Chapter 229: Chapter 229: You’re My Idol I Look Up To

The music began to fade, and as the final cheerful notes dissolved into the warm afternoon air...Fauna’s movements slowed.

She finished with a graceful little spin, her golden hair swirling like a halo before she came to a stop, clasping her hands in front of her and smiling at the crowd.

"Okay, everyone!" She said sweetly, voice carrying across the terrace. "That’s all for today’s session, which means—"

Before she could finish, a loud, chaotic chorus erupted from the crowd.

"Please, Lady Fauna, don’t go!" Someone cried from the front row.

"Stay a little longer!" Shouted another.

In an instant, the entire crowd erupted.

"Please, Lady Fauna!"

"Just one more song!"

"You can’t leave now!"

The sound of their collective begging echoed through the rooftop, like a wave of desperate affection.

Some people were practically pleading, their voices cracking, while others looked on the verge of tears. Even the nurses and guards nearby seemed torn between doing their jobs and joining the chant.

Fauna blinked rapidly, startled by the sudden outburst, then let out a soft laugh as she clasped her hands together.

"Come on, everyone." She said, trying to calm them. "You have to understand my situation. I can’t stay here with you all day."

But the crowd wouldn’t stop.

"Please! Just five more minutes!" A man shouted, his tone almost comically dramatic.

"Yes, Lady Fauna, please!" Cried a woman, clutching her chest. "Without your exercises, I’ll die of heartbreak!"

A ripple of laughter spread through the crowd at that—but it quickly turned into another round of pleading.

And then the chaos turned...cute.

Several adults, realizing they weren’t getting anywhere, began nudging the children forward.

"Go on, sweetie." One whispered. "Ask Lady Fauna to stay. She won’t say no to you!"

And just like that, a small group of five-year-olds came running forward, their tiny feet pattering across the grass until they surrounded Fauna.

They tugged at her dress, looked up at her with wide eyes, and begged in their tiny, trembling voices.

"Please don’t go, Lady Fauna!"

"Just a little more!"

"We want to dance again!"

Fauna froze mid-motion, her cheeks puffing slightly as she stared down at them.

"Hey, wait a second!"

She said, pointing an accusing finger at the crowd behind them.

"That’s cheating! You know kids are my weakness!"

The adults laughed, some covering their mouths to stifle it, while the children continued to look up with tearful puppy eyes that could melt anyone’s heart.

Fauna then sighed dramatically, patting one little girl on the head.

"You guys really don’t play fair, do you? I can’t say no to faces like that..."

Everyone leaned forward in hopeful anticipation, thinking she was about to give in.

But then her expression softened even further, and she said gently.

"But unfortunately...today’s a little special. If it were any other day, I’d stay here until sunset just for you guys. But..."

Her tone grew fond, her eyes sparkling with warmth.

"...someone really special is visiting me today. Someone I love very, very much. And I need to go prepare for that. I can’t meet him looking all sweaty and tired, right?"

Her words caused an instant uproar of disappointed groans and sighs.

"Aww..."

"No fair..."

Some people slumped in defeat; others pouted openly.

But before anyone could say anything else, a voice piped up from the crowd.

"Who is it, Lady Fauna?" A young nurse called curiously.

"Yeah, who’s the special person?" Another asked eagerly. "Is it your daughter? One of your sisters?"

"Tell us!" Several voices chimed in together.

Dozens of eyes, adults, children, elderly, were locked on her now, eager and nosy.

Fauna giggled, cheeks flushing faintly. She lifted one finger to her lips, eyes glimmering mischievously.

"Now, that’s a secret!~" She said.

The effect was immediate, and catastrophic.

It was as if the very air exploded with sweetness.

People gasped audibly, clutching their chests; a few even stumbled backward.

One man dropped his walking stick and fainted. Another woman covered her mouth with both hands, whispering.

"She’s too cute, she’s going to kill me like this!"

Even the children were staring at her in pure awe, eyes sparkling like they were gazing at an actual angel.

Fauna blinked, completely oblivious to the chaos she had caused.

