Assassination of the Emperor (2)
I hurried toward the Heavenly Palace to see the emperor. The fully equipped surgical team came with me. At my side, Ambrosia bounced along with short steps.
"What are His Majesty's symptoms?"
"It looks like poisoning. When we use healing spells, it only makes him suffer more."
"A curse, then. What's the infection route?"
"He drank wine brought by Crown Prince Kunter. It tested clean at first, but something's off."
"It's the type that feeds on divine power to absorb. It probably nullified Sister's detection spell."
"Ah, so that's why the healing spells made it stronger and hurt His Majesty. My mistake."
Ambrosia bit her lip. With her skill, she could've detected it with a careful check, but since it was a gift from Kunter, the emperor must've let his guard down. Libio was the one who'd maneuvered things that far.
"Teacher, hop on!"
As we exited the Imperial Medical Office gates, a holy knight waved me over, the ambulance ready. Just as I stepped forward, knights suddenly blocked my path.
Clack, clack.
She stepped forward confidently in front of them.
"Young Master Gotberg."
Asella's golden hair fluttered elegantly.
"Princess."
"You're heading to His Majesty?"
"Yes, it's urgent."
Her expression was more serious than ever as she spoke to me.
"That's an order. Don't go."
The moment Asella heard the emperor had collapsed, she rushed to the Imperial Medical Office.
To think it'd happen this soon.
In her foresight, the emperor's assassination was years away, so she'd grown a bit complacent. When she'd glimpsed the future, she hadn't known how long Libio had served as physician. She'd suspected him but not confirmed he was the culprit, so her response had been delayed.
A painful mistake.
If the emperor died now, she'd be at a disadvantage in the succession war without her faction fully built.
But Crown Prince Kunter can't inherit either.
Seizing control amid the chaos could be a huge opportunity.
No, that's for later.
Right now, politics mattered less than Ras. She was worried about him above all.
Just as Marquis Gotberg had been summoned before, a treatment request would come for Ras too. If he went to heal the emperor, he'd be in clear danger.
Even the empire's top healers had failed despite all trying. The emperor died for sure.
And if Ras got blamed for the assassination...
In the worst case, he'd be executed like Marquis Gotberg.
In that future, he was the next emperor, so I'd have given the final order.
Asella guessed she'd issued it due to the flow of events. Ras wasn't her physician there, so no reason to protect Gotberg.
Anyone but her would've punished the assassin harshly.
Imagining that possibility drowned out the imperial court's currents. She only wished for his safety.
"That's an order. Don't go."
For that reason, Asella spoke to Ras even more firmly. Seeing Ambrosia beside him overlaid the foresight scene. Their heads rolling from the guillotine flashed before her eyes.
Ras answered her calmly.
"Princess, His Majesty is in critical condition."
"I heard. But you're my physician. Touching His Majesty's sacred body is overstepping."
"Princess Asella, there was an imperial decree."
Ambrosia interjected. Asella glared sharply at her.
"An imperial decree? Did he explicitly name Gotberg to treat him?"
"Er..."
"Isn't this you healers taking my physician without permission, Ambrosia?"
"Well..."
Ambrosia trailed off. The emperor had only named Gotberg, not given clear orders.
"On second thought, it wasn't a full decree."
"Then officially, it's just a request for cooperation from His Majesty's physicians. It doesn't supersede my order."
Asella's logic held, so Ambrosia couldn't argue. By the rules, Ras had no duty to treat the emperor, and failure meant responsibility. If he died, Moonlight Palace would lose Gotberg.
Ambrosia understood the risk.
"Princess, let's talk privately."
To defuse the standoff, Ras grabbed Asella's wrist and strode off. He pulled her under a row of trees and pleaded urgently.
"Please don't do this now."
"Why? Defying my order again?"
"You don't think His Majesty dying now benefits Moonlight Palace, do you?"
"What?"
"With Kunter like that, crush Heike in the chaos, and you could be next empress— that's not it, right?"
Ras's words were spot-on. He grasped the imperial flows perfectly. But hearing it fueled her resentment. He didn't understand her heart, and she hated him for it.
Of course, she'd never told him about foresight. He didn't know future possibilities, so he'd think that way.
