The Terminally Ill Youngest Daughter of a Medical Dynasty Is a Genius Physician - Chapter 53

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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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Chapter 53
My heart pounded hard against my ribs.
It was too early to be certain.
I couldn’t conclude they were the same poison based merely on similar symptoms.
I hurried through the rest of the record below.
The regions where the poison plant grew, the pathways of poisoning, the distinctive pulse signatures, and the medicinal materials used for detoxification—every detail.
I committed each piece to memory without missing a single thread.
‘I have to verify this.’
Tomorrow, when I check Byeok Cheong-yeon’s pulse again, I’ll know for certain.
And if the features recorded here match as well…….
‘I’ve found it.’
At last, the true identity of the poison used against Byeok Cheong-yeon.
“Yeong-hwa.”
At Father’s call, I snapped back to awareness.
“Have you finished?”
“Ah…….”
I looked down at the book in my hands.
There were still several things I wanted to verify.
Above all, I needed to compare the record I’d just discovered against my own Medical Treatment notes, line by line.
I clutched the Ancient Book tightly to my chest.
“Could I take it with me? I’d like to read a bit more.”
Father glanced briefly at the Medical Text in my arms.
He seemed to notice my expression had grown far more serious than before, but he didn’t press me for an explanation.
“Very well. But it’s late—go home and read it there.”
“Yes.”
“And don’t stay up reading it too late.”
“Of course.”
Father’s eyes narrowed, as if my answer sounded suspicious.
“You’re not planning to read through the whole night despite what you just said, are you?”
……
“Yeon Yeong-hwa.”
“Just a l-little while, I promise.”
“How little is ‘a little’?”
“……Until I get sleepy?”
“That hardly qualifies as little.”
I let my gaze slip away.
Father sighed as if he’d given up, then extended his hand.
“Let’s go.”
I looked quietly at that outstretched hand. A hand I’d never properly held before.
Always distant.
Always occupied.
A hand that had to depart somewhere, always, to heal my illness.
After a moment’s hesitation, I placed my hand gently over his.
Father said nothing, simply closing his palm around mine. His large, steady hand was far warmer than I’d expected.
Holding Father’s hand with one arm and cradling the hard-won Ancient Book against my chest with the other, I left the Library.
Ryu Jin was still waiting outside the door.
“Miss!”
The moment Ryu Jin spotted me, her face brightened—only to bow hastily when she noticed Father standing beside me.
“Branch Family Head, sir!”
“Mm.”
Father gave a brief acknowledgment.
“Sorry you had to wait so long.”
“No trouble at all! It did take a bit longer than expected, but…….”
Ryu Jin cast a quick glance at the thick Ancient Book cradled in my arms.
“Did you find what you were looking for?”
“Yes!”
I nodded vigorously, and Ryu Jin broke into a radiant smile in response.
“What a relief!”
Then Father spoke.
“I’ll take Yeong-hwa from here.”
“What?”
Byeok Cheong-yeon and I looked up at him in unison.
“I need to step out for a moment.”
“Where are you going, sir?”
“I’ll take a walk to get some air.”
Ryu Jin’s eyes widened, then she nodded as if she’d understood something.
“Oh, how nice!”
Ryu Jin smiled warmly.
“I’ve been so happy seeing how close the two of you have become lately.”
“Well then, I’ll head back ahead of you!”
She added with a knowing laugh.
“But you mustn’t stay out too late, all right? And if it gets cold, do bundle up properly!”
“I will.”
“Branch Family Head, please take good care of her!”
“Don’t worry.”
Only then did Ryu Jin’s face relax, and she turned back toward the Guest House.
I watched her fade into the distance, then took my father’s hand once more.
Yet the sentences I’d just read refused to leave my mind.
The changes in the pulse. The numbness in the right arm.
And that final notation—prolonged neglect could lead to blindness.
‘If I look again tomorrow, surely―’
“Yeong-hwa.”
“Yes?”
“Stop thinking about that book for now.”
I blinked.
“How did you know?”
“It’s written all over your face.”
I glanced down self-consciously at the Ancient Book I held against my chest.
My father exhaled softly.
“Lately, all I see when I look at you is study, study, study. You go to the Physician’s Hall in the morning, come back and pore over Medicinal Materials and Medical Texts, and now your mind is entirely consumed by treating Byeok’s condition.”
“Isn’t that only natural for a proper Physician?”
“It’s also natural for a seven-year-old child to play once in a while.”
“……”
Caught off guard, I pressed my lips shut.
My father looked down at me.
