"Nancy has to strip?" Kent choked out.

Nancy blushed immediately at her father's words. 

Meanwhile, Kent eyed Perseus up and down, his expression swiftly darkening.

It was true that Perseus was an extremely skilled doctor, but he seemed to have ulterior motives.

Was he planning to treat Nancy's illness for real? Or was he trying to take advantage of her?

"Are you planning to smear ointment all over your daughter's clothes if you don't want her to strip? Her skin's the hairless part, not her clothes."

Naturally, Perseus knew why Kent was displeased by the treatment method, but he couldn't care less about it.

There was no such thing as biological sex in front of doctors. All they saw was a patient.

Kent didn't know what to say. Rage swelled up in his chest, yet there was no way for him to let loose of his emotions.

"Mr. Caitford, may I ask you two questions?" Nancy finally asked s

It was too embarrassing for a prim and proper woman like Nancy to strip herself bare in front of a stranger. But at the same time, her hairless ailment tormented her daily.

"Can I just choose to grow the hair on my head instead? I… I don't care about the rest of my body being… hairless."

Nancy buried her face, her voice drooping with every word.

Perseus thought for a short while before replying, "No problem, but… whatever. I'll give you a list of medicinal ingredients later. You'll need to prepare those ingredients. I'll change the treatment method, but it'll be slightly more troublesome."

When he noticed Nancy's confusion, he explained, "If you can stomach the idea of stripping down, you'll go through two to three acupuncture sessions. Your ailment will be cured without the need for you to take medication.

"But if you can't go through acupuncture, I can only offer you an alternativ

"Oh. Well, she's way out of my league." Perseus glanced at Camilla while shaking his head in disbelief.

He knew Egbert and Lindsay adored Camilla greatly. The way she had defended him just now made him feel touched as well.

But at the end of the day, he was an ex-convict. He didn't want to implicate her reputation by dating her.

Perseus introduced the women to each other.

"This is my ex-classmate, Camilla Wagner. She was the most beautiful woman in our class back then. Camilla, this is Nancy Jagger."

"Hello." Camilla smiled faintly, though she couldn't conceal the flicker of disappointment in her eyes.

"Since we've bumped into each other, let's have dinner together." Nancy extended the invitation to Camilla.

"No, thank you," Camilla rejected smilingly. "I've got guests coming over tonight, so I'll be leaving first."

Camilla waved goodbye to Perseus and Nancy before walking away. She seemed lonely for some reason.

"Can't you tell that she likes you, Mr. Caitford?" Nancy commented with a meaningful smile as she watched Camilla leave.

Perseus looked away without saying a word. All he did was frown slightly before following Nancy into Water Lily Hall.

Water Lily Hall was a lot bigger than Chrysanthemum Hall. The furniture there was a lot more beautiful and intricate.

There was a middle-aged man sitting in the private room at the moment.

"Dad, this is Perseus Caitford, the man who miraculously saved Grandpa's life yesterday."

Kent Jagger stood up and shook Perseus' hand in a friendly manner. "Hello, Mr. Caitford. I'm Kent Jagger. Thank you for saving my father."

"There's no need to be so courteous, Mr. Jagger. Saving lives is a doctor's nature. I can't just watch someone die in front of me. You don't have to take it to heart. Besides, your family has rewarded me lucratively for my actions."

Perseus shook his head calmly.

"Please have a seat, Mr. Caitford. Let's chat while we eat."

Kent raised an eyebrow, a hint of admiration present in his eyes. He liked Perseus' straightforward and blunt personality. He could tell that Perseus was a man of justice.

"Nancy, please let the servers know that it's time to serve the food. Have them bring over two bottles of my best wine that I've stored in their cellar."

"Alright."

Soon, dinner was served. The first glass of wine was quickly toasted alongside a few words of gratitude. After that, Kent began to make small talk with Perseus.

Kent rolled around his neck while pretending to be annoyed. "Mr. Caitford, my father told me that you're equipped with outstanding medical skills. I've just gotten back from a business trip recently, and I feel a little unwell. Can you check on my condition for me? I can't exactly tell the reason why I'm feeling unwell."

"There's no need for that. You're just suffering from insomnia."

Perseus maintained a neutral expression. He knew very well that Kent doubted his medical skills, hence his decision to test him.

Honestly speaking, it was very understandable for him to possess such doubts.

The Jagger family had rewarded Perseus greatly for saving Wyatt's life. They needed to gauge Perseus' actual ability. If they discerned that Perseus was truly a skillful doctor, they'd definitely do all they could to maintain a good relationship with him.

But if Perseus was just an average doctor with mediocre skills who got lucky when he was treating Wyatt, then the Jagger family would keep him at arm's length. At most, they'd just greet him whenever they bumped into him or lend him a hand when it came to minuscule matters.

After all, the Jagger family didn't need worthless friends.

"Oh? Insomnia? How can you tell?" Kent looked shocked.

Perseus responded by shooting Kent a meaningful look. "I'm a doctor. Plus, you didn't just return from a recent business trip. You've spent at least half a year overseas and have just returned to the country. You're still suffering from jet lag. That's all.

"This isn't really an illness, per se. Either you endure your fatigue during the day or pop a few sleeping pills before bed. Your sleeping schedule will be normal again after a few days."

