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6 - Insolent Patient

If Ernest were in a normal condition, Olivia’s face wouldn’t turn pink.

However, Ernest was shirtless, doing push-up exercises on the floor. He had thrown his patient gown to the floor due to the pouring of sweat on his body. Drop by drop, Ernest’s sweat began to dampen the floor, creating an unpleasant sight.

Spontaneously, Olivia covered her face with one hand and pretended to cough.

Nevertheless, she occasionally glanced at Ernest’s body unintentionally.

Unfortunately, Olivia’s expectations of a muscular male physique during exercise were shattered. Automatically, the pinkish hue on Olivia’s face faded instantly, and she lowered the hand covering her face.

Ernest’s body looked very thin. Despite being thin, upon closer inspection, faint traces of taut muscle mass could be seen. Not only that, there were also many scars on Ernest’s smooth and white skin, as if behind Ernest’s thin body, there were hidden stories.

When Ernest realized Olivia’s presence, he quickly got up and immediately covered his chest with both hands. He was aware that his body couldn’t be boasted about. However, the bright smile he radiated successfully shattered any sense of embarrassment as if telling everyone that he wasn’t embarrassed at all for being shirtless.

“Stop fooling around.”

“Tch. Can’t you pretend to blush a little longer?”

After responding to Olivia’s grumbling, he stopped paying attention to Olivia’s arrival. What he was more concerned about was the result of the experiment he conducted.

‘I think this is the limit of my current body.’

His body was already drenched in sweat. Signs of his consciousness of wanting to escape quickly were also felt. Without orders from his brain, his body swayed slightly, so unintentionally, his hand leaned against the bed.

The good news was that he didn’t faint immediately, even though he had been exercising for a long time.

“It seems you’re healthy if you can still exercise?!”

Olivia, who had switched to professional doctor mode, came and helped Ernest sit on the bed.

“It’s not good if you force yourself immediately.”

“Oh, I forgot you were here. Why did you come?”

Before Olivia could finish lecturing Ernest about the proper exercise etiquette for a patient who had just awakened from a vegetative state, Ernest asked first.

“All right. Come to my office. We need to talk.”

Originally, Olivia planned to talk to Ernest in the room where he was being treated. Still, because of the sweaty smell filling the air, Olivia canceled her intention. While holding her nose, Olivia hurriedly left, leaving the confused Ernest behind.

‘You didn’t tell me where your office is.’

***

Although Ernest eventually found Olivia’s office, he was confused about looking for it even after asking several passing nurses because the hospital’s size was too large.

Ernest has now entered Olivia’s private office.

“Please sit down.”

While inviting Ernest to sit, Olivia took off her white coat and hung it on the coat rack.

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When wanting to sit in her office chair, Olivia massaged her shoulders from left to right as if she were tired.

Ernest’s butler soul struggled as if wanting to massage Olivia immediately. When in the Netherworld, he often massaged Lilu as an activity to pass the time—so that other demons could see that Ernest also had some activities.

“Should I massage your shoulders, doc?”

“... Are you crazy?”

Sitting in the chair, crossing her long legs, Olivia looked at Ernest with a wrinkled face. Ernest’s words successfully made Olivia’s impression of him decrease from feeling sorry for him to being a bit annoying.

“Oops! Sorry-sorry. So, what do you want to talk about?”

Trying to ignore Olivia’s charming appearance, Ernest focused on what Olivia wanted to discuss.

“I’ll get straight to the point. Do you know why you were in a vegetative state for two years?”

That was also the question Ernest wanted an answer to. Why could his body fall into a vegetative state while his soul could go to the Netherworld?

‘It can’t be because I was hit by a truck, right?!’

Unfortunately, he still didn’t know the answers to those questions.

“Isn’t that your job to find out?”

“Hmm. This is a bit confusing.”

“Didn’t the results of last week’s examination yield anything?”

“Yes. Strangely, we didn’t see any problems with your body. Even when you were in a vegetative state for two years, we could never truly diagnose your illness.”

Ernest just nodded in understanding. Initially, he had a little hope because Olivia had used some kind of device to detect Mana disturbances in someone’s body. But it seemed they didn’t find anything.

Seeing Olivia’s confused face, Ernest thought of teasing her a bit.

“Maybe you’re just not knowledgeable enough? Or maybe you’re not trying hard enough?”

In response to Ernest’s provocation, Olivia could only grit her teeth, which then made Ernest admire Olivia’s mature yet still pretty face.

“Don’t get me wrong; we’ve given you various medicines, but there’s been no change in your body.”

“If that’s the case, I’m impressed that you dare to spend so many resources just to examine my body.”

Does Ernest really not need to pay a single penny for medical expenses? Moreover, Ernest was not the only one exempted from treatment costs. Perhaps there were no similar cases to Ernest’s, but there were many patients suffering from Mana Poisoning. And they all received free treatment?

Who in this world would dare to provide such generous help to others without asking for anything in return? Ernest couldn’t believe that such a person existed in this world.

Ernest became curious about the person behind this Circle of Hope hospital.

Regardless of the hospital owner’s intentions, Ernest still felt very grateful.

The nickname “The Saint” might be suitable for that person.

“Thank you.”

“Please don’t thank me with such a disgusting smile! Do you not know how ugly your appearance is right now?”

Olivia’s deadly stab from her words pierced Ernest’s heart.

“I just want to express my gratitude. At the very least, you’ve kept my body physically safe for two years.”

“If you want to thank someone, you can tell it to the owner of this hospital. Or to the person who brought you to this hospital.”

“You said you don’t know who the owner of this hospital is?! While you don’t want to reveal the name of the person who brought me to this hospital.”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

“...”

“...”

Olivia joined her hands to support her chin. She stared into Ernest’s eyes with a mysterious smile.

The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds.

Finally, Olivia sighed in surrender.

“Haa~ This is the first time I’ve dealt with such an impudent patient like you!”

“An enjoyable experience, isn’t it?!”

“... I don’t want to tell you the name of the person who brought you here because it’s that person’s decision to keep it a secret. Meanwhile, the owner of this hospital is a mysterious figure. Even we don’t know his identity. All we know is he was someone we call Red Rose.”

“Why?”

“Because of the rumors. If you’re satisfied, please leave!”

After saying that, Olivia told Ernest to leave the room. Not only out of her private office but also telling Ernest to leave the hospital immediately.

‘I’m sure she’s angry…’