"What?! What did you say?" Madam Wagner exclaimed, so shocked that the biscuit she'd just bitten into fell right back out of her mouth.
"Please tell me you said yes!" Shan jumped up excitedly, leaning across the table and staring at Benjamin with wide, gleaming eyes.
"Shhh… I told you both it's supposed to stay between us," Benjamin said, looking dejected.
He hadn't slept more than a few hours, and the fatigue was evident through the dark circles beneath his eyes.
"Do you like him?" Madam Wagner asked, her voice regaining composure.
"I've never seen him that way. He's always been more of a mentor to me," Benjamin replied.
"But he's so handsome and smart! And his voice! It's so deep it makes me melt just hearing him speak," Shan gushed. "How can anyone not like him?"
"Not everyone is as easily swayed as you, Shan," Madam Wagner said dryly. "Anyway, we're asking Benjamin, not you. Weren't you supposed to be studying? Why don't you go do that?"
"I can study later! I promise I won't talk anymore. Can I just listen?" Shan pleaded.
Madam Wagner sighed and shook her head. "A young girl like you doesn't need to be hearing this… but you can stay, as long as Benjamin doesn't mind."
"It's fine," Benjamin said softly.
"Have you ever considered marriage before? Are you seeing anyone? Have you ever even had a romantic relationship?" Madam Wagner asked, leaning in. "Tell me everything. If you do, I might understand where you're coming from."
"I've never been romantically involved with anyone, and I've never truly thought of marriage," Benjamin admitted. "People have shown interest in the past, but I've never reciprocated. As for seeing someone… no. But do I have feelings for someone? I might. I might just be confusing my own heart, though."
"Who is it?" Shan blurted out.
"Shhhh!" Madam Wagner whacked Shan on the arm. "You said you'd be quiet."
"Sorry!" Shan whispered.
"I don't want to speak about the person until I'm sure of my feelings," Benjamin said.
"I think that's exactly why you're reluctant to accept Dr. Baek's proposal," Madam Wagner said. "Hmm… People get married for all kinds of reasons. Some marry for convenience, some just to pass on their lineage. I guess you want to marry for love, my dear Benjamin. I fully support your decision."
"I only say that because I think you're capable of taking care of yourself. For some, they don't have the privilege of choice," Madam Wagner said as she placed her hand on Benjamin's right shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
"So let me make sure I'm understanding everything correctly. Dr. Baek says he just wants to get to know you better. But, you want to reject him because you have another person in mind. Is that right?"
"Wow, Madam! You're really good at this!" Shan said. When Madam Wagner glared at her, she quickly clapped her hands over her mouth.
"Shan is right. You summed it up perfectly," Benjamin sighed. "But am I making a mistake? The person I think I have feelings for… I don't think it's possible for us to ever be together."
"I can't say for sure if it will work out with the person you have feelings for. No one can predict the future and how circumstances may change," Madam Wagner said.
"In my humble opinion, I think that it doesn't hurt to get to know him. Dr. Baek isn't asking for a wedding tomorrow. I think you should be honest with him and ask him to give you time to think it over. I mean… He seems like a good match for you, but the heart wants what it wants, eh?"
Benjamin nodded, making a mental note of everything Madam Wagner said.
"Do you know Dr. Baek well enough to reject him? Is there any chance you might feel differently about him in the future?"
"But what if you're just honest?" Shan suggested. "Tell him that you aren't sure of your feelings at the moment because there's someone else. And, knowing that, if he is still willing to get to know you, you'd be open to it. I think that if he truly wants to be with you, he'll try to win you over anyway."
Madam Wagner nodded. "I actually agree with Shan. I'm glad you're no longer spewing nonsense, young lady."
"Thank you… both of you. I didn't know who else to turn to," Benjamin said, a small, genuine smile appearing on his face.
"Well, who is this mystery person? Why is it so impossible?" Madam Wagner asked. "Is it someone we know?"
