The Doctor Cured The Villainess And Ran Away-Chapter 24: Time for an Injection (1)

“...Therefore, Las Gotberg is hereby appointed as the personal physician to Asella von Württempelt.”

The appointment ceremony for ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) the personal physician ended quickly.

It wasn’t anything like the conferral of a noble title, nor did it involve pledging loyalty like a knight would.

All I did was recite an oath to Asella, while a few healers from the Imperial Medical Institute stood by and chanted prayers.

“It seems we’ll be working together at the Medical Institute from now on. If you ever need cooperation, don’t hesitate to ask, Healer Gotberg.”

I accepted Falkenhein’s extended handshake and used the moment to clarify one important thing.

“It’s an honor to be entrusted with overseeing the sacred bodies of the royal family alongside you.”

“Haha, very good. Have you decided how you’d like your title and form of address to be handled?”

“My title and form of address... Sir Falkenhein, you’re known by the title Seongho within the Institute, correct?”

“That’s right. It’s a formal rank, much higher than a regular healer. A title is essential.”

“So I’m free to choose any?”

“Well...”

Falkenhein seemed momentarily thrown off.

As fellow royal physicians, he and I held the same rank.

So even if I demanded something like Healer King, he wouldn’t be able to outright reject it.

Of course, if I actually tried to call myself a king under the Emperor’s rule, I’d be executed on the spot for treason.

“My title will be Doctor. I’d like to be addressed as Teacher.”

“Doctor? What does that mean?”

“It refers to someone who treats patients using medicine.”

“Ah, I see. I heard you were well-versed in the field of medical science. I understand now. I’ll have the Institute informed.”

Well, I guess I’ve officially earned myself a medical license now, huh.

After the ceremony, I decided to check out my new office in the Medical Institute.

Being a royal physician doesn’t mean staying glued to your assigned royal twenty-four hours a day. Outside of official duties, we work from our offices within the Institute.

I do need to be nearby during sleeping hours in case of emergencies, and I’m expected to accompany the royal when leaving the palace.

The Imperial Medical Institute was located at the southernmost edge of the palace grounds, right in front of the wall connected to the capital plaza.

With Tanya and Bruno escorting me, I stepped into the building.

“It’s definitely different from the marquessate.”

There wasn’t a trace of religious influence in the Institute building.

Despite the flashy decorations, the place was large, square, and sharp in design—closer in appearance to a university hospital than a church.

Or perhaps more like one of the academy buildings. It had that kind of presence.

The entire palace grounds were saturated in red pigments to the point it hurt the eyes.

It was the current Emperor’s symbolic color.

“Your office is on the fourth floor.”

“Why’s it so high up? Is there no elevator?”

“What’s an elevator?”

“This is ridiculous. Are you telling me I have to walk up and down four flights of stairs every day? Bruno, secure a mage who can use levitation magic.”

“Understood.”

Bruno lowered his head without hesitation, prompting a sigh from Tanya.

“Bruno, don’t actually go bring one. The doctor needs to build stamina.”

“You’re absolutely right.”

Bruno agreed instantly with her.

Seriously, what is with this guy?

“Are you some kind of ancient chancellor? All you know how to say is yes? Who’s your direct superior?”

“I’m not entirely sure. Chancellor...? You mean that chancellor?”

With the kind of piercing eyes that could kill a monster, Bruno answered in full seriousness.

I was an idiot for trusting Boris.

Of course—he recommended a complete lunatic.

While I was joking around with my two knights, I heard whispers from passing healers as they caught sight of me.

“Look over there, that’s the personal physician’s insignia.”

“So he’s with the Third Princess faction, just like the rumors say.”

“White hair... must be a bloodline blessed with divine power.”

Even though the workday was over, the Institute was always busy, night or day. There were still plenty of healers walking around.

Now that I thought about it, the Medical Institute also connected to the capital plaza. They treated regular citizen patients from there as well.

All under the pretense of “grateful service for the Emperor’s grace.”

I suppose you could call it a kind of popularity-boosting initiative.

It also served to train the Institute’s healers.

As a personal physician, I didn’t have to participate in any of that.

“Doctor, you’re the highest-ranking person here, but not a single healer is greeting you.”

“Because they’re from different factions. There’s no Third Princess faction here in the Institute.”

Every healer here belonged to the subordination of some royal physician.

And royal physicians, by nature, belonged to the factions of the royals they served.

Talking to someone from another faction could be branded as betrayal, so they had to be cautious.

It really was a minefield of politics and silent calculations.

But I didn’t have the time or energy to care about the succession war.

Just managing Asella was already overwhelming enough.

Not that it mattered. She was going to be the next emperor anyway.

...Though, I suppose it was my job to stop that from happening.

The office was spotless.

There was quite a variety of magi-tech materials stocked up—looked like Asella had them prepared in advance.

Did she order all this the moment she heard my requirements?

