NOVEL NEXT Chapter 217: Gender transition
Note: more gender transition related content!
Everyone separated for lunch—Earl Rosewood invited Cerdic and Vivi to lunch, but Vivi declined on behalf of her and Cerdic.
Cerdic: “…”
So they had to find a place to eat near the Capital Hospital. Here, the prices were quite high.
“Vivi, how could you decline an invitation from Earl Rosewood??” Cerdic complained.
Vivi gave him a look. “We’re not poor.”
Cerdic pursed his lips. “It’s not about the money. Oh, you wouldn’t understand…”
Vivi rolled her eyes. “Do you want to get Earl Rosewood’s signature?”
“Well, I certainly wouldn’t decline it…”
Vivi decided to ignore her obsessed friend and focused on eating.
Meanwhile, Ren Xiyang ended up having lunch with Cassiopeia. They went to a small private room at Ren Xiyang and Rian’s restaurant.
A waiter received their orders; not long after, another waiter served their drinks.
Cassiopeia sipped her drink. “Hm, this really tastes like bubble tea!”
Ren Xiyang quirked his lips. “Of course.”
Making small tapioca pearls, popping pearls, and spherical jelly toppings fell under the purview of this avantgarde restaurant.
“How did the morning go?” Ren Xiyang asked.
“It went well,” Cassiopeia said. “There are just two issues…”
“Hm?”
“Firstly, I don’t think Ms Chandler has a reference person. I’m too young, and I think the other female healers are a bit older than ideal…And secondly, it sounds like she can’t come to the Capital regularly. Do you think I should work full time this week, while she is here?” Cassiopeia frowned.
“In terms of finding a reference person, if Vivi really can’t find anyone, then we could ask other healers at the Hospital, or source a volunteer from the Rosewood Group,” Ren Xiyang said. “As for not being able to come to the Capital regularly…”
Ren Xiyang frowned. Cerdic was employed by the Rosewood Group, so it wouldn’t be hard to give him some work to do at the Capital. However, Vivi Chandler wasn’t employed by the Group. Maria had given him a brief overview: Vivi Chandler’s family were candle-makers, had been so for generations. They also made other goods, such as candle sticks and decorative candle holders.
The magical lamps produced by Ren Xiyang and Rian were competitors to the Chandler family’s candles. Ren Xiyang had a feeling that Vivi Chandler wasn’t interested in joining the Rosewood Group.
“I’m not sure,” Ren Xiyang said.
“Maybe I could go with you to the Rosewood fief on the weekends?” Cassiopeia suggested.
“You could, but it’s not ideal. What if you receive another transgender patient? Would you travel to the home fiefs other patients too?” Ren Xiyang shook his head. “It’s not sustainable.”
“But I don’t have another patient right now. I can travel.”
“If you’re willing, then fine. But that means Saturday and Sunday count as your work days, and you don’t need to work during the week,” Ren Xiyang said.
“Okay,” Cassiopeia said.
There was a knock on the door.
Ren Xiyang pressed a certain button on the table, alerting the waiter outside that they could enter.
The waiter pushed a food trolley and placed their first dish in front of them.
On the black plate, there were little rounds of radish, rolled up curls of cucumber and carrot, drops of a yellow-green sauce, and a smear of a brown sauce, delicately placed microgreens, and thinly sliced raw fish.
“Please, enjoy,” the waiter said.
“Thank you,” Cassiopeia said. After the waiter left, she said, “Wow, this is so pretty! I wish I had a camera to take a picture.”
“Perhaps I could commission a few artists to paint the dishes,” Ren Xiyang said.
Cassiopeia giggled. “That’s a good idea.”
“There was something else too,” Cassiopeia remembered. “I realised during the consultation that we don’t have any psychiatrists or psychologists or counsellors.”
Ren Xiyang nodded. “You’re right. Does the profession exist here yet?”
“I don’t think so…I mean, there are some healers who specialise in mental states, but that’s not quite the same.”
Ren Xiyang had a little bit of experience going to a psychiatrist (the minimum amount need) to access transition in his old world. Cassiopeia didn’t have any experience at all. As they discussed, Ren Xiyang knew that neither of them had sufficient expertise to lead the development of this profession.
“I’ll ask my mother about it,” Cassiopeia decided. “She might have some ideas.”
“Thanks,” Ren Xiyang. And so, this task was off his mind.
