Queen Of The Scalpel

Fwoosh-!

The sound of the air escaping from the needle-pierced hole sounded out strangely.

This sound was from the excess air that was trapped between the chest and crushing lung escaping through the hole pierced by the needle.

"...!"

And then there was this sound.

"Kgh- Cough! Cough!"

The patient regained consciousness and was vigorously coughing.

The air that was pressing against his heart had escaped, therefore curing the patient"s shock!

"Hah..."

Elise let out a sigh of relief.

When she placed her fingers over his carotid artery his pulse has returned to normal.

"It looks as if he overcame the dangerous period, what a relief."

She took out a handkerchief and calmly wiped the blood that had splashed on her cheek. Then she lowered her head to Hans who was staring at her dumbfounded.

"I am very sorry Senior, it was an urgent situation so I just moved without thinking..."

"Ah, ah.."

Hans answered with a stammer.

It was at that moment, a voice rang out throughout the critical center!

"Where is the patient!?"

It was Baron Graham!

And on top of that, he wasn"t alone!

He heard how serious the patient"s condition was so two other doctors had run here with him.

"Is it this patient?"

Graham urgently walked over to where everyone was gathered.

"What is going on?"

The professors asked Hans.

"That..."

However, Hans could not give an answer, before he was even able to diagnose the patient he went into shock and Elise acted faster than lighting. Then she suddenly saved the patient"s life!

He couldn"t figure out how this happened or what to make of this situation.

"The needle?"

Taken aback, Graham saw what was sticking out of the patient "s chest and asked.

The air was still escaping out of the hole made by the needle.

"Who did this?"

At his words, everyone"s eyes naturally went towards Elise.

"Rose, did you do this?"

Elise made a hesitant expression when everyone"s attention focused on her. Once again, she did something that was way past the skill of a regular trainee.

However, if she didn"t act in that a situation, that would have led to the patient"s death so it wasn"t like she had a choice in the matter.

"Yes, I was the one who did it."

"Why did you do that?"

"The air was leaking out of the lung into the chest cavity pressuring the heart so I decided it was necessary to insert a needle to release air."

At those words, not only Graham but the other professor was also astonished.

"Pneumothorax... And it looks like it was tension pneumothorax. You did well."

Hans" eyes almost popped out when he heard that compliment.

"Wasn"t Professor Graham famous for not giving out compliments easily!?"

"Tension pneumothorax can lead to death if it"s not treated right away. Rose, thanks to you this patient was saved."

The other professors let out exclamations of admiration.

"You are right, Baron Fallon. It"s an injury that can be fatal if treated even a bit late. This girl has saved the patient"s life. However, how did you know it was tension pneumothorax?"

 At his questioning, she politely answered.

"His abrupt difficulty in breathing was likely due to a collapsed lung, however, I confirmed it when I lay the stethoscope as I couldn"t hear any sounds at all. This happens when the excess air blocks out any sound waves. I could barely feel a pulse from the carotid artery  so I figured out the air was pressuring against the heart, arriving at the conclusion that it was tension pneumothorax."

"....Hah! How amazing!"

The professors wore surprised expressions.

It was a perfect answer just as if  Count Braham himself was reciting it when he first diagnosed tension pneumothorax 80 years ago.

Her teacher couldn"t hide his astonishment.

"What is this child?"

He wasn"t shocked at her outstanding intellect.

He already knew she had shocking talent but..... Wasn"t this way too much?

"How was she able to be this decisive and take care of the situation with such clarity at such a critical situation?"

It was an incredibly different problem from just having knowledge in your head and being able to adapt and use that knowledge in real emergencies.

"She has knowledge that"s way beyond her age... However, this kind of decision making in emergencies is impossible no matter how talented you are without experience?  How?
It was an emergency situation where if she made one small mistake it could have lead to the death of the patient."

There are times when people"s bodies stiffen due to anxiety, so how does a girl who didn"t even work a full moon (15 days), not only casually diagnosed tension pneumothorax but also successfully poked a needle into the patient"s chest and saved his life?

"How could this be possible?"

He once again thought of the word he constantly thought of after meeting this girl.

Genius.

It wasn"t even a normal genius.

But a true genius of this age.

"Suddenly, my talent looks so pitiful next to her."

Grahan inwardly made a bitter expression.

He was born as the heir of a fallen n.o.ble home and climbed up to this position with pure hard work. He wanted to overcome Count Barham who made the basics of medicine or the great alchemist Flemming and make his n.o.ble house shine. He worked himself to death only with that determination.  He worked hard again and again towards that goal.

However, he already knew.

He wasn"t that talented. He was just a hard worker.

"A true genius... Is probably someone like this child."

Graham thought as he looked at the young girl.

No, the word genius might not be enough to describe her.

The word Genius wasn"t enough to properly explain all of the talent and knowledge she was currently displaying. She was so amazing that it was difficult to explain.

"Suddenly I want to drink a gla.s.s of wine."

The young professor, who was respected in the empire"s medical field, had a bitter feeling inside his heart as he gazed upon the young girl.

However, at the same time, a thought occurred to him.

"She"s amazing now... I wonder what she will show me next?"

Was it the feeling of high expectations from a doctor who devoted his entire life to the medical field?

Could it be possible... Perhaps, if it"s this girl, she could become the one who will surpa.s.s Count Braham who established the basics of medicine or even the great Alchemist Flemming himself! What he longed for in a dream was in an area that a simple nerd like him could never challenge. Couldn"t she be the one to do it? 

Of course, this thought was too much for a girl who had just stepped into the medical field.