"You really are a wondrous doctor!" Kent gave Perseus a thumbs-up. "It's as if you know everything in my life! You must have magical eyes to be able to tell the source of my fatigue!"

"Dad, magical eyes won't be able to tell him about your overseas stay half a year ago."

Nancy was stunned as well.

Perseus didn't even bother feeling Kent's vitals, let alone diagnose him properly. All it took was one glance for him to discern the root of Kent's troubles.

He was definitely a miracle doctor.

Her interest now piqued, Nancy leaned forward excitedly. "Take a look at me then, Mr. Caitford! Am I sick?"

Perseus shot her a look. "You? You're doing fine."

"I'm doing fine?"

"Must I really say it out loud?" Perseus frowned slightly.

"What do you mean, Perseus? Am I not meant to hear it?"

Kent finally realized that something was off. He looked at Perseus before turning to look at Nancy nervously. "Are you really sick, Nancy?"

"I… I'm fine…"

Nancy bit down on her lower lip, her gaze pinned on Perseus. She refused to believe that Perseus could tell the illness that was plaguing her her whole life. This was only her third time meeting him, after all.

Even if Perseus did have magical eyes, he wouldn't be able to detect the illness. Not even the X-ray machine in the hospital could find out about her illness.

Nancy refused to believe that.

"Since your daughter is reluctant to hear about it, I won't say anything." Perseus shrugged nonchalantly.

The right to confidentiality of medical records was afforded to every patient. Even if Perseus knew that his patient was sick, he wouldn't force said patient to receive treatment if they didn't want to do anything about it.

There was no use in waking up someone who was pretending to be asleep.

This was an unspoken rule in the medical field.

"What happened to you, Nancy?" Kent was so worried that his eyes went red.

Nancy pretended not to notice her father's plight. Instead, she stared at Perseus defiantly.

"Tell me then, Mr. Caitford! I'll acknowledge your wonderful skills if you can get it right!"

"Do you really want me to say it"

"Yes!"

"Aren't you worried about getting embarrassed?"

"Nope!"

Nancy shook her head. Kent, on the other hand, became nervous once again.

Although Nancy didn't want him to find out about her illness, she contradicted herself by saying that she wasn't worried about being embarrassed about it.

Did she secretly date a guy and get pregnant?

"N-Nancy, you… you aren't pregnant, are you?"

Kent gazed at Nancy's abdomen worriedly.

"What on earth are you talking about, Dad?"

Nancy's cheeks flushed furiously as she glared at her father in a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

"Mr. Caitford, spit it out already! Otherwise, my dad might think I'm giving birth soon!"

"Like I said, you're doing fine."

Perseus continued eating and drinking casually. When he noticed Kent and Nancy gazing at him in confusion, he dabbed his mouth with a napkin and lit a cigarette before taking a deep drag out of it.

"I should rephrase that. Your hair is so fine that it's practically non-existent. Basically, you're hairless."

Nancy's face turned ashen on the spot.

Perseus was right.

"Nancy's… hairless?"

Kent was still a little confused. He wondered if Perseus was joking.

"Yup. Your daughter doesn't have any hair at all from her head all the way down to her toes. She's wearing a wig right now—"

"Stop! Okay, okay! I believe you! You really are a miracle doctor!" Nancy interrupted, feeling an emotional breakdown coming right up.

She was blessed with a tall and well-endowed figure as well as a beautiful face and a rich background. The only downside to all that was that she couldn't have a head full of thick, luscious hair.

Nancy was too embarrassed to relax in saunas or go swimming with her friends. Wigs fell off very easily, not to mention she couldn't wear them for long periods of time. It was very easy for her to have rashes covering her scalp during summer, too.

"Wait. Why didn't I know about Nancy being hairless?" Once again, Kent was perplexed.

Speechless, Perseus could only roll his eyes in response. Nancy was in her 20s now. Why would Kent peek at her body just to see if she had hair?

"Mr. Caitford, you have to help me! Please! I… I want to grow my own hair!" 

Nancy gazed at Perseus hopefully.

"No problem, but the treatment can be a little—"

"How difficult is it?"

"That's not it. It can be a little embarrassing."

"Embarrassing?" Nancy frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"You need to strip all of your clothes. In other words, you have to be naked."

"Nancy has to strip?" Kent choked out.

Nancy blushed immediately at her father's words. 

Meanwhile, Kent eyed Perseus up and down, his expression swiftly darkening.

It was true that Perseus was an extremely skilled doctor, but he seemed to have ulterior motives.

Was he planning to treat Nancy's illness for real? Or was he trying to take advantage of her?

"Are you planning to smear ointment all over your daughter's clothes if you don't want her to strip? Her skin's the hairless part, not her clothes."

Naturally, Perseus knew why Kent was displeased by the treatment method, but he couldn't care less about it.

There was no such thing as biological sex in front of doctors. All they saw was a patient.

Kent didn't know what to say. Rage swelled up in his chest, yet there was no way for him to let loose of his emotions.

"Mr. Caitford, may I ask you two questions?" Nancy finally asked shyly after biting her lower lip for some time.

"Of course. A patient always has the right to ask qu

Chapter 16