Chapter 49
The Terminal Baby Doctor Doesn’t Hide Her Genius
“Thank you for saving me, Doctor.”
Thankfully, the one who broke the tense silence was the very subject of it all—Tak Minjae. I had been afraid of what kind of outrageous words might spill out.
Minjae’s voice was clear and pure, yet calm and mature in a way that didn’t suit his young age.
“To be honest, I thought I was just going to die like this… No, I hate to say it in front of my father, but if I hadn’t met you, Doctor, I surely would have.”
“Minjae!”
Ignoring his father’s cry, the boy continued with firm clarity.
“Since it’s a life you saved, I want to repay this grace for the rest of my days. No—please, take my life itself.”
My eyes widened. What on earth was he saying? More importantly—
I don’t need that…
He should just live healthily, do what he wants, and enjoy his life. Why would he follow me?
I’d heard other physicians had run into patients like this before, but for me, this was the first time. I was utterly unprepared.
“…That debt will be repaid by Mr. Yoonha over there. And Uncle Woondeok, too.”
“Yes! Of course, Doctor. If you ever need anything, this humble herbalist will do it without question. Thank you so much…!”
“Haha, I’ve already handed over a blank check, you know.”
Yet the boy stood firm in his stubbornness.
Soft as reedgrass, but with a will that would never break—that’s what his resolve felt like.
Minjae’s expression drooped.
“Or… do you think I’m too young to be of any use?”
“Minjae. Don’t trouble the Doctor like that.”
It was impossible to scold a smiling face. With those earnest eyes fixed on me, I found it hard to be stern.
He’ll probably drop it soon enough.
Maybe I should just humor him for a moment and move on?
“…Yoonha, is that really the kind of boy you like?”
…What’s wrong with my brother? Has he eaten something strange today?
“Then… what if I prove I can be useful?”
“…Eh?”
Judging from Uncle Woondeok’s sudden change of expression… the boy must have something hidden.
“I already got my father’s permission. And Miss Yoonha’s too.”
Uncle Woondeok hesitated, then nodded stiffly. Even Yoonha looked troubled, though she didn’t stop him.
Before I could speak, my father nudged me.
“He’s like me.”
“Huh?”
The next instant, I understood.
A gentle breeze brushed my cheek, warm and tender.
And before my eyes floated a translucent, long-tailed creature that looked like a snow leopard.
Wait… that’s a snow leopard spirit. Is this a divine beast?
But that wasn’t all.
Beside the leopard, the wind shifted and coalesced into a pale green butterfly, fluttering gracefully around me.
“Wow…!”
It was astonishing.
I had traveled widely during my third life, but even then, wind users were so rare I could count them on one hand.
And the truly talented ones? They were all in the Imperial Palace.
“Kyeng!”
Raon, bursting from my bag, darted about trying to chase the butterfly.
Uncle Woondeok cleared his throat and explained.
“…Ahem. My son awakened from a very young age and has shown remarkable gifts since.”
Indeed—he didn’t look ordinary at all.
I tugged lightly at Father’s sleeve in amazement.
“Daddy, how strong is he, then?”
Father leaned back lazily on the sofa with me in his arms, narrowing his eyes.
“Strong enough to silently erase a person.”
…Why use that example? And in front of your physician daughter, no less?!
“What I mean is, he can erase the sound of the wind. That alone is an incredible gift.”
“Mmm…”
But Father wasn’t finished. His voice, usually calm, grew heavy.
“If, in his life, this talent were ever exposed, others would surely have swarmed to claim him.”
Uncle Woondeok’s expression flickered constantly. His silence was the same as agreement.
“The world is full of people who destroy what they can’t possess. Isn’t that right?”
A chill swept through me.
Your eldest aunt tried to kill your father many times.
Is that from his lingering memories, or just a grim guess?
Uncle Woondeok squeezed his son’s hand.
“…Yes. That’s true.”
