NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 288: The Doctor?
Marionette watched as Lillian grabbed one apple slice after another before shovelling them into her mouth. The girl's cheeks were puffed out like a chipmunk's.
As Lillian chewed, she felt Marionette pinch her left cheek, shaking it.
She squealed slightly before moving her attention to the woman beside her, finding her smiling at her.
"No need to rush. I can always make more."
Lillian gulped down the slices in her mouth before responding with crossed arms and a huff:
"I-I'm just hungry... That's all."
She then moved her hand to another slice, pinching it in between her index and thumb before raising it before the Assassin's face, who stared at her with a look of confusion.
"Say ah~..."
Finding the girl staring back with a playful and stubborn look in her eyes, she sighed and opened her mouth. However, Lillian didn't go through with placing it into her mouth.
She raised an eyebrow, watching as Lillian tilted her head, smirking.
"I said... Say ah, Kitten~..."
Marionette was immediately startled by what she said. Her fingers fidgeted, and eventually she gave in.
"Ah..."
"Aww... There's a good girl!"
Feeling the apple slice was now in her mouth, she immediately closed her mouth on it before leaning back, feeling slightly embarrassed, which... Lillian instantly noticed.
Lillian planted her hand on top of the woman's head, passionately stroking it with fervour.
"Eh~? Embarrassed? I thought you didn't feel embarrassed around me! What got you to change, hm~...?"
"I'm not and I never am, Lillian."
Lillian giggled loudly at the woman's response, causing her to turn away from the girl, refusing to make eye contact as she chewed before gulping.
She then stiffened, her ears twitching at an approaching sound.
Lillian, who was still stroking the top of the woman's head, found that her hand had fallen through, passing through her head that now had a shadowy aura radiating off of it.
Lillian raised an eyebrow, finding Marionette had now sunk into the ground and disappeared.
"Eh? What are you doing?"
No answer came from the woman; however, in the next moment, she didn't need to hear it.
The curtain to the right side of her bed was pulled aside, revealing a tall old man with thick-lensed glasses.
He wore a white lab coat that fell down to just behind his knees, a dark green wool sweater, white sanitised gloves and a mask.
Lillian recognised him as Doctor Medicine. Or... That's what he would like to be called. And he was the head of the medical department in the academy.
'In reality, his name was Newton, which was would've been really funny if he was a physics professor instead.'
Blinking back into reality and away from her thoughts, she watched as the doctor scribbled on a wooden clipboard.
"How are you feeling, Miss Arius? Hot, tired, even cold?"
"Eh... I feel good. Nothing bad yet."
"Hm... Are you sure? Not even slightly tired?"
Lillian rubbed the back of her head, rethinking her answer.
"Oh... I guess I am a bit. But only a bit, really."
Medicine nodded slowly, jotting and scribbling down more before hanging the clipboard on a separate hanger.
He then moved around and pulled the light blue curtains around Lillian's bed to the side, allowing her to have a clear and bright view of the room she was in.
Hospital beds like hers lined orderly to the side, a water cooler in the corner, and air conditioners. There were even storage cabinets with either medical equipment or entertainment material.
As she was looking around, she noticed that she was the only one inside the room...
"Uhm... Not a busy day...?"
Medicine, who was checking Lillian's area, looking for anything that could be out of place, nodded to Lillian's words.
"You're the first patient we've had since the Tournament. And your wound was quite a nasty one. I must say, though, I'm quite the fan of your current performance so far."
Moving over to the wooden stool, he sat down and continued, intending to engage in small chatter:
"I saw that the Second Prince will be up next. How do you think that will go? And don't worry. This is a safe space." He gave a small chuckle at the end.
Lillian smiled at his friendliness, finding it nostalgic as she looked back on her memories from the time when the world was just a game.
"The guy who beat me was extremely skilled with the sword. I believe Reph isn't going to be able to win."
And this was a fact, for if Lillian recalled correctly, Reph wasn't able to win one match against Kuro in the game when it came to swordsmanship.
Albeit it was different when it came down to abilities.
"Is that so... Speaking of that guy, you actually have a visitor."
Lillian raised an eyebrow.
"Is he here? Why?"
Medicine smiled behind his mask.
"I'll let him give the reason why instead of spoiling it. So, will you allow him to visit you?"
Lillian gave a slow nod, causing the doctor to nod and slowly push himself back up to his feet.
He then took a swift glance at the empty bowl and plate.
He raised an eyebrow before sighing.
"You can tell your friend that they can come out now."
Lillian stiffened, and so did Marionette, who was hidden under the girl's bed.
Medicine, seeing her frozen expression, clutched the lapels of his coat and stated:
"I've been working here for 32 years. It's quite expected of me to assume you had a friend with you instead of you having an apple, bowl, and plate inside that storage ring of yours."
After saying that, he left to go bring in Lillian's guest.
Marionette slipped from under Lillian's bed and appeared from the black puddle. Both she and Lillian gave wry looks at one another at being caught.
Lillian shrugged with a carefree expression.
"At least he didn't catch us doing something inappropriate at least."
Marionette blinked at the girl.
"We can do something like that after you get better."
The corner of Lillian's mouth twitched.
"W-well... I'm pretty much better, anyway—"
"You want to do it out in the open?" Marionette folded her arms, eyeing Lillian, who stiffened.
Smirking, she added:
"That's bold, Lillian."
"That's not what I meant!"