The Immortal Duke’s Physician Is an Internist - Chapter 2
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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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Carceido Ducal Residence. Lionel sat on the sofa in the parlor, steadying her nerves.
A moment later, the door clicked open and a young man entered—brown hair and green eyes that gave him an approachable, friendly air.
“Miss Lionel Frenscia?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Thank you so much for coming all this way. I’m Kaerun Brexster, adjutant to the Duke of Carceido.”
Kaerun set a tray before Lionel and took the seat across from her. As Lionel reached for the plate with a grateful expression, her movements froze abruptly.
‘…Beef jerky? Orange juice with a straw?’
Wasn’t the usual offering tea and pastries?
While Lionel puzzled over this, the interview began. Kaerun studied her credentials and let out an admiring whistle.
“Top of your class at the Imperial Medical University, and the youngest graduate at that…! It’s truly an honor to meet you.”
“You’re too kind. But tell me—isn’t the Duke himself conducting interviews? Or does the adjutant handle all hiring decisions?”
“Ah, well, you see…”
Kaerun’s brow furrowed. When he spoke again, his voice dropped to a whisper.
“I’m terribly sorry to have brought you so far, but the Duke has actually issued an order not to hire any more personal physicians.”
“What? Why not?”
“Dozens of physicians have come and gone, each causing various troubles. The Duke has simply… had enough.”
‘Still, if thirty-two have fled, shouldn’t someone at least hear their side of the story?’
The rumors about him drinking blood—perhaps they weren’t just rumors after all.
Seeing the serious expression settle over Lionel’s face, Kaerun offered repeated apologies.
“I’m truly sorry. In compensation, I’ll arrange another position for you elsewhere. Someone as capable as you will surely be welcomed wherever you go.”
From the way he spoke, it seemed the position at the ducal house was clearly beyond reach. Lionel reluctantly accepted, and Kaerun stood.
“It’s already late. Please stay the night. I’ll have a room prepared for you.”
A night in a mansion where thirty-two people had fled. It felt unsettling, but Lionel nodded her assent.
* * *
Lionel was shown to the guest room.
It was a fine chamber befitting such a grand estate, yet surprisingly, her meal consisted of nothing but stale bread and two strips of jerky. At least there was apple juice so her throat didn’t feel too parched.
“Do these people have no sense of taste whatsoever?”
Lionel sipped her juice and thought of the family members she normally bickered with.
Her stepmother, who pulled a sour face while eating rye bread—she might have deserved pity, but Lionel felt none.
‘Pity? That woman has always been ready to sell me out. She’s rotten to the core.’
At least the adjutant promised to find her another position. She could go there instead. One way or another, things would work out.
With that thought, Lionel pulled the covers over herself and tried to sleep.
She thought the quiet peace might last until morning. But just as sleep was beginning to settle over her, the door burst open.
“Miss Frenscia!! Are you safe?!”
“Yes, I—?”
“Come quickly!”
Kaerun, still in his nightclothes, grabbed her hand and pulled her forward. As Lionel was dragged down the corridor, she managed to ask a question.
“W-what’s happening?”
“I’ll explain later. Just get somewhere safe—!”
Kaerun’s words were cut short. He clutched his chest and collapsed. Lionel stopped dead in shock.
A figure stood in the darkened hallway—a large man with a vicious face. The dagger in his hand dripped with fresh blood. Kaerun’s blood.
“Foolish. If you’d just stayed hidden, I’d have never known you were there.”
The intruder laughed nastily. Lionel froze. He spun the dagger menacingly.
“Where’s the Duke?”
“I—I d-don’t know…”
“Is that so? Then you die too.”
The intruder raised his hand high. Lionel glanced around and grabbed a vase from the hallway.
“You think you can fight me with that? Foolish. You should be begging for your life instead.”
“As if I’d beg to a pig like you!!”
“You dare—where do you get the nerve!”
Stung by the word “pig,” the intruder reached out. Lionel hurled the vase with all her strength.
“Aaargh! Get away!!”
Crash!!
