The Rebel’s Quack Doctor 17

“His Imperial Majesty.”
The Emperor of the Legnumia Empire, Solter Renium III, regarded the messenger who rushed in bearing a telegram with languid eyes. Then, with an elegant sweep of his hand, he brushed back his fine platinum hair—pale in hue but lustrous—tucking it behind his ear.
The messenger knelt before him, trembling violently as he raised the telegram with both hands.
“B-Bruvan… has fallen into the hands of the Liberators, Your Majesty. The governor has been captured, and the people of Bruvan have gone over to their side…”
The Emperor crumpled the telegram in one fist. Rage darkened his pitch-black eyes.
“What of Commander Loen Lectio?”
His voice was low.
Bruvan was one of the nine regions of the Legnumia Empire. Each region was governed by a governor personally appointed by the Emperor. To prevent any single governor from amassing too much power, the emperors of old had always stationed military commanders in each territory to divide authority.
In Bruvan, that military commander was Loen Lectio, eldest daughter of Marquis Lectio.
“…Her whereabouts are unknown, Your Majesty.”
Solter III let out a long, weary sigh. The governor he had personally chosen had been taken alive, and the military commander was missing…
Truly pathetic. So the Liberators—who had been steadily growing their influence near Bruvan—had finally swallowed an entire region whole.
At least, he supposed, it was fortunate that Bruvan had always been the weakest of the southern territories.
“Was it the ‘Gray Lion’ again this time?”
A sneer curled briefly at the corner of the Emperor’s mouth. The “Gray Lion,” Richard. How absurdly irritating that this man—who to the common people of the empire was practically a god—kept clinging to his authority like damp rot.
“…Yes, Your Majesty. He led the vanguard, but the operation itself was orchestrated by none other than the ‘Emperor’…”
The messenger’s voice shook as he spoke.
Solter III rose slowly from the throne. He reached over, drew the longsword from the scabbard at his royal guard captain’s hip, and turned back.
“Say that again.”
“This operation was led by the Emperor of the underground city…”
But the messenger could say no more.
Solter III had already swung the blade.
The carotid artery severed cleanly; blood sprayed from the messenger’s mouth as he collapsed.
“Ah… My palace has been dirtied again. Clean it up at once.”
The Emperor walked unsteadily toward the captain and handed back the dripping sword. When he sat once more upon the throne, his platinum hair was streaked crimson with blood.
“I am the sole supreme emperor of this realm. So why does some upstart who dares call himself ‘Emperor’ still breathe? Don’t you agree, my ministers?”
Solter III asked with a gentle smile, yet no one dared answer.
Sigh. What a foolish messenger. Had he simply avoided uttering the word “Emperor,” his entire family might have been spared. One life would have sufficed.
“Execute the messenger’s entire family. This is my command.”
He crossed his legs, propped his chin on his hand, and looked down at the ministers. The sight of the old men trembling was almost endearing.
“Three months ago, that physician who fled from the underground city told me clearly: that bastard Jin’s life was nearing its end. At most three months, no more. No doctor in this world could save him.”
Solter III twirled a lock of bloodstained hair idly around his finger as he spoke.
Three months earlier, the physician who had escaped the underground city had run straight to the palace and revealed its location.
He must have thought that would buy him his life. But the underground city had countless entrances, and whenever the Liberators learned one had been exposed, they immediately destroyed and sealed it. That was precisely why, despite all the spies planted among them, the Empire had never located the city itself.
He had spared the useless physician only because the man had brought at least one valuable piece of news: Jin was dying. Yet now even that information had proven worthless.
“And yet they dared to plan and execute the seizure of Bruvan without my permission. Which means that bastard is still alive and well. How is that possible?”
The Emperor sighed deeply. His voice rose steadily through the stages of anger. The ministers merely watched him with wary eyes.
“Find out exactly what happened. And that physician—wipe out his entire extended family. Every last one. Kill them all.”
Solter III smiled brightly, placing deliberate emphasis on the final three words. His radiant beauty was undeniable—yet it sent chills racing down every spine in the room.
Chapter 2: The Changed Future
“Hu-hu-hung, hu-woong~”
What’s that sound, you ask? It’s me humming a little tune, obviously. Hehehe. Hehehehehe!
It had already been well over a hundred days since I arrived in the underground city. From the moment we passed the three-month mark, I had been humming happily every single day. Because Jin—Jin was still alive! Perfectly, miraculously alive.
And more than that—he was getting remarkably healthier. Ever since that day two weeks ago when a blood clot had lodged in his throat and he’d taken a proper tour of the underworld, his condition had improved day by day.
‘It’s still a bit early to feel completely at ease, but… he’s alive. That’s something.’
I couldn’t know for sure, but I suspected the nebulizer I’d asked Louie to make after that near-death incident was finally showing real results.
Honestly, I wasn’t even certain I had the name right anymore. I’d only remembered seeing it used for respiratory issues in some drama and had them recreate it from that vague memory.
