I Am The Dying Emperor’s Doctor

Azeid sighed at Serena’s lack of awareness as she lifted her blouse to check her side.

He hadn’t meant to look, but he already saw it.

The image of her side seemed to linger in his mind, so he squeezed his eyes shut, mentally commanding himself to forget it immediately.

At that moment, Serena’s nonchalant voice broke through.

“Wow, the markings are even clearer!”

“You really are…”

Azeid gritted his teeth, feeling exasperated. He had never encountered someone so oblivious to his presence. It felt a bit humiliating, considering he was quite popular.

Serena, oblivious to his discomfort, continued examining the markings on her side. The wave-like design was more pronounced than before.

Though still not as clear as Azeid’s markings, it was definitely more visible than before.

She assessed the state of her mana core. It was definitely stronger than before. However, she still couldn’t use magic.

Normally, awakening a mana core meant one would instinctively know what kind of magic they could use, but Serena had no such realization.

‘Why did my mana core suddenly activate?’

To her, it felt like her mana core was still incomplete despite the awakening.

So, the pain she felt last night was related to her mana.

It did feel like an unprecedented chill. Serena looked up at Azeid to ask about last night.

“Your Majesty, could you tell me more about last night… Hm?”

Serena stopped mid-sentence, staring at Azeid, who was standing frozen with his back to her. She had no idea how long he had been like that.

“Why are you standing like that?”

“……”

“Your Majesty, come over here and tell me about last night.”

Azeid hesitated, unsure of what to do. Just moments ago, she had warned him to stay away, and now she was asking him to come closer.

Seeing that Azeid wasn’t moving, Serena approached him and took his hand.

“Come on, please?”

Reluctantly, Azeid turned around, frowning and muttering.

“You were calling me a pervert with your eyes just a moment ago.”

“I’m sorry.”

Serena realized she hadn’t apologized yet and did so now, even putting on a pitiful expression. Azeid sighed deeply.

“Sigh. Why do you apologize so easily?”

Azeid ruffled his hair in frustration and, with a resigned look, dragged a chair to the bed and sat down.

“What do you want to know?”

“You helped me when I collapsed yesterday, right?”

“Yes. I was about to call a doctor, but then I saw the light from your side and realized it was your mana core causing the problem.”

“Oh, so that’s why you kept glancing at my side. I thought…”

Serena giggled, and Azeid could only move his lips in frustration.

How could she be so infuriatingly nonchalant? Azeid continued, his expression serious.

“It seems our internal mana is highly compatible.”

“Gasp. You didn’t inject your internal mana, did you?”

“Of course not. I was using pure mana, but your greedy mana core tried to absorb my internal mana too.”

“Really? That’s strange.”

Serena tilted her head, touching her side. She had felt a similar pull from his mana.

‘It’s not like I can verify this with someone else.’

Even if she wanted to confirm it, injecting mana into someone else recklessly could be fatal, so it wasn’t feasible.

Serena pondered for a moment. The pain she felt yesterday was the first of its kind.

Usually, she didn’t even notice her mana core. Serena decided she wanted to verify it once more.

“Your Majesty, can we try again?”

As she began to lift her blouse, Azeid quickly grabbed her hand.

“Why do you keep trying to show me?”

“I need to show you for proper verification. If anyone heard, they’d think I’m eager to show it.”

“……”

“You did it yesterday too. It’s not like it’s the first time you’re seeing my side.”

“I didn’t see it. I did it over your clothes.”

Azeid jumped at the chance to deny it, inadvertently lying. Serena shrugged nonchalantly.

“Okay, then do it over my clothes again.”

She pouted, guiding his hand to her side. Reluctantly, his hand awkwardly touched her side.

“Hurry up.”

Urged on by Serena, Azeid sighed deeply and gathered pure mana, using his internal mana as a conduit.

Serena watched her side with anticipation. The blue light flickered and warmed her side.

As his internal mana entered her mana core, the purple mana quickly absorbed it.

