I’ve Become a S*ave Bride - Chapter 58
Ophelia entered the special patient treatment room.
This was a place established with the kingdom’s support to gather those suffering from rare or unknown diseases. While it was called a “treatment room” for the sake of appearance, in reality, it was closer to a “laboratory.”
She approached the first patient she encountered and offered a bright greeting.
“Hello. How are you feeling today?”
The patient didn’t even look at her, responding grumpily.
“How do you think I feel? It hurts, obviously.”
Ophelia’s smile almost cracked. However, she clenched her fists and endured it.
‘They are sick people. I have to be understanding.’
This particular ward was reserved for patients with exceptionally severe, critical illnesses. Naturally, they had no room for mental composure or kindness.
‘So, I shouldn’t let it hurt my feelings.’
“Still, wouldn’t it be helpful if you told me even just a little bit?”
When Ophelia spoke in a persuasive tone, the patient, who had been turning his back as if she were a nuisance, suddenly flared up in anger.
“Dammit, helpful? What help? They say I’m going to die anyway.”
As the language became harsh, the vice captain following Ophelia tried to step forward. Ophelia shook her head and stopped him.
“He is a sick man.”
“But—”
“To someone who has been told they’re dying, what does royalty matter?”
At that, the patient gave a hollow laugh.
“Well, you certainly know that much.”
Faced with the patient’s insolent attitude, the Vice Captain placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
“You. Do you wish to lose your head?”
Instead of cowering, the patient sat up abruptly with a look that seemed to say he would welcome it.
“Oh, that’s exactly what I’ve been praying for! Please, just kill me! I have no family, no money, and on top of that, I’m riddled with disease and pain. I want to bite my tongue and end it right now! Do you have any idea how agonizing it is to be kept alive against my will?!”
He had been speaking informally to Ophelia under the guise of muttering to himself, yet he addressed the vice captain with honorifics.
Both Ophelia’s and the Vice Captain’s expressions hardened as they noticed the distinction.
Just then, the ward doors swung open and the nurses entered.
“Ah…”
Upon seeing Ophelia and the vice captain—who stood beside her with a grim face and a hand on his sword—the nurses let out an audible sigh.
“We told you that you don’t have to come here every single time.”
Unlike the patient, they treated Ophelia as a superior, but only just.
Looking at their sour expressions and the way they moved as if they couldn’t stand being near her, the terminally ill patient who spoke informally seemed almost preferable. At least he was unkind to everyone equally.
“Still, I am the Director. I can’t just sit idly by.”
At Ophelia’s words, the middle-aged nurse gave a clipped, “Ah, yes,” and brushed past her to approach the patient.
“…….”
It was a blatant snub.
However, since the nurse hadn’t actually said anything problematic—unlike the patient—the vice captain couldn’t intervene.
Ophelia clenched her fists, struggling to maintain her smile.
‘Right. It’s still… it hasn’t even been two months since I got here.’
It had only been a month and fifteen days.
‘They just don’t know me yet.’
Furthermore, the Royal Third Hospital, where she was serving as director, was originally a private hospital under the Claremont family.
After the Claremonts were exiled to the wasteland, the facility was nationalized. The king had changed its name, but he hadn’t touched anything else.
In other words, everyone working here had been a member of the Claremont household.
Even so, Ophelia was inwardly confident. Just as she had gotten along with the people at the artillery workshop before, she believed she could form good relationships with the staff here.
‘Of course, I won’t bestow my kindness unconditionally like I did back then.’
She would discern lies carefully while offering her goodwill.
With that resolve, Ophelia approached the nurse who appeared closest to her own age.
“It’s hard, isn’t it?”
By nature, people are easily moved by “empathy.” And among all forms of “empathy,” the most effective is empathizing with one’s hardships. After all, wasn’t the reason she and Dawes became close because they shared negative feelings toward Lenette?
‘I just need to empathize well.’
While watching the nurses work, she had meticulously identified the areas they might be dissatisfied with.
“The work never seems to end, no matter how much you do. Doesn’t it?”
At that, one of the nurses turned to look at Ophelia in silence. After staring at her for a moment, the nurse looked away and answered with a blank expression.
“It’s fine.”
Though the nurse replied in a flat, monotone voice, it didn’t feel as though she was outright ignoring Ophelia. In fact, Ophelia had been keeping an eye on this particular nurse because they were of similar age, and her unassuming appearance was actually quite striking.
Most importantly, unlike the other nurses, she didn’t cast looks of contempt toward Ophelia.
Perhaps that was why Ophelia felt encouraged. She approached the nurse, who was checking a patient’s condition, more proactively.
“Let me do that.”
“No. I’ll do it. It’s quite alright.”
