I’m the Dying Emperor’s Doctor

Chapter 95

“Right now, only the people here know about this.”

“Not even the people from the Vincent family?”

“They were never interested in me in the first place. Besides, no one attended to me consistently, so no maid has ever seen my emblem.”

At Serdna’s response, Nocturne fell silent, as if lost in thought. After a brief pause, Nocturne cautiously asked,

“Then, what do you mean by having no memory of manifestation?”

“Literally, I opened my eyes, and the emblem was there. Recently, my mana core showed an abnormal reaction, and His Majesty helped me.”

“So, having no memory of manifestation means you have no innate sense of magic.”

“That’s right.”

Perhaps because Nocturne was well-versed in magic, he reached a conclusion quickly. Serena began to share things she hadn’t been able to tell anyone else until now.

“Actually, there’s a specific reason I wanted to inform you of this, Mr. Nocturne.”

“And what is that?”

“The truth is, there was a time when I unknowingly infused my internal mana into His Majesty.”

“…What?”

Nocturne looked at Serena with a shocked expression.

This was because internal mana inherently couldn’t mix with another’s. It was similar to how incompatible blood transfusions could lead to shock and death.

Leonard didn’t know much about the nature of magic or mana. He only understood what he had learned through his body and experience. Therefore, his reaction was far less intense than Nocturne’s.

Serena glanced briefly at Azaid as she continued,

“And as you can see, both His Majesty and I are perfectly fine.”

“…This is certainly unusual. It might be related to magic that you aren’t consciously aware of, Miss Serena.”

“I thought the same, so I did some research on my own and discovered something peculiar.”

“What is it?”

“The nature of my internal mana and His Majesty’s internal mana is so similar that it feels almost identical.”

“That’s likely why His Majesty didn’t die instantly. It was sheer compatibility.”

“Yes. But no matter how many books I searched, I couldn’t find a case like this, so I needed your advice, Mr. Nocturne.”

In truth, this was why she had confided in Nocturne. She had reached the limits of her knowledge. After a brief silence, Nocturne spoke.

“May I take a sample for analysis?”

“Of course.”

“Given how unusual Miss Serena’s situation is, academic papers might not have been much help.”

“That’s true.”

“Do you have any clues about the memory of your manifestation?”

“Well, I do have a vague suspicion, but the person in question refuses to talk.”

“Who is this person?”

“My half-sister.”

“Ah…”

Nocturne nodded knowingly. Serena didn’t entirely believe that Lydia had no memory of the incident. Lydia was the kind of person who lied as easily as breathing.

Serena was already planning to confront her soon. At that moment, Azaid muttered lowly,

“Those people keep trying to hold my woman back until the very end.”

“Exactly. This is the first time we’ve been tangled like this.”

Serena responded calmly, even to Azaid’s possessive comment, “my woman.” She was more bewildered by her relentless connection to Lydia in this lifetime.

‘I can’t exactly drag her away and beat the answers out of her.’

No, she shouldn’t have let Lydia go back then. She felt like she had missed a good opportunity because she had been too furious to think clearly.

Meanwhile, Leonard clicked his tongue at Azaid’s “my woman” remark. Nocturne also briefly widened his eyes before regaining his composure and speaking calmly.

“So, the two of you have finally reached that point.”

He responded as if this outcome had been entirely predictable. Feeling awkward, Serena fidgeted with her fingers and said,

“Yes, well… that’s how it turned out.”

“Serena, why can’t you confidently say that I’m your man?”

Should I just shout here, ‘His Majesty is my man!’?

Serena stared at Azaid blankly, dumbfounded by his strange fixation. Misunderstanding her silence, Azaid gently whispered to her,

“You can be confident. You’re the woman who has won over the Emperor of the Empire. You can do anything.”

Oh, please.

Serena fanned her blushing cheeks, trying to calm herself. It was a little too embarrassing to endure. Something good was good, but embarrassment was still embarrassment.

Nocturne, who had remained composed until now, frowned at Azaid’s affectionate comment.

“This is rather unexpected.”

It seemed even he was taken aback by his friend’s overly sentimental words. Nocturne quickly shifted the topic.

“At the very least, since you can control mana, it means you’re not incapable of using magic. You just don’t know how to direct it properly.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. If you were truly incapable of using magic, you wouldn’t be able to control mana at all. It’s also possible that you’ve been using magic unknowingly.”