But why? Why did he feel like she could do it?

From that day onward Elise became somewhat of a celebrity in the hospital. A 16-year-old girl who had just come to the hospital to receive training had saved the life of a patient with tension pneumothorax!

There had been so many witnesses at the scene that rumors spread instantly.

"It"s her."

"Really? Such a young girl like her?  Ehhh~ You"re lying. Doesn"t she look like she"d be too scared to even hold a needle?!"

"It"s not a lie. I saw with my own two eyes."

"Hah... Impossible. She looks like a preciously raised lady from a n.o.ble"s house. To think that she saved a patient"s life by stabbing a hole with a needle..?"

"That"s right. I was shocked too. Blood splashed onto her face and she didn"t even blink an eye."

Elise was already eye-catching due to her looks.

People were surprised such a pretty looking girl did such risky treatment and chattered away amongst themselves.

However...

The fuss that Elise caused had yet to end.

"Please stop the bleeding on that arm! And please take care of the IV fluids."

As she worked in the critical center naturally, numerous critical patients in need of emergency care kept coming up, and her true face kept revealing itself.

"Even though I am a trainee who barely began a month ago... Is it okay to do it like this?"

She already knew that what she was doing was way out of the league of a trainee.

"However, there"s no choice even if it looks suspicious."

She let out a deep sigh.

She was worried people would think too oddly of her, yet she couldn"t ignore a patient right in front of her eyes. Thanks to that she became famous in the Theresa Hospital at an incredible speed.

She was a genius that defied common sense.

Of course, it wasn"t as if the people at the hospital were jealous or thought badly of her.

Everyone liked her.

"Rose? That lady from a n.o.ble house? She"s the best. Pretty, kind, polite ..."

In front of the patients, she didn"t mind water nor fire but her regular att.i.tude was so well-mannered and kind, it was difficult to think of her as a preciously raised n.o.ble lady.

A pretty face like a doll, unbelievable skill, yet she knew how to be considerate as she placed others before herself. She had an attractive personality.

Everyone had no choice but to like her.

And...among the young men, there were some who had even stronger feelings than like.

"Hans, you like Lady Rose right?"

"N-No!"

 Hans strongly shook his head at his friend"s questioning.

"You don"t? Richard"s been watching you tactfully lately, so he could confess first."

"What!? Richard?! That guy?! Where is that guy!"

Hans was hopping mad.

His friend was going "ki ki ki" as if it was funny.

"See? You do like her."

"...."

Hans" face turned red.

"If you like her just confess. Don"t regret it later."

".....It could never work out."

"Huh?"

"I will get rejected. Someone like me, for sure"

It was a reply that wasn"t like his usual confident self.

However, his friend couldn"t deny it either. "Lady Rose and Hans?" Even when he thought about it, he felt his friend would get rejected for sure.

Hans let out a sigh.

How did he come to like her so much?

"I was first just attracted to her pretty appearance."

That"s right, the girl was pretty.

She was very pretty.

No, she was really pretty.

So, so pretty.

However, her beautiful appearance was not her most attractive feature.

"The way she looked at the critical center..."

Hans recalled the scene where she was taking care of the urgent patient. All of her usual softness was nowhere to be seen.

She only had eyes for her patient. Giving it her all to save his life with overwhelming devotion towards him, it made him feel like he was looking at a lady of war.

"How could I not fall in love with her?"

The overflowing maternal charisma overflowing out of a body so frail simply made one feel pity for her. It all added to her deadly charm.

"Not only that..."

He once again thought of her face after he saved the patient"s life.

Her spirited smile was completely different from her usual everyday smile. Whenever he saw that bright smile he couldn"t stop his heart from racing.

"Hah~ It feels so painful."

Once again he let out a sigh.

Elise was spending her days feeling fulfilled without a clue that she was hurting so many pitiful young men"s feelings. It was something she could never have imagined on her own.

Then, it was on one of those days that an unexpected guest she could never have guessed had come to visit Theresa Hospital. Not only that but he brought a bomb-like present with him.

It was exactly on the same night in her past life, which was exactly three weeks from the birthday banquet, where they announced her engagement officially.

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The world"s strongest city is the Great Brittia Empire"s capital, London. Second to London was Française Republic"s capital, the city of lights, Paris, which has a population of over 2.5 million (alongside London).

(T/N: It really says Paris. I thought this was another fantasy world...)
(E/N: I did research, it makes no sense for the country that Elise lives in to be Great Britain when they"re supposed to be Russia. Linden is literally a "Romanoff" and their role in the Crimean War is that of Russia"s. Why must the author be like this...)

The huge population of more than 2.5 million was the result of the fall of feudalism. The acceleration of urbanization due to industrialization following the drastic expansion led to several areas of poverty-stricken commoners. The area Pierre, where Theresa Hospital was located, was one of those areas. In the late-night, two men were walking through a shady back alley.

"Are you going to look around more, your highness?"

A middle-aged man asked a young man.

The young man was wearing a common black formal suit that you would often see everywhere. The young man furrowed his brow.

"We are undercover. (암행) Be careful of what you say."

"Ah, I"m sorry. Since it"s a habit, I did it without thinking."

Their ident.i.ty was not just anyone, but they were non other than the Crown Prince and his servant acting as a secret royal inspector!

However, something was off. The Crown Prince"s face was completely different from his usual one. It was not the signature black hair and golden eyes which was part of the royal bloodline, but blond hair and blue eyes. Even his face line was completely different.

It was a completely different person"s face which was on a whole new level of disguise.

The servant stared at the Crown Prince"s face as he spoke, deeply impressed.