The Princess's Magic (1)

As soon as I mentioned Asella's debuff, her expression turned blatantly guarded. Did she not want anyone else to find out? But as her personal physician, I couldn't pretend not to notice, so I pressed on with the questions.

"Your Highness, do you ever experience stomach pain or nausea on a regular basis?"

"No."

So decisive. Just as I expected from Asella, who had already insisted she wasn't in any pain. I couldn't tell if she was just putting on a brave front or if the pain had dragged on for so long that she'd grown numb to it.

"Not even when it gets ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠really bad sometimes?"

"...Who knows?"

Her evasive dodge made it seem like bravado. No need to push further and upset her when she clearly didn't want to talk about it.

"If it ever does happen, please take this."

I handed Asella a vial of painkillers. It was a small glass bottle, about the size of a finger, originally meant for holding mana stone fragments. Quite sturdy.

"What's this?"

"It's called a painkiller. Taking it when the pain is severe should provide significant relief."

"Is that true?"

As Asella eyed it skeptically, her head maid Lucy chimed in.

"Your Highness, if I may be so bold..."

"Go ahead."

"During the personal physician exam, the young master gave some of that medicine to a knight with a serious injury, and the knight said the pain vanished."

"...Hmm."

Asella tilted the vial with her fingertips, and the painkillers rattled inside.

"Young master, if you're making wild guesses on your own, you're wrong. Drop it."

"Your Highness."

I leaned in closer with a more serious expression.

"You mustn't lie to me, your personal physician. Accurately assessing your condition is my duty."

Even as a quack doctor, I was going to stand my ground a bit as a medical professional. Asella mulled over my words, holding a blank expression for a moment before pocketing the vial.

"I'll keep this for now. But young master."

"Yes."

"There must be no baseless rumors about me circulating in the palace."

It was a command laced with gravity. She meant to keep her illness a secret. For Asella, who was seriously gunning for the throne, any illness was a fatal weakness. If that was why she was bluffing, it made sense.

"Of course. A doctor's duty is to guard a patient's information with their life, even if a sword is at their throat."

Asella nodded, seemingly satisfied with my response.

"That concludes this morning's examination. If your blood pressure is fine, we can assume your mana circuits are normal too. You're free to go about your day."

I mixed Asella's remaining blood sample with mercury and disposed of it. As I packed my bag and stood, she called out to me.

"Young master, you wouldn't lie to me, would you?"

"Lie about what? Of course not."

"Did you figure it out because you got a Talent?"

Her sharp golden eyes pierced right through me. She was asking if I'd inferred her pain from my own talent's curse, since I'd gained a debuff as the price for mine.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I did concoct the medicine using alchemy, though."

Silence stretched on as her gaze lingered.

"Leave."

I gave a proper bow and turned to exit Asella's room.

"Whew."

I lightly rubbed my stomach, which was starting to ache from the mental tug-of-war with the princess. That white lie hadn't come from me as a doctor, but as Ras Gotberg, Asella's fiancé. That much should be fine, right?

A few days had passed since I started my duties as personal physician.

"Requesting shift change for escort duty."

Tanya, now adept at her tasks, reported in the Imperial Medical Office.

"Young master, do you need any cleaning done?"

"I know where everything is."

The office was already cluttered with the medical tools I'd prepared. Tanya seemed annoyed at the floor space lost to potential ambush spots.

During the day, Tanya escorted me. Bruno handled nights. They planned to rotate shifts periodically. I told them two-shift duty meant no weekends and long hours, so they should rest when in the palace, but they wouldn't listen. Tanya insisted it was her duty and refused to leave my side.

"Asella shows no anomalies today."

I kept records on a sheet. Her blood pressure and health were consistently good. I checked her diet—nutritionally imbalanced—so I was thinking of suggesting a menu. But that required consulting the palace kitchens, so it would take time. Above all, Asella was such a picky eater. Somehow she'd grown so much in ten years despite barely picking at her food. She wasn't an elf or sustained by mana or anything.

"Must be the stomach pain."

What a bluffer. It suited her in a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠way, but now that she was my patient, I couldn't help worrying.

