The Immortal Duke’s Physician Is an Internist - Chapter 24

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

I stared at the Duke with startled eyes.
“Your Grace…… How did you know that?”
Confirming that Everain was indeed acting as a spy was an unexpected windfall.
‘But the fact that the Duke knows this is a completely different matter.’
While I struggled for words, the Duke—now suspicious of me—pressed harder.
“That’s what I should be asking you, tutor. How do you know about Everain’s connection to the Black Mages? Are you one of them?”
“Absolutely not! I swear it on my Medical License.”
“Then? Everain is not someone who conducts himself so carelessly. Depending on your answer, I may have to dispose of you.”
This was bad. Not even three months had passed, and I was already looking at death.
“No, it’s not like that……”
I racked my brain through every romance fantasy novel I’d read for a way out.
In the novels I’d read, what did the male leads do when someone confessed to being a transmigrator?
Usually they thought the person was insane, and only very rarely did a man actually believe them……
‘Should I just tell him outright?’
That I was actually a transmigrator, and that in the original work, his guard captain was a spy?
“The truth is……”
I opened my mouth, then hesitated.
‘If I confess that I’m a transmigrator, and by some miracle he believes me…… wouldn’t he immediately ask me to find the female lead?’
If I found her, everything might resolve easily. I could lift the Duke’s curse and let him die as he wished, perhaps even pair Everain with her.
But why hadn’t I been looking for her in the first place? I’d worked so hard to ensure only the male lead could die cleanly—I didn’t want to drag an innocent female lead into this now.
More than that, what if the original work started moving once these two actually met? Who knew what sort of butterfly effect might unfold?
I decided it was better to act on what I could do now than to gamble on uncertain hope.
“The truth is, when I was attacked by the Black Mages at the Market, Sir Everain behaved rather strangely.”
The Duke regarded me with narrowed eyes.
“Is that so? What did he do?”
“It was just…… he didn’t seem to be attacking very aggressively. Something felt off, so later I noticed he and someone else were having a brief conversation in the chaos.”
The Duke’s expression suggested he didn’t think the story was entirely nonsensical. I pressed on desperately.
“And when we went to meet Adrian, he was particularly quiet too. I thought perhaps he was keeping silent because it had something to do with the Black Mages.”
“You suspected it from then? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Well, I had suspicions but no proof. Just as a doctor won’t make a diagnosis without test results, I didn’t want to make someone out to be a villain based on mere suspicion.”
At this point, the Duke’s expression seemed to soften slightly. Still, I didn’t relax and continued explaining to the end.
“Earlier, I sort of tested Sir Everain with some casual questions, and since my younger sister and I are the same age, it seemed he felt a kinship and told me various things. But he mentioned he hasn’t seen her in a long time. That struck me as odd. I wondered if maybe it had something to do with the Black Mages.”
“……You became certain based on that alone?”
“Not exactly—I only became certain just now when Your Grace mentioned it. So there really was some connection with the Black Mages.”
My lengthy excuse finally ended. I studied the Duke’s face anxiously.
Fortunately, it seemed the Duke believed my lie. He let out a short sigh and uncrossed his arms.
“That fellow couldn’t hide it completely from someone so perceptive.”
“Haha……”
“But tutor, I’m telling you in advance—do nothing more from here on. Forget what you learned today.”
For now, the Duke seemed to have decided not to dispose of me. It was a moving victory born of desperation.
I was grateful for the Duke’s mercy, but…… something still bothered me.
“Your Grace, you do know why Sir Everain is acting as a spy for the Black Mages, don’t you?”
“As you’ve guessed, it’s because his sister is being held captive.”
I was puzzled.
I was curious about the Duke’s true intentions in remaining silent despite knowing these circumstances so well.
“Then why don’t you rescue his sister? If you did, Sir Everain would have no reason to be manipulated by them.”
The Duke didn’t answer my question. I continued cautiously.
“Is it perhaps…… because you’re afraid of the Black Mages……?”
“That can’t be.”
The Duke immediately objected.
“The Black Mages themselves are not something to fear. It’s merely troublesome not knowing their exact scale and whereabouts.”
“You make them sound like invasive species destroying an ecosystem…… Anyway, don’t you have any intention of finding Sir Everain’s sister?”
“Tutor, let’s end this conversation here. Prepare for the journey home.”
The Duke rose from his seat and strode away with quick steps.
Left alone, I stared after him with a vacant expression.
“……What was that? Is he really scared?”
In any case, Everain is colluding with the Black Mages just as in the original work. His sister held captive by them exists as well.
But the fact that the Duke knows all this and yet tolerates it was a variable even I, as a transmigrator, hadn’t anticipated.
‘Will this variable affect how events unfold? And more importantly—what is the Duke hiding?’
One question after another chained together, each spawning the next. After wrestling with them for a while, I finally settled on my next course of action.
‘I should investigate Everain’s younger sister. The truth is always singular, after all!’
If I looked into her, something would surely come to light.
My intuition—honed by countless mystery comics back in my previous life—was telling me exactly that.
Meanwhile, Blasion, who had been walking ahead, caught every word of the Royal Physician’s muttering from behind.
“……What? You’re really that scared?”
It was a laughable misunderstanding, but Blasion made no move to turn back.
After all, it wasn’t even true—and more importantly, he had no wish to become entangled any further in Everain’s affairs.
‘I wish it would just pass quietly. But she’s not the type to let things rest.’
The Royal Physician’s lie was terribly clumsy, but Blasion chose to believe it anyway.
“You’re young, so you wouldn’t understand, but sometimes ignorance is a mercy. Please, just let this be.”
Blasion murmured these words toward the Royal Physician, distant now in the darkness.
“I can’t afford to lose anything more.”
* * *
A few days later.
I found my way to Frencia Estate.
The mansion felt far more chaotic than when I’d left. The Baron and Baroness were frantically rushing about to repay their debts and were nowhere to be found.
‘All the better. I won’t have to exchange pleasantries.’
I headed straight up to her second-floor bedroom.
“Ruen. I’m coming in.”
I knocked, but received no real response. I pushed the door open regardless.
The room that had always been bright and lavish was now dim. Ruen, crouched in one corner of a space sealed off by drawn curtains, lifted her head.
“……Why did you come? To mock me?”
“I came on other business, but seeing the state you’re in makes me want to laugh very hard indeed.”
“Go ahead and laugh. My life is a wreck because of you.”
Ruen’s face had grown gaunt. She’d always been fussing with cosmetics of every kind, but now she hadn’t even the energy for that.
I tilted my head to one side and spoke bluntly.
“Why is it my fault? Your parents tried to sell you off to some old man’s bastard daughter and failed—that’s on them, not me.”
“Must you speak so harshly? They’re your parents too, after all.”
“Ruen, why would I feel any affection toward your mother and father? Are you too dim-witted to even possess the intelligence for a conscience?”
Ruen had no response to my contemptuous words.
I settled onto the bed and crossed my legs.
“Listen carefully, Ruen. I came to offer you a chance today.”
“……What kind of chance?”
“A chance to escape the old count.”
Ruen swallowed hard in surprise.
I drew out the note I’d kept in my pocket. It contained nothing but the names of orphanages near the Capital.
“Count Marseya has been coming and going under the pretense of making regular donations to orphanages, and he’s been photographing young girls there. I need you to find those photographs and bring them to me.”
“He’s been doing something that vile? How do you even know about it?”
How do I know? Because it was mentioned in the Original Work.
Back when Everain was still living in the orphanage, there was a description of him appearing and beating a suspicious middle-aged man who was taking photographs.
The passage itself was brief, but I was certain that man had to be Count Marseya.
“I’ve toured every orphanage and village in the Empire and found no child quite like you…….”
Those words—spoken by the count himself—were the proof I needed.
“Since you have access to the count’s bedchamber, find these photographs and hand them over to me. In exchange, I’ll connect you with a broker who’ll cleanse your identity and smuggle you out to another city—somewhere the count can’t find you.”
Ruen stared at me with a look of disbelief.
“Can you really do all that?”
“Oh, there’s something important I haven’t mentioned yet. Do you understand what Identity Cleansing means, Ruen?”
I smiled meaningfully, my hand propped against my chin.
“From now on, you’ll have to sever all ties with those parents you love so dearly.”
Ruen’s eyes widened.

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