The Immortal Duke’s Physician Is an Internist - Chapter 40

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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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“If you know it so well… then you must also know how to stack the vertebrae one by one?”
I answered, as expected, with perfect composure.
“You mean I should lower my upper body while feeling each of the twenty-six vertebral bones one at a time, then raise it again. I particularly enjoy that sensation where the T12 and L1 separate.”
“W-what did you just…?”
“Which vertebra do you prefer to feel, ma’am? Oh my, I do apologize. Since you’re not a doctor, you probably didn’t understand those terms, did you? I was terribly inconsiderate.”
I knew the names of the vertebrae better than anyone—but that part about enjoying the sensation of T12 separating was pure fiction.
In my past life, I couldn’t keep up with a single Pilates class and became a charitable donor within a week.
Still, I wanted to repay the woman who’d deliberately tried to humiliate me in kind.
As expected, when unfamiliar terminology appeared, her pride was wounded—Oswald’s Wife’s face flushed a deep crimson.
“Oh, oh ho ho… It seems there’s nothing left for me to teach you. You’re simply far. too. clever.”
“My goodness, thank you for the compliment. You’re right. Now that you’ve brought up ribs and vertebrae and all, I really don’t think there’s. anything. left. to. learn. from. you.”
“Ha! Maybe you’re a doctor by lucky chance, but your manners are absolutely rotten. What kind of Duchess are you? I’m going to tell the Duke everything about your true nature right now!”
‘Wait, what? Already switching tactics?’
Wasn’t the noble society of this romance supposed to engage in more subtle backbiting and petty squabbles? Why was she in such a rush?
Either way, since she was coming at me like this, I saw no reason to maintain civility.
“Listen here, ma’am.”
I immediately shifted my weight to one leg and gave her a sidelong, contemptuous look.
“Get your head on straight. No matter what you do, your daughter will never become a Duchess.”
“M-ma’am?! More importantly, how did you—how did you know that?!”
How did I know? Because it’s in the original story.
I directed my criticism at a daughter I’d never even seen, projecting my sympathy onto her.
“Your daughter is only twelve years old, isn’t she? And you’re a woman too—do you really want to marry her off to a man old enough to be her father?”
“B-be quiet! Do you have any idea how magnificent the Karseido Ducal House is? What’s wrong with arranging a marriage based on conditions?”
Oswald’s Wife let out a sharp cry, then pulled a thick book from her bag.
“Lionel Frencia. I’m going to make you understand how utterly unfit you are for this great Karseido Ducal House.”
Before I could ask what she was doing, she produced a slip of paper tucked between the book’s pages. She waved it playfully, laughing.
“This book is a history of the Karseido Dukes—it records the birth years and achievements of all the previous lords. Of course, to become a Duchess, you must know the contents of this book inside and out…”
“So what you’re saying is, there’s a test question excerpted from this book on that piece of paper? Fine. I’ll do it.”
When I reached out without hesitation, the woman flinched slightly.
It wasn’t the image of a startled student suddenly being given a test—nothing like what she’d expected.
“You… you’re confident? All of these are essay questions, you know?”
“I welcome it. But if I get all of them right, what are you going to do? Kneel down and apologize to me?”
A smile played at the woman’s lips. Her face radiated absolute confidence.
“Fine. If you answer all these questions correctly, I’ll crawl out of this Manor on all fours. But if you get even one wrong, you step down from the position of Duchess.”
There it was—her true motive laid bare. I let out a small laugh and snatched the test paper, settling into a chair.
“Ma’am, you picked the wrong opponent.”
As if I’d give up my position as Duchess over some trivial bet like this.
‘Me, who has rewatched the original story seventeen times, memorized all the side stories, and read two hundred fan theory posts?’
I dipped my pen in ink and made my declaration to Oswald’s Wife.
“You’d better start getting ready to crawl home on all fours.”
* * *
“…Why is she crawling, exactly?”
The Duke, gazing out at the Manor’s entrance through the window, asked the question.
I gave an innocent shrug, as if I knew nothing.
“Who knows? She said she remembered an urgent matter and left, but I suppose she felt like doing a dog impression on her way out?”
……
The Duke studied me with suspicious eyes, then quickly turned his gaze to the desk.