Not only the materials, but even the worktables and tools were all there. And these were things that usually took a long time to arrive after being ordered.

There’s no way all this could’ve ended up here unless she’d started preparing from the moment I agreed to take the test.

So she’d planned to make me her personal physician from the start, no matter what.

Chilling.

The hairs on my arms stood on end.

“Well. I’ll just have to live up to her expectations.”

If I pulled an all-nighter, I could probably craft everything I needed for tomorrow using the materials provided.

***

The next morning, at dawn—

My work as personal physician officially began.

I woke up in a refreshingly good mood and immediately popped a candy into my mouth.

Mmm. Precious sugar for the brain and stamina boost.

This had become an irreplaceable part of my daily routine.

I grabbed my tools and stepped out of the room. The head maid was already waiting.

Wasn’t her name Lucie or something?

“Doctor Gotberg. Please be ready twenty minutes earlier from tomorrow onward.”

“Has Her Highness finished preparing?”

“No. She’ll be needing thirty more minutes.”

So I’m already early, huh.

What a pain.

“Her Highness is beginning her morning routine.”

A moment later, a maid emerged from Asella’s room and gave the report.

Time for me to begin.

I picked up my physician’s bag and entered Asella’s room.

It was larger than most mansion living rooms. freewebnoveℓ.com

The bed area was hidden behind curtains and out of view.

She was seated at the table, looking bored, and tossed a glance at me through her long lashes.

“It’s a radiant morning. Did Your Highness sleep well last night?”

I asked while taking the seat across from her. Her voice came back sharp.

“No different than usual. Are you going to ask me that same boring question every morning, Lord Gotberg?”

“Since Your Highness is my patient, it’s only natural that I check your condition every day. Also, my title is Doctor.”

“So?”

“...Nothing. Just saying.”

I couldn’t say anything more under that piercing stare of hers.

“There’s only one person in the world I treat as a teacher. I’ll continue calling you Lord Gotberg—just so you know.”

“Of course, Your Highness is free to do as she pleases.”

“You’re my personal physician, but also my betrothed, aren’t you? So it’s not an inappropriate title.”

“Hmph.”

I mean... she wasn’t wrong, logically speaking.

Still annoying, though.

This princess excels at magic, knows her politics, and she’s smart to top it off.

Or maybe she’s good at everything because she’s smart.

I kind of want to put her in her place.

Not that I could ever let that treasonous little thought slip out.

I decided to focus on the job.

While taking out the necessary tools from my bag, I struck up a topic for small talk.

“By your teacher, would you be referring to the Sage—the court archmage?”

“You’re well-informed. He’s a famous mage, after all.”

She had one teacher in magic.

A notoriously eccentric old man, avoided even by the royal family.

I already knew that, but I brought it up as light conversation to ease the patient’s nerves.

“First, I’ll measure your blood pressure.”

I wrapped a cuff around her arm and pumped in air to pressurize it.

Blood pressure monitors weren’t hard to make. Once I understood the principle, they were easy to build.

“A medical device?”

“Yes. The speed of blood flow through the body is important. It’s a basic metric for checking someone’s health condition.”

“Hm.”

Since Asella’s dress was thin, I could take the reading directly without issue.

“Blood contains a lot of information. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it can tell you everything about a person’s illnesses.”

“I’m not sick.”

“You never know. People die suddenly all the time, without warning. There are diseases without symptoms. And Your Highness is gifted.”

“So?”

“It’s possible that a price came with that talent. As your physician, I intend to understand Your Highness’s condition completely.”

She tilted her chin upward and looked at me coolly.

She seemed... slightly offended.

“Lord Gotberg, you talk as if you know a lot about talent and its price.”

“I’m simply making an educated guess based on my knowledge.”

Asella kept staring at me the entire time I took her blood pressure.

Her gaze felt like it was trying to pierce into my mind, reading my thoughts.

“Don’t tell me, you too...”

“All done. It’s quite a bit below average. Orthostatic hypotension... Do you ever feel dizzy when you stand up after lying down?”

“Hm... a little.”

“I’ll make a note of it. As I said, analyzing blood is the fastest way to understand an illness.”

“...So?”

Asella tilted her head slightly, curious.

I pulled out the next tool from my bag.

“I’d like to collect a small blood sample from Your Highness.”

A syringe.

For a CBC test. I’d prepared a needle and two detachable glass collection tubes.

I ground the metal for the needle myself to make it thinner and enhanced it with alchemy. No issues in terms of hygiene.

The glass tubes were also reinforced with alchemy to prevent shattering.

I lowered the internal pressure as much as possible so that simply attaching the tube would draw blood in automatically.

“...What is that?”

Asella’s reaction was strange.

She stared at the syringe as if she’d just seen a myth-grade monster—neck stiff, pupils trembling violently.

Her face had gone pale, and her gaze was locked on my hand, frozen in place.

This really doesn’t suit you, Your Highness.

Surely... she’s not afraid of needles, is she?