So when the doctor approached him, Gaffer was lying on his side on the bed, his face turned into the pillow.
Normally, for humans, when someone hasn't slept for a long time, they would have dark circles under their eyes. But for beasts, it was different.
Beasts emitted a smell.
The smell usually came from their ears, nose, mouth, or even their skin pores. Beast skin pores were wider than human sweat pores, so signs of sleeplessness always leaked out through scent first.
The doctor moved closer to Gaffer's ear and waved his hand lightly toward his nose, trying to smell him. He expected the smell of sleeplessness to be there, slowly building up.
But it wasn't.
"Did the master use water to wipe sleeplessness from his ears recently? Maybe to hide his condition from his uncle?" The lead doctor asked.
Scliff's eyes bulged then he shook his head fervently. "Never! Water erases things and isn't a good thing. Master would never! And his uncle didn't come visiting.."
Yeah, thanks to the lead doctor who examined water with gloves, he came to the conclusion that water erases things and isn't good. So… beast men, the entire beast world took water for poison.
"I see," the lead doctor nodded.
Then he looked at the master's back. Gaffer was not wearing a shirt.
For beasts who hadn't slept enough, a green desperation, popping green veins, usually showed on their backs. It did not show on the forehead for beastmen unlike real humans.
But there was nothing.
There was no sign of him enduring long-term sleeplessness. No sign of suffering at all.
All in all, the doctor couldn't help but admire Gaffer's body shape. It was very hard to imagine that such a gigantic dragon, with black scales on his back, could come from a man like this. A man called the king. The majesty of Scales Tribe. Wherever he stood, his presence represented dominance.
But then the doctor's face became serious.
Because the lead doctor didn't understand how the master was now lacking sleeplessness. I mean, one hibernation couldn't erase the scar from the years of sleeplessness.
Unless….
Unless, the master has fallen asleep more than twice.
He placed a hand on the master's shoulder, intending to speak to him.
The doctor turned the master slightly and froze when he saw the master's face.
"T-the master is… asleep?"
Scliff wasn't surprised though. Ever since Linda came back, sleep has been a regular thing for the master.
The lead doctor threw a sharp look at Scliff. "This is a natural sleep. Not like he was poisoned or knocked unconscious by his episodes. How?!"
****
The next morning, Linda woke up slowly.
When she fully woke up, she realized she was back in her rabbit form.
She thought about going to the storage to get a carrot. One of the supplies Scliff had brought included carrots. There weren't many, but they were there. It must have been easy for him to get them.
She planned to eat them first, then later transform back into her human form. But then she thought maybe she could stay in this rabbit state for a while. Or she could just hop to the storage and get it herself.
She quickly took her hops to the bathroom, to shower. She kept the wash soap very close to her.
She noticed the deodorants were very chemical and artificial, not organic at all, but she still used it on herself.
She had placed everything where she could reach it even in her rabbit form, because somehow she expected this to happen—randomly transforming to her beast form.
The most important thing right now was to impress Gaffer.
She couldn't wait to see him this morning. After everything that happened yesterday—the rampage and all that—she wanted to see how he would act.
She hopped all the way downstairs.
She didn't see him.
Downstairs, Scarlett was there, along with some other people, including the lead doctor. When Linda saw Scarlett, she rolled her eyes immediately.
When Scarlett saw her, he was shocked.
"Walking Beast food!"
His snake eyes gleamed. He was just about to rush toward Linda to pick her up when Linda hopped out of his way.
Linda looked around and noticed the lead doctor with Scliff. They looked like they were about to leave. Then she noticed another person she didn't recognize.
That person looked at Linda, then frowned as if he recognized her.
"Commander Scarlett," he said, "that's not food. That is His Majesty's wife. Haven't you heard the news? It's all over. His Majesty's wife is a small white rabbit."
Scarlett then realized himself. "Oh, yes. But Soro, I swear His majesty's wife is a human girl. Very white with long white hair and beautiful."
He sounded unsure even as he said it.
"I see," Soro taunted. After all, it was a rabbit right in front of them not a woman.
At that moment, Gaffer came downstairs.