"If that's really it, I have no choice but to defy. I can't ignore a patient I can save."
That damn patient. Unable to hold back, Asella yelled.
"You can't save His Majesty!"
"I can. You know my skills."
"Even with your skill, you don't know everything...! What if they pin the assassination on you?!"
"Why such an extreme assumption? Like the mock battle—why are you like this?"
Because I saw you die.
Asella swallowed the words rising to her throat.
"...Young Master, you're confident in medicine, and I'm confident in politics. My predictions don't miss."
"That's... true."
Ras didn't deny it, sensing something. Asella took a deep breath.
"If you fail? The court starts a succession war. Whoever wins, you and Ambrosia get locked up for the failure in the meantime."
"...Right."
"The next emperor wants stability, an impressive show for the masses. Publicly executing the assassins in the square—effective, no?"
"Very."
"Never thought you'd get caught up?"
"Well."
Ras couldn't refute. Asella's prediction matched the history he knew.
Ignorant of foresight, he admired her judgment.
"Astute. No room to argue—a perfect prediction."
"Right? So leave His Majesty to his physicians. That's their job."
"But Princess, that assumes I fail."
Ras grinned at her.
"I'll succeed."
His confident demeanor almost swayed her, like when she'd sent him to the princess before.
...But no. That arrogance would lead to a fall someday.
Especially now, when failure was irreversible—it couldn't happen.
Asella made a final, pleading appeal with her true feelings.
"Don't go."
"I will."
Ras brushed past her. Asella whipped around.
"Young Master!"
He ignored her call and ran to the carriage. Asella clenched her fists, staring helplessly at his back.
"Hyah!"
The knight whipped the horses urgently. Three minutes to the Heavenly Palace in the ambulance.
"Gotberg, will Princess Asella be all right?"
Ambrosia asked me.
"I'll get an earful later. Plus, I've got a kept punishment pending, so yeah, a bit worried."
"Mm. Anyway, His Majesty comes first now."
"Agreed."
That was my answer, but a corner of my mind felt uneasy. Asella's prediction was spot-on. In actual history, Gotberg was wiped out after the emperor's death.
Well, Asella had pinned the assassination charge then.
In the original, Libio vanished right after, leaving no target. The blame fell on Father and Ambrosia.
As she said, whoever became emperor, it could've happened.
But now, I could pull it off. I had the team and tech.
The carriage arrived; we hurried to the emperor's bedroom. Emergency protocols let Ambrosia's authority breeze us past the guards.
"How's His Majesty?"
"His color's worsening."
The vice-chief physicians hovered helplessly around the bedridden emperor. No wonder—healing magic wasn't working.
"We'll take over from here. We need to touch the sacred body—is that okay?"
"Please. I'll take responsibility."
Ambrosia nodded. I checked the emperor's condition. Diagnosis showed abdominal pain, vomiting, pinpoint pupils, fasciculations. Poisoning, definitely.
"Atropine IV."
"Yes!"
Chloe set it up fast. The team jumped into logging.
I checked pupils. They'd dilate if improving, but no response yet.
"Titrate at 2mg per hour, continuous micro-dosing."
Not simple poisoning. Had to excise the curse causing it.
"Need an MRI."
I rubbed my hands and hovered them over the emperor, palms five centimeters away. Swept slowly down his body.
Asella had freaked during her scan.
Diagnosis Results
Injury Site: Stomach (pyloric obstruction)
Luckily, pyloric spasm sealed it—toxins didn't reach duodenum.
I tapped the crystal orb projection function to display it.
"Hugo."
"Unknown form in data. At least advanced curse or higher."
To manipulate a curse shielded by amulet, I needed its type. Hugo knew nearly all mid-tier or below, so this was big league.
Extract and detach from host, then physically neutralize.
"Endoscope?"
"Still prototype—unstable."
The gear team was building it from automata tech, but not field-ready. For an older emperor, scope beat open surgery for safety. But in cases like this, it raised future cancer risk.
Decision made, I told Ambrosia.
"Sister, I'm about to say something that sounds insane—bear with me. For His Majesty's sake."
"Wh-what do you mean?"
Tensing, I dropped the bomb without prep.
"We need to cut into His Majesty's sacred body."