The Dark Fantasy Doctor Was Mistaken for a Saint - Chapter 60

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Haruto

◈ The Dark Fantasy Doctor Was Mistaken for a Saint ◈

Chapter 60: The Ball of the Stars (6)

──────

* * *

Immediately after Julian and Charlotte disappeared into the reception room with the prince and princess consort, the banquet hall began buzzing as though someone had stirred up a beehive.

“What did he just say? That he would give them a baby?”

“Has the adopted son of a baronial house finally lost his mind?”

“His Highness summoned him separately. No matter how you look at it, it looks like he’s in serious trouble...”

Some peered from behind their fans, others over their wineglasses.

The young nobles’ gazes were fixed on the reception room door.

The same was true of the other young nobles who had been chatting amiably with Freya.

“I thought he was extraordinary when I heard about the Bellheim incident, but I never imagined it would be to this extent.”

Young Lord Heide, standing near the terrace, adjusted his glasses and murmured.

Then he turned his gaze toward Julian’s group.

“Lady Freya. Is Lord Julian normally like that?”

“Pardon? Ah, yes. My brother sometimes says strange things. I think this is one of those times.”

“What do you mean by strange things...?”

“He sometimes skips all the context and says the result first. It often makes the people listening feel as though their hearts have dropped into their stomachs.”

Erika, who had silently been chewing a sausage beside Freya, swallowed and spoke.

“That’s just how geniuses are, apparently. He was like that with me too.”

“Certainly, they do say that happens often with geniuses.”

Young Lord Heide stroked his chin and nodded.

“Then, Lady Freya, is Lord Julian truly saying that His Highness can have a child?”

“Yes. My brother is not the sort of person to make claims he cannot back up.”

“Good heavens. First Count Bellheim, and now His Highness the prince...”

Young Lord Heide’s gaze settled on the reception room door.

Thirty minutes had already passed since they had disappeared beyond it.

Creak.

The tightly closed door opened.

Everyone in the banquet hall looked in the same direction.

The first to emerge were the princess consort, Charlotte, and the Royal Guard knights.

The young nobles noticed that the princess consort’s eyes were red.

It was not difficult to guess that she had cried hard inside.

Though they still did not know what those tears meant.

The princess consort and Charlotte returned to their seats.

Then the reception room door closed again.

Julian and Edmund did not come out.

“They’re not out yet?”

“Did His Highness stay behind with him alone?”

“He even sent the princess consort out, and the two of them are speaking alone...”

“This must be no ordinary matter.”

More time passed.

It did not take long for the door to open again.

Edmund came out.

Walking side by side with Julian, no less.

Edmund had walked in with his back to Julian, but now he was walking beside him.

And the prince even wore a broad smile!

There was only one possible meaning behind that bright smile.

“Good heavens...”

“He really did it?”

“Something even the high-ranking healers could find no way to treat?”

At the center of everyone’s attention, Julian and the prince spoke warmly.

“I understand that you are worried about Her Highness’s blood spots. But if she takes the medicine I give her consistently, they will disappear soon, so please do not worry too much.”

“That too?”

“Yes. After that, she will not need to hide them with a lace collar. She can comfortably wear the clothes she likes.”

“You even take care of things like that. As expected, Sir Julian. Have you any interest in becoming my personal healer?”

Personal healer.

At those words, chills ran down the young nobles’ spines.

A personal healer was someone entrusted with the life of a member of the imperial family.

Even high-ranking healers who had proven their integrity and neutrality throughout their lives rarely received an offer to become the imperial family’s personal healer.

Yet such an offer had been made to the adopted son of a baronial house, in the middle of the Founding Festival banquet.

But Julian’s response was even more astonishing.

“Your Highness honors me. But as a doctor, it would be difficult for me to become one person’s exclusive physician.”

“Why?”

“If I became Your Highness’s personal healer, I would have to spend my entire day on standby for Your Highness.”

“I suppose you would.”

“But Your Highness is not the only person who needs me.”

“Huh.”

Edmund let out a sigh.

“When you put it that way, trying to keep you would be rude.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“But hearing you say that only makes me want you more. You really ought to become my personal...”

“...”

“...I’m joking. Please don’t look at me like that.”

Ha ha.

Edmund laughed and patted Julian on the shoulder.

It was a soldier’s greeting, reserved for trustworthy comrades who had shared the battlefield.

“Personal healer or not, it doesn’t matter. Let us remain connected. I shall be waiting for you at my secondary palace tomorrow.”

Edmund turned toward the princess consort.

Julian also turned to return to his seat.

Then a wall of people blocked his way.

Julian was only briefly bewildered by the crowd standing in his path.

A young lady approached him with a smile behind her fan.

“Lord Julian, might you grant me one dance tonight?”

“I apologize, but I have a fiancée...”

Before Julian could finish his polite refusal, another voice cut in from beside him.

“Lord Julian. I am Fritz of House Wolff, a baronial house. My father has long been associated with House Nihirit, so I wished to introduce myself.”

Behind the young lord offering a handshake, another young lady quietly found a place.

“I heard about the Bellheim incident. If you have the time...”

People asking for dances, people offering handshakes, people trying to continue a conversation.

Their approaches varied, but they had one thing in common.

Those who had not shown Julian even the slightest interest during the earlier conversation were now showering him with passionate attention.

Erika tilted her head as she skillfully used magic to warm her cold meat.

“Why are they all suddenly acting like that?”

Freya narrowed her eyes at the question.

Even while saying that, Erika’s fork never stopped moving.

A deep sigh slipped through Freya’s lips.

“Big sister, don’t you realize how momentous this is?”

“Our teacher caught the eye of the highest-ranking person here?”

