The Terminally Ill Youngest Daughter of a Medical Dynasty Is a Genius Physician - Chapter 17

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 17
“I’ll come back in a moment.”
The door closed, and silence settled over the room once more.
I stared quietly at the place where my father had vanished.
“Ah…….”
Plop.
A single lukewarm tear rolled down my cheek.
The deepest knot in my heart, the greatest wound I carried.
All the guilt, fear, and sorrow that I could never shake off even through countless deaths flowed out with that tear.
I had been staring blankly into empty air for who knows how long.
Belatedly, my head began to throb.
‘Still, I don’t want to show him that I’m in pain.’
My father’s words still echoed in my ears.
Yet the fear I had harbored for so long did not fade easily.
‘He went to such lengths to send me medicine. If I still look like I’m suffering…… he’ll worry.’
I hurriedly retrieved a Medicinal Pill and a needle.
Gulp.
After swallowing the pill, I adeptly inserted the needle into my own body.
A moment later, my ragged breathing gradually steadied.
That was when it happened.
Tap.
Tap-tap.
I turned my head at the soft sound of something tapping against the window.
“……Otter?”
Perched on the windowsill was a single otter, its tail-tip white.
‘Why on earth is the otter here……?’
I jumped up in surprise and flung the window open.
“You’re…… the one I treated before……?”
The shape of its face, the slightly plump belly, the faintly white tail-tip.
It was definitely the same otter I had once accidentally healed.
“Squeee!”
The creature dropped a bundle of papers it had been carrying in its mouth onto my palm, then let out a bright, cheerful cry as if to say it had been waiting for this moment.
I asked with a bewildered expression.
“What is…… this?”
At that instant.
-Such a good smell! It smelled so good I brought it to you!
“……!”
I froze completely.
Wait, what did I just…… hear.
“……What?”
The otter tilted its head, then wagged its tail again.
-It was going into the fire, so I hurried and grabbed it! It smelled so good I didn’t want to lose it! We have to give it to our sick baby!
“…….”
My heart began to race violently.
I slowly regarded the otter.
It was doing nothing but making its usual “squeek, squeek” sounds.
Yet those words rang through my mind with absolute clarity.
‘Could it be…… that last time wasn’t a mistake either?’
Back then, I had thought I’d misheard.
But this time there was no room for doubt.
‘Have I…… become able to understand a Spirit Beast’s words?’
I couldn’t believe it.
I asked in a trembling voice.
“Did you…… bring this?”
-Yes! It was about to burn, so I snatched it quick!
“……About to burn?”
-Fire! Blazing! So I grabbed it and ran away!
I hastily picked up the bundle of papers the otter had dropped.
It was a thick Bundle of Documents bound tightly with cord.
The moment I carefully untied the knot and examined the paper on top, my breath caught in my throat.
“……This……”
The handwriting was unmistakable.
I knew it at a glance.
It was Father’s hand.
But Otter was beside me, sniffing at the Bundle of Documents, pushing his nose into it insistently.
-Good herb smell! A scent I’ve never caught before! Incredibly rare!
Only then did I understand.
Father had always sent precious medicinal materials along with his letters.
Hoping I would recover as quickly as possible.
And Otter, following the scent of those herbs, had found the letter that nearly vanished into the flames.
Though it was a letter that, in all those years, had never once reached me.
“……So that’s what happened.”
The tears I’d been holding back finally fell, one quiet drop onto the letter.
“……Miss!”
Then suddenly an urgent voice came from beyond the door.
“Ryu Jin?”
Her tone, so unlike her usual manner, sent a chill down my spine.
I yanked open the sliding door.
“What’s happened?!”
Ryu Jin spoke through gasping breaths.
“It’s just that, the Master has……!”
At her next words, I shot to my feet.
* * *
Tap-tap-tap-tap-.
“The Master searched through Yeon So-taek’s quarters! And now all the physicians have been summoned!”
The moment I heard Ryu Jin’s words, there was no time to think—I bolted down the corridor.
Fortunately, the medicine had done its work; my body felt considerably stronger than moments before.
My skirts tangled around my legs and my breath came sharp to my throat, but I couldn’t stop.
“Miss, you mustn’t run like that!”
Ryu Jin hurried after me, urging me to slow down.
As I drew closer to the quarters, the sound of voices grew louder.
When I reached the doorway at last.
I stopped short at the sight before me.
Inside the broad Saranghae, Grandfather and all the physicians of the house had been gathered.
At the center stood Father.
And before him…….
‘What?’
My eyes widened.
‘Uncle……?’
Yeon So-taek lay sprawled on the floor, covered in blood.
‘Oh, oh no——’
I stood frozen for a moment, then spun to survey my surroundings.
‘I have to hide!’
I quickly slipped behind a nearby pillar.
If Father knew I was here, he would send me straight back to my quarters.
‘I can’t let that happen. I need to know what’s going on.’
