Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Responsibility

After Kels and Kenwayt returned to the S Shelter, the director, Hans, immediately had someone pull up their treatment files.

Once treatment information and results were archived, they were uploaded to a unified network, accessible by any authorized system within the Empire.

Their treatment files were quickly pulled up, covering the period from their admission to the S-Class Shelter to the present day and displaying their entire treatment history.

Hans didn’t jump straight to today’s treatment results. Instead, he started from the beginning. The two hadn’t been in the S-Class Shelter for long, so Hans read through the files quickly.

When he reached the last page, the record for today’s treatment, Hans’s tightly furrowed brow instantly relaxed. He stared in disbelief at the red line, which had previously been on an upward trend. After the treatment, it had fallen back to the midpoint between red and green.

It was the first time he had ever known the red line representing the illness’s progression to be capable of retreating.

Fearing he had misunderstood, Hans quickly called his deputy over. “Come here and look at this. What does this red and green line mean?”

The deputy jumped, startled by the sudden summons. He hurried over and looked at the information on the light screen. “Sir, this… how is this possible? Kenwayt’s condition wasn’t stable. The doctors at the shelter all said he would probably enter the Early Intermediate stage soon. But now, this shows he seems to be returning to the Early Stage baseline. Was this done by Healer Lu, who asked for them today?”

As he spoke, Hans had already finished reviewing Kels’s record. It was the same for both of them; they both showed the red-green line.

“Right, wasn’t there another one before, also handled by Healer Lu? What was his name again?”

“Claude!”

“Right, Claude. Pull up his file too.”

After looking over the three records, Hans suddenly burst out laughing. If one case was a coincidence, could three cases be a coincidence too?

The deputy at his side was also getting visibly excited.

’Does this mean their S-Class males can finally be saved?!’

But he didn’t dare say it, forcing himself to suppress the speculation. After all, if this was real, the implications were enormous—enough to overturn the current structure of the entire Empire.

But Hans was different. “I will report this matter to Her Majesty the Queen. While I’m away, you will do everything in your power to provide Healer Lu with whatever she needs.”

*

Lu Xiao sat in the female-only dining area, looking somewhat absent-minded. She was still wondering how on earth Ares had found out about Ansen.

Teacher Ai Li, sitting beside her, noticed and poured some more fruit wine into her glass. “What’s wrong? You aren’t still thinking about that business with Ansen, are you?”

Lu Xiao took a sip from her glass. The fruit wine was the only decent thing at this restaurant; the other dishes all tasted strange. The dish that was supposed to be sweet and sour was salty, while the one that was supposed to be spicy was sweet and sour.

Lu Xiao took a few bites and put down her chopsticks, unwilling to torture herself further. She would honestly rather have a packet of flavor-standardized nutrient solution than this food.

Hearing Teacher Ai Li’s question, Lu Xiao decided to just voice the doubt in her mind. It was too uncomfortable to keep it bottled up.

After listening, Teacher Ai Li was surprised. She hadn’t expected this was the reason Lu Xiao had been so distracted all evening.

“It seems you quite like that side husband of yours, don’t you?”

Before Teacher Ai Li could speak, Teacher Sherry, sitting beside them, leaned over with a smile. “I saw him from a distance once; he’s certainly handsome. But let me give you some advice as someone with experience: don’t show too much favor to any one male. They’ll get arrogant if you spoil them, and they’ll become more and more greedy. In the end, they’ll only demand more from you!”

Lu Xiao was getting a headache. All she wanted was to know how Ares found out about Ansen, not to have them analyze her love life.

Besides, she was well aware that she didn’t have those kinds of feelings for Ares yet. It wasn’t that he wasn’t a good person; she just wasn’t ready to accept someone into her life.

’Ugh, why am I starting to think about all this messy stuff now?’

“No, that’s not it. I just want to know how he could have found out about Ansen. I haven’t told him what happened today, but he already knew. Don’t you find that strange?”

Teacher Ai Li found her bewildered expression adorable. Lu Xiao usually acted so sharp and capable, as if nothing could ever stump her; she hadn’t expected to see a moment where she was completely clueless.

“The Female Protection Association already knows about it. As your side husband, Ares would certainly have received a notification. To a large extent, he’s also considered partially responsible for you being harassed by Ansen.”

“What responsibility does he have?” Lu Xiao looked baffled. ’Ares isn’t even by my side. He doesn’t know what happens to me every day. How could he possibly be responsible?’

“Because he failed to protect you. It’s his failure of duty as a side husband. When you don’t have a main husband, your side husband must take full responsibility for your safety.”

After hearing Teacher Ai Li’s explanation, Lu Xiao was speechless. What could she even say? That Ares was just incredibly unlucky? He was just sitting at home, and a giant black pot of blame fell on him from the sky.

“So that’s the only reason?” Lu Xiao was starting to question her own existence. ’Who in the world came up with these ridiculous rules for the Empire? Do they even have a heart?!’

“Isn’t that reason enough?” Seeing Lu Xiao’s exasperated look, Teacher Ai Li assumed she felt her privacy had been invaded. “It’s one of the ways the Empire protects females. Who can blame them, when we’re all so fragile?”

Lu Xiao: “…”

’More like making trouble out of nothing,’ she thought.

She didn’t want to continue this topic. She knew perfectly well that this kind of thinking had existed in the Empire’s social system for who knew how many years; there was no way she could challenge it at this stage.

She didn’t want to make trouble for herself, either. She glanced at the time. “Isn’t the movie about to start? We should head over.”

“Let’s go, let’s go! If you hadn’t said something, we would’ve talked until we forgot all about it.” Teacher Sherry walked over, took Lu Xiao’s arm, and led her toward the theater.

Lu Xiao discovered that no matter where you went here, there were always exclusive passageways and areas for females.

Upon entering the female-only theater, she was immediately met with a light, elegant fragrance. Sniffing carefully, she realized it was a bit like the scent of tea. It was lovely.

Teacher Sherry pulled her into a seat. “Quick, it’s starting.”

There were quite a few moviegoers, but the theater was very large, so females who hadn’t come together were all seated far apart, giving the impression that everyone was keeping to themselves so as not to disturb others.

“Come on, sweetie, let’s take a picture first. We can use the *Desperate Female Master* poster as the background; it’s perfect.” Teacher Ai Li opened her camera and wrapped an arm around Lu Xiao’s neck. “Honey, give us a smile. You have no idea how captivating you are when you smile.”

Lu Xiao, who had only planned to offer a polite, faint smile, was so amused by the comment that she broke into a real laugh, her whole face lighting up with a radiant beauty.

“Wow, what did I tell you? Our Xiao Xiao is the most beautiful! If this picture gets out, you’re going to break a few hearts!” Teacher Ai Li said with dramatic flair as she sent the photo to everyone. “You all have to post this on your social media feeds!~”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep