The Terminally Ill Youngest Daughter of a Medical Dynasty Is a Genius Physician - Chapter 11

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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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Episode 11
“What is it?”
I fell silent for a moment, then squeezed my eyes shut and cried out.
“I want to go outside the family compound!”
“……What?”
Grandfather blinked.
“Outside the compound? Do you mean the marketplace?”
“Yes!”
I nodded vigorously.
“I’ve never been outside Yak-ryeongga before.”
Fearing he would immediately refuse, I rushed on without catching my breath.
“I, I mean! I heard there’s a Medicinal Materials Street run by Yak-ryeongga. It’s supposed to be huge, with so many people and all sorts of herbs and……”
I cautiously studied Grandfather’s expression.
“I’d really like to see it there too……”
I’d used a trip to the marketplace as my excuse, like a child would, but of course my true purpose lay elsewhere.
‘I need to get good medicinal materials as soon as possible and finish the medicine.’
The Central Medicinal Storage of Yak-ryeongga was a place no one but a licensed physician could access.
But the Medicinal Materials Street operated by Yak-ryeongga was a different matter entirely.
Since it was where medicinal materials distributed by the family gathered, the likelihood of finding the materials I needed was far greater.
“And……”
I quickly added another point.
“I heard the marketplace has all sorts of delicious sweets like these!”
I held up the Honey Candy I’d been carrying.
“I’d like to try them! Just this once. Yes?”
At my earnest plea, Grandfather fell silent for a moment.
Tapping his knee lightly with a wrinkled finger, he deliberated before finally speaking.
“Then will you go with me?”
“What?”
At his completely unexpected reply, I nearly jumped to my feet.
Grandfather raised his eyebrows.
“Why are you so surprised?”
“Oh, no!”
“Do you dislike the idea?”
“It’s, it’s not that.”
Cold sweat trickled down the back of my neck.
Having Grandfather come along would be disastrous.
He would certainly grow suspicious the moment I started selecting medicinal materials.
I racked my brain desperately and seized upon an excuse that barely came to me.
“It’s, that is……”
“Hmm?”
“I, I want to buy a return gift for Grandfather. So I can’t go with you!”
The moment I finished speaking, silence fell.
“……”
“……”
I looked up at Grandfather, tense with anxiety.
It didn’t seem like he would fall for such a flimsy excuse, but right now it was my best option.
And yet.
“Heh.”
Grandfather drew in a short breath. Then the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
“Heh-heh.”
Then he suddenly burst into hearty laughter.
“Heh-heh-heh!”
I was bewildered.
“G, Grandfather?”
Grandfather cleared his throat once and barely composed his expression.
“Yes. So you’ll buy me a gift.”
“……Yes.”
But his twitching mouth corners remained unguarded.
What could possibly be so amusing? I could hardly believe this was the same solemn man from moments before.
Grandfather looked at me with suddenly warm eyes and spoke.
“How could I refuse, when my granddaughter thinks so highly of me?”
“…….”
“Very well. Go, then. But you must take Heo Jin Byeok with you—I insist on it. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Grandfather. I understand.”
Permission granted, yet an uneasy feeling settled over me nonetheless.
‘I think I’ve made Grandfather’s expectations far too high.’
“Good. Is there anything else you require?”
Whether or not he sensed my anxiety, Grandfather asked the question with a pleased smile.
“Anything else?”
I blinked, caught off guard.
There were certainly things I wanted, but I had meant to withdraw for now, thinking I’d pushed my luck far enough.
“Why such surprise? I have already received a precious medicine from you, and I am to receive a gift besides. How could I deny you anything?”
Ah, that’s right.
At Yak-ryeongga, there was a custom: whenever one received a precious medicine as a gift, a reciprocal gift of equal worth was expected in return.
‘Grandfather truly is a man of principle.’
I seized the opportunity without hesitation.
“Well, in that case…….”
A face appeared clearly in my mind’s eye.
Someone I had never forgotten, even through all my regressions.
“There is someone I wish to find.”
I had to meet her.
* * *
The quarters behind the Inner Servants’ Quarters, where the servants dwelled, were far damper and more cramped than the Separate Pavilion.
Though the sun had not yet set, a dim gloom hung in the hallway within.
“Please, come inside.”
“Mm.”
