I’m the Dying Emperor’s Doctor

Episode 39

“You still treat your children like dogs, don’t you, Your Grace, the morally esteemed Duke Greenwood?”

Nocturne responded with a laugh, undeterred. The duke’s brow twitched briefly before he spoke again.

“You must have had your reasons for doing so.”

“Are you finally acknowledging it?”

When Nocturne sneered, laughing under his breath, the duke replied coldly.

“Did you really think I’d go as far as using Ophelia to poison the Emperor?”

“You’re certainly capable of it.”

“……”

“Of course, I’m well aware that Your Grace isn’t the type to resort to such petty tricks. I merely checked to confirm. It was just ordinary fruit syrup.”

At Nocturne’s words, the duke fixed him with a chilling stare. When Nocturne was younger, that gaze used to terrify him, but not anymore.

The lower the duke’s stature in his eyes, the more Nocturne could distance himself from him. Although he hadn’t completely escaped yet, it was better than before.

“Then why did you dispose of it? Your sister would have been delighted to know.”

“Since when has she ever liked me? I just didn’t see the point in keeping it, so I had it discarded.”

Nocturne smiled faintly, masking his expression. The real reason he had it disposed of was that he had belatedly realized he was allergic to Azaid. There was no need to confess that to the duke. Judging from the duke’s demeanor, he seemed entirely unaware of the allergy.

His gloved hands were slick with sweat. Whenever he faced off against the duke, his hands always tingled.

“Have you said all you wanted to say? I’d like to leave now.”

“Wait.”

“Go on.”

“I hear the Emperor’s physician has been consulting you recently.”

At the unexpected name, Nocturne dropped his smirk and looked at the duke.

“Are you referring to Lady Serena Vincent?”

“Yes, that woman.”

The duke deliberately referred to her as “that woman” instead of “Lady.” It felt like a jab aimed at Nocturne, but he swallowed his discomfort and waited for the next words.

It would’ve been child’s play for the duke to uncover that information. Just as Nocturne had planted spies in the duke’s manor, the duke likely did the same.

“She has sharp eyes. Keep an eye on her.”

“Anyone would think I’m following your orders to approach her.”

“Well, it wouldn’t hurt to use that handsome face of yours to seduce her. Women like that tend to lose all sense when they fall in love.”

The duke grinned slyly and sipped his whiskey.

“That’s enough.”

Nocturne’s lips twitched as he struggled to hide his agitation. The duke’s tendency to treat people as pawns in his political game disgusted him to the point where he couldn’t breathe.

“Judging by your reaction, you must have some feelings for her.”

“Your Grace.”

“You’ve already played some tricks on her yourself.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Feign ignorance all you want.”

The duke drained his whiskey in one gulp and set the glass down, his expression smug.

“I’ll let it slide this time. But remember who holds your life in their hands.”

The duke delivered his chilling warning with a cold smile, and Nocturne bit his lower lip hard. His habit of leashing and taming his children hadn’t changed.

The most infuriating part was his own powerlessness. As long as the weaknesses the duke exploited in his youth remained, breaking free from his grasp would be difficult. Not that Nocturne was neglecting preparations to sever the leash.

The duke waved his hand dismissively.

“You may leave now.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Feigning indifference, Nocturne bowed slightly and left the room. The moment he descended the stairs, his expression twisted into one of fury.

‘Senile old man.’

Grinding the soft flesh inside his cheek, Nocturne boarded his carriage.

Before departing for Greenwood, Serena visited the Gordon Trading Company. Having contacted Jack in advance via a communication stone, he was already there.

“What’s the occasion? You actually reached out.”

“There’s something I’d like to commission.”

Serena got straight to the point, pulling out a piece of parchment and handing it to him.

“You said last time that you made the communication stones yourself.”

“Well, as long as I have a blueprint.”

“I came because I want to create a magical device.”

“Hmm. Let me take a look first.”

Jack, who had been lounging lazily against his chair, suddenly leaned forward with a serious expression.

His sharp gaze glinted with the seasoned expertise of a merchant. The look on his face as he examined the blueprint exuded the air of a professional—proof that his position as the head of the trading company wasn’t just for show.

