The Immortal Duke’s Physician Is an Internist - Chapter 3

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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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The Duke stood motionless until a sharp command fell upon him.
“Why are you moving so slowly? Do you want to watch your adjutant die?! Move faster, now!!”
Only then did the Duke bolt forward. Lionel struck Kaerun’s cheek without hesitation.
“Kaerun? Kaerun, stay with me! Where does it hurt?”
“H-hah… hah…”
Kaerun’s breathing was abnormally rapid. His pulse was fast and weak.
‘The wound is on the left side of the thorax. The bleeding isn’t heavy, but…’
She pressed her ear to his chest and listened. The left breath sound was barely audible, and his thorax barely moved. In contrast, the right side was distended excessively.
‘Tension Pneumothorax.’
Kaerun’s face was turning increasingly pale.
Right now, air was entering through the puncture in his lung but had no way to escape. If she didn’t perform Emergency Medical Treatment immediately, the outcome was obvious.
Lionel gritted her teeth.
“The bag!!”
The Duke threw the bag to her at the perfect moment. Alcohol Cotton, a small Scalpel, and Bandages tumbled out, but it wasn’t what she was looking for.
Lionel asked urgently.
“Do you have a hollow metal rod? Something long and rigid…”
As she spoke, something struck her. It was the Orange Juice Bottle that Kaerun had brought to the Reception Room earlier.
“…a straw.”
“What?”
“A Metal Straw. Quick, there’s one in the Guest Room!”
This time the Duke didn’t hesitate and ran. While waiting for him, Lionel drew out the Scalpel blade.
“It will hurt, but bear with it, Kaerun. It’s better than dying.”
Kaerun nodded weakly, his face ashen.
Lionel turned his body slightly to the side. With her fingers, she traced along the ribs beneath his armpit.
The 5th Intercostal Space. She cleaned the area with Alcohol Cotton. Taking a sharp breath, she pressed the blade to his skin.
“Ugh…”
There was no time to worry about his cry. As Lionel incised the skin, she drove the Metal Straw she had received vertically into the opening. The Duke gasped in shock.
“What are you doing—!”
“Shut up! If you have nothing to do, at least hold his hand!”
At her sharp tone, the Duke’s mouth clamped shut. Just as Lionel refocused on her work—
“…”
The Duke’s large hand covered hers. She looked up in surprise and caught sight of his sharp profile, his focus intent on holding the patient’s hand.
—Fool, not my hand! The patient’s hand!!
Either way, there was no time to waste. Lionel pushed forward, forcing the straw deeper.
The straw passed through muscle—
Pop.
The sensation of piercing the pleura transmitted through her fingertips. In that instant, air burst forth explosively.
Pssshhhhh—!!
Fierce pressure shot out through the straw. Kaerun’s chest rapidly collapsed. The excessively distended movement of his right thorax gradually diminished.
“Cough—!”
Kaerun expelled a ragged breath. His lips, which had been deathly pale, regained a hint of color. For a moment Lionel had forgotten to breathe herself, and now she could finally exhale in relief.
As her thundering heart settled, Lionel’s gaze met the Duke’s. In that meeting of eyes, she saw his shoulders trembling slightly, and something like camaraderie kindled deep within her chest.
‘I thought he was heartless, but he is human after all.’
Lionel steadied her breathing and adjusted her position. The immediate crisis had passed, but she wasn’t out of danger yet.
“…For now, we should move the patient. Additional treatment will be necessary.”
The purple eyes that had been fixed on her closed, and he nodded. The two hands that had remained clasped finally parted.
“Very well.”
* * *
“Treatment is complete.”
Deep into the night. In that same Reception Room where the interview had taken place, Lionel made her report.
“It will take several days for the air to fully drain through the newly inserted tube.”
‘I wish I had at least one dose of Clindamycin to give him…’
Lionel sorely missed the Antibiotics that lay about so casually in the Hospital.
Though there was a medical university and a General Hospital, medicine in this world was primitive compared to the modern age. Naturally there were no Antibiotics, and most treatment amounted to temporary symptom relief.
Besides, medical knowledge itself was something of a privilege of the nobility, so even those who sought treatment at the Hospital often went untreated.