“I know you’re glad to be a Physician. I understand you want to do well by your first patient.”
His gaze traced slowly across my face.
“But that doesn’t mean you should study all day and only think about your patient.”
“I’m not even tired―!”
“I don’t believe that.”
“Why not?”
“Because you always say you’re fine, even when you’re worn out.”
“……”
It was something I’d heard many times before.
I think Ryu Jin had said something similar before I came to the Library today.
I couldn’t think of any rebuttal.
Watching me, my father smiled very softly.
He gripped my hand a little more firmly.
“Where are we going?”
My father thought for a moment, then pointed ahead with his chin.
“The Lake.”
“What? Now?”
“Why? Can’t a Physician look at the Lake at night?”
“Well, that’s not… exactly…”
“Then let’s go.”
My father didn’t wait for an answer and began walking slowly.
I found myself following along, still holding his hand.
Just beyond the path that led back to the Guest House, a broad Lake came into view.
The water’s surface, cradling starlight, rippled in deep blue-black waves. Each time the wind rose, gentle ripples shattered and glimmered, and here and there along the shore small wildflowers bloomed in the darkness.
I walked slowly along the water’s edge, my small hand clutching my father’s large one.
Walking with no particular purpose felt strangely unsettling.
I wasn’t searching for medicinal materials, attending lessons, or treating anyone.
Now that I thought about it, ever since I returned to this life, there had always been something I needed to do.
Finding a cure for the illness, earning recognition from the family, protecting Father.
And now I had to save the patient I’d taken on.
So this time spent walking without doing anything felt strange precisely because it was so unfamiliar.
“Yeong-hwa.”
Father called me suddenly.
“Yes?”
“There are so many things I wanted to do with you.”
“Like what?”
When I asked quickly, Father paused in thought, then turned his gaze toward the lake.
“Just… things like this.”
“Things like this?”
“Walking together, watching the lake.”
Father gazed at the calm water’s surface and continued.
“I wanted to spend time with you like this, without any worries.”
I couldn’t speak for a moment.
In all my repeated lives, had I ever spent time with someone for no reason at all?
Something tickled oddly in my chest.
I squeezed Father’s hand a little tighter.
“Then let’s look longer.”
“What?”
“At the lake. Up close.”
I pointed at a large rock visible ahead.
“Come over here!”
I pulled Father’s hand and drew him closer to the lake’s edge.
A flat, spacious rock sat right at the water’s edge.
I hopped onto it first and sat down.
“Sit here too, Father.”
Father looked at where I was pointing, then sat down without hesitation.
When his large frame settled beside me, the spacious rock suddenly felt cramped.
Seeing that, I burst into laughter without meaning to.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because the rock suddenly got smaller when you sat down.”
Father looked down at me in disbelief.
“So now you’re making fun of your old man, are you?”
“Ha, but it’s true?”
“Is it?”
Father suddenly lifted my waist lightly with one arm.
“Eek!”
My body flew into the air in an instant.
“Then I suppose I should reduce your space.”
“Ah, Father! Put me down!”
“You said the rock was cramped.”
“It’s not me—you’re just big!”
“What’s the difference?”
“There’s all the difference!”
When I protested, Father chuckled and gently set me back down.
I smoothed out my disheveled skirts and pouted.
“Honestly……”
“What. Wasn’t it fun?”
“……Hmph.”
“So it was fun?”
He grinned in a way that seemed utterly shameless.
I glared at Father for no good reason, then stretched my toes toward the water’s edge.
As the tip of my small shoe touched the water, a cold current rippled upward.
“Oh, it’s cold!”
I flinched and drew back, and Father’s hand quickly steadied my waist.
“Be careful. You’ll fall in.”
“I won’t fall.”
“You were just about to a moment ago.”
“I only tilted this much.”
I held up two fingers, separated by the smallest distance, and Father let out a snort of derision.
“Say that again after you’ve fallen into the lake, and we’ll see if the water agrees with you.”
“Why must you always speak that way?”
“How do you mean?”
“It’s frightening.”
“A little fear keeps you careful.”
“I’m not reckless.”
“Then who knocked over all those books in the Library?”
“That was…”
The words died in my throat once more.
Father’s lips curled upward ever so slightly.
‘I’ve been caught again!’
Stung by the unfairness of it, I thrust out my lower lip and fixed my gaze on the lake.
As I watched the rippling surface, a mischievous impulse seized me.
The moment Father’s attention drifted to the far shore, I cupped my palm and scooped up a handful of water.
And then—
Splash!
I flung it straight at him.

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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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