I proceeded toward the Inner Servants’ Quarters with Heo Jin Byeok at my side.
“I shall wait here and fetch the head servant for you. If you tell me the name or description of the servant you seek, I will bring them at once.”
Heo Jin Byeok spoke quietly, but I shook my head.
“There’s no need. I think I know where to find them.”
I walked past him and stopped before a shabby door.
Dull sounds were coming from within.
Thwack!
“You foundling with no roots—how dare you open your eyes so wide and forget your place?”
“I told you to stop talking like that!”
My spine went cold.
Without hesitation, I shoved the door open.
Crash!
The servants inside spun around in alarm.
In one corner of the room lay a small girl, sprawled on the floor.
Her black hair, cut short, was tangled and hung partly across her face, and her thin shoulders looked as though they might snap at any moment.
She could not have been more than thirteen.
Smaller than other children her age, her hands and arms were covered with fine scars.
Even as she curled beneath the blows, she gritted her teeth, refusing to cry—and in that stubborn determination lay a sharpness that could not easily be broken.
She looked like a wary, wild creature.
‘Thank goodness. This time, I found her quickly.’
Her name was Ryu Jin.
Made an orphan by war when she was barely an infant, Ryu Jin had wandered the slums until my father discovered her and brought her into Yak-ryeongga.
Yet because she was an orphan of unknown origin, she suffered every manner of discrimination and cruelty among the servants.
One day, Ryu Jin learned what sort of treatment I received within the household.
And when she tried to tell my father about it, she was cast out of Yak-ryeongga instead.
With no path forward, Ryu Jin went to the Front Lines.
Unprotected and friendless, she was thrown into the most perilous retreats. She barely survived, but returned with a grave internal injury to her right leg.
She could still lift a blade, but no longer fight as she once had.
And yet, in the end, she came back—back to Yak-ryeongga.
“……I am sorry. I should have protected you.”
A year before my father passed.
She came to find me, unknowing as I was, and from that moment on, she stayed at my side, serving me faithfully and in silence.
It was the first time.
The first time someone had endured such tragedy because of me, and still chose to protect me with tender care.
If I returned to the past, this time I was resolved to keep her as mine from the very beginning, to protect her no matter what—just as she had tried to protect me.
Just as she had tried to protect me.
“What in the world are you doing?”
Heo Jin Byeok stepped forward, his voice sharp with authority as he took in the scene.
The servants only then recognized who we were, and scrambled backward in alarm.
With them gone, Ryu Jin’s form on the ground lay fully revealed.
“My lady—is this the girl?”
“Yes. That’s her.”
I nodded slowly, my eyes never leaving Ryu Jin.
“Heo Jin Byeok.”
“Yes.”
“Question every servant who was here. Find out who laid hands on this child, how often this has happened—I want nothing overlooked.”
My command drained the color from the servants’ faces.
Once I’d set Heo Jin Byeok to the task, I moved toward Ryu Jin.
Hearing my footsteps, she lifted her head slowly.
Eyes long and fierce as a cat’s.
A face that would not cry, would not cling—only stare in shock, as if witnessing something beyond comprehension.
Her lips bore the marks of where they’d split, and her cheeks were swollen crimson.
Beneath the thin fabric of her sleeves, her shoulders and wrists showed a patchwork of old bruises and fresh wounds.
Seeing her like this, something in my chest tightened with a sharp, hollow ache.
That she had tried to save me—while bearing all of this.
The weight of that truth struck me anew.
I crouched down slowly before her.
“……Ryu Jin.”
Her pupils trembled, barely perceptibly.
Up close, it was even more heartbreaking.
Not just the wounds—but far worse was the expression of someone already accustomed to everything.
A face that said being struck was nothing surprising.
Without a word, I undid the fastenings of my outer robe and carefully draped it over her shoulders.
Her small frame trembled, and the gesture made her stiffen.
Suddenly I recalled the moment at the funeral—when I had collapsed alone in grief, and Ryu Jin had removed her own outer robe and placed it over me.
“My lady, the wind is cold,” she had said.
I spoke now in a voice very small, but utterly clear.
“I’m sorry I was late.”
Ryu Jin looked up at me.
“Come with me. Let’s go together.”
As I offered my hand, her small fingers—rough and scarred—reached out hesitantly, warily taking mine.

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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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