TIPI 07

Chapter 7

Some called it a curse from God.

Others called it a blessing from God.

But she was the first person to call it a “disease.”

“I’ve killed and saved countless people over the years, but not a single one ever came looking for me to repay a debt from a past life. I don’t believe in past lives.”

“So… you’re saying you won’t kill me and will let me live?”

The woman’s eyes widened as she asked.

Blasion nodded in confirmation.

“I’m not saying I’ll let you live forever. I’ll give you one year. During that time, find a way for me to die.”

“And if I can’t?”

“Then you’ll really have to die, so I can silence you.”

At that, the woman threw a question at Blasion that he had never expected.

“What are you going to do with your fortune after you die?”

“…My fortune?”

“Yes! You’re incredibly wealthy, aren’t you? You won’t be able to take any of it with you when you die anyway, so give it all to me. Then I’ll gladly become your personal physician.”

Hadn’t she just said she was ready to die?

And now she was shamelessly revealing her greed as if she had simply flipped her palm over?

The woman spoke with such confidence that she already looked like the owner of the estate.

“Your Grace. Since things have turned out this way, I’ll stake everything I have and give you a peaceful death. So you should trust me, too.”

“You’re practically overflowing with ambition to swallow this entire estate, yet you can say something so embarrassingly sentimental with a straight face.”

“But you’ve already decided to hire me, haven’t you?”

The woman shrugged.

Having escaped the immediate threat of death, her movements were full of ease.

“Don’t worry too much, Your Grace. There must be a reason I ended up in this world. So let’s start by trusting each other. Because…”

As she said this, the woman held out her hand.

It was small, white, and completely ordinary, just like the first time he had seen it.

And yet…

If I take this hand, could I really have my wish granted?

It feels like I could.

His heart ached at the thought of such groundless hope.

“Because true healing begins when the patient and the doctor trust each other!”

Blasion finally took the small hand.

In the heart of spring, with all things in bloom, he made his declaration.

“Lionel Prensia. From this day forward, I hereby hire you as the personal physician of House Carseido.”

“Thank you, Your Grace! I’ll do my very best for your health and the health of everyone in the estate!”

The next morning.

I counted the number of zeros on the check one more time.

It was an amount that made a foolish grin spread across my face just by looking at it.

My debt was now completely paid off.

And the fact that I was finally independent from the Prensia estate made me even happier.

The only downside to this job is that all three meals consist of beef jerky and juice…

But let’s forget about that for now. I need to organize the situation first.

With the paper spread out in front of me, I carefully began writing down everything I knew about The Flower That Never Fades.

First, the heroine.

By now, she should be training at Cresto Monastery.

But there was never anything in the original story about someone attacking the duke’s estate like this.

The heroine and the duke were supposed to spend most of the story going back and forth between “I’ll die for you” and “I’ll kill you,” with my failed-stock male second lead occasionally getting involved…

That was supposed to be the main plot.

There were two possibilities.

Either this wasn’t actually the world of The Flower That Never Fades…

Or the entire storyline had been thrown off course because of my intervention.

Either way, what I had to do was clear.

As the duke’s personal physician, I had to do everything I could to uncover the secret of his immortality.

The most likely method seems to be using the heroine’s bodily fluids or saliva…

But if I put all my medical knowledge to work, I’m sure I can find another way.

So, now that things had come this far, I might as well prevent the heroine and the duke from meeting altogether.

The duke would safely achieve his wish.

I would get my fortune.

The heroine would become the cleric she had always wanted to be.

Wouldn’t that mean everyone could live happily in their own way?

“…Let’s do this, Lionel Prensia. Let’s make sure we’re still alive a year from now.”

I made the promise to myself once again.

“Let’s start with the medical history questionnaire, shall we?”

What Lionel held out in front of Blasion was a comprehensive medical questionnaire familiar to modern office workers everywhere.

“Question one. How would you describe your current state of health? Very good, good, average…”

“Extremely good. I have suffered from no significant illness in the past 720 years, and I have no family history of disease. Neither smoking nor alcohol has caused me any harm.”

The entire questionnaire was over in five seconds.

Lionel awkwardly moved the form aside.

“Right… Then I’ll listen to your breathing with my stethoscope.”

As usual, Lionel put the stethoscope into her ears and turned her head.

Then—

“…No, I just meant for you to undo a few buttons. Why are you taking your clothes completely off?”

“If you want to examine me properly, there shouldn’t be anything getting in the way.”

“Haah…”

Of course, Blasion’s attitude and responses were exemplary for a patient.

Lionel remembered the various patients she had encountered at the hospital in her previous life.

Most of them had been good people.

But no matter where you went, there were always people who absolutely refused to listen.

