The Immortal Duke’s Physician Is an Internist - Chapter 60

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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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“G-Your Grace?”
Pinned beneath him, I thrashed for a while, but the arm holding me fast showed no sign of loosening.
After resisting a few more times, I decided to try a different approach—appeasement.
“Listen, I can’t breathe. Would you… mind getting up?”
“No.”
“We’ve been having rather a lot of unnecessary contact lately, I think. Perhaps we should exercise some restraint.”
“Why?”
The conversation was taking an odd turn. I matched his tone anyway, desperate to free myself.
“Well, there’s the matter of employer and employee, isn’t there? For now, at least.”
The Duke lifted his head, his brow furrowing slightly as if displeased.
I patted his shoulder gently. “You’re happy because I’m staying, aren’t you?”
“……Yes.”
The Duke acquiesced more readily than I’d expected. A smile tugged at my lips.
“Then just say it like that. That you’re happy I’m staying.”
The Duke nodded and opened his mouth. “Teacher, I’m glad you’ve agreed to stay. Perhaps it’s the happiest moment I’ve had in the past hundred years.”
“Wow…… Really? That’s almost embarrassing.”
“I mean it.”
Of course he meant it. Beneath this aurora, who could dare utter a lie?
So I spoke my own truth aloud.
“I promise you, Your Grace—I won’t break that promise. I will cure your illness. I’ll make sure of it.”
“Yes.”
The air around us was cold, yet it felt warm. It was the heat of our resolve: to leave the past behind and forge ahead together.
We gazed at each other for a long moment before awkwardness finally crept in. I cleared my throat and looked away.
“Well, then. Should we head back? I’ll gather the dogs.”
“Yes, let’s.”
His handsome face lingered closer than necessary, studying me. I found myself staring blankly at him.
‘Oh…… handsome.’
Aurora and a beautiful face. A combination far too perfect.
Lost in that perfection, I didn’t notice him drawing nearer.
Only when I felt his breath against my face did I startle—but by then it was too late.
‘W-w-what—?!’
And then, something soft brushed against my lips.
“Woof! Woof!!”
“Bark! Bark! Bark!!”
The sled dogs that had been bounding through the snowfield suddenly launched themselves into the air above us. For me, it was nothing short of divine intervention.
“Ahhhhh!!”
With all my strength, I shoved the Duke and the dogs away, tumbling sideways. The unprepared Duke rolled through the snow along with them.
I scrambled to my feet and shouted, “Hahaha! The dogs know it’s time to go!”
“…….”
“I’m—I’m taking the sled first!! Ahaha!! Goodness, it’s freezing! I need to grab the blanket and—and wrap it around myself!”
I quickly clambered onto the sled and wound the blanket tightly around my head. I squeezed my eyes shut and pretended not to hear anything.
Mercifully, the Duke said nothing. He gathered the dogs, prepared the sled, and set off without a word.
As we glided smoothly forward, I focused on calming my racing heart.
‘What was that? What was that? Could it be…… could it be……?’
Plot Destruction? Already? In this way?
I bit at my nails, thinking desperately.
‘I have to find the heroine. Fast. I need to bring her here……and make him fall in love with her!!’
Heroine, please. Appear. Before I become a true agent of Plot Destruction!
Still wrapped in the blanket, I found myself calling out the heroine’s name before sleep claimed me without warning.
At that moment, I had no idea when or how I would meet her—the heroine I was so desperately calling for.
* * *
“Oh my, the lady’s fallen asleep. Will you be staying the night? This room here should do nicely.”
The innkeeper led Blassion and Lionel to an empty room. Blassion gently set Lionel down on the bed.
Wrapped snugly in the blanket, Lionel slept on, oblivious to the world. Her expression seemed peaceful, at least—no trace of nightmares.
Blassion settled into the chair beside the bed. He reached out to trace her face with his fingertips, then suddenly froze, his hand pulling back near her lips.
“…….”

