Fate/Ultimate Antagonist

[115] Water Mirror

Reinhard sat silently in the hospital room.

He could hear his mother's heartbreaking sobs from outside the door.

When his mother was young, she was a beautiful woman who always took excellent care of herself, possessing a graceful and intelligent nature. Reinhard had never seen her cry before, let alone look so haggard and heart-wrenchingly sad.

Facing her tear-stained face, Reinhard felt at a loss for the first time.

What could he do?

"Mama, I really miss you..."

Reinhard lowered his head.

"I'm sorry... I'm useless. I can't go back, I can't reconcile the two parts of me."

Her son was Zhang Jue, not Reinhard.

She was not his mother...

"Doctor... what has happened to my son... How could Jue'er be so fierce... What is he even talking about... Please... cure him."

"We are doing our utmost..."

"Honey, what should I do... Jue'er clearly recognizes me... but he's acting like a different person..."

"Our son is ill, dear. Trust the doctors. We won't give up, we'll visit him regularly."

"Zhang Jue might be transferred to intensive care again. I understand the parents' feelings, but frequent visits aren't advisable... My suggestion is to observe for a while."

"Doctor, please cure him... No matter the cost, we will support any treatment plan, even if it means selling our car or house. Please, cure our son..."

The heartfelt pleas managed to calm the distressed parents.

The heartbreaking sobs gradually faded from outside the hospital room, drifting away from Reinhard's thoughts.

The door clicked open.

The doctor entered, rubbing his swollen brow. He sighed as he looked at the black-haired young man strapped to the restraint chair.

"We need to talk, Zhang Jue."

"Are you insane?"

Reinhard's intense gaze fixed on him.

"Are you trying to provoke me? Do you think this will help you in any way? You can't break my defenses, it will only intensify my anger."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have let them in. I thought it might help you."

The doctor apologized sincerely, feeling he was getting closer to understanding the crux of the treatment for this patient.

The key was: Reinhard.

Why did he believe he was Reinhard?

Treating mental illness often involves guiding a patient's worldview, not shattering it.

Once, there was a patient who thought he was a mushroom and stayed motionless under the sun, surviving on glucose drips.

A doctor squatted beside him for a month, eating, drinking, and reading, telling him that mushrooms also did these things.

Gradually, though still believing himself to be a mushroom, the patient began to live a normal life.

This is guiding, not destroying.

Thankfully, he didn't think he was an overpowered character from fiction, otherwise, the treatment might be impossible.

"Why do you get so emotional seeing them, Zhang Jue?"