His brother’s blood snaked past Ian’s feet. He ignored the excited screams of the anti-imperial faction members and did not join Ian in embracing them. Instead, he quietly looked out the floor-to-ceiling window.
He knew his actions had been too slow, far too slow. It had taken him a full nine months to finally stand before Scott. His efforts might not come in time to save Mrs. Hedelin and the young misses.
So he could only pray, pray that his efforts had not been in vain—Ian would lead the proclamation of the “Uncrowned Saintess” and “Hedelin Angels” to ensure that Mrs. Hedelin and the young misses’ achievements would not be usurped or erased. Only if Mrs. Hedelin and the young misses became saints renowned across the world would anyone care about their life and death, their every move.
Informing the Pope of Mrs. Hedelin and the young misses’ movements was also to leverage the Pope’s influence to expand the fame of the “Hedelin Angels.”
As expected, the Pope had taken the bait for his own interests, and the people helped by Mrs. Hedelin had spontaneously given her the title of “Uncrowned Saintess.”
It seemed that the people saved by Mrs. Hedelin’s benevolence were not just him alone. He hoped that those who wished to elevate Mrs. Hedelin to the divine seat were not just one.
…If Mrs. Hedelin knew that all this had been fanned into flames by him from behind the scenes, would she praise him? Or scold him? Or, with Mrs. Hedelin’s wisdom, had she already seen through his plan to protect her and the young misses?
No, even Mrs. Hedelin would not know his identity. She had never been interested in his identity, and her decision to save him had only been the result of a fleeting act of kindness.
She had no idea that he had thrown himself into the river because, even as a useless waste of a prince, he could not accept falling to become a pleasure worker in the Mixed Pleasure House.
…In that person’s eyes, he was just a child in need of salvation.
He had never been treated as a child in need of salvation before, except in that moment.
“Ian, what are you doing?”
An anti-imperial faction comrade pressed down on Ian’s shoulder from behind. They still could not believe that Ian, the fourth prince, was willing to join their anti-imperial faction.
“I am praying…”
Ian lowered his crossed hands and said, “I pray that the God of Hope protects the Uncrowned Saintess and guards Hedelin’s Angels.”
His comrade laughed. “Even if you pray for the Saintess and the Angels, they will not protect you. …No matter how much of a saintess or angels they are, the people of Osnabrock will not care about the life and death of us Tartafu people. After all, to the Osnabrockers, we are hateful invaders, shameless war maniacs.”
“Is that so?”
Ian smiled at his comrade as well. Would the Saintess and Angels truly not protect Tartafu?
While at Hedelin House, he had been deeply influenced by the Saintess and Angels. Now, the epidemic prevention knowledge and anti-epidemic methods he and his comrades were vigorously promoting were all things he had learned from Mrs. Hedelin and the young misses.
Was this not the Saintess and Angels spreading the gospel?
…
Only seven people traveled with Ye Tang toward Tarafa Port, including Claudia, Gloria, Cinderella, as well as Emma and May.
The ladies of the Hedelin Medical Team were not made of iron. Some were injured, some had fallen ill, and others suffered from loss of appetite, sleep disorders, and other symptoms due to excessive stress.
Ye Tang could not bear to watch the girls, battered in body and mind, force themselves to keep up with her footsteps. Thus, she had the girls stay behind in the gradually stabilizing cities.
These cities themselves could not bear to let the Hedelin Medical Team leave—the moniker “Hedelin Angels” was a double-edged sword. People in cities the Hedelin Medical Team had not yet reached eagerly awaited the arrival of the “Hedelin Angels,” while those where the Hedelin Medical Team was stationed were unwilling to let the “Hedelin Angels” depart. Every city feared that once the “Hedelin Angels” left, the plague would rampage again.
Charlotte had grown extremely thin. Ye Tang had not brought her when leaving Millerum.
“Wh-why!?”
Upon hearing Ye Tang’s arrangement, Charlotte immediately protested. “Mrs. Hedelin, I am not ill! I am very healthy!”
“Charlotte, I want you to stay here with Noel and the others for two reasons. First, you have seen it many times and should know very well: if we do not leave some Medical Team members here, I, Dia, Lia, Rela, and the others cannot leave. Millerum’s governor will not release us.”
“The other reason—and the biggest reason I hope you stay—”
Ye Tang lovingly stroked Charlotte’s head a few times and held her hands. “Charlotte, I am not planning to abandon you. I hope you can stay in Millerum to train successors.”
“You have noticed it too, have you not? As the Hedelin Medical Team passes through more places, more comrades are left behind in each location. The number of people in the Hedelin Medical Team is decreasing—this is an indisputable fact.”
“The plague cannot be completely opposed by just our forty-odd people. The Medical Team needs more fresh blood; we need more successors who inherit our will. Otherwise, the Medical Team will eventually vanish completely from history. Sooner in months, later in one or two years. Charlotte, would you rather watch the Hedelin Medical Team disappear due to lack of personnel, or use a different method from ours to continue the Hedelin Medical Team’s history?”
