The Genius Physician Princess

Yeo-ul, who woke up late, washed her face, brushed her teeth, and changed clothes by herself. It had been a long time since she had done these things on her own, and her nose kept tingling with emotion. Still, Yeo-ul smiled. She had promised her brother that she would be okay.

When she opened the door and peeked out, Lantus, who was sitting in a chair in front of her room and writing something, looked up. He quietly observed Yeo-ul’s face and then smiled warmly.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes. Hehe.”

“Come and sit here.”

Lantus pretended not to notice her reddened eyes and patted the chair next to him. Yeo-ul climbed onto the chair with a smile and swung her legs.

Lantus set aside the pile of papers he was writing on and asked,

“Aren’t you hungry? It’s past lunchtime.”

“I ate a lot of things yesterday, so I think I’m still okay.”

“But you need to eat well. You’re at an age where you’re growing.”

The tip of Yeo-ul’s nose turned red as she tried to smile.

It seemed she had touched on something again.

“Close your eyes for a moment.”

Lantus, who had been looking at her sympathetically, gently reached out his hand. His large hand slowly moved as if to cover her closed eyes.

Yeo-ul perked up her ears at the cool sensation spreading around her eyes.

“How is it?”

“It feels cool.”

“It doesn’t hurt, does it?”

Yeo-ul shook her head. After a while, the coolness that had been cooling her face gained a soft texture.

“Hold out your hands.”

Yeo-ul tilted her head and held out her hands with her eyes still closed. The coolness seemed to move away, and then something cold and squishy touched her hands.

“Huh?”

Yeo-ul’s eyes widened as she looked down. A white, slime-like thing was placed in her hands.

“It’s a little trick. The predecessors made some interesting things.”

“It’s amazing. They had something like this where I came from too. They called it an ice pack.”

“I’m glad it’s familiar. Keep it on your eyes.”

“Thank you.”

Yeo-ul decided to call it an ice pack and carefully placed it on her puffy eyes.

“Where are the others?”

“They’re gathered in the living room with some tasks. Oh, except for two. They overused teleportation magic this morning and passed out. We sent them back to Wizardian.”

“Teleportation magic?”

“We needed to urgently buy some things from various places. Speaking of which, you should come along. It will be more meaningful if you do it yourself.”

“What is it?”

“You’ll see when we get there.”

Lantus took the pile of papers he was writing on earlier and led the way with Yeo-ul in tow. Yeo-ul tilted her head but soon smiled brightly.

No matter what happens, she will be happier from now on.

Everything is fine now.

* * *

… She thought she was fine, but she wasn’t.

“Oh! Miss Yeo-ul! You’re up?”

Yeo-ul couldn’t respond to either Kite, who was waving with a big smile from the table, or Liriana, who was shyly smiling and greeting her with her eyes.

It was because a shocking sight she had never imagined was spread out before her eyes.

“W-what is this?”

The living room was filled with yellow boxes, with no room to step.

It was undoubtedly the lottery boxes that had left Lantus speechless yesterday.

There were dozens more than yesterday.

Kite grinned.

“I went around the nearby areas at dawn and bought them with extra money. I realized one box wasn’t enough. The only thing Miss Yeo-ul showed interest in yesterday was the lottery.”

“Did I? Did I really?”

“Ah, you didn’t realize it. The only thing you said you wanted to do yourself yesterday was the lottery. The rest were all things I suggested.”

Yeo-ul’s eyes wavered.

Recalling yesterday’s outing in confusion, she flinched.

‘A teddy bear bread? Wow! I like it! I want to eat it!’

‘Strawberry juice? Sure! It looks delicious!’

‘Dart game? Great! I want to try it!’

Looking back, it was true.

But that was because Kite’s tour was so on point, not because the lottery had any special meaning, contrary to what Kite thought.

“Mr. Lantus, I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”

“What is it?”

Yeo-ul, who urgently wanted to correct the misunderstanding about herself, looked at Lantus, but her words got stuck in her throat when she saw the pile of papers he had put down.

What Lantus had been writing earlier at the door.

They were lottery tickets…

While Yeo-ul was frozen, Lantus chuckled, seeming to find her reaction amusing, and pulled out a new batch of lottery tickets to sit at the table.

