"Master, Master, are you awake yet?"
Along with his shouting came an irritating pounding at the door—bang, bang, bang... Impossible to ignore.
"Young Master Sun, this is Miss Serena's boudoir—you can't go in," a servant stepped forward and tried to pull Simon Sun away. Simon refused to leave, his face serious and earnest: "I know. I won't go in. I'll just wait here for my master."
To prove he meant it, Simon Sun stepped back three paces. Just as the servants relaxed, he started shouting again: "Master, hurry and get up! I want to see your operating room."
On the road, when Simon heard that Serena Feng planned to open the Crown Prince's chest and treat his heart disease, he became incredibly excited. Though he was a frail scholar, he pushed himself to travel day and night and never felt tired.
He arrived at the villa in the middle of the night and wanted to find Serena right away. If the servants hadn’t convinced him it was too late and that Serena was already asleep, Simon would’ve barged in last night.
He barely made it to dawn, ignoring his exhaustion and skipping breakfast to go find Serena.
He truly, truly wanted to know how his master planned to treat the Crown Prince’s heart disease. The thought of opening the Prince’s chest and saving his life made Simon so excited he could hardly wait another second.
So, you really can't blame Simon Sun. After all, he never imagined that showing up at dawn would ruin Prince Nolan's romantic plans. If he knew, he’d have come even earlier.
If anyone wants to take advantage of his master, not while Simon’s around! No way!
Simon Sun, still dazed, kept calling outside, asking Serena to hurry up and take him to the operating room. He’d missed the last surgery on Victor Yun and regretted it deeply—he couldn’t miss this one.
Inside, Serena couldn’t help but laugh: “Haha… Good disciple, I really didn’t misjudge you.”
Damn! With Simon Sun’s interruption, he couldn’t do anything. What a wasted opportunity.
Prince Nolan muttered a curse, seeing Serena’s smug face, his own darkened even more. He bent down and bit Serena’s nose: “You little troublemaker.”
With that, he rolled away from Serena.
After Simon’s commotion, any mood was lost. Even if he still wanted to, Serena wouldn’t cooperate.
Serena hugged her quilt, giggling as she tried to stifle her laughter—afraid to annoy a certain frustrated man. Hearing Simon still shouting, she called out, telling him to wait in the main hall; she’d be there soon.
Simon, driven by his love for medicine, had barged into Serena’s courtyard without thinking. Now, calmer, he realized he’d been too impulsive and blushed deeply, suppressing his eagerness and obediently heading to the main hall.
Your disciple is surprisingly obedient," Prince Nolan said, opening his arms for Serena to help him dress.
Serena, never one for modesty, boasted: “Of course. Just look at whose disciple he is! Even the Master of Mystic Healer Valley tried to steal him from me, but I refused.”
Prince Nolan tapped Serena on the forehead, warning her not to get too cocky. "The Master of Mystic Healer Valley is unpredictable, acting only on whim, never caring about right or wrong."
If he likes you, anything you do looks good. If not, he’ll find ways to destroy you. He’s set his sights on Simon—if he can’t have him, he might ruin him.
Serena smiled, telling Nolan not to worry. She could see the Master of Mystic Healer Valley truly cared for Simon, and she had no intention of keeping Simon chained to her side.
The Master only values Simon’s talent for medicine, so the solution is simple: let Simon study with him. As for formally becoming his disciple—that’s up to Simon. If he agrees, he can have a second master. Serena believes her disciple will make his mark even without the Valley Master’s backing.
Nolan was relieved Serena was flexible enough not to fight the Valley Master head-on. If those two clashed, he’d have a headache.
Hand in hand, the two walked out of the room. The servants outside weren’t surprised, but their bodies trembled. Serena knew they were afraid Nolan would punish them for letting Simon in—it was their failure.
Serena glanced at them and said to Nolan, “This time it was Simon’s fault.”
Serena readily took the blame for Simon, protecting him so the staff wouldn’t make things difficult for him in the days ahead.
She wanted the servants to understand: if they let Simon through and make a mistake, they won’t be punished. But if they block him when he’s acting in her name, they will be.
Nolan’s face, which had just softened, stiffened again. He glared at Serena: “You spoil him.”
“He’s my disciple,” Serena replied, proud rather than ashamed.
A master is an elder—even if she’s young, with the title of master, Serena must protect her disciple. Last time’s incident can’t be allowed to happen again.
“Hmph…” Nolan flung his sleeve, not mentioning punishing the servants, and walked off in another direction.
“Aren’t you going to breakfast?” Serena called after him. Without turning, Nolan replied, “I’m not hungry.”
In truth, he was afraid that if he went to the main hall and saw Simon, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from strangling him.
He’d never admit he was jealous of Simon.
“Fine, I’ll tell the kitchen not to make your breakfast,” Serena said, knowingly canceling Nolan’s meal.
Nolan fumed—he couldn’t take back his words and could only retreat angrily to the study to handle official business.
The Crown Prince was three days late. Nolan wanted to investigate what had happened.
Nolan worked on an empty stomach in the study, while Serena and Simon enjoyed a full breakfast before strolling slowly toward the operating room.
On the way, Simon peppered Serena with questions about Victor Yun’s brain surgery, and complained about being tricked and detained by the Master of Mystic Healer Valley.
If the Master hadn’t tempted him with medical books and cut off his contact with the outside world, Simon would never have missed the surgery.
Seeing his regret, Serena comforted him: “There will be other chances. I’ll let you operate yourself one day.”
She’d already decided that after this mission, she’d ask Nolan to discreetly acquire a few corpses so she could teach Simon how to do craniotomies. Her apprentice was growing fast—she had to help him stand on his own soon. Even without the Valley Master’s reputation, Simon’s skill would carve him a bright path.
Simon didn’t know all of Serena’s plans—only that he’d get a chance to do a real craniotomy and see the mysteries of the human brain. At the thought of opening skulls and seeing that forbidden organ, his eyes burned with excitement.
“What a medical idiot,” Serena teased. Simon blushed but couldn’t hide his excitement, following Serena into the operating room to make his first cuts under her guidance.
Meanwhile, in the study, Nolan received intelligence about the Crown Prince and a shadow of worry flickered in his eyes.