The Immortal Duke’s Physician Is an Internist - Chapter 23

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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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3.
A short distance from the bench where the Court Physician and the Duke sat, Everain watched them from behind a large tree.
The two figures, small at this distance, appeared quite cheerful.
The Duke, who in Everain’s memory had never drawn close to any woman, seemed all the more striking for it.
“Everain. Still haven’t broken that habit of laying hands on anyone, I see. I never figured you’d throw an elderly man on his back.”
A deep voice suddenly called out. When Everain turned, a young man holding a camera smiled broadly.
He was the same one who’d been speaking with the man and woman moments before.
Everain recognized him at once.
“Scarlet. Your disguises grow more convincing with each passing day. I’m impressed every time I see you.”
As though Everain’s words were a cue, the photographer’s form was engulfed in crimson light.
Moments later, a robed figure emerged from the glow.
“The day you’d actually praise me—have you lost your mind?”
Everain ignored Scarlet’s question and asked what he truly wanted to know.
“Scarlet. Why did you give medicine to Baron Dorset Youngshik?”
Scarlet’s brow narrowed.
“When did we need your permission to choose a test subject?”
“You must have had a specific reason for selecting someone connected to the Court Physician.”
“It’s simple. We were testing how much the Duke fancies that Court Physician—as a procedure. We tested the New Medicine at the same time.”
“You’re mistaken. That woman hasn’t even been here long enough to——”
“Oh, Everain. Why do you talk so much? Have you really gone mad?”
Scarlet’s question dripped with annoyance. He tilted his head and leaned in close to Everain’s face.
“Everain, you’ve grown bold. When did we ever say you could presume to direct our affairs? Does it matter if you never see Shaylo again?”
…….
“Whether that woman is useful to us or not—we decide. You keep your mouth shut and follow our orders.”
Scarlet pressed something firmly against Everain’s chest. Before he could even see what it was, Scarlet vanished in a burst of red light.
…….
Everain examined what Scarlet had left behind.
A black-and-white photograph, no larger than the palm of his hand. Within it lay the image of his master and the Court Physician.
Warm wind and verdant trees. Beneath them, on the bench, the man and woman sat as though painted by a master artist—as if they had been lovers for centuries past.
And what struck Everain most deeply was——
“……he smiles like that.”
The Duke’s gentle smile, seen for the first time, stirred something strange in Everain’s chest.
It wasn’t that he’d grown to resent the Court Physician, or that he envied her for drawing out a smile from his master that no one else had seen. If anything, he wanted to thank her.
Yet……
‘……it’s dangerous.’
Everain understood instinctively. An order would soon come down—to bring him the Court Physician.
As the Duke’s loyal Escort Knight, he should certainly report this matter and devise a countermeasure.
But when blood-kin and those with no such bond were placed on opposite sides of a scale, the outcome was far too certain.
‘All I can do now is……’
Everain bit his lip.
‘Keep her as safe as possible when I bring her in.’
* * *
I asked upon seeing the photograph the Duke offered.
“Why are you giving this to me? I didn’t ask you to buy it.”
“I like photographs.”
Wait, I’ve never seen that detail in the original story.
Curiosity stirred, and I asked further.
“Why do you like photographs?”
“Before photographs existed, the nobility would regularly commission painters to create portraits of their families. It was expensive and time-consuming work, but photographs produce the desired result so quickly. That’s what I like about them.”
Come to think of it, photography was invented about a hundred years ago, I think.
I listened with interest to the Duke’s “back in my day” story.
“So you also had painters come create portraits for you?”
“No. I was the one who painted them.”
“Pardon?”
My eyes nearly bulged out of my head in surprise.
“You painted, Your Grace?!”
“Before I became Duke, I traveled here and there, learning skills to survive. Portrait Painting paid quite well. It was also a useful skill for personal reasons. I stopped after photographs appeared.”
“Wow……”
I imagined the Duke sitting before a canvas, moving his brush.
