San groaned as he felt his head swimming. His memory was fuzzy, but he remembered buying a bag of peanuts at a stand, turning around, and seeing the pointy end of a lance rushing toward him.

  In an abrupt moment, the dirt road was facing him and peanut shells were strewn on either side of his head. It was clear that he had been forcefully kicked to the road. But all was forgiven when, through the foggy haze, he caught a glorious and wondrous sight of a sparkly knight in shining armor. Literally. This knight helped him to his feet. And that was as much as he remembered because it seemed he had passed out.

  He sat up and glanced at his surroundings, he was in a room and on a bed, which was really comfy. It seemed he had had the best rest in days, for his body felt less stiff and more refreshed.

  Where was he? Wherever he was, he hoped he had already paid the bill.

  "Oh, good, you're awake."

  San blinked at the sight of an old woman who entered, dressed in a long layered dress with a White Lily brooch at the front to hold all her garments together. She carried some vials and cloth in her hands. He guessed she was a physician.

  He yelped when she yanked off his bed sheet to examine his body.

  "You have sturdy legs, but aren't you skinny for a man?" She frowned as she observed his form in a traveler's brown tunic and pants.

  San was too perplexed to move and if he could, it was impolite to interrupt a professional.

  "Well, aside from cuts and your shoulder dislocation, no other damage." She nodded and helped him sit up.

  Indeed, San felt his shoulder throbbing with a nasty ache.

  The physician paused. "If I didn't examine your lowers, I would've mistaken you for a flat-chested woman and cursed your shame of pretending to be a man."

  San frowned. He obviously knew he was a man. But the physician clinically carried on her prognosis of him.

  "Yes, fair skin, soft brown hair, and gentle features to beguile." She cackled. "Luckily, we don't have a princess in this palace; otherwise you'd be burned on a stake."

  The physician's cackle changed to a devious smirk. "But if you buy this potion, not only will it cure everything. It can also make you invisible to the wanton eye."

  San's frown eased, but he was still befuddled by the professional's observation of him.

  "What is a wanton eye?" He innocently asked and gulped when the woman dumped herself next to him and got up close to his face.

  "Pretty green eyes. Round like gems. Button nose and full lips. Yes. Yes. Perfect for it."

  He gulped, feeling rather uncomfortable. "For what?"

  "This!" She held a small vial of dirty-looking liquid in it. "This potion, as I've said before, can..."

  "Get you a one-way ticket to the dungeons," a new voice said from the opened door.

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  "Crap." The physician hissed beneath her breath and got off the bed to face the intruder.

  She bowed to the handsome man who was leaning on the door frame with his arms folded across his chest, his austerity was keenly noticeable.

  "Your, highness." She awkwardly laughed off her fears. "I was checking the patient."

  "And trying to sell him your dishwater?" Arthur's eyes narrowed, as he looked down on the old woman.

  She laughed again, more nervously.

  "Is he okay?

  "Yes, your highness."

  "Then?"

  The old woman got the hint and hastily left the room.

  San sighed with relief.

  Arthur's expression eased. Thank goodness, he didn't have to worry about liability compensation as well. With this, his butt was saved from going further down a rabbit hole of save-face.

  They both stared silently at each other for a while. San took in Arthur's clean and neatly combed blond hair, cool blue eyes and fit body in his tunic and trousers. He looked regal. His mind ticked for a while longer before he finally realized who Arthur was.

  "Oh." He stumbled off the bed to get down on his knees, but ended up rolling on the floor to lie flat before Arthur's boots.

  Arthur's brows lifted with a pleasant bemusement. He helped San stand up.

  "So." He looked San up and down. "You seem healthy enough."

  "Um, yes, er, your highness?" San scratched his head with his good hand. Obviously, his damaged shoulder, which was held up in a sling, was a no-go.

  Arthur frowned, wondering if the man was indeed a man, since he was pretty enough to be a woman. But that was not a good thought to have in his head. If San was parading as a man, then he was one. Nothing more to think about.

  "You can go then."

  San politely thanked him and went to grab his bag that was on the bedside chair, but paused when he held it up. The canvas satchel was unable to be carried like one. The strap had been torn right off, so there was a frayed hole in the bag's fabric.

  Arthur coughed his apology behind his hand.

  "Well, I'll be off then." San disregarded the bag's sad state, as he tied the dangling strap around it to keep it together. He paused before Arthur with a sheepish look, "Um, well, I don't owe anything?"

  Arthur frowned. "If you don't leave in two minutes, you will."

  "Right!" San politely passed him and hastily left to make his way out of wherever he was.