I must have lost my mind. What was I thinking?
This was the first time in three hundred years I’d acted on impulse like this—not since I’d signed that enlistment application drunk and angry three centuries ago.
Blassion finished washing his face and drank the water from the table. The cold liquid did nothing to ease the restlessness in his chest.
He recalled what the Mage Tower Master had said back at the Knight Order Camp.
“So Lionel’s been working hard to find a way to lift your curse?”
The abrupt question caught Blassion off guard, and his expression soured. Yet in truth, the Mage Tower Master was not someone he could treat lightly.
The man had nearly died experimenting with Forbidden Magic to break Blassion’s curse.
That was why Blassion always felt indebted to him. Not that the Master had ever said he minded.
“…Yes, she is.”
“Have you heard what sort of approach she’s planning to take?”
“My physician believes the curse originated from a pathological cause and is treating it as a medical problem. There’s been no real progress yet, but that’s the direction she’s pursuing.”
“Hmm… I see. Yes, I see.”
“What is it? Is something wrong?”
The Mage Tower Master thought for a long moment before continuing.
“I’ve been imagining what might happen to your body once the curse—or illness, rather—is lifted. A human body is designed to last perhaps a hundred years, at most. So what happens to a body that’s been moving for seven hundred and twenty years?”
The Mage Tower Master predicted that the moment Blassion’s curse was broken, his body would bear the full weight of seven hundred and twenty years all at once.
“You mean…”
Blassion slowly worked through the implication.
“If my physician cures the Immortality Disease… I’ll turn to dust on the spot.”
“Not necessarily—but the possibility is very real. Lionel will have worked so hard to find the answer, and then she’d watch you crumble to nothing before her eyes. Imagine how that would devastate her.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
The Mage Tower Master continued talking about various other matters, but Blassion barely heard any of it.
His mind was consumed with one thought alone: how could he keep her from being hurt?
“…Lionel.”
Blassion spoke the name of his sleeping physician. She merely exhaled in shallow breaths, deep in slumber.
“You didn’t leave this time, but our bond was never meant to last long. If you find the answer, I’ll die. If you don’t find it, I’ll have to leave you behind.”
For so long, he’d wanted to die. He’d been sick of everything in this world, despised it all.
So why, now, did he find himself looking forward to a future with her?
“…Lionel Frenscia.”
After all that deliberation, the conclusion was simple.
“You’re an interesting woman, that’s all.”
* * *
“Well then… shall we head back to the Mansion?”
The next morning.
After a good night’s sleep, I spoke with deliberate cheer, hoping the Duke would let yesterday’s incident rest.
Fortunately, he immediately produced a Teleportation Scroll from his pocket.
“You’ve packed everything?”
“Yes! Oh, and speaking of which…”
I closed my bag and pulled out a small paper box that had been tucked away in one corner.
It was the box Kaelen had shoved into my bag before sending me here.
“This is what Kaelen asked me to deliver to you—I’m so sorry. I’ve been so overwhelmed that I completely forgot about it.”
“He asked you to give something to me?”
The Duke opened the box with a puzzled expression.
Inside was…
“Chocolate?”
Elegant-looking chocolates were arranged neatly in the box. I stared blankly at them.
“What is this? Did Kaelen worry you’d have sugar cravings and pack these for you?”
“I’m not entirely sure what—”
The Duke paused and read the note written on the inside of the lid.
A hastily scrawled message from Kaelen. Its contents were…
[Did you like the supplies I sent?]
After reading the simple message, I understood the situation and apologized.
“Ah, so it was supplies for you after all. I’m terribly sorry for delivering them so late.”
While I was apologizing, the Duke stared at me intently. Then, as if realizing something, he slowly nodded.
“…Kaelen has grown quite a bit. Later on, I really should give him a good scolding—or actually, perhaps not.”
“…?”
I couldn’t tell if the Duke liked the chocolate or not.
Uncertain of his meaning, I didn’t press further. Instead, I took the Teleportation Scroll from him.
“So then. Shall we really head back?”
The Duke nodded, and I tore open the envelope at once.
In an instant, we were sucked into the light.

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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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