The nebulizer vaporized sterile saline so it could be inhaled through a mask. It was supposed to help loosen thick phlegm and dried blood. The fact that I hadn’t thought of it until the situation had become life-threatening was honestly pathetic.
In the modern world they diluted all sorts of medications into the saline… but here I had no access to those drugs, so plain sterilized saline would have to do.
Still—couldn’t I allow myself a little hope? Unlike the original story, he had survived well past the three-month mark.
“Astrid-sensei, you seem to be in a very good mood today!”
Rodent, perched on the chair in the clinic, swung his legs energetically as he spoke. Somewhere along the way he had dropped “Doctor Ober” and started calling me “Astrid-sensei” instead.
Ehehe, yes. This sensei is feeling absolutely wonderful! I bobbed my head along with the tune I was humming.
I was currently flipping through the medical charts I had kept for the past hundred-plus days. The stack was impressively thick. Sure, a few other patients were mixed in here and there, but Jin’s records alone took up what felt like ten full notebooks.
Comparing the first volume to the most recent made it painfully clear just how much he had improved. The early pages were filled with entries about him coughing up blood multiple times a day, struggling to breathe. Lately those incidents had become far less frequent.
There was only one thing that still gnawed at me: the recent, unexplained episodes of tachycardia. His pulse would suddenly race for no discernible reason.
‘Ugh… I finally get the respiratory issue under some control, and now it’s the circulatory system? If it’s his heart, there’s literally nothing I can do.’
My good mood plummeted straight into the negatives. If something was actually wrong with Jin’s heart… what could a quack like me possibly do about it?
This soft, fragile tofu of a man. One squeeze and he’d crumple. Why was he so breakable? Sob.
Lately I had been consulting with Betty and sneaking all sorts of heart-healthy ingredients into his meals under the guise of regular food.
Folk remedies, sure—but I couldn’t exactly perform open-heart surgery here, and I had no echocardiogram machine. What else was I supposed to do?
Of course, some of those ingredients were so potent that if Jin ever found out what they were, he might keel over from cardiac arrest on the spot… but ignorance is bliss.
“I’m heading to see Jin now. Want to come along, Rodent?”
I gathered my charts and stethoscope and looked at him. It was almost time for his tutoring session anyway… and lately Rodent refused to be separated from me for even a moment.
“Yes! Let’s go together, sensei!”
Rodent beamed and grabbed my hand tightly. His sudden clinginess had started—cruelly enough—right after that day when I’d truly thought I’d lost ten years of my life.
After the day Jin nearly died, so many things had changed. People no longer treated me as merely an excellent physician; they treated me like an angel descended from the heavens, a living saint. I had become the holy woman who raised the dead.
Rodent had asked me, wide-eyed, whether I had really brought Jin back from death. Then he’d begged me to teach him CPR too.
Naturally I had no reason to refuse. The more people who knew how to perform it, the better.
Rodent, Richard, Louie, Rick, Pin—anyone who came asking, I taught.
“Doctor, you’re here?”
As always… devastatingly handsome.
Entering the greenhouse, I saw Jin sitting up in bed reading documents. He lifted his head and looked at me.
This was supposed to be underground—where was that breeze coming from? Right on cue, a gentle wind fluttered through, lifting his hair and stirring the curtains in perfect dramatic timing. The effect was lethal.
Health really is everything. Once he started gaining a little weight, how could he become this beautiful? It was impossible not to stare every single day.
His immune system seemed to have improved somewhat, so I had lifted the rule that every visitor had to wear a mask. And yet our little sea pineapple was holding up remarkably well—no major flare-ups.
“I just need to finish reading this. Is that okay, Doctor?”
Jin gave a small smile. I was instantly bewitched and nodded without thinking.
Ugh, whatever. So what if he can read my mind? He’s objectively gorgeous—what am I supposed to do about it?
I sat beside the bed and watched him read. His serious side profile as he studied the papers was outrageously sexy. So this is what people mean when they say a man working is attractive.
The faint furrow between his brows, the soft flip of pages, the focused way he scanned each line… how could someone be this perfect? Wait—am I drooling? I quickly wiped my mouth.
“Sensei!”
Rodent came running back from wherever he’d disappeared to. In his small hands was a crown woven from white and purple flowers… flowers that, once dried, were part of Jin’s medicine.
“I made this for you!”
With his tiny fern-like fingers he carefully placed the crown on my head. I had been thinking how wasteful it was to use medicinal herbs this way—but Rodent’s cuteness melted me completely.
Aaaah, so Rodent was this kind of healing character… Of course saving Jin hadn’t been the wrong choice. Far better for this adorable child to grow up normally than to lose both of us and live consumed by vengeance and tragedy.
“…Leader-nim, are you all right?”
Suddenly Rodent tilted his head worriedly and looked at Jin.
