Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Hello, Mister
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The Terminally Ill Baby Doctor Isn't Hiding Her Genius
Chapter 16
“You saw Biyu’s abi’wity. Don’t wowwy. S’weepyhead Unc’le got bettew too.”
Speaking of which.
Two days ago, I had tried using ‘Diagnosis’ on my eldest uncle.
‘He was a complete mess.’
And when I took a quick look at the medicine I would have to make…
‘It was just as I expected.’
Eldest Uncle also required an incredible number of steps and types of medicine.
However, it was less than what my younger uncle needed.
Even though they had the same incurable disease, Eldest Uncle’s case was on the easier side.
‘It’s probably thanks to my experience treating various types of madness and seizures in my third life.’
To put it in numbers, if Younger Uncle’s case was a level 100 difficulty, Eldest Uncle’s was about a 70?
It was obvious who I should treat first. That was why I had been so keen on going to the market.
I needed to get good, suitable ingredients. And build up proficiency in this young body of mine while I was at it.
‘As you can see, I have a p’wan for evewything.’
So neither my cousin nor my younger uncle needed to worry about a thing.
“Who are you calling a sleepyhead? Tsk. Such a nickname.”
I ignored my grumbling uncle and looked at my cousin.
“I’m even mowe amazing than you think, Oppa.”
The more you see, the more surprised you’ll be.
“So Oppa just needs to think about wepaying me.”
“……”
I snatched the creature from my younger uncle’s hand.
Squeak! Squeeeak-!
For some reason, it didn’t show any resistance toward me. It seemed to be crying sorrowfully while clinging to my finger.
Hmm, it’s cute, but also a little pitiful.
“Take this little one, too. There won’t be any problem if you take it, Oppa.”
As far as I remembered, Heuk Gyewon fell into darkness because of his father’s death, but he never suffered from madness.
Even if a variable caused it to manifest in this life, I could just cure him.
Because I’m a genius.
My hesitant cousin didn’t take the creature I offered. Instead, he carefully began to speak.
He looked like he was about to cry.
“…I wasn’t trying to get rid of it or ignore it.”
“……”
“Of course, it’s not that I never had those thoughts… I was scared, and I was afraid. I even wondered why it appeared when I never asked for it.”
…Hey? Excuse me, Oppa? The little one can hear everything…
Should I cover its ears? But I can’t even tell where this furball’s ears are…
But the furball had already stopped its sorrowful crying.
It was looking at Heuk Gyewon with innocent eyes—no, with eyes full of expectation.
“My youngest uncle was right. I was scared that someday… I would develop the same illness as my father. The last physician who visited said it could be hereditary.”
“He’s a p’wetty usefu’w guy.”
“Huh?”
“Nofing, go on.”
Heuk Gyewon hesitated.
“Ahem, there were times like that, but. My thinking has changed in just a few days.”
“……”
“It’s thanks to you.”
Heuk Gyewon’s gaze, meeting mine, was more than just bright; it was filled with anticipation.
“I only ever thought about a future where my father wouldn’t get better and I would also get sick. I couldn’t help it, even though I didn’t want to… But I don’t think I’ll be like that anymore.”
Heuk Gyewon reached out and placed his hand over mine, which was holding the creature.
“I’ll work hard to repay your kindness. From now on, I’ll try to face this child, too. I won’t ignore it.”
“……”
“You’re amazing, so you’ll need a lot of warriors in the future.”
…I don’t need *that* many, though.
The creature leaped into Heuk Gyewon’s arms and rubbed its face all over his chest.
Heuk Gyewon seemed surprised, but he soon gave a small smile and stroked the creature.
“I want to become stronger, too. And even though I was a bad master, I hope this poor thing doesn’t disappear.”
In the original story, the heroine—and a certain divine beast user I met in my third life—had said it.
That a divine beast and its user are tightly bound, partners for life.
If it was true that Heuk Gyewon had destroyed his own divine beast in all my past lives, how sad that must have been.
“I won’t look away anymore.”
Watching the boy speak as if making a vow, I smiled brightly.
It was always a pleasant feeling to see a patient overcome their depression, or their trials, and recover.
There was a time when that was my only comfort in this damn world.
‘Though this oppa isn’t a patient, of course.’
Should I call this growth?
Just keep growing up like this. I don’t want you to become the villain, Oppa.
“Well now, you know how to say some admirable things, don’t you?”
“Do not touch me.”
“What?”
My uncle trying to pat his head, and Gyewon-oppa flinching away in disgust.
And then there was the creature, which had somehow returned to my hands. It was rubbing its head eagerly against me.
‘…It’s cute. Like a little chick.’
I smiled and stroked the creature, then slowly lifted my head.
Gyewon-oppa chose to face his fear, believing in hope and a future.
‘In that case, I should face mine, too.’
I thought it wouldn’t be a problem even if he wasn’t around.
Because I believed I could live this life well even without that person.
But after boasting to my cousin like that, it would be ridiculous for me to look away.
My eyes sparkled.
I have to go find the man who is my father.
* * *
Strike while the iron is hot, they say. I changed my clothes and set out immediately.
“Hah…”
I panted for breath.
‘When I said I was going to see my father, they both looked shocked.’
I had pushed away my uncle and Gyewon-oppa, who offered to take me, and come alone.
My first life, my second, my third… all the way to now.
The person who never once looked for me.
‘I have to think about this calmly.’
Now that I’ve decided to face him.
Let’s think about how to use him, where he might be needed.
To be precise, it would be better to have that ‘father’ around to make the heroine the family head and achieve my goals.
I slapped my cheeks with my small hands.
“A’wight.”
My mother died of an illness early on. Even then, my father didn’t come to see her.
I have a rough idea of what the illness was.
I’ve picked up quite a bit of information over my three lives.
Heuk Bihu.
My father.
I’ll go to him coolly, propose a contract, and treat it as a purely mutual agreement.
“…I don’t need… somefing wike a fafew.”
Muttering as if making a promise to myself, I toddled away.
How long had I been walking?
I reached a garden located in the far eastern corner.
As I neared the very end of the garden, a giant tree came into view.
I was out of breath, and my heart was pounding unpleasantly. It was a very long way for a three-year-old.
“Haa…”
I walked a little further and looked ahead.
Before I knew it, a large, sprawling cherry blossom tree was in sight.
I’d heard it was a place where the flowers bloomed in profusion every spring.
But it was a place I’d paid no attention to in my past lives.
Beneath it, I saw a large man leaning comfortably against the tree.
Jet-black hair that fell to his waist. A delicate forehead.
If my younger uncle had the air of a prickly nobleman, this man was a handsome man of an entirely different, languid impression.
Elegant eyes. Long eyelashes. A straight, defined nose.
He was a beautiful and handsome man, like something out of an Eastern painting, otherworldly, but for some reason…
His face was that of someone who had resigned himself to and given up on many things. At the same time, he also looked detached.
That man was Heuk Bihu.
My father.
I walked steadily forward and stood before the man.
His crimson eyes moved slowly.
He had noticed my presence from the start but turned his head very slowly, as if he hadn’t.
We stared at each other in silence.
The man’s unbound hair fluttered gently in the spring breeze.
“Pretty child.”
A pleasant, albeit toneless, voice called out to me.
“Who are you?”
At the voice, which even held a hint of affection, I felt a lump form in my throat.
I’m the daughter you abandoned for four lifetimes.
I swallowed the reply I couldn’t voice.
I wanted to call him this just once.
Full of resentment.
“Hello, mister.”