Felix Fuller still showed no signs of waking, but at least his injuries hadn’t gotten worse. The day passed with Serena teaching, the three imperial physicians learning, and Felix himself fading into the background.
Serena found days like this anything but boring. She loved talking shop with fellow doctors, exchanging opinions and insights on medical problems—it kept her mind sharp. If she could spend every day at the Fuller estate like this, she wouldn’t mind making the trip.
Chatting with other doctors was a completely different feeling from talking to Nolan or the other nobles. Serena was a physician—she needed peers in her own field. Otherwise, she’d be stuck working in isolation, her skills getting worse and worse, with no hope of progress.
Besides, anyone skilled enough to become an imperial physician had to be good—Serena learned a lot from them.
When night fell, Serena said goodbye to the three imperial physicians. They were reluctant to part, but she got into her carriage and headed back home.
Serena was, after all, a young woman. No matter how worried the Emperor was about Felix, or how angry he was at Serena, he couldn’t force her to spend the night at the Fuller estate. If he did, Nolan would really storm the palace and force the Emperor to pay for it.
As for the three imperial physicians, they still had to keep watch overnight, waiting for the next shift to relieve them in the morning.
After Serena got home, she ate a light dinner, bathed and changed, handled a few chores in her study, and—just before midnight—set out in a carriage toward the Glass Rooftop Room, accompanied by her hidden maid-guards.
Heading out at midnight to secretly meet a man, Serena couldn’t help feeling a little guilty. With Nolan’s jealousy, if he ever found out, she’d be in real trouble.
Right now, Serena could only hope her warning worked, and that the hidden guards and maids wouldn’t report tonight’s outing to Nolan. Otherwise, she’d be crying for sure.
Ugh... Freedom and equality were all well and good, but sneaking out to meet a man at midnight was still a mistake. But this dinner was the payment Lance Quinn had asked for—just a meal, nothing more. She couldn’t refuse, so she could only hope Nolan was busy enough lately to forget she even existed.
Serena set out, and of course Lance Quinn arrived early too. In the secret room at Sutton Manor, Lance finished giving orders about the Black Riders, then prepared to leave.
"Is everything set up at the Glass Rooftop Room?" Lance asked one last time before heading out.
This was technically his and Serena’s first real date. He wanted it to leave a deep impression—at the very least, he didn’t want her to dislike him or think he was frivolous.
Vincent Su nodded. "Everything’s ready. But... Lance, are you sure you want to hold it in the flower room? What if something goes wrong halfway through?"
"Nothing will go wrong," Lance said, cutting off any doubt.
"But you’re allergic to pollen," Vincent pointed out, sounding concerned but secretly amused.
He wouldn’t dare sabotage the event, but the thought of Lance squirming from his pollen allergy while pretending everything was fine was honestly pretty entertaining.
"I’ve spent time in the Imperial Garden too," Lance retorted, shooting Vincent a look. If he hadn’t been so busy and needed Vincent to handle the arrangements, he never would have told him about the dinner with Serena in the flower room.
"That’s not the same. Every time you’re in the Imperial Garden, you pick the spot furthest from the flowers. This time you’ll be surrounded by a sea of blossoms. Even with the special medicine pouch the Master of Mystic Healer Valley made for you, I doubt it’ll help much."