“You’re getting an ultrasound today. Did you make sure to fast properly?”

“Of course! I thought I was going to starve to death. Why do you make an old person go hungry like this?”

“Huh? What’s that white stuff around your mouth…? And there’s a yogurt bottle in the trash!”

“Yogurt isn’t food. It’s a drink, so it’s fine!! I drank the strawberry pieces inside too!”

…Like Mrs. Kim Bok-soon in Room 903, who had nearly made Lionel grab the back of her neck in frustration.

Or—

“I told you to quit smoking. You’ve been following that advice, right?”

“Of course!! I worked really hard at quitting!”

“…You haven’t smoked even one cigarette, right?”

“Well, you can smoke just one! Even if you’re quitting, you can still have one, can’t you?”

…Like Mr. Park Young-chul in Room 701, who had gotten Lionel an earful from her professor.

Ah.

Just remembering those incidents made her stomach hurt.

Compared to them, how wonderfully cooperative was their male lead?

Of course, there was one problem.

He was making it rather difficult to remain professionally objective.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Blasion asked when Lionel slowly looked him up and down.

“No, I was just… impressed.”

Blasion gave a faint chuckle.

But something felt strange.

Lionel, who he had expected to be embarrassed, was instead examining his body even more openly and enthusiastically.

“Your muscles look exactly like the ones in an anatomy textbook. This is fascinating!”

“…Is that all you have to say?”

“Oh, they’re such ideal textbook muscles that I almost want to put you on a podium at medical school wearing nothing but shorts.”

Lionel failed to notice the subtle change in Blasion’s expression.

Instead, she immediately asked what she was curious about.

“Did you have a body like this before you became immortal?”

“…It’s the same body I had when I became immortal at twenty.”

“I see. Then let me listen for a moment.”

Lionel carefully placed the diaphragm of her stethoscope against his chest.

She concentrated with all her senses.

But she couldn’t hear a heartbeat.

“Has your heart really never beaten even once since you turned twenty?”

“When I was severely injured, it beat.”

“How severely injured?”

“When my arm was severed. When my leg was severed. My heart beat forcefully while my body regenerated. I don’t remember what happened when my head was severed, but it probably beat then too.”

“…Do you feel pain?”

“I feel pain just the same even if I don’t die.”

“I see.”

Having understood something, Lionel raised one hand and began explaining.

“It seems your heart normally remains still, but pumps only in emergency situations to help your body regenerate. So I think it would be worth checking whether we can stimulate your heart somehow. I’ll look into possible methods from now on.”

And so, the first examination came to an end.

While Blasion put his shirt back on, Lionel fell into thought.

What could stimulate his heart?

If this were modern times, I’d try a 200-joule defibrillation shock first, but we don’t exactly have defibrillators here.

While Lionel was clutching her head and thinking, Blasion finished dressing.

After fastening the very last button, he suddenly spoke.

“Usually, people become flustered in situations like that. It seems I chose my personal physician well.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Quite a few of them would grope me while pretending to conduct an examination. Physicians number two, seven, eighteen, and twenty-four were dismissed for that reason. Number five openly tried to seduce me.”

“Are you kidding me…”

“I won’t have to worry about anything unnecessary from you. So I’ll return this.”

Blasion took something out of his pocket.

The moment Lionel saw it, she shot to her feet.

It was the pocket watch she had given Ailey a few days ago.

“W-Why is that here?”

“I got it from Ailey.”

“You took back the one I gave her?!”

“Don’t worry. After hearing that it was your mother’s keepsake, she told me herself to return it to you.”

Lionel was delighted, but she still couldn’t shake the complicated feeling in her heart.

“Even so, it feels wrong to take back something I gave her…”

“I gave Ailey an emerald necklace the same size as the watch, so you don’t need to worry about it. If it still bothers you… you can pay me for the emerald.”

“Thank you very much for your extraordinary generosity, Your Grace. I’ll treasure the watch you returned to me.”

Lionel made her decision quickly and bowed deeply.

Blasion responded with the leisurely confidence of a man standing at the very peak of capitalism.

“I’m glad you appreciate it.”

Just as their conversation came to an end—

Knock, knock.

Kaylen entered the room after knocking.

“There’s a guest waiting in the drawing room. He says he’s Lord Adrian, the eldest son of Viscount Dorset.”

“I don’t know him. What does he want?”

“Well… more precisely, he isn’t asking to meet you, Your Grace. He specifically requested to see Doctor Prensia.”

Kaylen and Blasion’s eyes simultaneously turned toward the same person.

Lionel, whose face had twisted into an expression as though she had just bitten into something rotten, answered.

“He’s a stalker.”