I Am The Dying Emperor’s Doctor

Serena quickly provided emergency treatment for Jack and then took him to a nearby inn. The innkeeper, surprised to see Serena with an adult male, accommodated them in a room, assuming they were acquainted.

After laying Jack on the bed, Serena examined his wounds under bright light.

“It’s already too late for one eye.”

The injury was severe. With one eye damaged, it would be difficult to restore vision even with treatment.

“But I still need to save his life. I’d feel too guilty if he ended up dead in this lady’s house.”

Serena washed her hands and took out herbs and tools for stitching wounds from her medical bag, placing them on the table.

She crushed the herbs and applied them to Jack’s eye before wrapping it with bandages. The herbs were effective for wound healing.

Fortunately, she had already provided initial emergency care before arriving at the inn, so the treatment proceeded smoothly.

After removing his blood-soaked shirt and disinfecting the wound area again, Serena began stitching.

“Ugh-.”

Even in a semi-conscious state, Jack groaned in pain. Serena took out a sprig of valerian from her bag and placed it under his nose.

After a few minutes, Jack’s expression relaxed, and he stopped groaning.

Serena carefully sutured the wounds and bandaged them. Once the treatment was done, she wiped the sweat from her forehead and checked the time. It was already past midnight.

“Oh no. What should I do? I’ve missed curfew.”

No one could enter or leave the palace after midnight. So even if she wanted to leave now, she couldn’t enter the palace.

Serena sighed and realized she hadn’t noticed the curfew approaching while focused on treating her patient. Unauthorized absence would likely earn her a scolding from the palace guard.

“But I’ve come this far to save a friend of the emperor…”

Trying to justify her actions, Serena tidied up and stood up. She brought a towel and a basin of water, placing the wet towel on Jack’s forehead.

Although she had done a good job treating him, he had lost a lot of blood, and the wound was deep. Fever was inevitable.

Since she was already late, she decided to do her best for the patient until the end. Whispering as if casting a magical spell, Serena said to Jack,

“You’ve held on well. If you endure tonight, everything will be okay.”

With that, Serena took care of Jack throughout the night, sometimes nodding off herself.

Unaware of the chaos unfolding in the palace.

The next morning.

Azeid grew puzzled as Serena didn’t show up for morning rounds. It was the first time she hadn’t come for morning examinations.

Thinking she might be ill, he went to find her later, only to hear from the palace guard captain that she had left the palace without permission.

“What? Serena didn’t come back last night?”

Azeid was shocked to hear the report from the guard captain. The guard captain trembled and said,

“She… we couldn’t reach her. She didn’t say anything specific…”

Then he glanced at the emperor, who had a very stern expression, and quickly prostrated himself, begging for forgiveness.

“Please… please kill me!”

It was a well-known fact in the palace that the emperor favored Lady Serena. Although the emperor himself didn’t admit it openly, it was widely known.

Seeing the captain’s fear, Azeid exerted force on his hand.

Crack.

The pen Azeid was holding broke into two, burning to ashes.

Witnessing this, the guard captain collapsed on the floor, begging for mercy.

“Please spare me!”

The emperor’s wrath was overwhelming, and the guard captain was at a crossroads of life and death. If Serena didn’t return safely, the guard captain would not escape responsibility as the palace guard captain.

“Lady Serena, where are you? Please contact us!”

Sweating coldly and in agony, the guard captain prayed, while Azeid was lost in his thoughts.

“Could she be imprisoned at Viscount Manor?”

He regretted not forbidding her to go. As he thought about it, Azeid tightened his grip.

Snap.

The pen Azeid was holding broke into two again, burning to ashes.

The guard captain couldn’t bear the fear and prostrated himself, begging for mercy.

“Please spare me!”

Meanwhile, Azeid was lost in thoughts.

“Should we wait until she returns? What if she doesn’t come back?”

The realization that Serena was absent made Azeid feel empty, like eating creamless cream bread.

And when he thought something was wrong with her, his head grew cold as if blood was rushing back.

Either way, it seemed that Serena had to return safely for him to feel relieved. Azeid made up his mind.

