The Terminally Ill Youngest Daughter of a Medical Dynasty Is a Genius Physician - 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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Episode 40
Yeon Baek-yu studied his daughter for a long moment before speaking, his words measured and deliberate.
“It’s been quite some time.”
……
“You’ve carried a heavy burden.”
The words were few, yet they held weight.
Within them lay a father’s quiet acknowledgment of all the months his daughter had remained at the Imperial Court, tending to the afflicted.
Yeon Do-hwa seemed to understand his meaning; a faint smile crossed her lips.
“You’re kind to say so. I’ve simply continued the work you began.”
“Since my return, you must have endured much.”
“As have you, Father.”
Yeon Do-hwa let her gaze linger on his face.
“While you were at the Imperial Court, there were nights you didn’t sleep properly for days.”
“There’s no need to dwell on what’s past.”
“But it isn’t past—that’s why I speak of it.”
Her voice softened slightly.
“The prescription you last adjusted did show promise at first.”
Something shifted in Yeon Baek-yu’s eyes.
“How long did the effect last?”
“About ten days.”
“Ten days……”
“After that, the symptoms began to worsen again.”
Silence settled over the room.
During their time at the Imperial Court, Yeon Baek-yu and Yeon Do-hwa had spent countless nights wrestling with the same patient’s suffering.
They knew better than anyone how many prescriptions they’d altered, how many methods they’d attempted.
Yeon Do-hwa drew a sealed Bamboo Slip from her sleeve, its surface etched with the Imperial Court’s emblem, and placed it on the desk.
“His Majesty sent this confidential message.”
Yeon Baek-yu broke the seal without a word.
As he unrolled the Bamboo Slip and read, his brow furrowed deeper with each line.
When he finished, he set it down and exhaled slowly.
“The royal family’s condition has deteriorated further.”
“Yes.”
“White Tiger’s Rampage Disease?”
Yeon Do-hwa hesitated before answering. In that brief silence lay all the confirmation needed.
“It’s accelerating.”
Yeon Baek-yu’s expression grew grave.
White Tiger’s Rampage Disease.
A Divine Beast’s power dwelling within the royal bloodline, inexplicably spiraling into chaos—a sickness beyond understanding.
It begins as subtle irregularities, but as time passes, reason crumbles and the body itself fails.
Even the healing arts accumulated by the Yak-ryeong-ga over centuries had not yet revealed its true cause.
This knowledge was guarded with absolute secrecy.
Only a handful within the Yak-ryeong-ga knew of it.
Yeon Baek-yu and Yeon Do-hwa had searched long for a cure, yet all they had managed was to slow its advance.
“The Acupuncture Method?”
“I’ve tried every technique you left behind.”
Yeon Do-hwa hesitated before continuing.
“But there is something… unusual.”
“What is it?”
“At first, I thought the Divine Beast’s power was simply weakening.”
Yeon Baek-yu turned his full attention to his daughter.
“But the longer I observed the patients, the more I realized it’s something else.”
“Something else?”
“It’s not so much a weakening as it is……”
Yeon Do-hwa chose her words carefully.
“Rather, it seems distorted. Twisted out of alignment.”
Yeon Baek-yu’s frown deepened.
He too had felt that same sense of wrongness during his time at the Imperial Court, more than once.
But what was causing it, or why the Divine Beast’s power had been warped this way, remained beyond his understanding.
“Have you found the source?”
“Not yet.”
Yeon Do-hwa shook her head.
“That is why His Majesty has grown impatient, it seems.”
She gazed at the bamboo slip on the desk.
“Since conventional medicine cannot uncover the cause, he has ordered that all other records be examined as well.”
Yeon Baek-yu’s eyes narrowed.
“Other records?”
Yeon Do-hwa did not answer at once.
In that brief hesitation, Yeon Baek-yu saw everything he needed to see.
Color drained from his face, slow and deliberate.
“……Surely not.”
“Father.”
“You cannot mean the Forbidden Records Archive.”
Yeon Do-hwa remained silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.
“Yes.”
In that instant, Yeon Baek-yu’s expression hardened completely.
“Surely His Majesty knows what lies within those walls.”
“He does know.”
“And yet?”
Yeon Do-hwa answered quietly.
