The Immortal Duke’s Physician Is an Internist - Chapter 36

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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 day of Everain’s resignation had arrived.
All the Knight Order members who had stood side by side with him through thick and thin gathered in the Central Hall.
They poured out their grievances endlessly.
“If the Commander leaves, who will lead us? What are we supposed to do when the Monster Wave comes?”
The Duke and I stood a little distance away, watching Everain and the Knight Order.
‘Everain leaving the Mansion at the episode’s end—it’s just like the Original Work.’
In the Original Work, he’d fled and died not long after, but…
Seeing him walk out with such conviction put my mind at ease.
No matter how much his subordinates complained, Everain remained resolute.
“Figure it out yourselves.”
“Commander!”
“You’re not children. You’ll manage.”
He stated his intention to leave with admirable brevity and clarity. Everain offered kind words to each of them in turn, and finally approached the Duke.
“Your Grace. I’m truly grateful for all this time. And I apologize for the trouble I’ve caused.”
The Duke nodded.
“Go on, then.”
“Yes, sir.”
With those brief exchanges, their farewell was complete.
I nudged Kaylen, who stood beside me with a furrowed brow and lips pouted like a duck’s.
“Aren’t you going to say goodbye, Advisor?”
Kaylen glanced at Everain for a moment, then turned away with a snort. As I was about to speak again, Everain raised his hand to stop me.
“It’s all right, miss.”
“But still…”
“Perhaps this is just how some farewells go. Well then, Kaylen—I’m going.”
With that, Everain walked out with heavy steps.
Is this what it feels like to see off a child who’s found employment and struck out on his own?
I’d never experienced marriage, childbirth, or parenting, yet I found myself cheering for Everain’s retreating figure as though watching a child on his first day of school.
And then, just as he was reaching for the door—
“Waaaaaahhhhh!”
Suddenly Kaylen bolted forward and grabbed the hem of Everain’s clothes.
“Nooooo, waaahhh! You scoundrel, you can’t just really leave like this!”
Kaylen collapsed to the floor right there, breaking into loud sobs. It was utterly unexpected.
“Don’t go, don’t you dare! You broccoli-headed fool! How am I supposed to manage this Mansion alone?”
What spilled out was barely harsh enough to qualify as true cursing, yet it was clearly Kaylen giving it his all, and…
As if that were a signal, the Knight Order members rushed over and surrounded Everain.
As though they’d rehearsed it, they began to wail in unified voices.
“Nooooo! Please don’t go, Commander!”
“Sob, whimper, cry… We can’t let you leave like this!”
“Sniff, sniff, sniff… It’s impossible!”
The sight of large, muscular men wailing evoked the image of a pride of lions roaring in the jungle.
At first, Everain had tried to calm them, looking troubled.
But soon he too seemed to be swept up in their lament, his eyes reddening at the rims.
I looked at the Duke. He let out a sigh and muttered.
“Why do men cry so much? Even when my parents died, I didn’t cry like this.”
“Your Grace, that’s an incredibly sexist and outdated thing to say. These grown men are crying because Lord Everain means that much to them.”
The Duke, displeased by my rebuke, narrowed his brows and pushed out his lips before reaching into his coat pocket.
It was the Letter of Resignation that Everain had submitted a few days prior.
“Everain. Look at this.”
He held the envelope high so everyone could see it.
“I’ll ask you once more. What do you want to do from here on?”
All eyes turned toward Everain.
Everain looked at the envelope with reddened eyes, then gritted his teeth.
“I… have committed an unforgivable sin against Your Grace…”
“Who asked what I think? Why can’t you understand what I’m saying?”
The Duke waved the envelope back and forth pointedly.
“I’m not talking about myself. I’m asking what you—right now—want to do.”
…
“Anyone can make mistakes. Anyone can misjudge. You’re only twenty-five. I don’t believe you’ve done anything wrong enough to warrant paying such a price.”
Everain’s eyes widened. Those eyes, on the verge of tears at any moment, trembled slightly as he spoke falteringly.
“Then… am I… does Your Grace forgive me…?”
“Why would you need my forgiveness?”
The Duke spoke with perfect calm.