“Don’t be like that; please take a little rest. I know you’ve been on duty all week.”
If she subtly hinted that she was looking after her so carefully, wouldn’t the nurse be moved?
With that expectation, Ophelia placed her hand on the tray containing the nurse’s tools.
“I heard the shift schedule is murderous. You work infinitely more than others but the rewards are small….”
But it happened then.
Before Ophelia could even finish her sentence, the nurse let out a long, deep sigh that felt like it would never end.
“Haaa…”
Ophelia, who had her hand on the tools, flinched and stopped.
‘Is she angry because… I touched the tools without permission?’
The nurse slowly closed her eyes, exhaled a shallow breath through her nose once more, and looked at Ophelia.
Ophelia spoke quickly.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to touch them without asking—”
Then, the nurse cut Ophelia off and asked bluntly.
“How exactly are you going to help?”
“Pardon?”
Caught off guard by an aura that felt far more senior than her own, Ophelia found herself using formal speech instinctively.
“It’s true I’ve worked all week, and it’s true the shift schedule for the nurses in this hospital is murderous. So, how are you going to help with that?”
The nurse, who had only given short answers until now, was asking questions without even pausing for breath, which was flustering.
With the lead of the conversation taken from her, Ophelia hurriedly blurted out an answer.
“By expanding the staff to reduce working hours….”
“And where are you going to find the staff?”
“Well, I thought we could just hire people….”
“Did it ever occur to you that we are working like this because hiring is impossible?”
“…….”
Losing her words for a moment, Ophelia rolled her eyes awkwardly.
“If… if there aren’t enough nurses, I can make a request to His Majesty to get more—”
“I beg your pardon, but do you have any idea how much money and time it takes to train a single nurse?”
“…….”
“Also, do you know how many of those nurses, trained with all that money and time, drop out midway?”
“…….”
“Lastly, do you know what kind of mindset the few remaining nurses have as they sacrifice their lives and time to work?”
“…….”
Before she knew it, every eye in the ward was fixed on Ophelia and the nurse.
She desperately wanted to say something in response… but there were no words. There wasn’t a single question the nurse had asked that she could answer clearly.
The nurse exhaled another sigh and swept her hair back. Her low voice spread across the ward as if clinging to the floor.
“We know, too. We know how difficult this job is. But we treat these patients with a sense of duty and a calling. That means we find meaning in this hard work, and we gain satisfaction and pride from it.”
“…….”
“However, ever since you took office as Director, you have done nothing but dismiss our work as merely exhausting, difficult, and irrational.”
Ophelia gasped, waving her hands in protest.
“T-that’s not what I intended…!”
The nurse stared blankly at Ophelia with eyes devoid of emotion.
“Yes. I know. I know you didn’t intend it that way. That’s why I’ve been patient and haven’t said anything until now.”
“Patient…?”
Did that mean… they had been ‘indulging’ her all this time?
A wave of humiliation washed over her belatedly.
“Director. You want to become close with us, don’t you?”
“…….”
That was it. But she felt that acknowledging it would be a mistake.
As she stood there in silence, the nurse finished organizing the tools on the tray, removed her gloves, and spoke.
“We have no intention of doing so. A hospital is a place to save lives, not a venue for social gatherings.”
Ophelia’s lips pressed together into a thin, white line as her ears began to flush a deep red. From the corner of the ward, the sound of cackling laughter broke out. It was the patients.
Ophelia gripped her trembling hands and forced the corners of her mouth upward.
“Of course I know this is a hospital. But wouldn’t being close make the working atmosphere better and improve efficiency?”
The nurse fell silent again.
After staring at Ophelia for a moment, she gave a hollow response—“Is that so?”—and left the area.
It was a unilateral end to the conversation. It was also a sign that she deemed Ophelia someone not even worth dealing with.
‘Why… why are they doing this to me…?’
Her vision began to blur with tears. Ophelia squeezed her eyes shut and lowered her head.
‘Everyone… they’re all comparing me to Lenette and mocking me.’
“Director.”
The vice captain, who for some reason had been merely observing the situation unlike his usual self, quietly stood by Ophelia’s side.
“Let’s return to the director’s office for now.”
“…….”
Ophelia’s jaw tightened.
However, since there were so many eyes on her, she stepped outside for the time being. As soon as they were alone, she turned on the vice captain, her voice sharp with irritation.
“Why did you just stand there?”
“……I apologize.”
“Don’t just say you’re sorry; give me an explanation! You used to threaten the technicians at the artillery workshop like that—so why are you so quiet with the nurses?”
Standing in his characteristically stoic posture, the Vice Captain merely bowed his head slightly in apology and offered no answer.
At that, Ophelia’s eyes turned fierce.
“Is it because the nurses are women?”