"Until next time." She said cheerfully, waving at the dazed crowd. "I expect all of you to keep up with your exercises! Remember, it’s important for your recovery! Even if you’re tired or discouraged, you must keep at it, alright?"

The crowd nodded eagerly, still in a daze.

"Because if you don’t..." Fauna added, puffing out her cheeks. "...I’ll have to come visit you myself to make sure you’re doing them!"

She said it like a playful threat, but the results were disastrous.

The patients immediately started whispering to each other, excited and starry-eyed.

"Did you hear that? She’ll come visit us herself!"

"I’m not doing my exercises ever again!"

"I’ll fake a fever if I have to!"

Completely unaware of this, Fauna clapped her hands together, satisfied. "Good! I’m counting on all of you!"

And with that, she waved cheerfully, turned on her heel, and began skipping toward the hospital doors.

Her steps were light, almost bouncy, and she hummed a happy little tune under her breath.

She’d been like this all morning.

She hadn’t even slept last night, tossing and turning in excitement, thinking about the boy she was going to meet today.

Her thoughts swirled endlessly, what kind of clothes should she wear? Something cute? Something elegant?

Maybe a soft perfume, something that would make him smile when he caught her scent?

Every small detail mattered. It had to be perfect.

She even giggled to herself at one point, whispering under her breath. "Oh, I can’t wait...I’m going to pounce on him and never let go the moment I see him."

But just as she turned the corner of the path, lost in her blissful little world—four figures suddenly appeared and surrounded her from all sides.

All of them were women, young, beautiful, and sharply professional. Their long white coats swayed slightly in the breeze, their stethoscopes around her necks glinting as they closed in.

And right now, from an outside perspective, it almost looked like these four were ganging up on Fauna.

Fauna stopped mid-step, blinking dramatically.

Then she gasped, her hands flying to her cheeks in false horror.

"Oh no! I’ve been trapped!" She cried dramatically. "Please, I’ll give you all the money and belongings I have! Just don’t hurt me! I’m just a poor, helpless little girl! Please, I beg of you, don’t do anything terrible to me!"

She even bent her knees slightly, pretending to tremble, her eyes wide and glistening in mock terror.

And in response, the four doctors exchanged looks, half-exasperated and half-amused.

Finally, the woman standing directly in front of Fauna, tall, elegant, and sharp-featured, sighed deeply.

Her name was Cecilia, and she was instantly recognizable by the glasses perched perfectly on her nose and the neat bun that kept her dark hair pulled tight.

She had the kind of strict, composed beauty that radiated discipline, and she looked like someone who was already used to dealing with Lady Fauna’s antics.

"Honestly, Lady Fauna." Cecilia said, adjusting her glasses. "Only you would call yourself a ’poor, little girl.’"

Fauna tilted her head, feigning innocence. "But I am a poor little helpless girl!"

"You are not little girl..." Cecilia said flatly. "And you are most definitely not helpless. You may look like one—but calling yourself our victim is absurd."

"I mean, even If an army of ten thousand men surrounded you, you’d still be able to wipe them out without breaking a sweat...And to think you still dare to say such a lie."

Hearing this, Fauna’s pout deepened, her cheeks puffing out adorably.

"Oh, come on, Cecilia! You’re supposed to play along!" She whined, stamping her foot lightly. "This is the part where you’re supposed to act like the scary villain! You were supposed to grab me and say, ’We’ve got you now, Lady Fauna!’ or something like that! But nooo—you always ruin the mood!"

"I am not ruining the mood." Cecilia pinched the bridge of her nose. "I’m being the reasonable adult here. Someone has to be."

"Reasonable adult?" Fauna gasped, pointing at her dramatically. "You sound exactly my mother right now!"

"I beg your pardon?" Cecilia’s voice tightened, her tone sharp but her cheeks faintly pink.

"Seriously! The way you scold me—it’s just like how a mom would scold her daughter." Fauna smirked mischievously, leaning forward with a teasing sparkle in her eyes. "Tell me, Cecilia, is that how you see me? As your cute little daughter?"

