Where Do You Keep Thinking of Going?!

I left the Imperial Medical Office and spent the night at Moonlight Palace. Since I'd collapsed all evening, I left Asella's evening checkup to Chloe.

"Medicine has risen to B-rank."

Thanks to the massive surgery experience I'd accumulated, the skill rank had gone up.

"I can acquire two new skills."

A new skill had popped up in the Emergency Treatment tree: Plastic Surgery. It would definitely have demand, but it wasn't urgently needed. For diagnosis skills, I could learn CT Scan, but it wouldn't be much more efficient than MRI. I'd already used MRI to scan Asella's whole body, various curses, and mana beasts with buffs and debuffs, then handed the data over to Hugo. Asella had been horrified by the bizarre way the skill worked during the scan.

"Maybe it's time to level up the prescription line too."

Acquiring the next skill after Prescription, Prescription Writing, would probably unlock the following skill tree. Something useful might ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠come up.

"Alright, let's check it out."

I prioritized acquiring Prescription Writing.

Not a bad skill, since it lets me document medical concepts in writing. With this, I could even convince people without basic medical knowledge to some extent. Once acquired, the next skill name appeared.

"Additional Findings, huh."

It's also called a second opinion. It's when you get the same checkup from another doctor because a single exam might lead to misdiagnosis.

Interesting. It means it'll check elements I might have overlooked in my prescriptions.

"Funny doing my own second opinion, but it could be effective for Asella."

She'd inherited excellent mana capacity from the witch Camilla, and due to her innate talent, she was essentially a special constitution. Tricky patients for doctors include those with situs inversus, where the organs are mirrored—heart on the right instead of the left. If you miss that and cut open the chest for heart surgery, it's an instant catastrophe requiring emergency response. Asella was similar; she needed special prescriptions for her unique body.

"Good, acquire it."

If it could judge whether my prescriptions for Asella were correct going forward, that was perfect. As I closed the skill window, the slowly decreasing stamina number caught my eye.

"The debuff reduction won't recover with regular healing spells."

Hemorrhaging had worsened into anemia too. Definitely a debuff on my stomach. Like Asella's curse, the cost of talent couldn't be explained by modern pathology. I needed this world's items—my medicines or artifacts—to fix it.

Just then, the door clicked open. Only one person entered without knocking, so I dismissed the status window and greeted her.

"Princess."

"Young lord."

Asella stepped across the carpet in fluffy slippers and crossed her arms in front of me.

"Don't you have anything to explain about today?"

"Ah, it was nothing. Seems my stamina dipped a bit from the recent major surgery and engagement ceremony."

Did her trust in her personal physician drop? She furrowed her brow at my answer. Her expression showed a hint of worry, but would Asella really worry about my health...? Well, maybe. I'd be grateful if she did.

"That's all?"

Her sharp tone made me think it was just my imagination.

"Young lord, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you haven't caught the plague, have you?"

"Plague out of nowhere? No way."

I was baffled by the random word. Asella knew the principles of contagion because I'd taught her. Was she wary because I might harm Moonlight Palace? She'd released plague into the Empire herself—what was she so scared of?

"If it really were plague, I'd isolate myself first to prevent infecting others, so don't worry."

"What? No, that's not what I—"

"And in that case, you shouldn't approach me without a mask either, Princess."

"I said that's not it. I'll handle it myself."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Asella snapped sharply. Seemed like she'd lost trust in me after today's display.

"I don't have any illness. Definitely."

Debuffs weren't quite what you'd call a simple illness.

"...Haa, fine. You know best. I'll trust you."

"Of course."

I flashed a light smile and moved to discuss the important issue with Asella.

"I heard First Star Palace challenged us to a match."

"Right. I was about to talk about that."

"Perfect. The event is strategic mock battle, right? We have decent forces now, so we can bring a favorable lineup. I see it as a chance to raise Moonlight Palace's prestige."

"Yeah. I've accepted the match."

"Really? What are the conditions? If you tell me, I'll research strategies..."

"Young lord."

Asella cut me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠off and leaned in close to my face as I sat on the bed, lowering her head. Her golden eyes burned fiercely.

"This is an order. You're sitting out this match."

"Pardon?"

And then she said something completely unexpected.

An unfamiliar anxiety and impatience washed over Asella. She barely stopped herself from biting her nails in front of Ras.

"This is an order. You're sitting out this match."

Ras blinked in stunned silence at her firm command.

"Sitting out?"

"Exactly as I said. I'll handle the match from start to finish."

Ras calmly tried to persuade her.

"Princess, if it's about my unsightly collapse today, I'll apologize again. It won't happen suddenly like that anymore."

Ras pushed his opinion strongly, but Asella had no intention of yielding.

