Chapter 254
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 254
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Royal Invitation
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To modern folks, spam emails were just a part of everyday life.
There was too much to do in the world—too many interesting things—to bother wondering where they came from, whose data got leaked, or what nonsense they contained.
I'd naturally forgotten all about that spam email.
Until I was enjoying a leisurely day off the next day.
And then heading to the clinic the day after that.
- Director, did you get the email?
The realization hit me like a bolt when I got Ahmed's confirmation call.
The moment I heard his voice and pictured Prince Faisal.
That email I'd dismissed as spam suddenly felt very real.
"Hold on, just a second!"
Luckily, I was already at the computer.
Luckily, I hadn't deleted and skipped over it again.
I quickly translated the full screen and read through it at the breakneck speed I'd mustered during my intense studying days in school.
"An invitation... you're really inviting me... to something like this..."
What the hell!
- Haha, Prince Faisal really wanted to have you there, so I tried to make it happen. What do you think?
An invitation from the prince.
For some reason, Ahmed's smiling face—acting like he knew nothing, like he didn't want to stand out—felt utterly infuriating.
Even though he'd been the one to bring the prince here in the first place.
Go? Or no?
I racked my brain quickly.
There wasn't any real reason not to go.
The other directors could cover for a week or ten days off.
But even so, I couldn't bring myself to say "sounds great" right away.
- He says Allah blessed him by letting him meet you—a saint... no, the director.
It had to be because their people were just so overwhelming!
"Uh, first off, I'm not really an academic or anything. Do I have something worth presenting at the forum...? No, is it separate from presenting? Just a guest seat? Would it even be okay for me to attend...?"
Having quickly scanned the invitation, I tossed out a light counterargument to test the waters.
- Ah, yeah, I get that. I suggested throwing a party with you as the star, but His Highness said that might be too much pressure.
And then immediately backed off.
"The forum sounds good."
- There's also the option of coming as a state guest for their National Day event. You'd have more people around, but the party itself would be huge. Or maybe with the princess getting married this year...
There was a hint of mania in their determination to invite me no matter what.
Private jet. Top-tier luxury accommodations.
And gifts to make up for lost income during the break.
Ahmed promised it all.
"I'd love to join the forum."
There was no escaping this.
- Thank you so much for accepting so readily. Thanks to you, Director, I've helped out, His Highness has too, and everyone else visiting the royal hospital. If we bring you over and make a big splash, it could really promote Korean medicine to our people who aren't familiar with it yet.
"Sure... Is there anything specific I need to prepare or do?"
- There are a few other princes who want to meet you because of what His Highness and I said, but don't worry—I'll fend them off. Just eat, drink, shop, enjoy, and take pictures.
No... that's not it...
If I'm going all that way, I should see patients. Why fend them off?
"I'm fine meeting them. I'm no good at formalities, but if they'd like treatment, I'll do my best."
- We'll handle the formalities!
Just think of it as a house call with a hefty fee for a few days.
I was curious how the directors I'd referred to the royal hospital were doing anyway.
In the end, I accepted my fate.
After finishing treatments for the day, I gathered all the staff.
"I have a big announcement. Especially need to get permission from Director Hwang."
"...?"
Hwang Sanghun's eyes widened in shock.
But it probably wasn't what he was thinking.
"Yeowon, I..."
"I might need to be away for about a week—can I ask you to cover?"
"Ah."
Before Hwang Sanghun's misunderstanding could deepen unnecessarily, I got straight to the point.
"Eeeeek! A royal invitation? Like, partying it up there and stuff?"
"Kind of between a trip and a business outing. Including travel time, about ten days away."
"Oh, nice. You work so hard all the time—have a blast this time."
Thankfully, Hwang Sanghun accepted without hesitation.
I'd heard the same thing just a few months ago during that volunteer trip.
"Sorry to dump ten days on you."
"I was gone for three months—what's that?"
It wasn't the first time, even if infrequent, so the other staff didn't mind much either.
"As expected of the director. A prince comes as a patient, and now this."
"Oh, gotta clear it with Manager Seo too."
"Don't worry about the clinic—go have fun. Jealous."
"Huh? Jealous of what?"
"Going abroad... eating fancy food...?"
What was Seo Inae talking about?
"Inae, you're coming along, of course."
"Pardon? Me?"
Anyone else maybe, but Seo Inae had to come.
"They probably didn't invite me too, right?"
