I couldn’t hide my expression at that moment. If only the Duchess had taken the right medication in the beginning.
There was a moment of silence between us. I was the one who started to move towards her.
I calmly rearranged some herbs at the table and handed them to the Duchess before sitting down in front of her.
“That blood….., madam kept it a secret all this time, am I right?”
The Duchess did not answer my question.
If the Duchess hadn’t waited for me patiently or if I had knocked on the door, I probably wouldn’t notice her condition. The madam also would hide the blood on the handkerchief while acting calm.
“Why did you hide this, madam?”
Six years later, the Duchess will die. Also, this might be a clue about the Duchess’ peculiar death.
“If you hide these symptoms, the doctor can’t prescribe the medication properly.”
“I know……”
The Duchess sighed.
I glanced at the handkerchief that had been stained by her blood with sad eyes. Perhaps, no one in the Duchy is aware of her condition.
“Perelman wanted to quit seven years ago.”
“……”
“It was when my husband began to cough blood…… The doctor said the blood clots were very serious, so the doctor should always stay with him.”
“Indeed.”
“But he….., he said it was hard to stay because he had to find his daughter. So I decided to change the Duke’s doctor, and then……”
The Duke died.
“If I say that I have the same symptoms as my late husband. Perelman would leave because of the same reason.”
The Duchess said calmly.
“But, madam!”
“Erhan is more important than me. He is the only heir of the Casseus.”
This was the reason that the Duchess hid her sickness. She was afraid that if the doctor changed, Erhan might die too.
“I don’t care if I die. All I want is for my child to inherit his rightful title.”
However, we had been giving the Duchess the wrong prescription because of her fake symptoms.
“Erhan will be safe if Perelman stays as his doctor. He saved my son from death several times already.”
“However……” I sighed deeply. “I’m glad I found out about your illness, madam.”
“……are you going to tell Perelman?”
“No, I am not.”
I know how heroic and stubborn he is to go so far just for his daughter.
I thought I could understand the Duchess, so I said to her, “I’ll just give you the right prescription for now.”
“……thank you.”
“I’m a pretty good doctor, too. In some ways, I am better than him.”
“That….., that’s right.” The Duchess smiled gently. “You’re quite reliable.”
“The prescription will be a little complicated. It’s going to be completely different.”
“……”
“There are many causes for haematemesis[1]. It is difficult to prescribe accurately because we haven’t done any analysis for now.”[1] Vomiting blood.
I took her handkerchief.
“I’ll take this to analyze more.”
I was going to analyze the components inside the blood cells to find out the cause.
If I find the cause, the Duchess might not die.
Perhaps Perelman gave the Duchess the same prescription for six years later.
“Lise, this is someone else’s blood. Are you okay?”
“It’s a part of my job to see blood. And now that I have a lab……”
My words made the Duchess frown.
“Yeah……, you already have you rown laboratory.”
“I heard that you allowed them to build my lab in the greenhouse because of the herbal plants. Thank you for your generosity, madam.”
“How can I not allow you to use it?” The Duchess asked softly. “It wasn’t just for Perelman that I allowed it. It was for you.”
“Th-thank you.”
“……I’m sure Perelman said he’d make his assistant work hard, right?”
“Yes, he bought me all kinds of equipment today.”
I answered lightly, but the Duchess’ eyes narrowed.
“……”
She bit her lip for a moment and mumbled, “I’m sure he threw away his money carelessly. The only thing the top official Perelman has is money.”
Objectively speaking, it is the same for the madam since she ordered a lot of dresses for me.
But I put the subject aside, and as a doctor, I said, “Anyway…… madam must never hide your sickness from me in the future.” I held her hand and said desperately, “Even the smallest symptom. I’m different from Sir Perelman, so I will not leave you.”
“……really?”
“Yes, where else would I go when I’m still this young? I don’t even have a family.”
In fact, I had no intention of leaving here until six years later. It is when Erhan and I became an adult.
If Erhan is safe after inheriting his title, I will save the Duchess too.
The Duchess coughed slightly and answered me with hopeful eyes.
“Yes, I understand.”
Suddenly, her deep and black glistened eyes reminded me of Erhan.
***
“So now I’m going to attack on the left.”
It has been ten days since Erhan has taken sword lessons from Zikel.
Zikel doesn’t look down on Erhan just because he is a minor. Erhan also trains hard in the morning without complaining.