He explained further:
Since awakening, they had hidden Minjae’s power for years.
But it had been revealed by the smallest of accidents.
“About a year ago, while seeking treatment for Minjae’s illness, his ability was inadvertently exposed.”
A sickly child who could barely move—yet possessing such a rare and powerful gift.
And an Easterner at that. The perfect target for exploitation.
“I knew nothing good would come from it. I even paid the physician who saw it an enormous sum to keep the secret.”
Uncle Woondeok and Yoonha exchanged a grave look.
“Doctor, you asked us to find out who poisoned my son, and why.”
Yes, I had.
“Not long after silencing that physician, I received an offer from the Imperial Special Forces to give them my son. I refused.”
My eyes went wide. The Imperial Palace?!
The Special Forces…
They were an elite corps of spellcasters, the Empire’s mightiest weapon, the pillar of imperial power.
“It was only later that I realized it had been an official Special Forces proposal.”
For an Easterner to reject them… was more than enough to provoke their wrath.
But if that’s the case, there’s not enough evidence to say they poisoned him. With pride like theirs, and a child holding such rare power, they wouldn’t poison him. They would have dragged him off by force instead.
“That’s the only reason?”
“From here, let me explain, Uncle Woondeok.”
Yoonha stepped forward.
“Doctor, do you remember when we first met? When I was mistaken for a thief and thrown out of your shop?”
I nodded. That had been quite a shock.
Yoonha said she had done it on purpose, to draw danger away from Uncle Woondeok.
“It wasn’t just that. Lately, we’ve faced theft, robbery, threats, assaults, break-ins, embezzlement, even cases where illnesses were deliberately fabricated…”
She explained that someone was sabotaging their business in every way possible.
“The culprit is that fat man we saw that day. His name is Kanin. A Westerner. He’s an herbalist.”
Yoonha strode forward and gathered the wooden tongs from the table into one pile.
“These days, there’s a faction trying to wreck the great market of Heukrim.”
Heukrim had long been a thorn in the Empire’s side.
Founded by Heuk Ahwa of the Heuk family, it was a marketplace built around the talents of exceptional Eastern physicians. It dominated the empire’s supply of medicines and resources, giving it immense economic influence.
For an empire steeped in anti-Eastern prejudice, it was intolerable.
Especially for the Eight Noble Houses, whose power Heukrim continually undercut.
So they reached out to Western herbalists.
And one prestigious family led the charge.
One of the Eight.
“The Sinyon family. They contacted Kanin directly.”
At their request, Kanin gathered other Westerners, formed a trading guild, and installed himself as its leader.
Their goal: to ruin Heukrim from within.
“I even collected evidence. Since then, they’ve called me a thief, smashed my shops one by one, and are now trying to steal the illegal ledgers I gathered.”
Yoonha raked her hair back roughly.
“And this will affect the Heuk family’s business as well.”
“Our family’s…?”
She nodded.
“The recent schemes have been the worst yet. They’ve been deliberately spreading diseases, then handing out strange medicines while claiming they came free of charge from the Heuk family.”
Oh, no.
I suddenly remembered my past life.
There had been a time when the kids who bullied me all vanished overnight, suddenly too busy to bother with me.
They said they were scrambling to replace fake medicine they had been distributing…
So this was that incident.
“And that’s not all. They’re mixing fake or inferior herbs into the market, eroding trust in the entire system without hesitation.”
I knew the Sinyon family well.
They were one of the Eight, and closest in territory to the Heuk family’s domain.
They had always ground their teeth over losing patients and resources to us.
They’re the very ones who get crushed by the original heroine, first of all…
After hearing all this, my judgment was clear.
Tak Minjae would have died young anyway, even without poison, given his chronic illness and complications.
But the fact that his death came sooner…
That was the handiwork of the Sinyon family and that man Kanin.
Which meant that by harming the Heuk family, they had made themselves my enemies as well.