“…”
Charlotte was a smart girl. How could she not realize that Ye Tang was only saying this to reassure her?
But what Ye Tang said was indeed the truth.
Without an infusion of fresh blood, the Hedelin Medical Team would become history at an alarming speed. And then—
Nothing would change.
“…You said the same to those left in Bastia, in Tolke, in Zhidun Fortress, did you not?”
Called out on the spot by Charlotte, Ye Tang smiled frankly. “Yes.”
“I want all of you to become seeds of hope, taking root and sprouting in various places.”
Charlotte smiled, then cried as she smiled. She threw herself into Ye Tang’s arms and sobbed loudly, just like hugging her mother.
To the members of the Hedelin Medical Team, Mrs. Hedelin was not just the mother of the three Hedelin sisters; she was the mother of everyone in the Hedelin Medical Team. Her existence was their solid backing and their reason to be strong.
As they boarded the rickety cargo wagon, Cinderella’s mood was low.
Charlotte was her close friend; she and Charlotte always had endless things to talk about.
She truly feared that once she left Millerum, she would never see Charlotte again. For a moment, she felt melancholic about the parting and sad at the worry of never meeting again.
Claudia and Gloria sat on either side of Cinderella. The two older sisters did not comfort their younger sister with words; they simply hugged her shoulders, giving her a place to lean on.
May drove the wagon and took Ye Tang and the others away from Millerum. Standing on a high hill, Charlotte watched the wagon carrying Cinderella and the others, sincerely praying to the gods that Ye Tang’s group would be safe and smooth.
…
At the end of March, one week before Tartafu’s young emperor Scott was struck down by the anti-imperial faction, Ye Tang and her group arrived near Taco Town, just one town away from Tarafa Port.
“We will stop here for today.”
May jumped down from the wagon and tied the two horses to a tree at the forest’s edge. It was already dusk by then; traveling through the forest at night was unwise. Moreover, the horses that had carried everyone all the way were already quite exhausted. It was better for both people and horses to continue after daybreak the next day.
“Then I will go start a fire and cook!”
Emma was quick with her hands and feet. In no time, she gathered firewood and began stewing dried beef in the lunchbox.
Ye Tang found Xiao Xi, a small stream. She washed her face by the stream and scrubbed clean the white clothes she had changed out of.
The white clothes made dirt easy to spot. For the Medical Team, which placed utmost importance on disinfection and hygiene, white clothes were the most convenient way for the doctors to confirm their own cleanliness.
But changing clothes in the dead of winter was no easy task. Ye Tang knew that every girl in the Hedelin Medical Team had frostbite or cracked skin on their hands.
Ye Tang’s hair had completely lost its golden color. Due to long-term frowning, the “chuan” wrinkles had returned to her brow, and deep tear troughs had formed under her eyes.
When Ye Tang returned from the stream, Claudia, Gloria, and Cinderella—the three sisters—were already huddled under blankets, asleep against the tree. Ye Tang smiled silently, took the three’s changed white clothes from the wagon, and prepared to reduce the work for her dear daughters.
When Ye Tang reached the stream and had just immersed a white garment in the water, she heard a “Boom!” A massive roar echoed. Instantly, birds in the forest took flight in the dim light. The flapping of wings stirred unease in Ye Tang’s heart.
No time to wash clothes—Ye Tang grabbed them and ran back. Fortunately, when she reached the forest edge, the other seven were all there; no one in the team had suddenly gone missing.
But one horse was gone.
“S-sorry, Mrs. Hedelin… It was me, I was too careless when tying the horse. It seems one horse bit through the rope tying it and then—it just—”
Ye Tang understood May’s meaning. It seemed the earlier loud bang had been caused by that horse that had strayed into the forest.
“No, May. This might actually be a good thing… At least, it let us know there are landmines buried in the forest ahead.”
Hearing the word “landmines” clearly, the faces of the other seven paled.
“How could such a terrifying thing be in the forest…”
Emily trembled, her crossed hands pressed to her bloodless lips as she murmured. Jin also knelt down and began praying silently.
Ye Tang could not answer Emily’s question.
There were two routes to Tarafa Port. One was the sea route blockaded by Tartafu; the other was this land route on Osnabrock territory.
The Tartafu people did not yet have the ability to secretly infiltrate Osnabrock territory and bury a forest full of landmines. So—
In the dark night, a rustling sound suddenly came. Several shadowy figures had unknowingly surrounded Ye Tang and the others.
Ye Tang frowned and stepped in front of the others first.
She straightened her chest, faced the encroaching sneaky shadows, and said in a deep voice, “Who is it?”
“Oh dear, oh dear… Come take a look at who our guests are tonight! Isn’t this the famous ‘Hedelin Angels’?”
A rat-faced man emerged from the forest. Ye Tang remembered him.
This impression came from the man’s face once powdered whiter than a wall and the tall white wig on his head. Though the man was no longer wearing white silk stockings or a white lace cravat, Ye Tang still recognized him.
This was the jester by Frederick V’s side.