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Zikel and Joaquin say he has a pretty good talent.
After seven years of being brainwashed by Frederick, he couldn’t believe their praise, but even so, he didn’t stop his training.
Whenever he felt weak, he thought of Lise and Diel.
These days, the two of them had spent quite a bit of time together because of Lise’s new lab.
There was a lot to discuss with each other, from interior design to organizing medical equipment.
When Erhan saw Diel and Lise together, he felt a strange anger welling up inside of him.
He wanted to send Diel away, but that person seemed to be an important adviser to Lise.
Erhan’s self-esteem wasn’t high and he didn’t have the confidence to say anything against Diel.
So he trained hard with Zikel and was determined to become an adult soon.
“Oh!”
Zikel told him that he was going to attack on the left but being mischievous, Zikel went on Erhan on from the right. The wooden sword fell miserably on the ground.
He shrugged when Erhan stared at him in disbelief.
“Life is cruel, Master Erhan.”
“I’m sure it’s you.”
“Are you going to believe everything I say? Many people deceive each other for various purposes.”
Zikel said firmly while looking at Erhan’s face which had an unfair expression.
“You have to be careful. You shouldn’t believe everything other people say.”
“But Lise won’t lie and I believe everything she says……”
“That’s the virtue of a doctor.”
Zikel answered slyly.
“Doctors shouldn’t lie, of course. And they should be trusted by their patients. But people are different. Some of them can be pretentious and manipulate others for their own benefit.”
“……”
“And I am not a doctor, Master.”
Erhan felt like he was going to burst. But there was no answer coming from him.
“Everyone can lie to you, Master Erhan. Keep that in mind.”
“But not Lise.”
“It is because she’s a doctor. I’m talking about other people.”
Zikel bent down and made eye contact with Erhan while raising his voice in a low tone.
“And you have to be able to deceive them so no one can lie to you.”
“……but I’m not a doctor?”
“Yes, that’s right. You should know how to hide your emotions. You have to take more initiative to deal with other people. There are times when you need to deceive others. Because you will become our ruler.”
Erhan nodded slowly.
Zikel grinned and handed him the sword that had fallen.
“When you reach adulthood, you will have a lot more to wish for.”
When the word ‘wish’ came to mind, Erhan suddenly thought of Lise’s face. He was very happy to spend time with Lise now.
“Every time you experience that, you have to do everything you can, understand?”
“Alright.”
Erhan nodded.
“It’s similar to when I lied to you that I said I’ll attack at your left.”
“But, I don’t want to lie to you……” Erhan sighed and murmured, “I shall not forget that I have to practice everything I can. Also, I will not be too honest.”
“Yes, even if it’s not swordsmanship, you should be a schemer from now on.”
Zikel smiled as if he liked Erhan’s fierce gaze. The boy picked up the sword again.
“Sure, I won’t forget.”
“Okay, once again……”
“Oh.”
Erhan blinked because something came to his mind.
“I might be a little late for training in a week starting from tomorrow.”
“Sorry? May I ask why?”
‘Uncle Roman and Frederick.’
A few days ago, he received a letter from Frederick.
In the past, he would have waited for Frederick to come from time to time, but Erhan definitely forgot that it was actually time for his cousin to come.
He thought that Frederick didn’t have to come because he wanted everything to remain the same.
He was busy training in the morning, and in the afternoon he studied with his tutor or read books with Lise.
And as a habit, he ate dinner with Lise and fell asleep early.
Erhan felt much more relaxed and better than he was with Frederick.
But Frederick was the only person he was with when Erhan was left alone.
‘I shouldn’t be bothered just because I was busy these days.’
Come to think of it, since Lise came during Frederick’s visit last time, Erhan had been together with Lise for a month.
“Oh, is it like what I thought?”
Zikel scratched the back of his head.
Baron Ishid and Frederick are regular visitors to the Duchy.
“Well, come to think of it, I haven’t seen them for quite a while…… Oh my God!”
Before Zikel knew it, Erhan’s sword struck his neck.
Erhan smiled and said, “I’m a pretty quick learner, aren’t I?”
At that moment, Zikel was suppressed as his anxiety increased.
“Hahaha……”
He had no idea that this skinny little kid would learn his tricks so well and quickly, crap.
I can’t believe he is such a talented actor.
“Like this is fine, isn’t it?”
Zikel smiled awkwardly at his sharp yet innocent gaze.