Thinking something might have happened, I quickly turned to Jin.
And froze.
Jin’s face was completely blank. What… what is this? I had never seen him look so dazed. Even when fever had burned so high he could barely stay conscious, those sea-blue eyes had always sparkled with sharp awareness. Now they were just… empty.
“Jin? What’s wrong? Jin?”
At my voice he blinked, shook his head as though coming back to himself, and returned his gaze to the papers. But he didn’t seem to be actually reading.
“Jin. You look exhausted. Don’t push yourself. Let’s do the check-up first.”
When I reached out and touched the hand holding the documents, he startled violently. His skin felt burning hot against mine. Fever…?
“I-I’m fine. Really, Doctor.”
He kept insisting he was fine, but he looked anything but. I sighed deeply and pried the papers from his grip.
“Undo your shirt buttons right now. I’m listening.”
I spoke firmly. Jin glanced between me and Rodent, then slowly began unbuttoning.
‘Again. Tachycardia.’
And worse—this time it was racing even faster than usual. Far outside normal range. I pressed my palm worriedly to his forehead. His face was flushed crimson; of course he was burning up. If only I had a proper thermometer.
“L-Leader-nim! Nosebleed!”
Rodent cried out in alarm. Nosebleed? He’d coughed up blood from his mouth plenty of times, but never a nosebleed. Panicked, I looked—sure enough, blood was streaming from both nostrils.
“Jin, are you okay? Why is your nose suddenly—”
I hurriedly grabbed gauze and pressed it to his nose. In that instant his body went limp and slumped backward.
“Leader-nim—!”
“Jin? Jin! Are you okay, Jin?!”
Another arrest? I frantically checked his breathing. Thank god—he was still breathing, though shallow and rapid.
Right—laying someone with a nosebleed flat is bad. I gently rolled him onto his side.
“Jack, can you go find Richard? And ask someone to bring cold water and towels—quickly.”
I spoke to the boy nearby. This was all so sudden I barely knew what to do. Rodent, meanwhile, had burst into loud sobs, tears and snot streaming down his face.
Aaaah, I want to cry too. Jack hurried out of the greenhouse. Mercifully, the nosebleed stopped quickly. Soon Louie and Rick came running with ice water and towels, and Richard arrived looking like death itself.
“J-Jin collapsed…?”
Richard was so pale he looked more like the patient than Jin. I handed him a glass of cold water first.
“It’s okay. Don’t panic too much. He just fainted for a moment.”
He responded to pain and his pupils reacted to light. Most likely the fever had caused a brief loss of consciousness. I was in the middle of cooling him down with ice water when—
“Y-Yes… thank goodness. But, Doctor… what is that on your head…?”
Richard gulped down the water, finally calming a little, then glanced up at me.
Ah—the flower crown!
“Oh, this is from Rodent…”
My face burned with embarrassment as I hurriedly took it off. I’d forgotten I was still wearing it… And speaking of—Rodent needed comforting too. Thankfully Louie was already holding him.
“It’s okay, Rodent. The Leader-nim is fine. He’ll wake up soon. Shh.”
Rodent must have been really frightened. I hugged him tightly.
“Yes, Rodent. It’s going to be okay.”
His sobs gradually quieted in my arms. Goodness, because of this fragile jellyfish, how many hearts have to nearly stop?
“Rick, could you take Rodent back to the clinic and give him a mild sedative? Let him rest there for a bit.”
I’d already had Rick prepare a calming draught just in case. Rick and Louie led the sniffling Rodent out of the greenhouse.
‘What… what is happening now…?’
I replaced the damp cloth on Jin’s forehead, face crumpling. Was fate truly impossible to change? No matter what I did, was Jin doomed to die in the end…?
The thought of some unknown disease I couldn’t even name taking him terrified me. I gripped his hand tightly. No, Jin. Don’t be sick… please.
I was honestly starting to resent him. Couldn’t he stop scaring me like this?
After a long while of changing out cold cloths and tending to him, Jin finally opened his eyes. When I saw that familiar sharp sparkle return to those blue eyes, relief flooded through me.
“Jin, seriously… your personal doctor is going to die of a heart attack first. Because of you.”
I grumbled. Jin, still flushed with fever, let out a weak, airy laugh.
“Sorry, Astrid… Ober-sensei.”
There it was again—the full name. Why does he always call me by my full name when he wakes up from fainting?
“Jin, are you okay? I told you not to overdo it.”
Richard frowned slightly. He had spent the entire time pacing the greenhouse in helpless agitation.
I glared at Jin. Overdo it? So this jellyfish had been pushing himself too hard now that he was feeling a little better?
“I-I didn’t overdo anything, Doctor. Could I… talk to Richard alone for a moment?”
Jin avoided my eyes as he spoke.
He was definitely hiding something—overwork, probably. But I couldn’t exactly stop him from speaking privately with Richard. I sighed deeply and stepped out of the greenhouse.