

Serena Feng might not be the most perceptive or brilliant person, but she understood this much. Besides, she wasn’t someone who cared about such formalities. After exchanging names and verifying documents with the deputy, she followed them into the camp.

The deputy general was deeply relieved to find Serena Feng so easy to deal with.

When he’d received this assignment, his colleagues had sympathized with him, worried that Miss Feng would take out her anger on him if she didn’t see Ninth Royal Uncle.

Luckily—luckily—this young lady was reasonable!

The deputy didn’t know that the ‘reasonable young lady’ he spoke of was, at that moment, rehearsing exactly how she would argue with Ninth Royal Uncle when they finally met.

She had come to the frontier out of concern for Ninth Royal Uncle, but that didn’t mean she had forgotten their last argument. She wasn’t a petty woman, but some things couldn’t just be let go.

She couldn’t settle her feelings; she felt wronged.

She had never counted how much she’d done for Ninth Royal Uncle, nor did she dwell on how much he’d done for her. In her eyes, whatever they did for each other was simply because they wanted to.

But Ninth Royal Uncle still thought she hadn’t done enough.

Back in the Capital, she had been too busy dealing with everyone to think about it; even when she remembered, she would deliberately distract herself with work. Then came the incident with Lance Quinn, which left her emotionally shattered and unable to think about anything else. Now...

The closer she got to camp, the more chaotic Serena Feng’s thoughts became, with all kinds of worries flooding her mind. For a moment, she didn’t know what to do.

At this moment, Serena’s mood resembled the nervousness of returning home—she suddenly realized she wasn’t ready to face Ninth Royal Uncle again.

She wanted to run away, but turning back now was impossible. Serena had no choice but to abandon that idea, telling herself to take things as they came—after all, she was here on official business.

After all that worrying, Serena realized that the entire army was treating their arrival with utter indifference. No one thought much of them at all. Correction: they were simply seen as doctors sent by the court, and nothing more.

She really had overestimated her own importance. Serena gave herself a self-mocking smile, and the Eighteen Riders tactfully fell back half a step—their instincts telling them that staying too close to Serena right now was asking for trouble.

As soon as they entered camp, Serena Feng and her group were led to the rear by a young soldier: "Dr. Feng, Dr. Sun. This is where the army doctors stay. Dr. Feng, that separate tent is yours. If your people need tents, they’ll have to collect them themselves."

"Understood, thank you." It would be a lie to say she wasn’t hurt—no matter how strong Serena was, she was still a woman. Ninth Royal Uncle’s strictly official attitude really stung.

Still, Serena wasn’t the type to wallow in self-pity. Since Ninth Royal Uncle had drawn a clear line, she would walk it.

Serena Feng was simply a physician sent by the court. She would do what a doctor ought to do—nothing more.

Serena sent the Eighteen Riders and the young soldier to collect supplies, while she and Simon Sun put away their luggage. After a quick wash, they changed into clean physician robes and headed for the field hospital.

A battle between Eastlyn and Night City had taken place two days earlier. With new and old casualties, the entire field hospital was packed. Even before they reached it, the heavy scent of herbs mixed with a foul stench hit them.

Simon Sun frowned, worried about the hygiene in the field hospital. Serena, on the other hand, was calm—she’d been on battlefields before and knew that with so many wounded, doctors were too busy to manage everything.

Fortunately, it was winter, so there was no sweat-stench and wounds were less likely to fester. Serena took out masks from her pocket and handed one to Simon Sun.

Serena always dressed androgynously in camp; with her loose physician robe and now her face covered, outsiders couldn’t tell if she was male or female.

"Who are you people? This isn’t a place to fool around—get out." Their odd attire drew the ire of an old army doctor, who brusquely ordered them away.

Simon Sun was shoved back two steps and awkwardly explained, "We’re doctors sent by the court."

"Doctors sent by the court?" The man looked Serena Feng and Simon Sun up and down, sneering, "Is Eastlyn out of people, sending two apprentices? What can you do—do you even know all the herbs? I don’t have time to teach trainees. Go back to wherever you came from—I’m too busy to deal with you."

"I’m a doctor, not an apprentice." Simon Sun replied earnestly. The old doctor just snorted, pointing to a corner where several wounded soldiers waited for bandaging, heads bloodied.

"A doctor, huh? Fine—see those wounded over there? Go bandage their wounds." Clearly, he was making things difficult, but Simon Sun didn’t notice and went right over.

Serena Feng said nothing, simply following behind Simon Sun.

"Got guts, I’ll give you that." The doctor was actually a bit impressed by Simon Sun, but he didn’t have time to pay attention—he was busy staunching bleeding and bandaging soldiers with broken legs and arms.

"Little doctors, are you sure you can handle this?" The wounds were gruesome. The less severely injured soldiers were worried, seeing how young Serena and Simon looked, but with all the army doctors busy, they had no choice.

"You can wait." Patients who don’t cooperate or don’t trust the doctor are always a headache. Serena gave the man a cold look, set her medicine chest down by her feet, and opened it.

"I won’t wait—doctor, stop my bleeding first." One soldier, chest slashed open, spoke through gritted teeth.

His wound was half a foot long, flesh torn and bleeding profusely. If the bleeding wasn’t stopped, he’d be ruined even if he survived.

Serena nodded, put on gloves, and took out forceps to begin cleaning the wound. As for anesthetic? These wounded couldn’t afford it, nor did they have time to wait for it to take effect.

On the battlefield, getting timely treatment from a doctor was already a blessing.