The Immortal Duke’s Physician Is an Internist - Chapter 48

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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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When Lili heard my request, she brought in the Head Maid Camilla as a daily instructor.
The Head Maid heard my story and burned with enthusiasm.
“Have no fear, madam. I was among the earliest members of the Embroidery Club in the Capital. No matter how clumsy a hand I work with, it’s reborn as graceful—so let us overcome this crisis through the power of love!”
“I’m counting on you!!”
Love’s power didn’t truly exist, but I resolved to manage somehow through sheer effort. It would work out somehow…! With that thought, I picked up the needle.
But a born-clumsy hand remained eternally clumsy.
The Head Maid began by encouraging me and actively teaching me embroidery technique, but as three hours passed, she grew progressively quieter.
Lili beside me tried to lift my spirits.
“Madam! It’s so much better than before. This is a dragon, yes?”
“……A squirrel…….”
“Ah……. Then this here must be a monster corpse? His Grace intended to express his desire to sweep away all monsters.”
I would have rather died than admit it was meant to be a sunflower.
The Head Maid looked at my handkerchief, now reduced to tatters, and forced her lips upward into a smile.
“Well, it’s all right. We still have time, don’t we? I’m certain His Grace will have it finished by the day he departs!”
But. And yet. As expected.
The night before the Knight Order left, I stayed awake through the entire hours and still failed to complete a handkerchief worthy of giving away.
Scraps of cloth lay scattered around me. On the floor, Camilla and Lili had collapsed before me, worn out from our joint effort.
I draped blankets over them and sank heavily into my seat.
“I should give up…….”
After all, we weren’t even a real married couple. He wouldn’t even be thinking about something like this, so I’ll just not give it to him!
Even as I rationalized it that way, I couldn’t bring myself to let it go, and I kept touching the scraps of cloth scattered across the desk.
Women who sent their lovers to war—why did they embroider handkerchiefs to give them?
It was because there existed a superstition that doing so meant the beloved would return unharmed.
And I, too, even though I knew the Duke would return safely, wanted to send something with him.
Because my wish for him not to be hurt was genuine.
“……Wait.”
Something flickered across my mind as I looked at the cloth scraps, each cut to a different size and shape.
I hurriedly pulled out my medical instruments. Forceps, a medical needle, and a needle holder—I laid them out on the desk in order, and arranged the cloth scraps in the center.
By the light of a wavering candle, I lifted both my hands.
“All right then. Beginning suturing. Time’s short, so I’ll skip anesthesia.”
It was the desperate act of an internist venturing beyond her field.
* * *
At last, the morning of the Military Expedition arrived.
Dozens of Knight Order members completed their final inspections and formed ranks.
Blassion and Everrain, standing at the very front, addressed the order.
“We depart now. We will move to Hiloa Plain first, then Warp from there…….”
“Wait, just a moment!!”
As if cutting off Blassion’s words, someone burst from the Residence’s front gates.
It was the Personal Physician, dark circles shadowing the skin beneath her eyes.
Surprised by this unexpected arrival, Blassion forgot they were in front of others and used his real form of address.
“……Teacher? What is this about?”
“Huff, huff……. Just a moment, Your Grace. I came because I have something to give you.”
The Personal Physician caught her breath for a long moment, then thrust something bundled in cloth toward him. Blassion accepted it awkwardly and tilted his head.
“What is this?”
“Ah, well. I’ve put in something for every member of the Knight Order, so please distribute them one each, and this one is for Your Grace.”
“……?”
“Whatever you do, don’t open it now. Open it when I’m not here, all right? Absolutely don’t open it now.”
“……Understood.”
“Then, safe travels!”
The Personal Physician spoke her piece hastily and turned back toward the Residence.
The knights watching her exchange glances among themselves.
“What, I thought they’d share a kiss or something since they’re newlyweds……. Not even an embrace.”
“Shh. He’ll hear.”
‘He definitely heard.’
Blassion passed the pouch he’d first received to Everrain and opened his own.
And what appeared was…….
“……A cloth?”
At first he thought she’d given him some kind of rag, but when he unfolded it, a somewhat neat square shape emerged.
What was peculiar was that it was pieced together from various fabrics sewn with thread in different colors.
“Oh…… it seems you made handkerchiefs for everyone in our Knight Order!”