“What’s it for? The inside looks like a pump.”

Jack shifted his eyes from the blueprint to Serena.

“It’s an artificial mana core. A type of medical aid.”

“Huh?”

Jack tilted his head, not quite understanding. Serena explained calmly.

“It’s a medical device for people with malformed mana cores or temporarily impaired functionality.”

Before Serena could finish, Jack interrupted.

“Are you trying to turn into an Awakened or something?”

Serena stopped mid-sentence and glared at him. His childish thinking was exasperating. Shaking her head, she replied.

“Why would I bother with something so tedious?”

“Then what?”

“I don’t understand why you only hear what you want to, Jack. I said it’s a medical device.”

“Oh.”

Jack finally seemed to recall that Serena was Azaid’s physician.

“It’s a kind of auxiliary tool to prevent mana overload from going out of control. In the first place, it’s not something that can be used by someone who hasn’t awakened.”

“Are you making it for Azaid?”

“Yes. It seemed like the issue might be related to his mana core, so I designed it to see if there’s something that could help.”

“Wait. Hold on. Did you say you designed this?”

Jack looked at Serena with a surprised expression. It was understandable; the idea of Serena, a doctor, designing such a sophisticated magical device was astonishing.

‘Nocturn was a big help.’

After discovering that Azaid’s illness was related to his mana core, Serena created the magical device with Nocturn’s assistance.

She briefly recalled her previous conversations with Nocturn.

‘Mr. Nocturn, please don’t think of this as a silly idea and hear me out.’

‘What is it? Why are you hesitating?’

‘If the problem lies in the mana core not functioning properly, what about using a magical device to support it?’

‘That sounds like a feasible approach. After all, wizards with insufficient internal mana often use auxiliary tools to draw pure mana.’

‘Right? If we design it to support the mana core in reverse, it might help His Majesty. Perhaps it could even enable non-awakened individuals to directly use magic…’

‘No, that’s not possible. Non-awakened individuals without a mana core won’t be able to use magic with just an auxiliary tool. Their bodies wouldn’t be able to withstand the mana.’

‘True. That would indeed go against the laws of nature.’

Thanks to Nocturn, Serena was able to speed up her research. With his exceptional knowledge of magic and her expertise in medicine, it was only natural for their progress to be swift.

Once the stability tests were verified, she planned to make the device more compact and portable to give it to Azaid as a gift.

In truth, she hadn’t yet disclosed the compatibility of Azaid’s and her mana to Nocturn.

She hesitated to reveal that she was an awakened individual and wanted to verify some information before consulting him.

Fortunately, that information was said to be in the Duke’s library in the Greenwood Territory, so she intended to review it during this trip.

Although Azaid’s illness was a priority, Serina’s useless mana core was also a lifelong challenge for her.

Moreover, it had caused trouble before, and she was afraid of the consequences of leaving it unattended. At that moment, Jack interrupted her train of thought.

“I heard you passed the Imperial Palace’s exam at the youngest age, and it wasn’t a lie, huh?”

“That’s an uncomfortable thing to hear.”

As Serena furrowed her brows, Jack laughed heartily. She had long since grown accustomed to his ridiculous nonchalance.

For some reason, despite not knowing him for long, she felt at ease around him. It was probably because she had lived like a commoner and thus didn’t feel any discomfort around him.

Jack rolled up the parchment and handed it back to the clerk as he asked, “When do you need it by? Is it urgent?”

“No, not really. Since I’ll be heading to the Greenwood Territory for the hunting festival soon, I can get it after that.”

“Alright, then. Let’s see what I can do.”

Jack smiled like a businessman and extended his hand for a handshake. As Serena took his hand and shook it, she said, “I trust in the capabilities of the Gordon Merchant Guild.”

“As much as you like.”

Jack, brimming with confidence, shook her hand firmly.

The day of departure to the Greenwood Territory for the hunting festival.

Serena once again realized just how comfortably wealthy nobles lived.

Traveling to the Greenwood Territory, which would have taken four days of nonstop riding, was accomplished in just an hour.

She’d heard that activating a portal required a significant amount of mana stones.

Was this what it meant to buy time with money?

Serena gently tapped Marie, who seemed dazed, and asked: