A Genius Pharmacist Whom the Empress Is Obsessed With

Part 2. Everyone’s circumstances.

“… Damn.”

Idun cursed silently.

Unfortunately, his ominous expectations had come true. After living for five hundred years, his intuition had become quite keen.

He was currently riding in a luxurious carriage on the way to the palace. And to make matters worse, he was accompanied by the viscount’s daughter.

“Of all times, for that girl to turn out to be the real viscount’s daughter….”

Since they first met on the walking path, he had thought she was a well-bred child.

Her nonchalant attitude and her unconventional dress style were not ordinary.

But he couldn’t bring himself to think that she was the viscount’s daughter. No, he had his doubts, but they quickly disappeared.

“… To think she would be carrying the real bloodline. I had greatly underestimated the viscount.”

Once again, it should be emphasized that the intuition of someone who had lived for five hundred years was not to be ignored.

“Idun.”

Ella, the viscount’s daughter, called out to him while playing with her nanny and dolls.

“Yes, young lady.”

“My head hurts a little, could you take a look at it?”

“Of course.”

Ella tapped the empty seat next to her and Idun carefully moved to the seat.

“Young lady, please give me your hand.”

“Why are your hands hurting when your head does?”

Ella looked puzzled but still reached out her hand to Idun.

“I have to examine it first.”

Idun quickly read Ella’s energy.

“She’s just being dramatic. But since the journey will be long, I should boost her energy a bit.”

Ella seemed to be bored with playing with dolls.

“You seem to have a slight headache, so let me press here a bit.”

Idun pressed the area between her thumb and forefinger deeply. At the same time, he infused a bit of his own vitality.

“Ah! It feels so refreshing and invigorating!”

Ella started humming happily, seeming very satisfied.

Her doll-like appearance made Idun inexplicably laugh.

“Just by pressing firmly like that, does it really have an effect on headaches?”

Ella’s nanny, who was tidying up the dolls, spoke up.

“Because the human body is closely connected to each other.”

One of the things Idun learned from Adrian was the oriental medicine called ‘hanuihak’.

At first, it was only out of curiosity, but after dozens of experiments on Adrian, Idun decided to properly learn oriental medicine.

Oriental medicine valued people’s ‘qi’ and if vitality was infused into the injured area following the flow of qi, the therapeutic effect was so excellent that it was indescribable.

However, that didn’t mean he completely rejected Imperial medicine.

To protect precious lives, whether it was Imperial medicine or oriental medicine, he believed in using whatever was available.

“Head and hands are connected? That’s the first time I’ve heard that, it’s fascinating.”

The nanny made a curious expression and pressed her own hand a few times.

“It’s true, nanny! I guarantee Idun’s skills!”

Ella responded angrily with an irritated voice, not liking the nanny’s attitude.

“Miss, if you get too excited, your head will hurt again. So please calm down.”

“Okay, okay! I got it.”

Ella put her hand on her chest and took a deep breath.

“That should be enough, Miss.”

Ella made a satisfied expression at Idun’s words and immediately started whining, asking the nanny to read her a book.

Idun quietly returned to his seat and looked out the window.

Outside the window, the endlessly stretching blue sky was enough to make one’s eyes tear up, but Idun had no leisure to enjoy the scenery as one part of his heart felt heavy.

It was because she couldn’t accept her current situation of going to the palace.

“…How can things be handled like this? I can’t understand.”

Ella could somewhat understand the conversation regarding the lord.

It was a situation that could be easily anticipated.

However.

Even when sending a recommendation to the palace, even when departing for the palace, the lord never said a word to Ella. The night before departure, the butler sent by the director only informed him of the departure preparations.

And it was already past midnight.

Because of that, even now, on the second day of departure, he couldn’t believe the fact that he was going to the palace.

“Even a lazy dragon doesn’t slack off like this!”

As Edun grumbled about the stupid handling of the lord’s work, a sudden question came to his mind.

“…But which princess was the director appointed as the personal physician for?”

There were two princesses in the current royal family, and both of them had been quite active until a month ago.

“Should I ask Ella?”

Edun pondered for a moment and then shook his head.

He didn’t want to bother a child who was happily playing. Besides, Ella seemed to think of the visit to Esteron as a simple trip, so there was a possibility that she wouldn’t know.

“Well, as long as I save the patient, it doesn’t matter who they are.”

Although he hesitated at the lord’s suggestion, it didn’t mean he didn’t want to take care of the princess or the patient.

Like avoiding dirty things because they’re dirty, Edun just wanted to avoid troublesome things.

“Because the palace is like an ice rink that could collapse at any moment.”

After the death of the first princess who was a crown princess, the emperor had not chosen a successor. In other words, even now as Edun was riding the carriage to the capital, the royal family was fiercely fighting over the successor.

“…Since it turned out like this, let’s just consider it a new amusement.”

Edun clenched his fists secretly.