“I haven’t even treated my illness yet; her disappearance is a breach of contract.”

That’s right. Serena had definitely signed a contract with Azeid for a period of one year. So, leaving the palace within half a year of signing the contract was unthinkable.

“Yeah. I’m going to find the escaped doctor. It’s not because I’m worried, it’s just that…”

Azeid muttered inwardly, trying to convince himself.

“Leonard.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Come to think of it, it’s been a while since Serena left on a mission.”

“What? Are you talking about now?”

Leonard suddenly looked at Azeid, who mentioned the mission, with a puzzled expression. Azeid looked away as if lost in thought and said,

“Yeah. I also want to see how the nobles and the Empire’s people are living with my own eyes.”

Leonard finally understood Azeid’s intentions from his attitude.

“Are you worried about Lady Serena?”

“Yeah. Worried… not really. Leonard, what are you talking about? I’m just trying to understand the public sentiment.”

As Azeid denied it vehemently, Leonard chuckled.

“Yes. I understand His Majesty’s noble heart, worrying about public sentiment.”

“…”

“Then I’ll prepare.”

“Fine.”

Azeid replied somewhat dejectedly and let out a deep sigh without realizing it.

The palace guard captain was convinced. Serena Vincent was on top of the emperor’s mind.

—

On a bright morning.

Jack, who had been on the verge of death last night, survived thanks to Serena’s intense care.

“Ugh.”

As he woke up from anesthesia, pain surged through his body, especially his injured left eye. He stopped when he saw bandages around his eye, wondering who had treated him.

“Who treated me?”

In fact, he couldn’t remember yesterday very well. He had been attacked by assassins while investigating the smuggling case.

Since he didn’t have his sword, he had to confront them with a short dagger, and he struggled because there were too many opponents.

He barely managed to escape, but he couldn’t recall what happened afterward.

“Who attacked me? There were too many enemies…”

Jack vowed to never let the incident go unpunished. He quickly sat up and felt pain in his abdomen.

“Ouch. It hurts like hell.”

As Jack groaned in pain and leaned against the headboard, he noticed a woman sitting on the sofa nearby.

“Who is that woman?”

The woman with long, dark purple hair was now familiar to him.

“Wasn’t she Serena Vincent?”

Jack recalled meeting Serena at the apothecary yesterday. Come to think of it, he vaguely remembered seeing her purple hair before he passed out.

“Did she treat me?”

Jack squinted his eyes and looked around. There were blood-stained cloths and medicine bottles scattered on the table.

Seeing bandages on his abdomen and eyes, it seemed likely that she had treated him.

“I think she’s Azeid’s personal physician.”

As Jack sat on the edge of the bed, observing Serena, he realized that although she was a friend of Azeid and officially a noble, she also played the role of his private spy.

So, her being a noble and being so reclusive was all because she had chosen the wrong friends.

He had only heard about Azeid getting a new personal physician when he last visited the capital.

Back then, he didn’t care much, thinking he would leave soon anyway and continue his investigation.

But this time, the rumors were completely different. Usually, there were rumors about the relationship between the personal physician and the emperor, but what caught Jack’s attention was something else.

“Every morning, the emperor starts his day with a greeting from the personal physician.

Sometimes, he wakes up early and waits for her. ”

“What? Azeid wakes up in the morning?”

Jack knew how much of a late riser Azeid was. No, to be precise, he knew that Azeid wasn’t someone who approached life with much passion.

But waking up in the morning? Moreover, waking up early and waiting for her?

“Does that make sense?”

Jack considered it excessive gossip. Exaggerated and inflated for the amusement of courtiers.

Yet, as he wondered what kind of woman she was, he coincidentally met her at the apothecary.

Contrary to his thoughts, Serena was ordinary. She was a bit pretty, but she didn’t seem particularly outstanding. She wasn’t fierce for a woman who controlled the emperor.

“I’m in her debt.”

Thinking it was not the right time for this, Jack got up from his bed. As he was about to sneak out, a cold voice came from behind him.

“Wait a minute.”