Without Antibiotics, after all that cutting and piercing, infection was a real worry. But for now, all she could do was hope that Kaerun would recover.
“Lionel.”
Why his full name suddenly? Lionel exchanged a wary glance as the Duke lowered his head slightly.
“I thank you for saving my adjutant.”
“What? Oh, no. I was simply doing what needed to be done. I should be thanking you for following my instructions so well, sir.”
“Good. Then it seems we’ve finished what we came here to do⋯⋯.”
The Duke lifted his head and settled back against the sofa. In an instant, his demeanor shifted, and he spoke with chilling coldness.
“Shall we begin the interview proper now?”
“⋯⋯Ah.”
As her adrenaline levels plummeted, reality began seeping back in.
The Duke still wore his blood-stained shirt open. His chest bore not a single scar.
‘⋯⋯I’m finished.’
Lionel recalled the plot of the novel “The Flower That Never Falls.”
Long ago, the male lead became an Immortal through a curse. He regularly changed residences and identities until he obtained the title of Duke and settled in one place.
Then he met a heroine as bright as sunlight and entered into a contract marriage.
Like any tragic novel protagonist, the Duke became obsessed, the heroine descended into madness, he confined her further, she spiraled deeper⋯⋯.
At the end, she managed to lift his curse, and for a moment it seemed like a happy ending — but no, they all died together instead.
‘Damn it⋯⋯. I shouldn’t have been so pleased with a patient who doesn’t require much attention.’
In the novel, the Duke was ruthless. He killed everyone who knew his secret except his closest aide, and even that aide would have died if he’d ever betrayed it.
It was hardly surprising that his nickname had become “the Death-Dealer” — or rather, “a madman who kills so much he can’t even die.”
‘And on top of that, I’ve been ordering around that very madman without so much as a please⋯⋯.’
Lionel mustered every scrap of composure she possessed and answered calmly.
“Will you kill me? I’ve saved your aide’s life — surely you can show some leniency?”
“Tell me, Doctor — have you noticed where all the servants in this estate have gone? Even with all this commotion, not a soul has appeared.”
She hadn’t registered it in her panic, but now that he mentioned it, the silence did seem strange. The Duke explained the situation with unsettling courtesy.
“This estate receives unwanted visitors from time to time. When they come, the servants take shelter Underground and wait for things to settle down. The knights stand by in their positions. But my aide chose to rush out to help you.”
“Then⋯⋯ are you saying your aide would never have been hurt if I hadn’t been here?”
“I’m not blaming you, but yes, one could say that.”
-He’s definitely blaming me!
Lionel swallowed the complaint rising in her throat. Instead, her mind raced, searching for a way to survive.
“Your grace, I’m truly sorry that your aide was grievously injured because of me. But since things have come to this, wouldn’t you consider hiring me?”
Yes. If I kill an ordinary person who knows my secret, then I become an insider who knows it instead.
Lionel launched into her self-promotion as she had during the interview at the Hospital.
“Top admission to Imperial Medical University, top marks on graduation, and the youngest to boot! I have experience working at the General Hospital and serving as a primary physician. Please hire me!”
-Of course, I’ve been fired from all of them, but if you hire me here, I swear I won’t start any unions or unions and I’ll perform my duties faithfully in a subordinate capacity!
She decided against saying that last part — it would almost certainly backfire. Lionel waited for his response, tensing with anxiety.
The Duke kept his mouth in a thin line, regarding her silently. Despite the gravity of the situation, his face was so strikingly handsome that for a moment Lionel forgot where she was.
“I’ll decide tomorrow whether to kill you or not. Now go inside and rest.”
“⋯⋯What? No, I can’t do that. I need to tend to your aide.”
“I’ll look after my aide.”
The Duke rose from his seat without offering her further chance to argue. Lionel, reading the situation, followed him.
When they reached the Guest Room, he opened the door for her himself. As she stepped inside, Lionel repeated her instructions several times.
“If fever develops, please call me. Or if he has difficulty breathing, or if anything else goes wrong⋯⋯.”
“Lock the door.”
The door shut with a heavy thud. Lionel stood motionless, listening as the Duke’s footsteps faded into the distance.
“⋯⋯Am I really going to die tomorrow?”

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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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