Chapter 28: Encountering Sadako at Night
Seeing this, Eman hurried forward two steps, pushed open the kitchen door, and bowed his head, waiting for the Crown Prince to enter.
Captain of the Royal Guard, Clauzel, hadn't expected His Highness to suddenly turn towards the kitchen. He quickly shifted his feet, turned to gesture to two of his personal guards, and swiftly followed.
Joseph stepped inside and saw that the kitchen was incredibly spacious. In the center were six or seven massive cutting boards pushed together, emanating a smell of fish and spices, while all around were piled various ingredients and cooking utensils. Only half the lights in the room were on, yet no chefs were on duty.
He recalled that even when there were no balls or celebrations in the palace, there should still be at least three to five royal chefs on duty at night. 'What's going on tonight?'
Joseph walked further in, rounded a brown storage cabinet more than two meters high and four meters wide, and vaguely heard a rustling sound coming from the corner.
A rack laden with pots and metal spoons obstructed his view, preventing him from seeing what was happening there.
Joseph felt a flicker of curiosity. 'What were the chefs doing hiding in the corner? Playing cards to pass the time at night?'
Puzzled, he rounded the wooden rack and saw, under the corner lamp, a person standing with their back to him, draped in a wrinkled white robe, with a wild mass of black hair, and of short stature.
Only then did Joseph notice a large, slanted wooden board placed before the person. The board was covered in knife marks and surrounded by numerous bloodstains, appearing eerily sinister in the flickering candlelight.
Joseph's pupils instantly contracted. He saw the front of the person was covered in bloodstains, clutching a black-and-red pointed knife. Their face was hidden behind a curtain of disheveled long hair, vaguely revealing a pair of round, glowing green eyes. On the hair that reached their waist, sticky fragments clung, like entrails of some creature...
Joseph's mind buzzed, feeling a sudden surge of adrenaline flood his entire body. Only one thought flashed through his mind: 'What the—?! Sadako?!'
He immediately leaped backward with force, his back slamming hard against the wooden rack laden with ladles, creating a cacophony of noise.
Ignoring the pain, as he was about to turn, he saw Eman flash forward, a short sword clutched in his left hand, while his right hand pulled the Crown Prince behind him.
"Protect His Highness!" Eman roared.
'This isn't good,' Clauzel thought. He rushed over in a few swift strides, drawing his saber and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the personal guards.
"Guards!"
He bellowed immediately after, while turning his head to Joseph and saying: "Your Highness, please step back!"
Over a dozen of the Crown Prince's personal guards surged in, suppressing the fear in their hearts of whatever ghost or witch this might be. They grimly pulled back their gun actions and aimed their firearms at the "Sadako" in the corner.
Just then, the "Sadako" finally moved.
She tossed the knife into the air, plunged her fingers into her long hair, clutched her head, and crouched down on the spot, letting out a piercing shriek: "Ah—!"
Joseph froze for a moment, peeking out from behind Eman. He suddenly felt that this "Sadako" seemed somewhat familiar.
"Hey, stop screaming." He tried to communicate with the "Sadako". "What... are you?"
The "Sadako" heard his voice and evidently froze for a moment as well. She lifted her head, peering through the gaps in her hair, her voice trembling slightly: "C-Crown Prince?"
"Hm? You know me?"
The "Sadako" nodded frantically: "It's me! Your Highness, it's Perna! Don't, don't shoot!"
Clauzel cautiously stepped forward, pushing aside the woman's hair. He let out a sigh of relief, sheathed his saber, and turned to say:
"Your Highness, it is indeed Miss Perna."
Joseph's face was a mixture of disbelief and exasperation as he scrutinized Perna and the blood-stained wooden board behind her. He asked, perplexed:
"You? What are you doing here?"
"I..." Perna instinctively glanced at her hands, realizing the small knife was "missing." Her gaze flitted about as she explained, "Well... I was helping Monsieur Valiste butcher meat."
As she spoke, she frantically wiped the bloodstains from her hands repeatedly on her brown apron. Then she snatched a hair tie from the floor, gathered her long hair behind her head, and hastily curtsied: "Your Royal Highness."
Joseph looked at the blood on her face, and took out a handkerchief, gesturing: "Wipe your face."
Eman quickly took the handkerchief, stepped forward, and handed it to Perna.
The latter carefully took it. As she meticulously wiped her face, a face as pristine as ivory gradually emerged.
On that delicate face, a pair of pale green eyes shone like two clear emerald gems, her eyelashes dark and lush, and the dimples at the corners of her pretty red lips made her look even sweeter. She was utterly transformed from the terrifying "Sadako" of moments ago.
Joseph paused for a moment, then smiled. "I've never seen you dressed like this before. Quite striking."
He looked at the wooden board behind Perna. A small animal was neatly pinned to it.
It was a rabbit, with a clean incision along its abdomen and its organs neatly separated.
He couldn't help but ask, curious: "Are you practicing anatomy?"
Perna was startled. She waved her hands repeatedly. "I'm not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense..."
Joseph stepped closer and examined the rabbit. He nodded. "Very professional technique. You've been practicing for a long time, haven't you?"
He then looked at Perna: "By the way, why are you practicing anatomy in the kitchen?"
Hearing the certainty in his tone, Perna's heart tightened. 'The Crown Prince actually knows about anatomy? There's no denying it now.'
With her right hand, she nervously tugged at the fingers of her left. After a moment of hesitation, as if finally making up her mind, she abruptly puffed out her chest and declared loudly:
"Your Highness, yes, I am practicing anatomy!"
She took a deep breath, as if finally voicing something she had held back for a long time:
"I believe the current societal attitudes are very detrimental to the development of medicine!
"For instance, women being unable to study medicine is a severe impediment to medical progress, and an injustice to women!
"I greatly admire my father. Since childhood, I've accompanied him as he treated patients. This filled me with yearning for the profession of a doctor, saving lives and healing injuries.
"I know my father loves me dearly. He even agreed to let me wear men's clothes to assist him in examining and treating patients. I am very grateful to him for that.
"But even so, he still firmly forbids me from entering an operating theater, nor will he allow me to practice anatomy, because it would make me unmarriageable. No one would want to marry a female doctor! That is the reality of it!
"Nevertheless, I still wish to become an independent doctor who can save patients. I have no access to human cadavers, so I can only practice anatomy using animals to familiarize myself with biological structures.
"Monsieur Valiste and I reached an agreement. Every night, I can come here to practice anatomy, and in return, I help the chefs cut the meat for the following day. He, in turn, helps me keep it a secret."
As she finished speaking, her eyes were brimming with tears, clearly having endured much hardship and injustice over the years because of this.
She sniffled, and her tone became calm: "Your Highness, go ahead and report me. I scared you just now. This is the punishment I deserve."
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