“You lived. You didn’t die. That’s enough.”
It was a cool and simple answer, truly—but.
‘You never became something inside my treasure box. So it’s enough.’
That was how his words sounded to my ears.
Everain’s eyes wavered.
“I… I… I…”
Not the past, not the future—only this moment.
The conclusion Everain had reached was…
“…the truth is, I want to… stay here.”
“Then you should have said so. How was I supposed to know?”
A smile bloomed across the Duke’s face.
The Letter of Resignation he’d tossed into the air dissolved in a flutter of blue flame.
“Letter of Resignation—rejected.”
“Waaaaaah!!”
The people who had been crying and carrying on moments before embraced Everain.
Kaylen turned his head away with a huff, though he couldn’t hide his joy.
I couldn’t contain my excitement either. The Duke asked me as I cheered.
“Do you welcome Everain’s decision to stay as well?”
“Of course! Because, because…!!”
Blood is thicker than water, or so they say.
Yet I had just witnessed that sometimes the hearts of those who were once mere “water” to each other run far deeper.
I had confirmed that such a force was strong enough to change the Original Work itself…!
“Because the affection those people held for Everain worked a miracle!”
“Those cold workplace colleagues you’re always talking about?”
There was a bite to his remark, but it wasn’t unpleasant at all.
I answered with a bright smile.
“Yes, that’s right. I’ll admit it now. Sometimes cold strangers can care for each other more deeply than blood family ever could.”
I recalled the faces of the family who had abandoned me.
My birth mother, who had died and left me as a child; the people of House Frencia, who had abused me for so long before finally showing caution once I awakened to my Past Life.
Their existence would remain an eternal wound… but today, watching Everain, I felt hope.
That this world might be, just a little, warmer than I had believed.
The Duke gazed at me for a long time as I expressed joy with all my might.
“Teacher.”
The Duke, having called me thus, continued.
“I’d like to express my gratitude. Is there anything you’d like to have?”
I shook my head.
“What are you saying? This is something Everain overcame on his own. I don’t expect any reward. Besides, Your Grace has already saved me countless times in dangerous moments.”
“But you accomplished what I could not do all this while.”
“Your Grace, you know I like money. Even so, I really haven’t done anything this time, and my conscience won’t allow me to ask for anything. So truly, it’s fine.”
In the face of my stubborn refusal, the Duke finally relented. He nodded, then suddenly bowed.
“If you insist so strongly, so be it. Instead, I’ll give you something you want to hear. It doesn’t cost anything.”
“…?”
The Duke drew closer to me, as I stood bewildered.
He lowered himself and whispered near my ear.
“You’re not a bad person.”
“…”
“You haven’t done anything wrong. It’s been so long, but that was surely the best path you had then. So don’t blame yourself.”
“Ah…”
For a moment, I was dazed.
These were the words I had given to Everain. And the Duke had deliberately spoken them back to me—words I could have simply let pass.
He had already known.
In truth, everything I had said to Everain were words that my younger self had so desperately wanted to hear.
“I’m grateful just that you feed and clothe and house me. Now hurry up—aren’t you going to mop?”
“Ugh, alcohol is the enemy. If your mother hadn’t seduced him that day, we wouldn’t be stuck with such a troublesome chore.”
“What gives you the right to call yourself my sister? You’re filthy.”
Memories from childhood—hungry, painful—shook through my chest. The harsh words my own family had poured upon me, left with nowhere to turn, rippled through me like waves.
But now, thanks to the Duke’s words… those waves had grown far gentler, far more peaceful.
I forced down the sharp sting spreading across the bridge of my nose.
“…I know. It’s not my fault.”
With those words, I turned away and wiped my tears.
The Duke stared at my back before speaking abruptly.
“So it wasn’t a mistake after all.”
I turned around to face him.
“…What?”
“The first time could be a mistake. Even twice could be dismissed as coincidence. But three times is necessity.”
Slowly, the Duke took my hand and pressed it to his chest.
Thump.
Only once, but I heard it clearly.
I looked at him in surprise, and he smiled at me.
“…I—my heart…”
It was the brightest, most radiant smile I’d ever seen from him.
“It responds to your tears. Lionel Frencia.”

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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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