Save that foolish director,

Fix the princess.

Accumulate merits.

If Edun just endured a bit of hardship, everyone would be happy.

Besides, Edun didn’t need to worry about his life.

If things get messy, all he had to do was get his throat cut or get hit by a sword. And if he didn’t want his throat cut, he could just call for Adrian and ask him to put on a kidnapping show.

Who could withstand the threat of a fearsome dragon breathing fire inside the palace?

“…If I go back, I’ll have to face that breath directly.”

Nevertheless, because I won’t die.

It’ll hurt enough to wish for death, but I won’t die.

Not dying.

That was the most important thing.

After roughly gathering my thoughts, fatigue hit me belatedly.

Edun leaned against the window and closed his eyes.

Even though I clearly closed my eyes…

Adrian’s enormous breath shimmered in my eyes, driving me to the brink of madness.

***

Wrinkled hands, a worn and simple dress.

The middle-aged woman stared down at the bed with a stern face.

On the bed lay a woman with a skin so pale it seemed to absorb the moonlight, like a pure silver thread.

At first glance, it might seem like she peacefully slept.

But the cold sweat flowing through her whole body was evidence that she was not normal.

“I’m too late, Your Highness. I apologize.”

The maid delicately wiped the princess’s slender arm with a wet towel.

The once sturdy arm now hung weakly, weighing heavily on the maid’s heart.

‘Your Highness is probably watching. This can’t go on.’

After taking a deep breath, the maid moved her parched lips.

Her throat was dry, and her jaw was tightly clenched, but she didn’t forget to maintain a smile.

“Your Highness, the rosebuds have finally bloomed. It’s the yellow rose you personally chose some time ago.”

“I plan to make a sweet dessert in the evening. A new maid arrived a few days ago and needs to be taught kitchen work.”

“Where would be a good place for a summer vacation? Since Your Highness liked the northern lake, it might be nice to go there.”

It had been five years since Princess Redimine, the first princess, fell ill.

During these long years, the maid always stood by Princess Redimine’s side, being her companion in conversation.

How frustrating it must be to be confined to the room for someone who used to roam around so lively.

As if understanding the maid’s feelings, Princess Redimine listened to her words with a joyful expression on her clearly sickly face. She occasionally burst into a sunny laugh.

However, the situation had started to deteriorate rapidly six months ago.

The once bedridden Princess Redimine fell into a state of unconsciousness.

Yumo could not accept that fact at all.

After meeting so many doctors and taking countless medications, how could her condition worsen instead of getting better?

And to make matters worse, she still couldn’t even determine the exact name of her illness after all this time.

No doctor, no matter how much she cried and begged, could give her a satisfactory answer. Hwangnyeo remained as stiff as a statue.

From that moment on, Yumo fell into deep despair.

She couldn’t just sit there and cry. She had to stand up again. But as she stared at Hwangnyeo, tears kept pouring out uncontrollably. She had to repeatedly pinch herself to snap out of it.

“Now, let me clean up your hair.”

Yumo placed down the towel she was holding and picked up the comb.

The aristocracy always had to maintain their dignity, no matter when or where. And after finishing the bath, it was only natural to groom oneself.

But Yumo’s hand trembled uncontrollably as she held the comb. She tried pinching her thigh with her other hand, but the trembling wouldn’t stop.

“I apologize for bringing up such a topic when you’re about to leave without being able to do anything, but it seems that Her Highness’s life is running out.”

As she trembled, those words from the doctor who had left the palace the day before echoed in her head.

At first, Yumo dismissed the words, thinking that the person was incompetent. But deep down, she had a hunch. Princess Rudimine was about to leave this world soon.

Even her faint breathing had been getting weaker day by day.

Yumo couldn’t overcome the trembling and eventually put the comb down.

“…Madam Viscountess.”

At that moment, a maid waiting by the door called out to her in a sympathetic voice.

“I’m fine. Anyway, when is the next doctor going to arrive?”

“It will probably take about a week.”

“Do we have enough medicine to last until then?”

How could Rudimine have survived until now when she had been in a comatose state? The Viscountess would grind the medications created by the doctors into a fine powder, mix them with water, and then feed them to the princess using a long and elastic straw.

Administering the medicine was something the Viscountess could do alone, but creating medicine considering the nutritional needs and the state of the illness required the expertise of doctors.

“Yes, it should be enough until the next doctor arrives.”

The maid hesitated for a moment before continuing.

“They say that the next doctor coming is very skilled. They say that even the doctor who used to attend to my friend is going personally to get the medicine.”

“…I see. That’s good to hear.”

After a brief conversation, Yumo calmed her emotions and picked up the comb again.

Regardless of how many doctors she had met or how many doctors had come and gone, with every visit from a doctor, hope was born and with every departure of the doctors, the Viscountess’s heart shattered.

But now, perhaps it was time to give up.

This time, the countess could not possibly abandon the fleeting hope.