“He says that if Medicine cannot solve this, we must seek clues even in forbidden records.”
Yeon Baek-yu said nothing for a long while.
At last, a low voice emerged between his lips.
“……You mean to revisit the Forbidden Arts.”
“…….”
Yeon Do-hwa could not answer.
Bang—!
Yeon Baek-yu’s hand crashed down hard against the desk.
The inkstone shuddered violently, and ink sloshed across its rim.
“Absolutely not.”
Ragged breathing echoed through the office.
“Father.”
“Does His Majesty not know what became of our house because of that business?”
Yeon Baek-yu’s voice rose for the first time. Yeon Do-hwa watched him without speaking.
“The Yak-ryeong-ga nearly faced clan extermination for the mere fact of using the Forbidden Arts.”
Yeon Baek-yu’s hands clenched into fists.
“We cast out our own kinsmen with our own hands, and took their lives in payment for their crimes.”
Old memories seemed to pass before his eyes like shadows.
The fear that had spread throughout every corner of the clan.
People dragged away in a single dawn.
Hours when they were forced to prove each other’s guilt merely to survive.
“Only after spilling that blood did we manage to preserve the clan at all.”
Yeon Baek-yu gritted his teeth.
“And now you speak of opening that taboo once more?”
His face held not only anger.
Fear was etched clearly there—a fear that such horrors must never be repeated.
Yeon Do-hwa’s expression grew heavier as well.
“I know.”
She spoke quietly.
“I have never forgotten what happened that day.”
Yeon Baek-yu’s ragged breathing eased, just slightly.
“That is precisely why conveying this message to you was not an easy thing.”
Yeon Do-hwa chose her words carefully, then added softly:
“When I first received His Majesty’s command, I harbored the same thought.”
“…….”
“That the Yak-ryeong-ga must never again shed blood because of the Forbidden Arts.”
Yeon Baek-yu looked at his daughter.
A heavy silence settled between them.
It was a silence only those who had lived through that day together could truly understand.
After a time, Yeon Baek-yu drew a long, measured breath.
“Then convey to His Majesty my acceptance.”
His voice remained firm and resolute.
“As long as I draw breath, the Yak-ryeong-ga will not touch the Forbidden Arts.”
Yeon Do-hwa lowered her gaze for a moment.
“…Yes.”
But she added carefully a moment later.
“Still, I fear the condition of the Imperial family will not hold much longer.”
Yeon Baek-yu’s expression grew heavy again.
“I’m not without the desire to grasp at any other method if one existed.”
Yeon Do-hwa continued in a measured tone.
“But if doing so would only plunge the Yak-ryeong-ga into that same hell once more…I cannot wish for it either.”
The rigid set of Yeon Baek-yu’s face softened ever so slightly.
“You’re right.”
He spoke quietly.
“The desire to save a life does not absolve all deeds.”
Yeon Do-hwa bowed her head.
“I shall remember this.”
* * *
The day my first class at the Healer’s Hall was to begin.
I woke far earlier than usual.
Beyond the window, dawn still hung in shades of pale gray, yet my mind burned with unusual clarity.
Beside my bed lay the Physician’s Robe and Physician’s Medallion I had checked countless times since last night, arranged with care.
I donned the pristine white garments carefully, then fastened the Physician’s Medallion to my belt.
Click.
The small jade pendant struck my waist with a crisp, clean sound.
This was the first day I would attend lessons as a formal Healer.
‘At last it begins.’
I would no longer have to steal glances at the Yak-ryeong-ga’s texts.
I need not scavenge discarded prescriptions and spend sleepless nights memorizing them.
In this life, I could sit openly in my seat and study the Healing Art.
That truth alone made my chest swell.
“Young miss, are you all ready?”
At the sound of Ryu Jin’s voice from beyond the door, I quickly gathered my Medicine Notebook and brush.
“Yes. Let’s go!”
As I stepped out from the Separate Residence, crisp morning air brushed my cheeks.
The Healer’s Hall was a sprawling pavilion situated to the east of the Main Hall.
It held several lecture rooms, practice chambers, and a small medicinal herb storage—the very place where the Healer’s disciples of the Yak-ryeong-ga came to study the Healing Art.
As I approached the pavilion entrance, dozens of Healers were already gathered in small clusters.

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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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