"I can't trust that. For the time being, don't go to the Imperial Medical Office—work only here at Moonlight Palace."

"What?"

It was like a bolt from the blue for Ras. He had tons of urgent work at the office. Even leaving general patients to his faction healers, the medical book compilation he'd assigned to Chloe or the curse research with Hugo couldn't proceed without him. He had to inspect outgoing medicines, confirm prognoses around when the princess or Alverich's wife were discharged. Above all, he had to beat Kunter in this match. Without getting that artifact brooch soon, his life was in danger. He'd planned to negotiate the match terms himself to secure it, but now it was all for nothing.

"Princess, please reconsider. Didn't my strategy work effectively against the barbarians?"

"That's that, and my judgment is final. No more arguing."

"No."

Ras looked aggrieved, but to Asella, it was a natural measure.

'Ras can't get involved with that healer.'

Asella had nearly lost him once already. She never wanted to recall the despair and sense of loss from that time. And just half a day ago, she'd witnessed it.

'Ras died.'

The scene from Foresight wasn't reality, but it could become so. The image of him vomiting blood and dying miserably still lingered before her eyes. Seeing him collapse in reality too made her feel like it would really happen. The anxiety that she had to act now or lose him burned her fingertips and muddled her mind.

'Ras's downfall starts with his family being wiped out.'

She intended to keep Ras away from Libio, who would provide that spark.

Given Ras's personality, he'd develop strategies aggressively and participate in the mock battle himself. Clashing with Libio would be inevitable. Even if the Emperor collapsed from sabotage, she wouldn't let Ras treat him.

"Princess, could you at least explain why?"

Ras asked seriously.

'Why, why...'—I know the future.

Who would believe that? No mage would reveal the principles or process of their unique realm to others. Even her mother Camilla kept the split-body magic she alone could use a total secret. Seymour was the same. No one knew the direction of the realm the sage, proficient in diverse magics, focused on researching. For mages, knowledge of their realm was their greatest asset—their everything.

'I can't tell him about Foresight.'

Asella said firmly to Ras.

"Young lord, it's not a reason you can understand. Stay out of First Star Palace's business."

Asella judged that knocking Libio down as much as Kunter in this mock battle was crucial. With his faction weakened, he couldn't pull Ras in. She was determined to crush him thoroughly. And she couldn't explain any of it to Ras.

"Princess, if you issue unreasonable orders without persuading me, I can't accept them."

"Unreasonable? Why do you need to accept? It's an order from me, the princess."

"...Of course, you're right."

As she held her hardline stance, Ras's momentum faltered. Yes, I should have handled it like this from the start. Leaving him free let him poke around like a hornet's nest. As Asella thought that, Ras made a final proposal.

"I'll obey. But please let me go to the Imperial Medical Office. The faction won't run without me."

"I said don't leave here!"

Asella slammed both hands on Ras's shoulders and shouted. Why couldn't this man understand she was doing it for his sake?

"Where do you keep thinking of going?!"

Ras couldn't withstand her weight, lost balance, and fell back onto the bed. Asella pressed down on his shoulders with both hands and met his eyes.

...Eyes full of dissatisfaction toward her.

Receiving that gaze made her chest ache, but she had to push hard. Right now, Ras's eyes sparkled with vitality and will. But Asella couldn't forget his face, blackened like rotten mackerel, death rising to his chin.

Their breaths mingled on the bed. Asella glared at Ras for a long while. Ras glared back at Asella. Midway, Asella realized their position was unnatural. Her calf touched the inside of Ras's thigh. Asella, having pounced and toppled him, looked like a leopard about to tear into prey.

"...Eut."

Was it embarrassment? Asella's anger gradually subsided. After a long staring contest, she averted her eyes first and loosened her arms' pressure.

Getting involved with this man always made it impossible to think rationally, just like now.

"...You can go to the Imperial Medical Office. But only work in your office."

"Thank you for your generous consideration."

A polite, priest-like tone full of decorum. For some reason, it made Asella's chest tighten and her emotions well up, so she left Ras and stormed out of the room.

She stomped back to her own room.

'I'll handle it myself.'

Asella threw herself onto the bed, took deep breaths, and tried to devise a strategy to beat Kunter.

"...Ugh."

But even that, her body wouldn't cooperate. Amid growing abdominal pain, whispers echoed in her ears like hallucinations.

—I'm not bad.

—I did nothing wrong.

—The world's bad for causing pain.

"...Shut up."

Asella glanced at the ring on her ring finger. But soon, she clenched her fist, curled up like a fetus, and burrowed into the blankets. Her abdomen, wrapped in her arms, poked at her teasingly, stab after stab.