They ate the entrée, and the waiter came in to take away their plates and put down more big plates with small amounts of food. Each one was exquisitely plated and delicious, and he and Cassiopeia ended up talking about the food in their old world(s) for the rest of lunch.
After lunch, Cassiopeia went back into the consultation room with Ms Chandler.
Cassiopeia was inwardly quite excited. Facial hair was minor. Now, she could really start working on something she had been preparing for.
Cassiopeia started off with the more familiar task: remodelling the penis. Ultimately, it would become the clitoris. She repeated what she had done for Lady Luna Alizarin, breaking down layers of cells and readjusting the penis so that it would shorten.
After she reached the safe limit, Cassiopeia moved to the testes, which would become the ovaries.
Cassiopeia had studied ovaries for over a year, as she had known this was a key component in gender transition. She had studied her own, and studied her friends, and studied the ovaries of women she had healed, if they had required healing in that area.
Under Ayden’s influence, Cassiopeia’s healing emphasised keeping the original glands as much as possible, while transforming them to their counterpart. The alternative would be to completely remove unsatisfactory parts and construct, from scratch, wanted parts. Would it be easier to remove the testes and construct the ovaries inside the body? Perhaps, but Cassiopeia wasn’t entirely sure.
For today, Cassiopeia began to change the inner structure of the testicles, to be more closely aligned to that of ovaries.
Slowly, the cellular structure changed.
At first, Vivi was embarrassed when Healer Schauss’s magic settled on her groin. After the first hour passed—then a short break, then back to healing—Vivi started to become more ambivalent about it.
Healer Schauss would know everything. She had probably seen many people, of all shapes and forms. Vivi was just another patient.
She started to worry about other things instead. Like finding a reference woman. One of her sisters? Female cousins? Friends? (She didn’t have any close female friends.) She would have to tell them why. She would have to tell them that she was a woman.
And after Healer Schauss finished, today, tomorrow, what would the changes be? Would Vivi’s family be able to tell?
Her excuse of going to the Capital this time was to accompany her good friend Cerdic, who wanted to have a holiday at the Capital. But what about next time? Would there be a next time?
Vivi pressed her lips together, suppressing her feelings.
Although Vivi thought he was a big fan of Earl Rosewood, Cerdic didn’t bother Earl Rosewood while Vivi was busy. Instead, he went for a walk, looking around the Capital.
The Capital was a very different place from the Rosewood fief. For one, the Capital felt a lot older. Redmond and other towns and villages in the Rosewood fief had new buildings, funded by the Rosewood Group. And while some buildings had traditional elements, many had designs that Cerdic now felt were ‘modern’.
The Capital was also much busier, with so many specialist shops. Cerdic distinctly felt his lack of money at that moment. There were so many items that would be good gifts.
Cerdic returned to the Capital Hospital in the afternoon. He greeted Vivi when she came out of the consultation room.
Was it just him, or did Vivi look more feminine already?
Healer Schauss followed Vivi out of the consultation room and led them both to the front desk. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said with a smile, before heading into the private healers’ area.
The receptionist calculated the healer fees for the day. As expected, Vivi was given a huge discount.
“Shall we go back?” Cerdic asked.
“Yes,” Vivi said.
They went back to the secondary Rosewood house, walking on foot. They passed by many shops and beautiful houses.
“The day after tomorrow, we should visit the Imperial Palace and the Parliament and the University and the Academy,” Cerdic said. “And we should go shopping too and buy some gifts for your family.”
“Okay,” Vivi said.
Cerdic glanced at her. A quiet Vivi wasn’t unusual, so Cerdic talked about the interesting things he saw today, and commented on the mansions, and how Earl Rosewood would like those plants…
They had dinner with the other Rosewood staff who worked there. Vivi ate in silence, while Cerdic chatted with the Rosewood staff about working in the Capital.
After dinner, before they entered their separate rooms, Cerdic gave Vivi something. “I bought it along the way,” he said casually.
Vivi looked at it carefully. Wasn’t this an expensive facial moisturiser for women?
She felt a pang in her chest. “Thank you…”
“Healer Schauss worked so hard on your face, you should take care of it.”
Vivi shoved Cerdic. “Thanks,” she said, her voice much more dry. She entered her room, closed the door, and clenched her fists.
Dammit, Cerdic! Why did he make her feel so moved?