The intruder’s body shot into the air amid a shower of ceramic shards.
For a moment, Lionel thought she must have thrown something far heavier, but it was an illusion.
Thud!
A tall man with white hair flicked the brute away with a graceful spinning kick, snow-pale strands dancing like winter snow amid glittering fragments of porcelain.
Landing smoothly on both feet, he rose to his full height—dressed entirely in black, with a face so strikingly beautiful it was almost startling.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?”
The violet eyes boring into her were sharp and piercing. Lionel scrambled to her feet and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“I—I’m here for an interview.”
……
The man narrowed his brow and stared at Lionel for a long moment. Uncomfortable under his gaze, she glanced away—and froze. A figure was sprawled on the floor directly in her line of sight.
The hands she’d thought long dead suddenly twitched, and in an instant the body heaved itself upright.
“Wait—behind you!!”
Lionel’s scream pierced the air, but the figure was already lunging forward.
“Duke, today I’ll have your blood, I swear it!!”
The man pivoted with surgical precision, and the dagger struck true—the blade met flesh with a sickening sound.
Squelch!!
The dagger pierced straight through the man’s heart. At the horror unfolding before her, Lionel’s mind simply ceased to function. She grabbed the nearest vase from the hallway.
“Ahhhhh!!”
Crash!! This time the vase connected squarely with the attacker’s skull. After taking the blow twice, he staggered backward and crumpled to the floor with a heavy thud.
Lionel dropped the shattered vase and rushed to the man’s side. He still had the dagger clenched firmly in his grip, embedded in his chest.
“No—no, don’t pull it out! You can’t pull it out—don’t—!”
Squelch!!
Blood erupted from the wound like a fountain as the blade was withdrawn. Without thinking, Lionel cried out in raw frustration.
“I told you not to pull it out, you idiot!! Are you trying to kill yourself?!”
“……If death were possible, I would welcome it gladly.”
“What?”
Lionel trailed off mid-sentence, something bothering her. She stopped and stared.
‘……Why is he moving so freely? His heart’s been stabbed. He should be losing this much blood and—’
Shouldn’t he be in too much pain to move at all?
“Tch. This is becoming tiresome.”
The man yanked his shirt roughly open. Buttons scattered, revealing a muscular torso beneath.
Lionel’s initial admiration at the sight of his well-defined frame was cut short. Her eyes went wide as she watched what unfolded before her.
The wound on his chest was closing at astonishing speed—as if someone had hit fast-forward on reality itself.
“Ah……”
Then it clicked.
She’d recovered her memories of her past life as a physician, but for years she’d had no idea which novel she’d transmigrated into. Now, all at once, it became clear.
This was the world of the Dark Novel “Eternal Flower”—the one she’d read with such fervor before she died.
And the man before her was Blashion, Duke of Carceido.
He was the male protagonist of the story, and more than that—an Immortal who had lived for over seven hundred years.
“……You really do have terrible luck, don’t you, woman.”
The Duke smiled with terrible significance. He leaned toward the frozen Lionel, and an icy chill radiated from his flawlessly beautiful face.
“As you can see, I don’t die from a pierced heart. No matter how much blood I spill, I don’t die.”
……
“And you’ve learned my secret. So now, shall we discuss calmly what I should do with you?”
That was true—in the novel, the Duke had kept his secret by killing anyone who found out. Which meant Lionel was now in mortal danger from this very man. Or at least, that’s how it should have been.
But her thoughts veered in an entirely different direction.
“Wait—hold on! If you’re Immortal, I don’t need to treat you, right? You’ll heal on your own anyway?”
“……What?”
A patient who recovered on his own even with a pierced heart!
As a physician, he was almost impossibly ideal—not just as a patient, but as a person to treat at all. The moment that realization sank in, her hesitation evaporated.
“Honestly, dealing with two critical cases alone is overwhelming. You don’t need treatment? Then move aside, now!!”
Lionel shoved the Duke out of the way and bolted forward. She called out while bending over Kaerun, who still lay unconscious on the floor.
“Bring my medical bag from the guest room, immediately!!”
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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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