Chapter 1.2

Daphne wrapped the fully er*ect member with a cold gauze soaked in antiseptic and moved her hand upward, cleaning its surface thoroughly. Perhaps surprised by the sudden chill, his body flinched slightly.

“This procedure is conducted in accordance with the Law for the Chastity of Imperial Knights and is recorded as an honorable mark in the medical records of Imperial Knights. If intentional interference is proven, except in cases of physical injury, the individual will be held responsible in accordance with said law. Do you consent?”

“…I consent.”

His face flushed red up to his neck, and he nodded weakly in response. No sooner had he answered than Daphne’s magic formed a thin line and wrapped around his member. Perhaps staring at the ceiling wasn’t enough to endure the situation, as he clenched his teeth and turned his head away.

The sensation of the magic circle being engraved onto his body was vividly felt. Daphne watched closely, eyes wide, to ensure the magic circle was imprinted properly. A clear pattern appeared on his lower abdomen and then disappeared.

Once she confirmed the magic had been engraved, Daphne, considering that he seemed to have no immunity to such things, averted her gaze and spoke.

“All done. You may go now. If you need a certificate for the procedure, you can request one at the civil office on the first floor.”

“Ah, yes, thank you.”

Barely had she finished speaking when he sprang up from the bed. His earlobes were still burning red. She heard the sound of him getting dressed, and soon the door opened and closed loudly, as if he were fleeing from someone.

“Next, please come in.”

As expected, her gloves were damp again. Without looking after him as he left, Daphne turned to the next page in the chart and called out. The mountain of paperwork before her meant that the first beautiful male member she’d ever seen had already vanished from memory.

After he left, Daphne spent the rest of the day performing contraceptive procedures on dozens of aspiring Imperial Knights, barely having time for a proper meal. Some tried to make sly advances, but Daphne calmly called the knight waiting outside the procedure room.

The man who, with a careless remark, lost his candidate status and was thrown out, continued to shout curses at Daphne even as he was dragged away.

At the echoing voice ringing down the hallway, Daphne’s eyes turned cold as she glanced at the chart. Hailey, who had been performing procedures in another room, came out and clicked her tongue.

“How could such a foolish man pass the Imperial Knight exam? Maybe we need to change the testing system. Start with a personality test. Only those who pass that can take the real exam. Don’t you think?”

Though their tastes and preferences didn’t usually align, this time Daphne agreed with her. An Imperial Knight who came for a contraceptive procedure and said, “It’s nice to have a pretty young lady touch me,” would have disgraced the Imperial Family just by existing.

“Next, please come in.”

Perhaps having seen the previous man dragged out, everyone after that quietly complied with the procedure. As the repetitive work rolled on like a wheel, Daphne endured her boredom by thinking about what she’d do when she returned to the dormitory.

‘I want to quit all of this. I just want to go home and sleep.’

If only they were as nice to look at as Evan Clyde, at least there would be something interesting to see.

Or maybe, as a mutant, there would be research value. If she traced the family tree and conducted genetic tests, perhaps she could discover how it was inherited.

But contrary to her wishes, the harsh reality was a mountain of work. Daphne let out a deep sigh. Until late at night, not a single member as beautiful as Evan Clyde’s appeared.

* * *

The shrill ringing of the alarm made Daphne bury her face in her pillow and let out a long sigh.

“Yeah. I have to go. I have to go to work. That’s how I pay rent and buy food…. I have to, but why is it so hard to get up…?”

Thinking of the savings account she’d opened to buy a house in her own name, Daphne forced her heavy body upright. She pried open her stubborn eyelids and clenched and unclenched her fist. As expected, her magical power had fully recovered.

She had become an Imperial medical officer for the money. As the illegitimate child of the Lewin Barony, she couldn’t endure the bullying of the Baron and Baroness and ran away.

She was thirteen at the time. Having run away with nothing, she almost got sold into slavery, but thanks to an unknown mage, she managed to escape safely.

It was thanks to a mage who called himself ‘Rezan Grey’ that she gained the surname Grey and discovered her talent for magic. She trained hard under Rezan, practicing magic with the single-minded belief that with this power, she could do anything.

However, one day, the mage suddenly left, and Daphne was left alone. She searched everywhere for news of him, but while the surname Grey existed, there was no record of anyone named ‘Rezan Grey.’

In the end, Daphne had to live on her own. But for a girl who had just turned nineteen, surviving alone was much harsher and colder than she’d imagined.

Still, the pride of earning her own living and becoming independent made her happier than anything in the world.

Among the many jobs available, one reason she became an Imperial medical officer was that it was the only exam a commoner could take. Though born in the Lewin Barony, she bore the surname Grey, so it was her only option.

She could have worked as a freelance mage, but for someone who had always worried about how to earn money the next day, stability was most important. And the most stable job was one on the Imperial payroll.

The Lewin Barony had sons to inherit the line and daughters soon to be married off, so there was no chance of meeting them in the Imperial service. Furthermore, as a medical officer attached to the Knight Order rather than a noble house, she was always first sent to dangerous places like the battlefield.

In other words, even while living a peaceful daily life, she could suddenly be exposed to dangerous diseases and risk her life; thus, being a Knight Order medical officer was a job nobles avoided.

But thanks to that, she had a respectable job, and the difficulty didn’t matter. 

After washing her face to wake up and getting dressed, she left the dormitory and headed to the medical office.

The loud voices of knights already starting morning training rang out everywhere. Even though it was early, Daphne silently applauded their energy.

8:30 a.m.

Arriving on the dot, Daphne sighed at the state of the medical office, which she hadn’t managed to tidy up the night before.

She set down her bag and bent to pick up trash from the floor, when a loud noise from outside startled her and made her drop everything she was holding.

“Do you have a death wish, you b*stard? Get your eyes down right now!”

Wondering what was going on, she poked her head outside and saw a group of knights. It looked like they were about to initiate the new knights with some kind of hazing.

She clicked her tongue at how pointless it was and was about to turn away when a familiar face caught her eye. The man with the specimen-worthy member—Evan Clyde.

Even from a distance, it was clear how exhausted he was after a long session of discipline. The same went for the other new knights. The senior knight, tapping their heads with his finger, said something and then struck the back of Evan’s head hard.

They probably hadn’t even fully woken up, yet they were subjected to something close to t*rture—it was obvious how miserable they must feel. But it wasn’t something Daphne could intervene in.

It was a long-standing bad tradition in the Knight Order, and everyone accepted it as normal. Every year, quite a few people were hospitalized after failing to endure the excessive discipline.

Even those hospitalized often discharged themselves early to avoid their superiors’ disapproval. As a medical officer, she wanted to stop them, but with the senior officer’s dislike for trouble, all she could do was quietly slip them a stamina potion.

“Hurry up and run, you lot!”

Another shout rang out. At the senior knight’s command, the new knights began running around the training ground. Just as Daphne thought she should start her work, someone entered the medical office.