I held my breath behind the pillar and observed the scene.
Bruises, dark and livid, marked Uncle’s lips and the corners of his eyes where he lay on the floor, and his robes hung torn, stained with dirt and blood.
Gone was any pretense of his usual dignity and refinement.
Step.
Father moved forward another pace toward him.
In one hand he held a thick Bundle of Documents; the other was swollen and red, as if he had just been throwing punches.
Yet his expression remained utterly composed.
If anything, he was so unnervingly calm and cold that it sent shivers through me.
“Yeon Baekgang!”
Grandfather, witnessing the scene, let out a furious roar.
“What in heaven’s name is this! Violence in Yakryeong-ga!”
Every eye in the room fixed on Father.
But Father didn’t blink once, answering in a low, measured voice.
“It was all done for the sake of Yakryeong-ga.”
Father rotated his stiff shoulders with a sharp motion, then smiled coldly.
“To heal a diseased family, you must first cut away the most rotten member.”
“What do you mean? What has So-taek done to warrant such severity?”
Father withdrew a record book from his sleeve and held it aloft.
“This record documents a patient who died as a result of So-taek’s misdiagnosis.”
The hall fell silent.
“The details of how this fact was concealed remain intact within these pages.”
Father smiled with glacial precision and set the record book on the table where all could see it.
Grandfather gestured, and the senior physician nearest to him seized the book with trembling hands, flipping through the pages.
His face drained of color in an instant.
“I—yes, it’s true. It’s all true!”
“But there is more.”
Father continued with icy composure.
“While Grandfather and I were away from the family, So-taek delegated all treatment to the physicians under his care and did nothing but idle away his days. Even the cases he personally oversaw were riddled with misdiagnoses.”
“That’s a lie——!”
Yeon So-taek cried out, his face drained white.
“The documents are forged!”
Blood-tinged spittle sprayed across the floor.
“Forgery is too complicated for me. Now, beating someone senseless——that I can manage.”
Father shrugged with casual indifference and gestured behind him.
Gu Seol-pyeong, Father’s trusted aide and a formidable martial expert, moved forward with his men.
The crowd parted, and someone was dragged forth.
It was Yu Jin-bok, the head steward of the inner quarters.
His face was grotesquely bruised and swollen—it was clear he had been beaten mercilessly.
The moment his knees hit the floor, his forehead struck the ground in prostration.
“I—I have committed crimes worthy of death! Please, I beg you, spare my life! I will confess everything!”
His anguished voice drew every eye in the hall.
Father smiled coldly.
“Beat them badly enough, and they’ll tell you everything.”
Yeon So-taek shut his eyes tightly in desperation, then opened them again.
“It’s all lies! And the Family Law of Yakryeong-ga is stern—you cannot wield violence like this and search through my personal coffers at will!”
“Had you stopped there, I might not have gone this far.”
Father’s eyes grew colder still as he looked down at him.
“So-taek intercepted the letters that she and I exchanged with each other.”
The hall erupted in agitation.
Yeon So-taek clenched his teeth and shouted.
“Do you have proof?”
……
“Bring me even one piece! Even one!”
Yeon So-taek’s voice rose as if he had found a lifeline.
“Don’t you see? You’re making false accusations against me without a shred of evidence!”
“That’s right!”
Just then, Yeon Do-pyeong, who had been standing in the back, rushed forward urgently.
“Father could never have done such a thing!”
Immediately after, Geum Su-ryeon spoke out, her eyes glistening with tears.
“Master!”
She turned to Yeon Baekgang with a trembling voice.
“While you were away at war, my husband worked tirelessly day and night to protect Yakryeong-ga! The very fact that Yakryeong-ga has not crumbled surely proves his devotion——surely you cannot deny the weight of his labors!”
“She’s right. To make such groundless accusations against Father is too much, isn’t it?”
The hall grew restless again.
Several physicians exchanged glances and whispered among themselves in low voices.
“Without evidence……”
“It would be difficult to punish him under the Family Law.”
“If the misdiagnosis and concealment are proven true, he could lose his medical credentials, but exile from the family——that would be too severe……”
“There’s nothing substantiated regarding the letters.”
Hope began to bloom on Yeon So-taek’s rigid face.
Yes.
He had anticipated this and burned every letter.
The misdiagnosis and concealment might need to be addressed somehow, but at least the fact that he had intercepted the letters could not be proven.
If he could just weather that storm, there was still a way forward.
“I have evidence.”
But then.
A clear, crisp voice cut through the hall.
In an instant, every gaze pivoted toward a single point.
I stepped slowly from behind the pillar into view.
“Ryeong-hwa!”
Father’s eyes widened in shock.
“You—what are you doing here…!”
I did not answer.
Instead, I withdrew a bundle of documents carefully from my sleeve.
A thick bundle, its edges blackened and singed.
Cradling it in both palms, I walked forward slowly.
“This is the evidence!”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————