"They said I could bring people. You might end up going solo as my rep next time, so let's get your face out there."
"Uh, uh, wha—?"
What? Did she glitch?
Seo Inae gaped in shock.
I wanted to take everyone, but with patients coming in, I couldn't just close the clinic.
"Hehe, leave the clinic to us!"
Gong Nari spoke up confidently, so I set the ten-day break schedule with the still-dazed Seo Inae.
"Alright, everyone clock out! Good work today!"
That's how I informed the staff.
"Director Lee, need to ask a favor..."
For Lee Areum, who wasn't in today, a separate call.
"Anyone want to come along?"
And finally, passed it on to the branch directors.
Not expecting anyone to join, of course.
The only place with two directors was Jeju, and they were swamped.
- Take me with you! I must see the front lines of globalization with my own eyes!
But surprisingly, there was a volunteer.
No reason not to.
Han Yeowon, Seo Inae, Kim Chunsik. Three in total.
I confirmed the private jet passengers and notified the embassy.
A little over a month until the invitation date.
With not much time left, I immediately posted the vacation schedule on the clinic door.
Patients don't like switching doctors mid-treatment, so new ones for a while would go to Lee Areum and Hwang Sanghun.
Unless they specifically asked for me by name after a referral.
"Your name, please?"
"Han Nam-su."
"How'd you hear about us?"
This was standard—receptionists lightly surveyed how patients found us.
We crunched monthly stats to check ad effectiveness.
And thanked big referrers.
Normally just casual chit-chat.
"Uh... the students at my Tai Chi dojo all recommended it."
Tai Chi.
Those three syllables hit, and I shot up from my slouched chair in the exam room.
"...Names of the referrers?"
"Kim Jaegy u and Kim Jinsang."
Seo Inae entered 'Tai Chi instructor' in the chart right away.
And messaged me for confirmation.
Already hearing from the exam room, I replied fast.
Assign to me—I'll see him.
I had to see this patient myself.
What kind of guy was he?
Didn't feel like anything special from inside.
"You'll see Director Han Yeowon."
Seo Inae checked my message and handled it.
ID check and routine stuff.
Moments later, Han Nam-su entered the exam room.
My heart pounded hard.
If he'd reformed Kim Jaegy u, Kim Jinsang, and Yi Da-jeong like this... would he have an air of a true master?
Maybe hiding his power?
"Hello, here for knee pain today?"
I greeted the patient warmly.
"Ah, yes. Not too bad, just... built up from overdoing it. I run a small Tai Chi dojo."
Outwardly, utterly ordinary middle-aged man.
I opened my senses wide, focused—no special energy.
A bit better than Myeong Seon-ju, maybe?
He'd cultivated a tiny bit of internal energy, but nothing like high-level martial arts cultivation.
"Welcome. Let me check you out first."
But zero chance he wasn't hiding power? Not quite.
To fool even me, he'd need stealth-specialized arts or master-level control like Master—on par with the Ten Supremes... tough, but possible?
Far more likely he was exceptional outside internal energy.
I stayed alert, calmly examined him.
"Move slowly. Tell me where it hurts."
Checked knee range of motion.
"Does it hurt when I press here?"
"That's fine, but ow, a bit below there."
"Ultrasound too."
After palpation, ultrasound.
"Symptoms and imaging both point to pes anserine bursitis. Technically not the knee joint itself, a bit below. Where the semitendinosus, gracilis, and sartorius tendons attach. Inflammation in the bursa between that and the tibia."
I compared the goosefoot tendon diagram on screen with the ultrasound inflammation.
"How long to heal?"
Varies by severity, but better than knee joint issues.
"Inflammation isn't huge on ultrasound. How long?"
"About a week?"
"Two weeks steady treatment. Avoid weight on the knee as much as possible. Might take longer without enough rest."
"No problem. Have Kim Jaegy u demo instead... please take good care of me."
Han Nam-su nodded, perfectly ordinary acceptance.
No odd speech or mannerisms.
Common injury for active folks—pes anserine bursitis.
Like any average Joe from a random home or office?
"I'll treat you well."
Mid-thought—rude if he read minds.
Our eyes met.
"But this clinic's surprisingly ordinary?"
He voiced the exact thought I'd had since seeing his face.
No mind-reading.
Meant he'd been sizing me up too.
"Ah, sorry if that's rude. After what Kim Jaegy u said, I expected... really... something super special. Haha."