Writing numbers in his elegant handwriting, he spoke to Kite.

“We’ll fill out as many as we can, and then get Andante’s help. After all, he’s an expert.”

“I don’t know how much help she’ll be. She spends so much money on lottery tickets but never wins.”

“That’s exactly why. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. She should hit the jackpot soon.”

“There’s also the saying that if someone is unlucky, they’ll always be unlucky.”

“…Never say that in front of Andante.”

“Isn’t a broken clock and an unlucky person the same?”

“…Don’t say that either.”

Why are they having this conversation so seriously?

Yeo-ul, who was half out of her mind, felt someone gently hold her hand.

It was Liriana.

“Miss Yeo-ul, why don’t you come and sit here?”

Smiling shyly, Liriana gently led the hesitant Yeo-ul to sit beside her.

She tucked Yeo-ul’s hair behind her ear and asked kindly,

“Did you sleep well? Was anything uncomfortable?”

Over the past two days, Yeo-ul had noticed that Liriana was a bit shy, as gentle as she looked.

It was the third day since they met, and aside from smiling and greeting with her eyes, Liriana had not approached Yeo-ul at all.

For Liriana to be this affectionate, she must have made a big decision.

Even though everyone sensed this, Yeo-ul couldn’t properly respond to her greeting.

Because Liriana seemed to be the only one who could stop this madness.

“Miss Liriana, about those lottery tickets.”

“What about them?”

Startled by her calm response, Yeo-ul quickly continued.

“There are too many of them.”

“Ah, that’s what you’re concerned about. I can see why you might think so.”

For a moment, Yeo-ul had hope when Liriana nodded and smiled gently.

But as the explanation continued, she realized she was mistaken.

“But it’s not that much. To do it properly, we need ten times more lottery tickets than we have here.”

“…Ten times more?”

“Yes, this is a six-digit lottery. The winning number is one out of 999,999, so to guarantee a first-place win, we need a million tickets.”

“…What?”

Yeo-ul didn’t really understand what Liriana was saying, but her brain refused to accept it.

Liriana continued her kind explanation with an angelic smile.

“However, we didn’t have time to prepare a million tickets this time. But next week, we’ll have a million tickets ready. You can look forward to it, Miss Yeo-ul.”

Yeo-ul, looking at Liriana with trembling eyes, barely managed to speak.

“But won’t there be operating costs for the lottery? Even if we win first place with a million tickets, wouldn’t we lose half the money?”

“Of course, that might be true, but Miss Yeo-ul.”

Liriana smiled warmly.

“There are experiences in life more valuable than money. Winning first place is one of those experiences. Miss Andante has been buying five thousand tickets every week and has never won.”

“Huh? Five thousand tickets? Not five hundred?”

Kite, who was scribbling numbers like the wind, looked up in surprise.

“She increased it tenfold last month. She said she would do it for a few months and then increase it again if she doesn’t win.”

“Wow. As expected, my sister never gives up.”

… How much money does Miss Andante spend on the lottery?

Yeo-ul, who had never even seen Andante, started to feel guilty.

She murmured with a trembling voice.

“I think we should share the prize with Miss Andante…”

“What?”

“Oh, nothing, never mind.”

Liriana tilted her head but didn’t think much of it and smiled kindly.

“Anyway, think of a million lottery tickets as an investment in a special experience. Besides, you’re a wanderer, Miss Yeo-ul. Spending Lantus’s money lavishly is your right.”

“But still!”

Despite Liriana’s kind but firm stance, Yeo-ul couldn’t give up and tried to protest.

“This seems too much. I appreciate your concern, but wouldn’t it be better to spend the money elsewhere?”

Unfortunately, she was quickly countered by Kite.

“Don’t worry about it. I call him a silver spoon for a reason. He gets an allowance from a dragon; what’s a lottery ticket compared to that?”

“…A dragon gives him an allowance?”

What kind of scary thing is that?

“Dragons like the successors. When they visit, if Lantus shows them a new spell, they toss him fist-sized gems as if they were scraps.”

“Yeah, it’s a pretty lucrative side job.”

Lantus, who Yeo-ul thought was joking, nodded seriously with a straight face.

“Dragons can’t interfere in human conflicts, so I can’t use the principal amount, but I can use the money earned from investments as I please.”