Chapter 16: The Clouds Behind the Smile
“I’M still so inexperienced, aren’t I…?”
Mia sighed quietly.
Father’s revelation had clearly given her a lot to think about. That went for Henrik, too. He’d focused on only one aspect of his father’s policies as a doctor and had overreacted. He’d been so narrow-minded and hadn’t thought to consider the long-term implications of his father’s choices.
“It’s not just you, Mia. I’m still so inexperienced as well. I was far too hot-headed about things.”
Mia chuckled.
“It’s probably because you respect your father a lot. That’s why you were so harsh on him.”
“…”
Henrik frowned silently, thinking to himself how sometimes he didn’t care for the large amounts of blind faith Mia placed in him.
Henrik didn’t think he was that great of a person.
The only aspect of himself he thought worthy of praise was his brain. If he was someone else, he was sure he wouldn’t want to be friends with himself.
No, he didn’t care for Mia’s faith in him. It made him squirm inside. He just wasn’t used to it. But at the same time, it was kind of…nice? And talking with Mia somehow made him like himself more.
It made him want to be better, to live up to the ideal picture of him that Mia clearly saw. If he could only do that, he’d be able to feel more at peace. And maybe catch a glimpse of blue sky behind the permanent gray clouds hanging over his life.
Talking to other girls had never made him feel that way.
That’s why I had to give her the brooch.
His offering had been pure and platonic, and so he could only expect such a response in return.
But if he could have a girl like Mia by his side, he really thought he had a chance at chasing those dark clouds away from his heart for good.
Could you call that love? Henrik wasn’t sure. But he had a feeling that he and Felix shared the same sentiment towards Mia.
Well, anyway, she turned me down.
Shrugging off a twinge of emotional pain, Henrik focused on the binder Rudolf had left on the table when he’d exited the room.
Just because he didn’t expect a response from Mia didn’t mean he’d stopped wanting one. But in that case, the only thing to do was to move forward. In other words, his situation and way of thinking were exactly the same as Felix’s. How unseemly.
Father said this binder contains what we’re looking for. So these are the Angel Tears patient charts, then?
In his rebellion against his father, he’d asked for access to the charts grudgingly and without telling him what he wanted them for.
The binder was thick—there were a lot of charts in there. Henrik had a feeling they’d have trouble finding enough time to go through them all before winter break ended.
Henrik’s father, though…he was still someone Henrik respected. And so, he’d always expected him to come through.
He’d known what Henrik and the others were looking for. Their goal—it was so similar to his father’s own objective.
Henrik thought that perhaps his father wanted to help them. After all, these were his father’s patients. If any symptoms of merit had arisen, surely he’d remember them.
Henrik was desperate to go through the charts. But Mia seemed even more excited than he felt.
“Do you think… these are them…?”
The air was heavy with excitement. Taking the plunge, Henrik opened up the binder. The next moment, though, he frowned.
Unexpectedly, the binder contained information on medicinal herbs.
“Common Rue, for curing madness…a traditional remedy from the Calpas Region…?”
“It seems to be a list of medicinal herbs and the history of their use, but…there’s just so many of them.”
“Father must have gathered all of these himself. When did he find the time to do all this?”
The binder contained information on medicinal herbs from all across the continent. Some of the entries consisted of only plant names. And there were unverified rumors and anecdotes written down too.
What on earth is this for?
As Henrik flipped through it, he kept seeing the same color sticky note appearing. He began making a note of how often it showed up. It was very often.
“Yaron, from the West Astella Region. This one stops bleeding and reduces inflammation?”
Henrik flipped to the next page. Mia was watching over his shoulder and read the next one out loud.
“This one says: Somfella, from the South Indal Region. It strengthens the immune system and acts as an analeptic, a nervous system stimulant…”
Suddenly, Henrik figured out his father’s intent. He’d shown this binder to them to give them a huge head start on tackling the issue they had been grappling with. The issue of creating a new medicine.
But…would this work on…
As he read, Henrik kept thinking about the characteristics of a certain disease, a disease that was never far from any of their minds. He felt excitement build within him.
“Would this work on Demon Claw, do you think? After all, the entire function of Demon Claw is to bring down the immune system. If we could mitigate that with medication, patients would be able to safely leave the Sanatorium again.”
There was a strange bubbling sensation in his chest. Henrik realized he was experiencing joy. He turned to Mia, expecting to see the same joy on her face.
…We may actually be able to save Mia’s mom!
However…
Hmm?
Henrik blinked.
For some reason, Mia’s face had fallen, and her expression had suddenly clouded over…