It was like touching a hot spot, feeling both tingling and warm. His internal mana was absorbed instantly, just like before.

But that was all. Unlike Azeid, she felt no special sensation from her own mana.

‘Hmm. Did something happen or not?’

Visually, it seemed to be absorbed, but her body felt no different.

It seemed her mana core was the key to this strange phenomenon. Seeing Serena’s silence, Azeid asked,

“Do you feel anything?”

“…It’s warm.”

Serena removed his hand and smiled awkwardly. Azeid frowned, puzzled, as she muttered seriously,

“Maybe my mana core is deformed, causing no rejection.”

“Deformed?”

“Actually, yesterday was the first time my mana core reacted. I thought it might be different, and it seems so. …Could it be insensitivity?”

Serena frowned deeply, and Azeid followed suit.

“Maybe neither of us has a normal mana core, hence the reaction…”

“Enough.”

Azeid covered her mouth as she started to talk about work again. Serena’s eyes widened as she looked at him.

His blue eyes looked deep. He scolded her like a teacher disciplining a disobedient student.

“I told you to rest, but you’re thinking about work again.”

His hand briefly touched her lips, but it felt vivid. Serena was dazed.

Azeid got up from the chair and slowly laid Serena back down, pulling the blanket up to her neck.

“Stay in bed today.”

“Is that something a person would do?”

“……”

“Oh! I didn’t mean you’re not a person, I mean…”

“Forget it. You’re not the type to watch your words around me. I’m tired of reacting to everything.”

Despite his forgiving words, Azeid ruffled her hair messily. It was clearly out of spite.

Serena, feeling guilty, silently accepted the punishment. Azeid chuckled and said,

“We’re going out tomorrow, so rest well today.”

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see tomorrow.”

Azeid said this and left without looking back. Serena tidied her messy hair and rolled her eyes.

Once the sound of his footsteps faded, she quietly got up and moved to her desk.

“I can’t just stay in bed when I’m wide awake.”

Serena jotted down a few hypotheses about the phenomenon she experienced earlier. It was typical of her not to rest for even a day. Something Azeid would never understand.

* * *

The next day, Azeid took Serena to the Gordon Trading Company.

“We meet again.”

Jack greeted Serena with a playful smile. He was wearing a fancy eyepatch, indicating his wound had healed. Serena looked at Azeid with a puzzled expression.

“This is where we were going?”

“I had something I asked for.”

Azeid signaled Jack, who instructed an attendant to bring something.

“Are you going to stand all day? Why don’t you both sit down?”

Jack offered them seats on the sofa. As Serena was about to sit beside him, Azeid interjected.

“That’s my seat.”

Azeid squeezed between her and Jack. Serena, baffled, asked,

“Do we have designated seats?”

“Yes, we do. Your seat is next to me, not him.”

“Yeah, just sit anywhere. It’s not that important.”

Jack chuckled, siding with Azeid. Serena pouted, finding Azeid’s behavior childish.

‘Is he afraid of losing his friend? Why is he acting so petty?’

Shaking off her irritation, she checked on Jack’s condition.

“It seems like you followed my prescription well. The wound has healed.”

“Yeah. I got the medicine you prescribed, and it healed quickly. It was a unique combination. Did you develop it yourself?”

“As a doctor, I can’t neglect my training. This is nothing special.”

Serena shrugged. After two regressions, she had become well-versed in medicinal herbs. She had always been interested in such things.

Jack chuckled and said,

“Just call me Jack. You agreed to speak informally, so why are you being formal again?”

“I’m trying to be respectful as a friend of His Majesty. If it’s uncomfortable, I’ll speak informally.”

“Yeah, it’s uncomfortable. So, speak informally.”

“Okay, Jack.”

Serena readily agreed, and Jack chuckled, intrigued.

Meanwhile, Azeid’s expression soured as he watched the two. Noticing Azeid’s displeasure, Jack asked,

“Got something to say?”

Azeid seized the opportunity to sternly declare,

“Jack, stop trying to charm my doctor.”