"I'm sorry, but no."
Claire rejected the plea without a second thought.
Meiko's illness hadn't required Claire's exclusive intervention in the first place.
The woman's deliberate attempts to cozy up to her hadn't completely eroded Claire's underlying wariness.
On the contrary, Claire's guard was highest when dealing with Meiko.
Meiko wasn't Solenian, and Claire could clearly sense the calculated effort being made to lull her into a false sense of security.
If it was genuinely just to save her mentor, Claire could at least understand the motive.
But the moment Meiko demanded she board a flight to Sundara, all of Claire's protective alarms blared at full volume.
She hadn't forgotten that the messy historical complications surrounding her own parents remained dangerously unresolved.
She was absolutely not stepping foot out of the country without a rock-solid reason.
For all she knew, this entire situation could be an elaborate trap.
"Can't you at least think about it? The financial compensation would be staggering."
"Don't you Solenians absolutely adore historical antiques?"
"My mentor has an extensive, priceless collection of Solenian artifacts."
"I'm begging you to reconsider."
"Claire, your medical talent is peerless. Why won't you use it to benefit more people who desperately need you?"
"Isn't medicine supposed to transcend borders?"
"If you're holding a prejudice against him simply because he lives in Sundara, I can assure you that he was actually born in Solenia."
Claire blinked in genuine surprise.
She truly hadn't expected Meiko's mysterious mentor to share her own nationality. How was she supposed to respond to that?
If a Solenian was desperate for medical treatment, why wouldn't he just return home?
"Then he can return to Solenia for his consultations,"
Claire's icy demeanor seemed to thaw just a fraction.
"Meiko, I honestly do not have the time to fly to Sundara."
"Since you've experienced my medical skills firsthand, you should be able to guess that you aren't my only patient."
"I have critical cases during the winter break that I simply cannot abandon."
"If your mentor's situation is truly that critical, you could always approach Sloane Sterling's grandfather."
"Her grandfather is an absolute titan in the field of holistic medicine. I'm certain he could cure your mentor."
"I'm just a student with a knack for it; I might not even meet your high expectations."
Meiko's face fell in profound disappointment. "It's not that I haven't considered asking Sloane's grandfather."
"But Sloane told me he's incredibly overbooked."
"Her grandfather is constantly tending to high-ranking executives, and I just..."
Sounding completely torn, Meiko's words trailed off into a hesitant stutter.
Claire immediately caught her underlying meaning. "You and,
Sloane are good friends. If you formally asked her for help, I'm sure she'd pull strings for you."
19ء
"It's exactly because Sloane and I are friends that I don't want to put her in an
awkward position with her family."
Meiko's excuse felt like a direct, infuriating jab to Claire's patience.
Oh, isn't that just perfect for the two of you!
You're friends with her, so you can't bear to inconvenience her, but you have zero problem dumping this massive inconvenience directly onto me?
What horrible sin did I commit in a past life to end up dealing with you?
"Meiko, how do you know it would put Sloane in an awkward position if you don't even try asking?"
"Sloane is so beautiful and kindhearted; she might be absolutely thrilled to let you bother her!"
With Claire laying it out so bluntly, pushing the issue any further would be flat-out rude on Meiko's part.
She offered a tight nod. "Alright, I'll ask her."
"But, Claire, I still desperately hope you can somehow clear your schedule..."
Claire cut her off before she could finish the thought. "Instead of
banking on me miraculously finet
the time, you'd be better off making a call back to Sundara."
"It would be far more productive to have your mentor make the trip down to Solenia himself."
Meiko choked on her rebuttal.
Claire's logic was undeniably sound, but her mentor had been thoroughly
heartbroken when he fled Solenia all those years ago.
He had vehemently sworn that he would never, under any circumstances, set foot in
his homeland again.
"I'll try to convince him,"
Meiko naturally preferred that her mentor travel to Solenia as well.
Forcing a Solenian doctor to operate in Sundara was far from an optimal medical
setup.
Solenian practitioners relied heavily
on specific, localized holistic
ingredients, many of which simply couldn't be sourced reliably i Sundara.