Cecilia’s jaw tensed.

"I am not your mother." She said firmly, adjusting her glasses again. "I see you as the revered doctor who saved hundreds of millions of lives, and definitely not as my daughter."

"And I would appreciate it if you remembered that, especially considering you already have a daughter of your own."

Fauna only smiled wider, completely unfazed.

"Aww, look at that! Cecilia’s getting angry~" She clasped her hands under her chin, grinning playfully. "She’s so cute when she’s mad, isn’t she?"

Cecilia’s brow twitched again as the other three doctors burst into laughter, soft, restrained giggles that only made her irritation grow.

She crossed her arms, trying to maintain her stern composure, but it didn’t last long.

The longer she looked at Fauna’s bright, innocent smile, the harder it became to stay mad.

Finally, she sighed, her lips curving into a reluctant smile. "You never change, do you, Lady Fauna..." She murmured under her breath.

And truly, that was how it had always been between them.

From the very beginning, from the day Cecilia joined Little Haven as a her disciple in medicine and healing, her world had revolved around the woman before her.

She still remembered being a little girl, sitting beside her mother’s hospital bed. The machines had beeped weakly, her mother’s skin pale as snow.

Back then, her family couldn’t afford advanced treatment, and the doctors had given up hope.

But then came the miracle, a small, pale-blue capsule distributed under a new global medical initiative led by Fauna, one of the women who saved the world.

That medicine saved her mother’s life.

Not through divine healing.

Not through mana or magic.

But through pure science.

From that day onward, Cecilia had sworn to become just like her idol, the heroine who saved her mother’s life.

She studied relentlessly—top of her class, aced her medical boards, and clawed her way all the way to the very top. And finally, years of sleepless nights and endless training led her here, under Fauna’s direct mentorship like the other three.

At first, she thought she’d meet a goddess in human form—a solemn, wise, distant figure who commanded reverence and authority.

Instead, she found...this.

A tiny, chaotic ball of sunshine who hummed while she worked, who skipped through operating rooms, who named every lab rat after desserts—

"That’s Pudding...That’s Macaroon...And that’s pumpkin pie since he’s such a cutie pie!"

—and who sometimes fell asleep face-first into her research notes.

It was both infuriating and endearing.

But even now, as Fauna twirled playfully and grinned at her, Cecilia couldn’t help but smile back.

Because behind that childish demeanor was a mind that had reshaped the world.

After the fall of the Eternal Queen, when the war was finally over and peace began to settle, Fauna didn’t rest.

Instead of taking up glory or power like others, she turned entirely to medicine. In a span of just a few short years, she developed hundreds of new drugs—antivirals, cures, vaccines, eradicating almost ninety percent of known diseases across the world.

Diseases that had plagued humanity for eons were gone.

And the most astounding part, all her medicines were distributed for free—or at the lowest possible cost. She refused corporate sponsorships, refused to patent her formulas for profit.

She had once famously said: "If I charge people to live, then I’m not a doctor, I’m just another businesswoman."

That single quote had inspired an entire generation of healers, Cecilia included.

Her own mother was living proof of Fauna’s mercy.

And now, standing beside her idol, Cecilia couldn’t even bring herself to complain when Fauna teased her or acted like a child.

Because she knew, despite the golden hair, the laughter, the endless energy, this woman had saved more lives than anyone else in history.

And yet...she was so effortlessly human.

That was what Cecilia loved most about her.

Fauna looked up at her again, her smile bright as sunlight.

"You’re thinking something serious again, aren’t you, Cecilia? You get this little wrinkle right here when you do."

Cecilia flushed, straightening immediately. "I-I am not wrinkling!"

"See? There it is!" Fauna giggled, clearly delighted.

The other doctors broke into laughter again, and Cecilia groaned quietly, rubbing her forehead.

"Honestly... " She muttered, but the smile never left her face.

Because no matter how much of a mess Fauna brought into her life, Cecilia wouldn’t trade it for anything.

—

Illustrations for Fauna is on the character description page and the discord...Check them out!

Also a additional picture of Cecilia is also in the comment section!