Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 255

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 255
Two sisters with clumsy ways of expressing themselves had their first real conversation this way.
It was shouting mixed with curses.
Though their vocabulary of insults was limited to “idiot” and “fool,” they vented their emotions for quite some time.
‘So there was a political marriage involved.’
The Eunuch General’s decision was as follows.
While the elder sister would walk the path of official rank by becoming one of the Six Ministers, the younger sister must marry a foreigner for the sake of the family.
Going to a distant land to marry someone whose face she had never seen, whose character she did not know.
After such a political marriage, she would become a bridge for her family in that place, destined to live endlessly for the Empire.
“Father came that way too, didn’t he!”
“Yes. Your mother cherished Father, a foreigner, dearly. But will you do the same? So-jeong, will you cherish him so?”
Everyone knew that while some political marriages resulted in harmonious households, most did not.
“At least Father could communicate, So-jeong. We could speak to each other. But this time, the culture is different, the written language is different. How can you go to a distant land thousands of miles away where you know no one?”
“I understand. It will be difficult. But that is not a reason for you to die.”
“There was only one position, and if someone had to go… I should have been the one, So-jeong.”
“Grandfather would not have allowed it. Everyone knew from childhood how exceptional you were!”
Han Yi-jeong answered calmly.
“So I will die. I will use illness as a pretext and pass away as naturally as possible, and then…”
“…then how am I supposed to live!”
In that moment, Han Yi-jeong’s and Jin Cheon-hee’s eyes met.
She gestured to Jin Cheon-hee toward the door with a complicated expression.
At her quiet signal, Jin Cheon-hee stepped outside.
Click—
The door closed.
Inside, sounds of weeping and shouting echoed repeatedly.
‘My Master said she was young. That being young meant she had choices.’
An elder sister willing to abandon her life to prevent the marriage, and a younger sister desperate to save her.
Was the taste of power always this bitter?
Like the herbal tea I drank at today’s meeting—steeped until it turned acrid.
‘This was what the Uigakju had to consider.’
Humans were creatures of emotion, and no matter how carefully one drew lines to separate things, some impossibilities remained.
Perhaps waiting for the two sisters to reach their own conclusion was an option.
But then… a scream pierced the air.
“Sister! Sisterrrrrr!”
At the cry for a doctor, Jin Cheon-hee rushed through the door to find Han Yi-jeong, the elder sister, suddenly collapsed from severe vertigo.
‘Right. Illness does not wait.’
Even now, the time bomb in her brain continued its relentless ticking.
Indifferent to human circumstances.
Mercilessly.
* * *
Normally, having discussed matters with the guardian who accompanied the patient, I would simply await the results.
However, if the reason for refusing surgery wasn’t merely concern about aftereffects or surgical risks, but rather stemmed from a desire for self-sacrifice due to her younger brother’s political marriage….
‘Ah, this troubles me.’
I couldn’t help but let my meddlesome nature as a doctor flutter about.
“Hmm. Since they’re from a foreign nation, it’s natural that people would harbor some aversion to those of a different ethnicity.”
It didn’t even need to reach the level of racial discrimination.
In this era, people discriminate based merely on having different family names within the same village.
“Where is this political marriage supposed to take place?”
“From what I understand, recent marriage negotiations have been with a minor kingdom beyond the Southern Barbarian lands. The Second Prince there is notorious for being extremely dissolute and violent.”
“Surely not that Second Prince…?”
“Precisely that one.”
This was hopeless.
No wonder her older sister wanted to prevent it, even if it meant taking her own life.
From what I gathered, among the three royal brothers, only the Third Prince seemed remotely decent.
“…Yet somehow the kingdom still functions?”
“Well, he’s not a madman who slaughters people indiscriminately every day. For a minor kingdom, as long as geography, resources, and population continue to operate, it can be maintained somehow. Of course, the current Emperor’s focus on internal consolidation rather than imperial expansion also plays a significant role.”
“Still, wouldn’t the Eunuch General, who loves his granddaughter, prefer a political marriage with the Third Prince instead?”
With the Third Prince as an alternative option, wouldn’t he hesitate to send his granddaughter to someone who beats people?
“That part remains unclear.”
My Master quickly wrote something on a letter.
When conveying important information through cipher text composed of dots and lines rather than Chinese characters, we divide it this way.
Since my Master exchanges with various factions, multiple ciphers are used rather than a single one, so I don’t know all the cipher solutions.
The information my Master shares with me is still only partial.
“Well. Who knows. Perhaps the Eunuch General has already grasped this entire situation and is laying his own moves beneath the surface.”
“This is complicated.”
I’d like to arrange a secret meeting between her and the Third Prince beforehand, but I’m a doctor, not a matchmaker.
“Well… since your expression is so troubled, let me tell you as your Master. Such matters naturally resolve themselves when one thinks good thoughts and eats well.”
There was no reason to believe this would resolve well.
When my disciple’s expression didn’t lighten, my Master chuckled softly.
After completing the cipher text and sending the letter, he rose to his feet.
“I believe I should have a word with her.”
“You, Master?”
“Haha, yes. So don’t worry too much.”
Did my Master have a way to resolve this crisis?
* * *
My Master walked leisurely toward Han Yi-jeong’s sickroom.
When he asked if he could enter, Han Yi-jeong hesitated for a long moment before speaking.
