The Terminally Ill Youngest Daughter of a Medical Dynasty Is a Genius Physician - Chapter 9

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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 9
“……?!”
It was an unexpected reaction.
‘Father always felt guilty that I’d taken on the family’s responsibilities in his stead. I was certain he’d let this pass easily enough…….’
Yeon So-taek, left speechless, bowed his head and drew a breath to compose himself.
“I expected you to acknowledge your failure to care properly for Ryeong-hwa while bound to the family’s affairs—not to hide behind excuses. Had you done so, I would have overlooked this matter.”
“Father, I—”
“Silence!”
The sharp rebuke froze the air in the inner chamber.
“I commanded you to watch over my Ryeong-hwa with particular care!”
Yeon So-taek found himself unable to speak further.
Yeon Baek-yu regarded his son with eyes gone cold and sunken.
“But the greatest problem lies elsewhere.”
Yeon Baek-yu leaned slowly forward, his gaze sharp as frost-edged blades.
“You have no idea—indeed, no interest whatsoever—in how Ryeong-hwa’s condition has improved.”
Ah.
Yeon So-taek’s pupils trembled.
He should have confirmed first why her condition had changed.
That was what he, as her attending physician, ought to have done.
“Do you know what I am before I am your father?”
The words fell low and heavy.
“A physician.”
“…….”
“And you are a physician before you are my son.”
At those words, Yeon So-taek’s face hardened. Yeon Baek-yu set down the teacup he held.
Clink.
The sound of the cup striking the saucer rang out sharper than usual.
“Yeon So-taek.”
“……Yes, Father.”
“I am removing you as Ryeong-hwa’s attending physician.”
Yeon So-taek’s face drained of all color.
“You have no right to care for her as you are now.”
Yeon So-taek’s jaw clenched hard, yet Yeon Baek-yu remained unmoved.
“Effective today, no one—not yourself—is permitted to enter Ryeong-hwa’s quarters. All attendants shall be replaced, and entry to the Byeol-dang is forbidden without my consent.”
“Father!”
At that, Yeon So-taek’s head snapped up at last, shock and fury no longer contained.
“You cannot cast me out so easily. What will the household think?”
“For disobeying the family head’s command, you deserve house confinement. I am mitigating it in consideration of your service to the family.”
Yeon Baek-yu’s voice cut like ice.
“Do you wish me to punish you as befits your transgression?”
“……No. I shall… accept your will.”
Yeon So-taek’s lips quivered.
He looked ready to pour out words, yet Yeon Baek-yu’s gaze was so stern that he could not bring himself to continue.
“Leave. I do not wish to see your face again today.”
At last, Yeon So-taek bowed his head, teeth clenched.
Though his bow remained respectful, the face that hung beneath was twisted and hideous.
* * *
“P-please… help me. It hurts so much. It… it hurts….”
I clawed at the door and wailed, though it remained firmly shut.
In my delirium, phantom images of my family flickered before me.
“Father, Grandfather, my—my brothers… Uncle, Aunt…! Don’t leave me! Ryeong-hwa is here! I’m here…!”
The tiny version of me in that vision clung to their robes.
Begging them not to leave me behind.
Yet none of them slowed their steps.
I ransacked the medicinal herbs scattered across the room, searching desperately for something to end the pain.
“I have to get better…… I have to get better…… then they’ll see me.”
My body ached too much to stand, yet with trembling hands I worked frantically at the herbs.
Tears streamed down my cheeks without warning.
“Hello, Ryeong-hwa.”
Then, all at once, a voice spoke—one that was both ominous and gentle.
When I lifted my head, I saw Jeok Yeon-hu smiling with an expression I couldn’t quite read.
Once, I’d thought that face endlessly tender.
But in an instant, it transformed into something else entirely.
“I killed your father.”
“No, no… that’s not true…!”
I screamed and thrashed, trying to tear myself away from him.
Shriek—!
But black energy surged toward me like a lie made manifest, coiling around my entire body.
“I don’t want this…!”
I bolted upright with a cry, gasping for air.
“Gasp, gasp…!”
Mercifully, I’d clawed my way free from the nightmare’s quicksand.
I pressed my palm against my chest, wiping cold sweat and tears from my face with my sleeve.
My heart, which had been racing wildly, gradually steadied.
‘This nightmare again.’
I’d grown accustomed to it by now.