“I see. I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

Serena’s expression relaxed slightly. She had been secretly worried that something was fundamentally wrong with her body.

“I’ll start looking for a solution. I have connections to the Magic Tower, after all.”

“Then, I’ll leave it to you.”

Serena bowed her head in gratitude. As expected, speaking to Nocturne seemed to reveal a path forward.

After Leonard and Serena left, Azaid and Nocturne continued the conversation they couldn’t have earlier. Azaid, leaning one arm against the back of the sofa, asked,

“So, what exactly were you up to? Don’t think you can just gloss over this.”

His sharp gaze was entirely different from when Serena was around. Even though Azaid was lenient with his friend, he was still the ruler.

No matter how close they were, disappearing suddenly and returning after causing such an incident couldn’t be overlooked. Nocturne, seemingly aware of this, spoke honestly.

“I just dug deeper because it felt like you were only scratching the surface of the Duke’s trail.”

“And the result was blowing up a building in the middle of the capital?”

“I’m sorry about that. I didn’t expect it either.”

“The Duke has probably heard of it by now. Especially if, as you said, that place was his private property.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I admit I was hasty. I didn’t think Patrick would be that stupid, even sober.”

Nocturne, frustrated, unbuttoned the top of his shirt.

“As you suspected, the true owner of that building is the Duke. And beyond that building, it’s connected to an entirely different place.”

“Connected to another place?”

“A strong magical barrier was placed on the door to create an illusion. It’s one of the entrances to a laboratory, which means there must be other entrances too.”

“Hah.”

Azaid let out a dry laugh in disbelief. According to Leonard’s report, that building was supposed to be an empty house.

But in reality, it was one of the Duke’s hideout entrances.

Azaid was at a loss for words. The Duke’s ability to evade legal oversight was masterful. Nocturne continued.

“The illegal distribution of mana stones you discovered is just a small part of it. Collin is merely a puppet, and the mastermind is the Duke.”

“We had already suspected that much, Nocturne.”

Azaid roughly brushed back his bangs. Of course, the fact that Nocturne had uncovered this much in such a short time was impressive.

If he had been included in this secret mission from the start, things might have been resolved more quickly.

But Nocturne wasn’t included precisely because he would’ve been too noticeable to the Duke. Just as Nocturne was sensitive to the Duke’s actions, the Duke was overly cautious of Nocturne.

And, as feared, Nocturne had made a critical mistake. By now, the Duke had likely sensed that something was amiss.

“I was already keeping an eye on everyone around Collin. From what you’ve said, it seems like a large quantity of mana stones was needed to maintain that magical barrier.”

“Yeah, exactly. And the reason they hid it so carefully… I experienced it firsthand today.”

Nocturne clenched his interlocked hands tightly as he continued.

“If we dig too carelessly, it could be dangerous. Especially for awakened individuals like you or me.”

“What do you mean? Are you saying what happened to you is related to this?”

At Azaid’s question, Nocturne nodded.

“The drug the Duke created nullified my magic and reacted with the power residing in Izring, causing an explosion.”

With a hardened expression, Azaid ordered,

“Explain in detail.”

“There were exactly two types of poison. The red one nullified magic, and the blue one reacted with magic, causing an explosion.”

Nocturne studied Azaid’s expression carefully as he continued.

“I haven’t seen the synergy when both are used together, but I’m sure it’s more devastating than either alone.”

“……”

“How many awakened individuals do you think exist in the Empire? The Duke’s target is painfully obvious, Azaid.”

“Hah.”

At Nocturne’s explanation, Azaid exhaled a cold breath. The air around them turned icy in an instant.

The next day, Serena was finally able to relax after repeatedly checking on Nocturne’s condition. Thanks to the artificial mana core’s effectiveness, the trembling in his mana core had subsided.

After a private conversation with Nocturne the previous night, Azaid had left early in the morning with Leonard, citing urgent business.

With unexpected free time on her hands, Serena was resting in her room when her gaze fell upon a box on her desk.

It was the box containing the coat she had borrowed from Zed last time. She suddenly remembered calling the boy ‘Zed’ in her dream.

“This won’t do. I need to check this myself.”

With a decisive mindset, Serena sprang to her feet.