“Please come in.”
Creak—
Upon entering, I noticed her younger sister Han So-jeong’s eyes were terribly swollen.
With her disheveled face flushed with embarrassment, she turned away and hastily wiped her face with her sleeve before rushing out of the room.
She must have been fighting with herself the entire time.
No matter how much she wiped her eyes with her sleeve, the tears wouldn’t stop, so she had fled to compose herself.
Rather, my sister’s expression had grown serene—the look of one who had completely accepted death.
Before Master could speak, Han Yi-jeong spoke first.
“There is no need for apologies. It’s fine. I simply… I apologize that I cannot accept treatment.”
“You mean to accept death?”
“Yes… that is what I wish. If Grandfather learns of this, he will force me to undergo treatment, and then I will have no choice but to prepare for self-determination.”
In this era she would be considered an adult, but to my eyes, she was still in her late teens.
It was not something a mere teenager should be saying. Yet her expression was terrifyingly resolute.
Baek Rin-ui-seon laughed bitterly.
“Speaking as a senior who accepted death years ago, a life with a set expiration date is not particularly enjoyable.”
“That’s fine.”
“Even food loses its taste. After all, when you can see the end, nothing matters.”
“That’s also fine.”
“Reading any book becomes somewhat dull.”
“I never enjoyed reading anyway. I only did it out of duty as the eldest daughter. It’s fine.”
“I’ve heard that the pear blossoms in the Eunuch General’s rear garden are quite beautiful. They bloom white every May, creating a spectacular sight. I’ve also heard that your two granddaughters particularly enjoy walking that path.”
“…It doesn’t matter. We won’t be able to walk together anyway.”
“…”
Master said nothing more.
He simply smiled faintly.
It was the smile of a Master who had once lived a life with a set expiration date.
A smile given to a child now walking that same limited path.
“Waiting for the end is truly tedious work.”
“That’s strange. You know the end will come, yet you find it tedious?”
“Yes. A life conscious of its ending is always tedious. A single day will feel like ten. Living that way, before you know it, you age far beyond your years.”
“…I’m fine with that.”
“Your words have already grown old.”
Han Yi-jeong closes her eyes at Jegalling’s words.
Beneath her closed eyelids, a tear rolls down.
It was the kind of attachment to life that any human naturally possesses.
Then Master spoke.
“What if you could walk that pear blossom path together again?”
“Yes…?”
“What if you could walk that pear blossom path with your sister again? But only if that path were not an easy one.”
Han Yi-jeong, not understanding his meaning, could only move her dark eyes.
Master spoke to the young woman who had not yet become terminally ill.
“Could you swallow poison? Could you stain your hands with blood?”
With those words, he handed her a folded note, creased four times.
A seal was stamped in the corner of that note, but it was not visible from Jin Cheon-hee’s position.
“Your grandfather, then.”
“Goodness always crumbles easily in the end. What remains is always only the poisonous ones. In that sense, your grandfather was once virtuous, but now he has become the Emperor’s right hand.”
What could that possibly mean?
She gripped the letter tightly with trembling hands.
Jegalling spoke.
“If you open that, you will walk the same path as your grandfather. However, you will survive. The poisonous always endure the longest.”
My Master’s eyes curved gently.
“You need only decide. Die virtuously, or live poisonously. It is not a great decision. If you survive, it will be a concern you face far more often than what to eat for your next meal.”
She deliberated, and deliberated again.
“….”
Crunch—
The crumpled letter in her hand cried out.
It was also the moan of the purity that remained in the young Han Yi-jeong.
“Youth is a beautiful thing. Purity too is beautiful.”
My Master’s laughter resembled the breathing of a cold-blooded creature.
“….”
In the end, Han Yi-jeong could not say “it’s fine” this time.
She finally opened the letter.
The small blank page was filled with nothing but a sequence of dots and lines.
It was a cipher I did not recognize.
Soon enough, Han Yi-jeong’s expression, having read it for a long while, became as crumpled as the letter itself.
She curled her body and let out a moan.
“Ugh… Ugh….”
Rage and devastation, and at the same time, resolve and determination.
“…Grandfather… What on earth… Ugh…!”
Her moans tasted like a lump of mud mixed with all the emotions of joy and sorrow.
After a long while of breathing, Han Yi-jeong answered in a voice drained of all color.
“…Please… Please destroy it as quickly as possible.”
My Master answered with a faint smile.
“I told you. A life with a time limit is tedious. Now a pleasant life awaits you.”
“Baek Rin-ui-seon… What exactly are you….”
My Master bowed deeply to her instead of answering.
“I congratulate you on becoming the Emperor’s next right hand.”
There was no trace of the laughter from before in that voice, and it was rather solemn.
“….”
Han Yi-jeong stared at Jegalling silently with darkened eyes.
Soon, the last remaining purity became a final cry and flowed down her cheeks.
“…The teachings of my grandfather and Baek Rin-ui-seon. I will never forget them for the rest of my life.”
She rose from her seat and bowed respectfully to Jegalling.
Strangely, beneath those words of gratitude lay a subtle venom within his embrace.
Not hostility, yet far from goodwill either.
Within the interplay of black and white, the two exchanged courtesies with one another.
To my eyes, it was a peculiar sight indeed.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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