Promotion 92

The wound continued to bleed, and despite applying pressure, the bleeding wouldn't stop. After a moment, Mariana brought the Achillea millefolium powder Selena had prepared. Selena then poured some hot water into a porcelain bowl and mixed in all the miraculous water droplets she had generated earlier with the Achillea millefolium powder, creating a paste. She then cleaned the wound and applied a thick layer of the paste before covering it with a white cloth, repeating the process for the other wounds.

When the two the king's physician arrived, Selena had already cleaned her hands. The older and younger physicians opened their medical kits and proceeded to examine the wounds. The older physician, pinching the paste on the wound with his fingers, turned to Selena and asked, "Madam, who dressed this wound?"

Selena, feeling a bit embarrassed about her crude dressing, replied anxiously, "I did. Seeing the severe bleeding, I was in a hurry and used the common method my father often used in the mountains for stopping bleeding, applying the Achillea millefolium powder."

"Fortunately, you managed to stop the bleeding in time," the young doctor remarked as he collected his medical kit. Having just rushed in, he hadn't noticed Selena before. Now, seeing clearly, he couldn't help but be amazed by her beauty.

"Madam, achillea millefolium indeed has hemostatic properties, so it wasn't entirely wrong to use it. However, combining it with other herbs would have been more effective." 

He didn't say the next sentence out loud, but he murmured to himself that considering the severity of the knight's wound, ordinary Achillea millefolium powder wouldn't have been able to stop the bleeding so quickly. It was unexpected that the lady had managed to stop the bleeding so swiftly using Achillea millefolium powder alone.

The two doctors took the prepared ointment and applied it to the wounds before rebandaging them. Then, one prescribed medicines for internal consumption while the other prescribed an ointment to be changed every three days. After giving some instructions, they left with their medical bags.

Some new servants cleaned the bloodstains from the room and hallway floor, then changed the sheets and bedding. 

Hardly had she finished when someone came to visit. It was a court official. 

"...For his bravery in protecting the king, Lucio has been promoted from Captain of the First Division of the Royal Knights to vice captain of the all team of Royal Guard. Additionally, the king grants him 10 pounds of gold, 100 pounds of silver, a box of pearls, 600 feet of various silk fabrics, and 400 feet of other valuable fabrics..."

As he finished speaking, many men brought the items granted by the king and placed them in the courtyard. The official smiled and said, "Lucio has proven himself this time. The king has ordered him to rest for two months and has granted him some blood-replenishing herbs. Once he recovers from his injuries, he can return to work..."

Selena gestured to Mariana with her eyes and then handed a silk embroidered bag containing ten silver coins to the king's official, saying, "Thank you for coming on this hot day..." She then escorted the man to the door.

In the evening, Selena fed Lucio a bowl of blood-replenishing soup. To facilitate his care, she slept beside the bed. She got up several times to check his breathing and temperature. Only when she was sure his breathing was steady and he had no fever could Selena finally fall asleep. 

This man was robust, despite the amount of blood he had lost. With just the Achillea millefolium ointment she had prepared, mixed with her miraculous drops of water, he was recovering well. With a smile, she thought of making more Achillea millefolium powder soaked in her magical drops of water to give to Lucio in the future. She didn't want to become a widow.

Considering the significant blood loss and multiple wounds, Lucio began to have a recurrent fever the next morning. Selena, having experienced this before, was prepared. She had the medicine brewed and kept warm. Feeling Lucio's burning forehead, she instructed someone to bring the medicine. After wiping away his sweat and calling his name, she noticed a slight movement of his lips. She carefully fed him the medicine, a task usually done by servants. Selena was concerned about their attentiveness, so she decided to personally care for Lucio.

After giving him the medicine, Selena used water to wipe his body several times, and finally, the fever subsided. Fortunately, there were no major complications.

The next day, just as Selena finished wiping his face and was about to wring out a wet cloth to wipe his body, she saw Lucio, who had been lying with his eyes closed, suddenly open his eyes and grasp her wrist firmly as she pulled on his shirt.

Feeling the strength of Lucio's grip, Selena's delicate wrist couldn't withstand it, and she let out a cry of pain. Only then did the man on the bed loosen his grip. Selena tried to pull her hand back urgently, but she couldn't. When she looked up at the pale-faced man on the bed, she saw him staring at her intently. With servants still in the room, she instinctively covered their hands with a blanket, then turned to instruct Mariana to prepare some nutritious soup.

She waited until everyone had left before sitting on the edge of the bed and trying to pry his fingers apart, muttering to herself, "You come back half-dead, and now you bully me as soon as you wake up. You've hurt my fingers, let go."

After much effort, she couldn't free a single finger, and her wrist was still tightly held by the man. Selena knew there was no persuading him once he had decided something, so she resigned herself and softly relented, "Alright, you've sweated a lot. Are you sticky? I can wrung out a wet cloth to wipe your body..."

As she said this, she noticed the man's eyes moving to her wrist, where the red marks from his rough grip were visible. As if wanting to make up for the harm, his rough fingers gently caressed the skin.

If he were asleep, she could open his shirt to avoid the wounds, but now that he was awake and staring at her, Selena had to settle for haphazardly cleaning his body under his clothes. When she finished wiping his chest and was about to stop, the man, in a hoarse voice, said, "You haven't cleaned the abdomen..."

Upon hearing this, Selena blushed slightly, but she ignored it and got up to wash the cloth. Then, she returned and wiped his face, asking, "Are you hungry? Should I ask Mariana to bring some food?"