Time of the Blind Beast - Chapter 52

Ezekiel let out a crooked smile for a moment.

As expected, that bastard wouldn’t miss such news.

Akenaus had a habit of flaunting the Valdemaira wealth by lavishing expensive trinkets on his mistresses.

“They say he was the final bidder competing against us. He looked absolutely livid after failing to win it. He must have taken a liking to another woman.”

Madam Serva clicked her tongue.

“No matter how vast the Valdemaira fortune is, if he ends up leading the house, he’ll squander every bit of that immense wealth on indulgences.”

It wasn’t even a surprising prediction.

However, it was worth noting the possibility that someone from Akenaus’s side might try to trace who ended up with the diamond. It would be safest to schedule the surgery as soon as possible, get through the recovery, and hide Rose away in the new estate until everything settled.

“Serva, for a proposal, a ring is best, right?”

To be honest, Ezekiel didn’t even want to spare the attention for Akenaus. The one he wanted to focus his thoughts and efforts on wasn’t that man, but Rose.

“A ring is certainly the traditional choice.”

With Madam Serva’s affirmation, Ezekiel made his decision.

“Then let’s prepare a ring first. If Rose finds it inconvenient, we’ll have it reset. Jewelry should suit the wearer’s comfort.”

“Yes, I’ll place the order that way.”

“I’ll personally give her the ring the day I finish the surgery and open my eyes.”

“You mean you want it brought in secretly?”

Madam Serva cautiously gauged his intentions. Ever since the day he ordered a new estate to be found, Ezekiel had consistently stressed the importance of secrecy. His thoughts were so transparent, and frankly quite unexpected, that Madam Serva struggled to suppress the chuckles that kept slipping out.

Goodness, who would’ve thought Lord Ezekiel would end up like this?

Love truly is a mysterious magic, isn’t it?

To many people, Ezekiel had always seemed like a boy who was unusually mature for his age.

Unlike Akenaus, who was selfish but had a somewhat slippery charm, Ezekiel’s cold demeanor and blunt personality made him difficult to approach—everyone except Madam Serva, who had practically raised him, saw him as the aloof second son. Who could have imagined that such a boy would grow into a man nervously planning a proposal?

And that wasn’t all.

He used to get angry when the servants kept calling for Rose, but he himself practically monopolized her. With his natural stamina, he kept her thoroughly exhausted night after night, and these days, Rose had visibly lost weight.

Still, he was preparing the house and the ring without her knowing, wondering how he could surprise her even more. Ezekiel now resembled a mischievous and lively boy.

Even without his sight, he had already changed so much—how much more would he change after the surgery, when he could see again?

Since Rose had arrived at this estate, bringing light into the darkest time of his life, blessings had followed. She was Ezekiel’s lucky star.

Madam Serva recalled Rose’s pale face as she timidly knocked on the estate’s door that cold, dark winter night looking for work. What would have happened to Ezekiel if she had turned Rose away that day? The thought gave her chills.

She was glad she had judged her right.

Feeling proud of her discernment, Madam Serva began mentally organizing the plans she would soon have to execute.

It was time to prepare to welcome the new lady of the house.

***

“I came at Dr. Brehman’s request. My name is Paulina.”

As autumn deepened, the surgeon Dr. Brehman had recommended arrived at the estate.

Rose, who had gone out to greet her at the entrance, instinctively looked up at the doctor’s face as she stood there with a large travel bag and a doctor’s satchel—only to hurriedly avert her gaze.

The doctor’s face was covered in blotchy burn scars.

Worried her gaze might have come off as rude, Rose quickly composed her expression.

“Please, come in. You must be tired from such a long journey.”

Fortunately, the greeting came out calmly. The doctor, too, accepted her welcome with ease.

She was a tall, confident young woman with a striking presence.

Though Dr. Brehman had told her that the surgeon was young, Rose had expected someone around forty—similar in age to the other doctors who had visited the estate. But this woman looked to be in her early thirties, at least ten years younger than Rose had guessed.

“And I know the most skilled surgeon in this field. I trust that she’s capable enough for that.”

Sixty-something-year-old Dr. Brehman had called this surgeon, who was half his age, the most skilled and the one with the ability to heal Ezekiel’s eyes.

