Chapter 2

Elijah shoved the bespectacled man aside before glancing at Lynette. His jaw dropped at her beauty, and he thought to himself that he would never break off his marriage agreement if he had a fiancée as breathtaking as she was.

"What are you doing?" snapped the man in anger. He was just about to seize his chance to be a hero, only to have a country bumpkin yank him to the side.

With just a cursory look, Elijah figured out Lynette's condition, but he rambled a bunch of nonsense anyway, saying, "Relax. I spent 18 years studying medicine at Mount Quarra. I've got plenty of experience tending to cows, dogs, pigs, chickens, and other livestock. I'm a medical expert!"

"Hold it!" Wendy screeched.

She glared at Elijah in fury as she reached out to grab his hands. She had recognized him as the guy who had been running his mouth off earlier. Cows? Dogs? Pigs? What was he? A vet?

Wendy felt the vein in her forehead popping like mad. Lynette was no ordinary person! Even the top medical experts in town were just barely qualified to treat her. How could a mere vet lay his hands on her?

"Oh? Why is there a fly on your chest?"

Abruptly fixing his eyes on Wendy, Elijah reached toward her chest.

Wendy cried in alarm before retracting her hand and shrieking in rage, "You perv!"

Elijah seized this chance to rip open Lynette's collar, revealing her skin. Then, he pricked her with a needle that he kept hidden beneath his fingertip while at the same time feasting his eyes on the sight before him.

He gulped as saliva pooled in his mouth.

Alas, in Wendy's eyes, it looked like he was sexually harassing Lynette.

"Let go of her, you animal!" Wendy screamed while reaching out to pull Elijah's hand away.

The bespectacled man from earlier was also enraged. Elijah was an even bigger pervert than he was! How could he just put his hands on her like that?

Unfortunately, neither one of them could overpower Elijah. He swiftly tapped a few spots along Lynette's abdomen while protesting, "Didn't that doctor in glasses say she's having a heatstroke?

"What's the big deal about me tearing her clothes open a bit to cool her down? Was it wrong of me to do that?"

Wendy and the other onlookers were a little gobsmacked. Elijah had a point, but how did that explain why he was touching Lynette?

Elijah gave Lynette one final tap, and she let out a groan. As she started to regain consciousness, Elijah dusted his hands off and exhaled before saying, "Alright! That will be ten grand. Who's going to settle the—

"Hey! Why are you trying to hit me?"

He ran off as quickly as he could, all the while ranting to himself that his mentor, Alaric Talbot, had lied to him. Alaric had claimed that the women in the cities were all gentle and refined. Yet here were a couple of women who wanted to hit him before he even charged them for his services.

Elijah gave up and decided to seek out Ciara instead.

Meanwhile, Lynette clutched her forehead as she slowly came to her senses. She still felt a little dizzy. Wendy quickly helped Lynette into a seating position.

"Lyn, you're awake!" Wendy exclaimed in joy, her tears threatening to fall.

"M-My condition flared up just now. How did I wake up?" Lynette asked with a lingering sense of dread.

Ever since she was a kid, she suffered from a heart condition. Whenever the symptoms flared up, all the medical experts hired by her family would have to tend to her for days in order to save her from the clutches of death.

This time, since the symptomatic episode happened while she was out, she thought she was done for.

"What? Your condition flared up just now? It wasn't because of a heatstroke?" Wendy exclaimed in horror. All the color drained out of her face.

She was aware of Lynette's heart condition and knew it was a severe one, too. There was a chance that her episodes would turn fatal!

Could it be that Elijah had truly rescued Lynette?

Turning red, Wendy informed Lynette, "A young man saved you just now. I was wrong about him… Hang on."

After a suspicious pause, Wendy continued, "You have a heart condition, so it wasn't a heatstroke. In that case, why did he rip your top open?"

She looked at Lynette's partially revealed chest and saw the marks that clearly came from someone pressing their fingers against her skin.

Wendy swiftly realized what had happened. Clenching her jaw, she cried out, "That pervert! He'd better not let me catch him!"

No man had ever laid even a finger on Lynette before!

…

It had been nearly two decades since Elijah had last seen the world beyond Mount Quarra. A lot had changed in Ashford. He felt a sense of melancholy as he roamed the streets that were utterly foreign to him now.

Elijah was a member of the Ludwig family here in Ashford. 17 years ago, he encountered Alaric, who introduced himself as a mystic from the Quarra Mystics community. Alaric took Elijah to Mount Quarra and became his mentor, teaching him the art of medicine, mystic practices, and martial arts.

After haphazardly learning everything, Elijah had been forced out of Mount Quarra by Alaric. The marriage agreements in his bag were all real, too.

According to Alaric, the previous generation of mystics at Mount Quarra had been extremely renowned in the country. Prominent families from all over established marriage agreements with the Quarra Mystics, promising that their daughters will marry the future generation of mystics.

Alas, Alaric only ended up taking one mentee—Elijah. And now, all nine marriage agreements belonged to him. However, no man could marry nine wives, not in today's society. He had no choice but to set off into the city and break off the marriage agreements.

After giving it some thought, he also figured that if he met someone he liked along the way, he would fulfill that particular marriage agreement and get himself a wife.

His first stop was the Ludwigs, which was his own family. Gripping his bag, he asked around and easily found his way there. After all, Ciara was well-known all across Ashford, her fame only second to that of Lynette.

Elijah arrived at a compound with two stone lions at the entrance, as well as a sign that said Ludwig Clinic. The entrance was filled with a long line of patients of all ages here to seek medical treatment.

Some rather healthy-looking young men were glancing around. It seemed like they were faking a condition so that they could get a chance to see Ciara.

"I heard that Dr. Ludwig won't be seeing any patients today."

"The Greers of Bertham have been making moves into this region. I heard that they intend to wipe out the Ludwigs, too. I'm sure Dr. Ludwig is worried about that, so it only makes sense she's not in the mood to see any patients."

"What a shame. We won't get to see Dr. Ludwig today, after all."

Elijah was just about to enter the compound when two haughty people stopped him.

They studied him derisively before asking, "What do you want? Are you here for a medical consultation? You'll need to line up with everyone else!"

A medical consultation? Whatever for?

Elijah was infuriated. He was a genius doctor himself and didn't care for the pretentiousness. Marching into the compound, he headed straight for the main building while shouting, "Ciara, your fiancé has come to see you!"

Everyone instantly fell silent. There were over 300 people in and around the clinic, and they all turned toward Elijah in shock.

Even the two men who tried to stop Elijah earlier were stupefied.

Was he claiming to be Ciara's fiancé? Did he know what he was talking about?

There were dozens of Ciara's admirers in the crowd, and after taking in Elijah's shabby appearance, they instantly flew off the handle. They had never met such a brazen and ridiculous person before.

The young men scowled and shot to their feet. All of them glared at Elijah in fury and questioned him.

"What did you say?"

"You'd better explain yourself!"

"When did Ms. Ludwig get a fiancé?"

"If you don't clarify things properly and end up tarnishing Dr. Ludwig's reputation, we'll—"

Just then, an old butler hurried out and greeted Elijah, "Mr. Ludwig, Ms. Ludwig has invited you in."

Immediately, everyone outside froze in shock.