The Immortal Duke’s Physician Is an Internist - Chapter 34

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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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* This episode contains depictions that may trigger trauma related to child abuse and domestic violence.
“My mother was a maid in a noble household, or so I’m told. And my biological father was the eldest son of that family…… and he was already married.”
I couldn’t fathom why the preamble to every misfortune sounded so alike.
The lady of the house would never have tolerated a maid carrying her husband’s child, so Everaine’s mother was cast out of the estate.
She fled far to the Mahara region, but the nobleman found her. And he came to visit them often.
“When my father stopped coming by, it was because my mother contracted Baeksa Disease. I was fortunate enough not to fall ill, but in exchange, I had to endure my mother’s beatings.”
The shoulders of the twenty-five-year-old trembled. A pain that had been buried in the depths of his heart surfaced—one he’d tried to suppress but ultimately had to remember.
“My mother would beat me savagely, saying my life had ruined hers, yet sometimes she’d scream that she needed to bear another child. If the legitimate wife had no children, surely if she gave birth again, she could steal my father away from her.”
Now I understood where Everaine’s obsession and delusions had taken root.
“From then on…… did you see your sister?”
“I don’t know. I can’t remember clearly. But…… when I was beaten and hiding somewhere in an alley, someone would speak to me. I think that’s when the Auditory Hallucinations began.”
Everaine let out a self-deprecating laugh.
“I was simply glad that I had someone on my side. It was a great comfort to know there was someone who understood my grievances and pain, and honestly, thanks to that…… I managed to endure. But.”
Everaine paused and took a sip of tea. After moistening his throat, he remained silent for a long while before continuing with difficulty.
“The violence grew worse and worse, and finally that voice…… told me: ‘If you want to live, you have to kill that woman.'”
* * *
“You little bastard…… If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be like this. It’s all your fault!”
Crack! Everaine’s head snapped to the side. The boy, already battered beyond recognition, had no strength left to resist.
Shaylo kicked at the huddled Everaine with all her might. Now and then she spat, flecks of blood mixed in.
“Why are you just lying there? Go get your father right now. Tell him to divorce that woman and take me with him this instant. After I’ve fed and clothed you, you owe me that much!”
-Everaine. If things go on like this, you’ll die.
That ‘voice’ echoed in his ears again. It was sharp and clear, and it pulled at him endlessly.
“Ahhhhh! It disgusts me. Why do you look just like my father and cling to me like this!”
-Hurry. You have to kill her.
“Worthless parasite. Get out. Nothing works because of you! Go bring your father here!”
-Hurry, Everaine. Hurry……!
Everaine covered his ears. His head felt as though it might burst from the shouts and rapid-fire curses exploding all around him.
“Ahhhhhhh!!”
He finally snapped. Everaine screamed so loud the Basement Room shook, then bolted toward the entrance.
“Where are you going? Stop right there!”
Something glinted in the hands of Shaylo as she chased after him.
At this rate, he really would die. That woman would kill him.
Even without the voice putting it so plainly, Everaine understood the situation was critical. He reached the entrance and slammed the door shut with every ounce of strength he had.
“You won’t open it? Open it, open it right now!!”
Bang, bang, bang. The thin wooden door looked as though it might splinter at any moment. Everaine threw his full body weight against it, bracing it with his back.
Bang!
Please.
Bang, bang!
Please…… please……!
How long did it last?
The sound that seemed endless finally stopped. Even after that, Everaine remained motionless for a long time.
Time passed.
Whether he’d blacked out or not, when Everaine’s eyes opened again, the moon that had hung high in the sky was already gone.
With trembling hands, he opened the wooden door.
“…….”
The room was full of deep silence. Everaine couldn’t bring himself to step inside and simply stood there.
His mother was in the center of the Basement Room. Or rather, she was ‘hanging’ there. The Red Ribbon his father had once given as a gift was wound around her neck.
Not even a scream came out.
So this was what it meant for consciousness to turn white with numbness. Even the pain of a body covered in wounds seemed to have vanished.
His awareness sank endlessly into darkness. Everaine slowly reached out his hand toward his mother.
That was when.
“Brother.”
Beside his mother’s suspended legs, someone suddenly materialized.
“Everaine.”
Black hair and blue eyes.
A girl who looked like a smaller version of his mother called out to him.
“Brother. Let’s go.”
Everaine realized she was the voice he’d always heard in his ears.
The girl slowly approached and took his hand.
The moment Everaine grasped that small, delicate hand, light flooded into his eyes.
“……Yes.”
I was never alone, after all.
I had a sister. So small and beautiful…… someone I needed to protect with all my care.
Simply knowing that truth was enough for Everaine to breathe.
“From now on, I…… I’ll protect you.”
* * *
“After that, I wandered the streets and ended up at the Orphanage, and I continued to believe in my sister’s existence…… I came to the City searching for medicine, and that’s where I met the Duke.”
I listened intently to the end of Everaine’s old story.
And I thought carefully.
In the original work, the Immortal Duke was merciless and cruel.
But in reality, he was quite…… human, and I wondered why he had tolerated Everaine for so long.
I ventured to voice that hypothesis.
“Everaine. Do you think you bear responsibility for your mother’s death?”
Everaine lifted his head. His eyes were full of anguish, but he did not shy away from my question.
Everaine seemed to understand well that this question was part of a ‘healing’ process.
“…… Not entirely, but I do think I bear some responsibility. If I hadn’t existed, my mother might have been more free…….”
“No, Everaine. That’s a truly mistaken thought.”
When I shook my head firmly, Everaine faltered.
I didn’t give him time to respond and pressed on.
“You bear no fault whatsoever. You are not bad. This is entirely the fault of the adults.”
The young Everaine would have wanted to hear words like these.
You are not bad.
You’ve done nothing wrong.
So even though so much time had passed, I had to tell him that myself.
“Your sister……. She was a defense mechanism created by your mind as it teetered on the brink of collapse.”
Though I am not a psychiatrist.
I did my best to reason through and explain Everaine’s condition.
“You couldn’t bear it any other way. Even false hope is hope. So your heart fought and struggled just to endure this agonizing period.”
Tears began to well up in Everaine’s eyes. I steadied my voice more calmly, so as not to be swept away by those tears.
“Because I understood that you lived for your sister. Because I understood that your sister’s existence kept you alive…… the Duke couldn’t tell you the truth. Perhaps if you knew the truth…….”
‘You might make a choice you shouldn’t.’
I couldn’t bring myself to say that part aloud.
But Everaine must have guessed what I wanted to say.
The water that had trembled at the edges of his eyes finally fell down his cheeks.
Tears streamed endlessly from the solid young man’s eyes. He wept without pause, until finally he buried his face in both hands.
“I was truly…… so foolish……. Lost in delusions……. Ungrateful, and I, I…….”
The young man who had never properly cried even once in childhood now wept with full voice.
The despair of everything he had believed in crumbling in an instant…….
Regret piled upon regret, layer after layer, until it shattered brutally down again.
I simply stood quietly by his side.
Through the slightly opened door, I caught a glimpse of the Duke. When his eyes met mine, he withdrew quietly without a word.
The depths of the water are knowable, but the depths of the human heart are not. Yet I was certain that the Duke was thinking the same thing I was in that moment.
“……Everaine.”
I patted his shoulder gently and spoke.
“……I’m truly grateful that you survived.”
I’m truly grateful that things didn’t unfold as the original story promised.
I meant it with all my heart.

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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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