To be young and already have a defined specialty, and to be so trusted by someone as experienced as Dr. Brehman—that alone was rare.

Rose was certain: people like her didn’t come around often.

Well, there was one other person within her circle who did.

Ezekiel.

At an even younger age, he had soared to the highest ranks, gaining national fame. The people of Astrie revered him and called him a war hero.

Paulina, too, must be a hero to the patients she treated. And if she managed to restore Ezekiel’s sight through this surgery, she could become a hero of Valdemaira as well.

It was impressive.

And, in a way, Rose was envious.

To have studied enough to become a doctor, to have earned the trust of seasoned peers like Dr. Brehman, and above all, to be working in a noble profession that saved lives—she couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy.

It was the ideal kind of adult she had always dreamed of becoming.

Rose bit down hard on her lip.

She, too, had wanted to become someone like that after graduating school.

She had thought she would live a life that would be of help to someone, somewhere, in this society. Looking back now, it had been a huge delusion.

“To be honest, this will be a very difficult operation.”

Even when face to face with Ezekiel, Paulina didn’t beat around the bush.

“To explain the procedure in more detail, we will use a tool to prevent blinking, rely on magnifying lenses, and incise the pupils of both eyes to remove the clouded lesions. Like many other surgical procedures, it doesn’t involve saws or excessive bleeding visible on the surface, so it may seem easy, but in reality, it’s not at all.”

“It doesn’t sound easy in the slightest.”

Rose took a deep breath as she looked over the surgical method Paulina had drawn to help her, as the guardian, understand. Just imagining it briefly made her heart feel painfully tight.

“I didn’t even know a surgery like this existed.”

“It’s only natural you wouldn’t. It’s not a commonly performed surgery yet. Especially the method of incising and removing the cloudy part of the pupil—I was the first to devise it. Dr. Brehman was one of the few doctors who showed interest in my published method.”

Rose glanced at Ezekiel. Though he couldn’t see the illustration, he must have fully understood the explanation of the ophthalmic surgery, and yet, he hadn’t batted an eye.

“Will there be pain?”

Rose asked on behalf of Ezekiel, who seemed indifferent, as though he didn’t care about anything other than the success of the operation.

“Of course, it will be intense. Not only is the pain severe, but manipulating the eyes physiologically causes tears to flow uncontrollably. So during this type of surgery, assistants are needed to continuously wipe away tears to keep the surgical field clear, and attendants are also needed to physically restrain the limbs. To lessen the pain slightly, a small amount of opium will be administered just before surgery, but the pain won’t disappear entirely. I assume the Major is more familiar with this than I am, given your frequent encounters with emergency battlefield treatments by army medics…”

For the first time, Ezekiel interrupted Paulina’s explanation.

“That won’t be necessary.”

His voice was calm, with barely any inflection.

“Don’t use opium. Just proceed with the surgery.”

Both Paulina and Rose were taken aback by his decision.

The eye is one of the most sensitive parts of the body, instinctively blinking even when something merely comes close. To endure a sharp instrument digging into such a vulnerable part while fully conscious would be akin to torture.

“No matter how high your tolerance may be, this is not a surgery one can endure without opium.”

Paulina immediately tried to persuade him.

She had seen many patients who, out of fear of pain, begged her to use even stronger doses of opium. But never in her medical career had she encountered someone who wanted to undergo such a procedure fully conscious. No matter how experienced she was in ophthalmic surgery, minimizing the chance of complications was always the wise choice. Most patients, even when sedated with opium, would scream and thrash in agony—Ezekiel’s request was unreasonable.

“I did hear from Dr. Brehman that you suffered severely from withdrawal symptoms, but using opium once in a while won’t cause a relapse to your previous level of addiction. Moreover, if a man as large and strong as you start to thrash during surgery, Major, neither I nor the doctor would be able to stop it. And if, because of that, the surgical blade pierces the wrong part of the pupil…”

It would be the most dreadful outcome imaginable during surgery.

Paulina added weight to her slightly paused words. “There will be no turning back. You’ll regret ever deciding to undergo the surgery.”

“I’ll endure it.”

But Ezekiel’s answer was resolute.

“Because Rose will be by my side.”