Theo, the youngest of the knights, let out a cheer as he held up the cloth I’d given him. He unfurled the handkerchief with a flourish so Blassion could see it too, then explained.
“Look at this. I think you embroidered instructions for us to cut off all the monsters’ heads. I absolutely love it!”
Starting with Theo, the other knights began showing their handkerchiefs to one another.
“Mine shows a monster coughing up blood!”
“This one depicts a monster’s belly being split open. My lady, to think you’d express our valorous deeds with such delicate embroidery….”
“My lady, you truly are a wonderful person…. The Knight Order will henceforth serve you with unwavering loyalty!”
The Personal Physician had actually intended to embroider pretty flowers and little rabbits and squirrels—a fact the knights couldn’t have imagined—yet their morale soared to the heavens regardless.
Blassion turned to Everrain.
“Everrain. What do you make of this?”
Looking at Blassion’s enigmatic handkerchief, Everrain spoke as if he’d grasped something.
“That handkerchief appears to be stitched with the knot pattern used when suturing torn wounds.”
“……Wounds? Suturing?”
“Yes. It seems you possessed a remarkable talent for creating monsters. And even amidst all that, you still wanted to impart something special to the General’s handkerchief.”
Everrain spoke with complete seriousness, his expression utterly devoid of mockery.
Without a trace of irony, he genuinely admired the sheer number of monsters that had been created.
“……Something special, you say.”
“Regardless of the form, I’m deeply grateful to understand that you wish for our safe return.”
The knights had already begun securing their handkerchiefs in their own ways—tying them around their arms, fastening them to their bags—treating them as talismans.
Blassion, too, gazed at that peculiar handkerchief for a long moment before tying it around his arm.
“Everrain.”
“Yes, General.”
“Handle this expedition as swiftly as possible and return.”
“I shall obey your command.”
With that, Blassion set his horse forward.
As he took his position at the very front, he smiled without quite realizing it.
‘I ought to give her something in return when I come back.’
What does the Personal Physician like? Money, surely?
In his seven hundred years of life, this was truly the first expedition he’d ever wanted to return from so quickly.
* * *
Several days passed after the Knight Order departed.
One peaceful afternoon, Kaerun looked over the leave request and asked Lionel.
“A week’s leave…. Are you planning to go somewhere far?”
“I want to visit the Cresto Monastery. It’s a long journey, so I’ve been timing it carefully, and now that the Duke is away seems like the most appropriate moment.”
“The Cresto Monastery is famous for being extremely reclusive. I’ve heard they don’t easily accept visitors. Are you certain about this?”
Lionel was aware of that fact as well, but precisely because of it, he had to go himself.
Letters alone couldn’t tell him whether the heroine was there or not.
“That’s true. Still, I’ll try knocking on the door first. If it fails…… well, I’ll just buy you a souvenir and come back, won’t I?”
“Wow, thank you! I’ll be looking forward to it.”
With that, Lionel left the room in good spirits. Left alone, Kaerun began humming cheerfully and pulled a box of chocolate from a drawer.
“Hehe…. Now that the lady isn’t here, I can eat all of this by myself.”
He remembered the years spent eating only broccoli after being diagnosed as pre-diabetic, and felt tears prick his eyes. Just as Kaerun wiped away his tears and was about to pop a piece of chocolate into his mouth—
“Secretary! You really need to come out and see this!!”
Kaerun hastily returned the chocolate to its box and jumped to his feet.
“Picrang? What’s the matter?”
“Well, we have a visitor….”
“Didn’t I relay to the gatekeeper that no one should be admitted while the General is away?”
“Yes, we refused them, but they forced their way in anyway! And they brought armed knights with them, so there was nothing we could do!”
Armed knights?
Who would dare bring soldiers to the residence of Blassion, the Protector of the Empire? At this unsettling explanation, Kaerun asked again.
“This visitor who brought knights—what do they look like?”
“Blonde hair, blue eyes, and…… they limp.”
“……What?”
Kaerun bolted down the long corridor and burst through the reception room door.
As if he owned the Residence, Noar sat sprawled across the middle of the sofa, his gaze turning toward Kaerun.
“What is it? I keep running into the wrong people. Why doesn’t anyone ever listen?”
He spoke with exasperation in his tone.
“I’m here to collect Lionel Frencia. Bring her out at once.”

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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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