I idly imagined it. A young princess born in the imperial family. At four, or maybe three. Or even from infancy. She unlocked her magical Talent and got the curse along with it. One that came with intense pain. In an environment demanding poise and etiquette, she couldn't show even a hint of weakness. If an imperial family member acted frail, the whole court's dignity would suffer. And even as the weakest faction, she was still a legitimate heir. In reality, Asella would become the next emperor, so she didn't seem weak to me at all.

Her mother, Camilla von Württemberg, was power-hungry too. In that situation, Asella probably saw hiding her pain as normal. Or maybe she'd accepted the agony as a natural part of life. Stress buildup was inevitable.

"...So what?"

That didn't justify the atrocities she'd committed. I wouldn't say I was her biggest victim, but still.

"Right now, I'm just fulfilling my duty as her physician."

I finally had a chance to live as a doctor. I didn't want to ruin it with emotions. Whether I hated Asella, pitied her a little, or whatever—those petty feelings could wait.

"Suppose the pain is the price of her Talent."

Like my debuff, it could be incurable. But if not...

If it was a disease or symptom I could treat with medicine, I could eliminate the pain debuff. Then, as I'd thought before, her magical Talent would vanish too. I could utterly shatter the Golden Witch before she was born.

"That's more than just lèse-majesté."

What was Asella's condition? Diagnosis ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hadn't worked yet, so I didn't know exactly. I needed to observe her more. For now, I shadowed her every move during her schedule. She accepted it as necessary for her physician.

"She's my patient, after all."

Making the patient comfortable was a physician's duty.

"Unless a stronger skill than Diagnosis pops up."

I checked my Status Window.

Diagnosis and Prescription had ranked up to C. Time for a new skill soon.

"Now I need to pick a skill tree."

I touched the details, and the skill map opened. The initial basic skills were three: [Diagnosis], [Prescription], [Emergency Treatment]. Branches like tree limbs extended from them, waiting for similar skills to unlock. [Blood Test] was from the Diagnosis branch. Next unlock would let me choose between Diagnosis or Emergency Treatment routes. The two unopened slots glowed, making it obvious.

"Prescription seems like pharmacist skills, and Emergency Treatment might improve hand dexterity."

I had alchemy for prescriptions, so lower priority there.

"For now, unlocking the Diagnosis tree first makes sense."

To plan countermeasures, I needed her exact condition.

"Blood Test was CBC. Needs modern equipment."

The most versatile diagnostic? "X-ray imaging, obviously."

Would lasers shoot from my eyes? Talk about a monster. I chuckled idly. Well, X-rays were shorter wavelength than—X-rays have shorter wavelengths than UV, so invisible to the eye anyway.

"Young master, it's about time for rounds."

At Tanya's words, I stood from my seat.

The Imperial Palace was a place where high-end talent went to waste. Whenever Asella took a step, dozens followed in a clanking herd. I stuck to her side like a guard knight—though she had her own guards, and Tanya was mine, making for a weird picture. On second thought, it wasn't entirely useless. Job creation mattered.

"Asella, shoulders back. Eyes fierce! Your focus is slipping."

But Asella's daily routine was so dull it made you fight yawns. After breakfast, Camilla tutored her. After lunch, more tutoring. After dinner? Tutoring, of course. Imperial studies, politics, etiquette, dance, riding. Her education zeal put Gangnam housewives to shame. Gangnam, Gangbuk? Ancient history now.

Ultra-Spartan, no breaks. After evening lessons, the tutor showed Camilla Asella's test answers. Camilla's brow twitched as she approached the finished Asella.

"Your performance today was abysmal. That marquisate vacation must've been too long."

How bad could it be? I peeked at the test: thirty questions, two wrong.

...Isn't that amazing?

Asella stood ramrod straight before Camilla, blank-faced, but her throat flinched—she'd swallowed hard. Come to think of it, the haughty Asella only ever faltered against Camilla. Even ten years from now, I'd never seen her so deferential, but she always tensed up around ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her mother. It was refreshing to witness.

"Everyone out. I'll take Asella to the workshop."

At Camilla's order, attendants and knights filed out. Tanya and I stood there blankly, not grasping the situation.

And then.