‘Ah, what a shame I couldn’t see it myself. It would’ve looked absolutely stunning…….’
I paused mid-thought.
If he’d lived for 720 years and learned painting just to make a living, surely he must have picked up other skills along the way?
“Are there things you can do besides painting? Perhaps…… musical instruments?”
“Piano, Cello, Violin, Flute…… I’ve trained in most standard instruments for over ten years each.”
“Wow…… So you can do carpentry, plastering, things like that too?”
“I worked construction sites for a time.”
The accumulated experience of 720 years was truly formidable. I found myself imagining the Duke dressed in the garb of countless different professions, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Ah, my apologies. It’s just that whatever you did, you’d have looked magnificent in it. ……Anyway. I’ll gratefully accept the photograph.”
I examined the photograph once more, carefully.
‘Come to think of it, with such a fine subject, the photograph is bound to be excellent…….’
As I was thinking this, the Duke spoke suddenly.
“I wish Everain had been in this shot instead. But I suppose I’ll have to settle for my disappointment this time.”
……What?
I tilted my head in confusion.
“Why would it be good if Everain were in the photograph……?”
‘Objectively speaking, you’re more handsome, so the photo quality would be even better?’
The Duke answered flatly.
“You like Everain, don’t you?”
“What?!”
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve raised my voice today.
Startled by my reaction, the Duke blinked his purple eyes.
“Kailun told me. That you like Everain.”
So this is how rumors spread. I straightened up quickly and set the record straight.
“I do take an interest in Everain, but not in that way—not as a romantic interest.”
“……Not a romantic interest?”
“Right, yes. I mean, I don’t want to hold hands, kiss, things like that. Does that make sense?”
The Duke turned his head away and pondered for a long moment. Then suddenly he extended his hand.
“……What is it?”
“The photograph. Give it back.”
I was stunned enough to protest.
“What? You said you were giving it to me, and now you’re taking it back? That’s not fair.”
“100,000 Gold.”
“Thank you for doing business with me.”
The transaction was sealed on the spot.
The Duke tucked the expensive photograph safely into his coat and continued.
“So then? Why did you tell Kailun such things?”
Somehow…… his tone of voice seemed brighter. Was it just my imagination?
I answered, perplexed.
“I do take an interest in Everain, but to be precise…… it’s his sister I’m interested in.”
“His sister? How do you know about Everain’s sister?”
The Duke’s face sharpened. In the original work, there was mention that Everain didn’t speak to others about his sister, so I hesitated for a moment, unsure how to respond.
In his childhood, Everain lived with his sister in the Orphanage, and he came to the Capital hoping to find medicine for his ailing sister.
After meeting the Duke in the Capital, he grew to become an Escort Knight, yet he never saw his sister again and died wretchedly.
‘At least the fact that Everain has a sister matches the original. Whether the future events unfold the same way is questionable, but I need to keep watching carefully.’
If Everain joins hands with the Black Mage Order and stands against you, you might even die.
……I couldn’t bring myself to say that much, so instead I offered a plausible excuse.
“The Chamberlain told me. That she’s the same age as me, has the same hair and eye color as her brother. Lately Everain seems to have symptoms of depression, so I wondered if perhaps it’s because he hasn’t seen his sister in a long time…….”
“Teacher. It’s best not to lie in front of me.”
At Blassion’s words, I played innocent.
“What do you mean?”
“Kailun knows Everain has a sister, but he wouldn’t know she has the same hair and eye color as her brother. He’s never met her, and Everain himself wouldn’t have told him.”
“…….”
A slip from reading the original work too earnestly.
As I sat in silence, the Duke looked me up and down. His eyes were filled with suspicion.
“Teacher. How much do you know?”
“What…… what are you talking about?”
“About Everain.”
“Know? I only know as much as anyone would. That he’s tall, handsome, skilled with a sword, quick-tempered…….”
“Then…….”
The Duke let the words fall flat.
“You know as well as I do that he’s a spy for the Black Mage Order.”

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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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