On the desk lay the Karseido Family History Book that Oswald’s Wife had abandoned.
As the Duke picked up the thick volume and flipped through its pages, he spoke suddenly.
“This sort of book has been circulating publicly?”
“What? Wasn’t it something you had made yourself?”
“I have no interest in writing such autobiographies.”
Fair enough—it was called a history, but really it was just a record of the Duke’s own one-man show.
I crumpled the test paper I’d hidden behind my back and quietly tossed it into a corner.
I’d been worried he might spot it and ask how I came to know all the Duke’s ancestral names and deeds, but fortunately he didn’t notice.
“My lord. The etiquette instructor has left as well. Could I perhaps skip these lessons? After all, I’m a fake bride, and I think it would be enough if I just sit beside you and keep my place.”
I’d tried the same argument with Kaelrun before and been refused, but surely the Duke would agree?
But the Duke shook his head.
“It’s better to prepare thoroughly from the start so no other rumors arise. For that reason, I’d like you to become a perfectly refined noblewoman. That way, no more strange suitors will present marriage proposals.”
Of course, proclaiming “The Duke is off the market, so back off, all of you!” is one of the purposes of this funeral after all.
Something about the phrasing rubbed me the wrong way, and I narrowed my eyes.
“What does a perfect Duchess even mean? I was born a half-breed noble, remember?”
“If we’re being technical, not a drop of noble blood flows through my veins. Yet here I stand as a Duke—someone no one dares approach easily.”
The Duke strode across the room to the opposite side.
At a distance slightly removed from me, he stopped and turned to face me directly.
“I’m not asking you to change your bloodline. But a person can transform entirely through posture and presence alone—that’s what I’m asking you to cultivate.”
“So you’re saying you’ll teach me posture and presence yourself now?”
Oswald’s Wife had already excused herself, so the Duke would be my instructor directly now?
The Duke nodded at my words without hesitation.
“Gladly. This task was my responsibility from the start, after all. Let’s begin with your gait.”
A long sigh escaped me.
The teacher had simply changed. The work remained the same.
I took a deep breath and lifted my head.
The distance between us was roughly ten meters.
As I gauged the space, the Duke’s instructions came.
“Pull your shoulder blades down and back—feel that drawing sensation—straighten your spine and lift your lower back. Tuck your chin slightly, and keep your eyes forward.”
As I obeyed, my gaze landed where his two eyes waited.
His hair had turned white, unable to withstand the passage of years, yet the eyes of the Immortal still gleamed like jewels.
Embarrassed by the intensity of his gaze, I looked away—only to have his sharp rebuke fall like a whip.
“Eyes forward. Don’t drop your gaze.”
“Y-yes.”
“Stay just like that. Walk toward me slowly, thinking yourself the noblest woman in this world.”
The noblest woman? No wonder—at 720 years old, his phrasing was elegantly archaic.
I turned the word over slowly in my mind.
If I were to think of the noblest woman…
‘A princess?’
The Fallen Princess who had loved the Duke, who could not bear his death, and who had made him Immortal.
How would she have walked?
Would she have walked like this?
……
I began to move, lifting my feet slowly.
Gliding without sound, as if a petal drifting upon flowing water.
My gaze moved naturally forward, always forward—fixed only upon the path I must take.
As if every element surrounding me existed solely for my passage, I let the weight of all eyes fall upon me, receiving it wholly.
And so, gradually, I drew nearer to the Duke.
With each step that closed the distance, I felt his gaze shift and deepen.
At last I stood before him and stopped.
“…Professor.”
The Duke took my hand.
The sudden gesture made my eyes widen. He too seemed startled, yet he didn’t release my hand.
“…Have you studied this gait somewhere before?”
“No? Oh—are you saying I did it that well?”
Praise is always welcome, no matter one’s age. I looked up at the Duke with eager, hopeful eyes.
The Duke hesitated for a long moment before he spoke.
“…You were perfect. So perfect it’s almost unbelievable that you’ve never received such training before.”
Ah, my heart soars! Praise is the best!!
While I beamed, the Duke’s next words turned my blood to ice.
“It was as if someone else entirely had possessed you.”

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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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