Ever since I began the Regression, these nightmares had become as routine as breathing.
Knock, knock—
As I was wiping my cheeks with a dry cloth, I heard knocking at the door and the voice of a servant.
“Young mistress, the master summons you.”
So it had finally come.
In my previous life, this had never happened.
Back then, my condition had been so grave that I couldn’t even speak properly with grandfather, let alone have a real conversation.
‘This time, I must win grandfather’s heart without fail.’
I steadied my breathing, straightened my clothes with cool deliberation, and rose to my feet.
* * *
A moment later.
“Ryeong-hwa. If your body is already so unwell, why are you standing? Come, sit.”
I was now face to face with my grandfather, Yeon Baek-yu, who had come to Byeol-dang as soon as daylight broke.
According to the servant posted at the door, grandfather had visited to check on me the night before and had fallen asleep here, only to leave when he woke.
The room was so small that with grandfather’s large frame inside, it felt cramped in an instant.
I watched his expression carefully and sat across from him with proper posture, knees folded.
‘Thank goodness. Because I took the medicine beforehand, I feel well enough now.’
If I’d faced grandfather unprepared, in poor condition, I might have made a grave mistake.
“How is your body?”
Grandfather cleared his throat awkwardly before asking, almost offhandedly.
“I’m fine! My fever’s gone! My throat doesn’t hurt anymore!”
I nodded briskly and reported my condition in a childlike manner.
“And… I’m sorry for startling you so suddenly. Grandfather.”
“That’s enough.”
Grandfather pushed the medicinal bowl from the tea table toward me.
‘Hmm…?’
It was a dark-brown decoction. The familiar bitter scent pricked at my nostrils.
“Drink it. I prepared this myself from medicinal ingredients bestowed by the imperial household.”
My chest sank.
Medicine distributed by the master of the Yak-ryeong District was extraordinarily rare.
Medicine brewed from ingredients granted by the imperial household especially—even direct blood relatives could not touch it without the master’s explicit permission.
‘But why is he giving this to me?’
I, who had shaken the entire family to its roots, could hardly be a welcome presence to someone for whom the family came first.
“…But, grandfather.”
Seeing my hesitation, grandfather spoke in a measured tone.
“Are you waiting for it to cool?”
He raised an eyebrow, adding pointedly.
“That medicine will only grow more bitter once it cools. Not that it matters to me if you enjoy bitter things.”
I started in alarm and quickly steadied the bowl with both hands.
And I drank the decoction in one long gulp.
“Cough, cough!”
But I choked on it, and grandfather clicked his tongue and patted my back.
“I never told you to drink it so hurriedly!”
A sharp reprimand fell in the end.
Yet strangely, I wasn’t afraid as I had been before.
“Once you’ve finished, open your mouth.”
“I… beg your pardon?”
“Go on!”
At his urging, I opened my mouth without thinking.
Pop.
Then something sweet rolled into my mouth, smooth as a marble.
‘This taste… I know it somehow.’
“It’s a Mil-hwan.”
I startled, my eyes widening in surprise.
“Ha! Yes, Ryeong-hwa. The medicine is quite bitter, isn’t it? Try this instead.”
“What is this?”
“Mil-hwan. Grains pressed together and steeped in honey—a confection.”
A long-forgotten memory suddenly rushed back.
“An imperial specialty, at that. I went to considerable trouble to obtain it.”
Even Grandfather had found it difficult to procure.
Before my uncle seized power.
My father had given me the Mil-hwan, along with a strengthening decoction, before leaving Hyeonmu-ryeong.
It was the first and only time I’d ever tasted such a thing.
In that moment, I felt truly alive.
My father had cared for me once, however briefly—that much was certain.
Yet in the end, I became a burden to him….
He died resenting me.
Plink.
“…!”
Tears streamed down my cheeks without warning, and I was too stunned to stop them.
‘I can’t. If I cry…! No one likes a weeping child.’
I raised my hands frantically to wipe the tears away.
Swish.
But before I could, the soft touch of clean cloth brushed my cheek. To my astonishment, Grandfather was wiping away my tears himself.
When our eyes met, he jerked his hand back as though he’d touched something forbidden, his face flustered.
Grandfather clenched and unclenched his fist repeatedly, struggling with something.
Then, at last—
“…I’m sorry.”
The sudden apology left me speechless, my eyes wide with shock.

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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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