"It's just that our worlds are too different. It wouldn't work out anyways," Benjamin said, his expression turning sullen again. He quickly forced a smile. "But I've accepted it. I'm not sad."
"You can't lie to me, sweetie," Madam Wagner said gently. "I can't mend a broken heart, but I can bring you some delicious food. Stay for dinner? You can even stay the night."
"I'd love to stay the night, but I have to open the clinic in the morning. I'll stay for dinner, though. I could use the company."
After dinner and some light conversation with the other attendants, Benjamin departed for home. As he approached the clinic, he spotted a familiar silhouette sitting on his porch.
** ** ** ** ** **
While he had waited for Benjamin, Charles sat outside the clinic, lost in his own thoughts. The weight of his duties and the investigation weighed on his shoulders. The meeting with his guards earlier that morning played back in his mind.
After gaining access to the Andromedus Medical Authority's archives, Hana and Kai narrowed their search to the AA registries from five years ago, where they identified eighty physicians who had applied for license renewals. Of those eighty records, sixteen had been designated as A.O.T.
For two specific doctors whose files were marked as A.O.T., fragments of an incident report survived. A carriage had flipped during a mountain crossing. Only a few charred, water-damaged pages had been salvaged from the wreck. The rest of those files had simply vanished.
Under the pretense of background checks for royal hires, Hana and Kai's follow-up at the Imperial Censor Division resulted in a chilling discovery. Of those sixteen doctors, fifteen were now marked as deceased. Benjamin was the only survivor.
The doctors all came from different kingdoms, and while they had all died within the same two-week window five years ago, they were scattered geographically. Each doctor was reported "Dead on Duty". This wasn't uncommon for AA licensed doctors who were sometimes assigned to high-risk areas. Since the deaths were spread across different cities and kingdoms, no pattern had ever been flagged.
Returning from the imperial city of Amara, Hana, Kai, and the twins had spent their days and nights scouring old newspaper archives and every scrap of record they could get their hands on. They found only one thread tying the victims together: every single one of those doctors had served in Gris at some point in the years leading up to their renewal. Beyond that, the trail went cold.
Having exhausted every lead, the four of them stood before Charles. They had brought two boxes of newspaper clippings and archives along with a comprehensive written report of their findings.
The guards were pale, not just from the grueling, sleep-deprived nights of digging through dusty archives, but from the chilling weight of what they had discovered.
Charles felt a cold jolt of realization. Didn't Benjamin say he spent time in Gris? that's where he met students from Naga. His mind raced back to their conversation, recalling how Benjamin had described his time in Gris after medical school.
A heavy silence settled over the office, before Calix spoke up, "If fifteen out of sixteen doctors are already dead, is our doctor in danger?"
"We think that's why he kept such a low profile," Felix said. Kai nodded in agreement.
A new fear gnawed at Charles.
Hana said out loud what Charles was thinking, "Since we dug into these old records, did we unintentionally put a target on the Doctor's back? We have no idea who's pulling the strings nor do we know why."
"Truly, I appreciate the hard work everyone. All of you need to get some rest. Let me review the files again before we discuss our next steps," Charles said, then thanked the guards again before he dismissed them. Left alone in the silence of his office, he began flipping through the report.
As Charles scanned the summarized reports based on the newspaper clippings and salvaged records, he noted that these fifteen doctors were truly brilliant. Some, like Benjamin, held rare and rigorous dual licenses as doctors, pharmacists, and chemists. Others were highly specialized surgeons, pediatricians, and obstetricians. It was a wide, carefully selected array of medical specialties. It was evident that someone had targeted medical experts from across the four kingdoms, and Benjamin was the only one left standing.
As Charles flipped through the report, a slip of paper slid out and hit the floor. He picked it up and recognized the Imperial seal, a disc of golden wax stamped with ripples of sand dunes and a crisp letter 'A' engraved at the center.