Cerdic was always so good with people, always good at talking, good at sweet words and actions. Many of the girls in their local neighbour liked him.
Vivi had been the introvert follow-along kid behind Cerdic.
Vivi swallowed. Why did she feel like crying? It was just Cerdic being Cerdic. She breathed in deeply and exhaled. No, don’t think about it. She should bathe and check what changes had been made so far.
Vivi went back to the clinic the next day. Healer Schauss continued to focus on her groin area and told her that she could come to the Rosewood fief on a future weekend.
“That would be amazing, but I don’t want to impose,” Vivi said.
Healer Schauss smiled. “I want to, don’t worry!”
Then, Vivi and Cerdic spent the rest of a week as a ‘holiday’ in the Capital, touring the places that Cerdic wanted to visit, and browsing the wares available in the Capital.
They returned to the Rosewood fief on the weekend with Earl Rosewood, and were dropped off at Redmond town, while Earl Rosewood continued to his estate.
Vivi couldn’t tell if she was disappointed or relieved that none of her family members seemed to notice anything different about her. They happily accepted the gifts (that Cerdic had helped chose), and listened with professional intent when Vivi explained the kinds of candles, candlesticks, and lighting available in the Capital. She also told them how she saw cosmetics made using beeswax—one of the key materials for making expensive sweet-scented candles. With the Rosewood Group products affecting their livelihood, they needed to change and expand what they made.
After Cassiopeia obtained agreement from her father, she went with Ren Xiyang to the Rosewood fief one weekend. Maria herself offered to be the reference person, and Vivi Chandler agreed with relief.
Cassiopeia was also relieved about this. Even for the matters she had said she didn’t need a reference (changing the testes and penis into ovaries and a clitoris), it was still helpful.
The human reproductive system had many glands and most of them could be mapped between male and female, even if Cassiopeia didn’t yet know how (it wasn’t easy to study the development of babies in the womb). There were more similarities and differences that Cassiopeia could detect, even if she didn’t have the words for them…and this was why the reference healing method was so powerful. She could copy the reproductive structure from one person and impose it upon another without needing to know the specifics; she just needed to know enough about what should be copied and what shouldn’t.
When Cassiopeia came to the Rosewood fief on the weekend, of course, her father came as well.
Ren Xiyang knew this would happen, so Kel had freed up most of his weekend schedule. While Cassiopeia and Maria and Vivi were at the Rosewood manor, Ren Xiyang was taking Duke Schauss on a tour around the fief.
“Interesting. Is that so? Very different,” Duke Schauss would comment.
Rian speculated (via long-distance message) about whether Duke Schauss was feeling threatened about how the Rosewood fief was the third highest tax-paying fief, after the Capital Azure fief and the Schauss fief.
Ren Xiyang didn’t care that much. At the end of the weekend, Duke Schauss and Cassiopeia left first, giving Ren Xiyang a tiny bit of time to work on Rosewood matters.
Rian was the one who remembered the anniversary of that duel with King Augustus, which passed quietly.
People in Angio didn’t really want to remember it. Even if they hated King Augustus, it still represented Sedaveria defeating Angio.
People in Sedaveria were careful about remembering it. Arguably, Prince Rian’s actions had led to a coup in Angio…
Once this anniversary passed, it wasn’t long until it was Prince Alexius’s birthday.
Alexius had been temporarily glum after the failed team duel on Rian’s birthday, but he soon recovered and worked hard to devise more strategies and learn more spells. If he couldn’t defeat Rian and Ayden on power, then he had to be smarter. He had to do things they didn’t expect.
Rian and Ayden were always super busy with work, but Alexius wasn’t. That meant he had more time to devise strategies and practice duelling!
Sir Gerlach Aegean: “…Your Highness, you still do have to study…”
Anyway, Alexius went around asking many different senior mages about their most obscure battle strategies and spells, and their tips and techniques for duels. Alexius asked his Imperial Father, his Imperial Mother, Count Aegean (when he came around), Ayden, Prince Pollux, Lord Hadrian, Duke Blewitt, Viscount Obsidian, Prime Minister Mauveine, Duke Storm…
With all their help, Alexius was going to defeat Rian!!
Cassiopeia’s life: medical text
Ren Xiyang’s life: admin
Rian’s life: ✨manhwa prince ✨
Alexius’s life: shounen protagonist power up!!!
So many side characters in this novel focused on the side characters….…..… 😶
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