“Yes... Well... That is not entirely wrong.”

Barely resisting the urge to press a hand to her forehead, Freya continued.

“His Highness earned great military achievements over three years on the Southern Front. As the twelfth prince, he has practically no claim to the throne, but it is nearly certain that he will become independent from the imperial family and receive the title of Marquis because of his military service.”

“So?”

“Her Highness the princess consort is the daughter of a ducal house.”

“I see.”

“The imperial family had tried to push for their divorce because of the miscarriage issue. But since she is from a ducal house, they could not proceed easily. If my brother has resolved that problem...”

“Then he has gained powerful backing. That’s a good thing.”

“How can you make it sound so simple, Big sister!?”

Erika gave a small chuckle at Freya’s reaction.

“I don’t understand why you’re so surprised, actually.”

“Pardon?”

“How long have I been watching our teacher from beside him? This much is only natural. No, perhaps I should say it took far too long.”

Munch.

Erika emptied her plate, tossing the final piece of meat into her mouth.

At the sight, the words “Is food really that important?” rose to Freya’s throat.

But before Freya could say them, a sharp cry suddenly rang out near Julian.

“Ah!”

Freya turned her head.

In front of Julian, a young lady crouched while clutching her shoe.

“I-I’m sorry, Lord Nihirit... I think I twisted my ankle because of my shoe... Could you perhaps take a look at it for a moment?”

As though it were only natural, Julian knelt and began examining her ankle.

He pressed various areas of her ankle with his fingers to check for tenderness.

He firmly stabilized her calf with one hand and pulled her heel forward.

He moved her heel from side to side.

Julian’s examination was more thorough than expected, leaving the young lady who claimed to have twisted her ankle flustered instead.

“Tsk.”

Freya clicked her tongue briefly as she watched.

“On the way home, I should tell my brother about that young lady’s relationships with men. My brother is far too kindhearted.”

Erika picked up a fresh plate and headed toward the desserts, answering casually.

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

“Pardon?”

Erika had already returned with a tart.

Piercing the tart on her plate with a fork, she spoke.

“Do you know how many women down in the lower district tried to throw themselves at our teacher because they wanted to improve their circumstances? But he never even gave them a second glance. He always said the same thing.”

“What did he say?”

“A patient is at their most vulnerable in front of a doctor. That is why it is easy for them to develop feelings for the doctor treating them. Because they are grateful. Because they rely on them.”

“I suppose that’s true.”

“But our teacher says he must not return those feelings. The moment a doctor reciprocates a patient’s affection, the doctor loses objectivity. And a relationship that begins that way can easily turn into exploitation.”

“Ah.”

Freya slowly nodded.

It was certainly sound reasoning.

And knowing her brother as she did, she believed he would uphold that principle to the end.

“If that’s the case, then I’m relieved.”

“Right? So that girl’s little scheme was never going to work from the start.”

Munch.

Erika finished the tart.

At that moment, the music changed.

A grand melody centered on string instruments began filling the banquet hall.

The ball had begun.

The tables at the center of the hall were pushed toward the walls by the attendants.

The cleared central space became the dance floor, while the buffet and seating were rearranged around it.

Erika and Freya settled near the buffet.

It was the perfect place both to eat and to watch, with a view of the entire dance floor.

Though the reason Erika chose it was the former, not the latter.

When the music began, Julian finally escaped the crowd and headed toward Charlotte.

Julian held out his hand to his fiancée.

Charlotte took it with puffed cheeks.

The two walked to the center of the dance floor.

“I shall permit you to dance near where my wife and I are dancing.”

The prince allowed them to dance close to where he and his wife would be dancing.

With that, Julian’s value soared.

The young lords and ladies who could no longer approach Julian naturally sought their next targets.

Julian’s companions.

“Lady Freya, if you would be so kind...”

“I apologize, but I did not come here for that today. Besides, I am still too young.”

Freya smiled and politely declined.

Naturally, Erika received such offers as well.

“Lady Erika. Would you grant me one dance?”

“I’m sorry, but there is already someone I have my eye on.”

The young lord and Freya both blurted, “Pardon?”

Erika paid them no mind and tossed a piece of tart into her mouth.

Thus, the two defeated the first invitation to dance.

But whenever one person retreated, another approached them.

“Then perhaps the next dance...”

“I said there is someone I have my eye on.”

“Lady Erika, I am from House Lilienthal, a viscount’s house...”

“There is someone I have my eye on.”

It was the exact same answer every time.

Freya’s situation was not much different.

“Lady Freya, just one dance...”

“I truly apologize.”

“Then perhaps we could contact each other later...”

“I do not think that would be possible either.”

Young lords retreated, approached again, retreated again, and approached again countless times.

Erika set her fork down on her plate with a tap.

“This will never end at this rate.”

Erika turned to Freya.

“Dance with me.”

“Pardon?”

Freya was briefly flustered.

Then she understood Erika’s intention.

In high society, dancing with someone of the same gender, or with family, was a signal.

“Today, I did not come here to seek a marriage partner.”

There were occasionally genuine same-sex couples, but those were extremely rare.

Normally, ignoring that signal and asking someone to dance was considered rude.

That was why Erika had invited Freya to dance.

“...All right.”

Freya took Erika’s hand.

As the two headed toward one side of the dance floor, the two young lords who had intended to follow stopped walking.

A same-sex dance.

Reading its meaning, the young lords lowered their heads one after another and retreated.

In one corner of the bustling banquet hall, a space for only Erika and Freya was created.

Erika was a clumsy dancer.

She was leading, but it was the lead of someone who had never received formal instruction.

If Freya had not adjusted her steps from time to time, they would have tangled themselves up several times.

Then Erika spoke.

In a voice only Freya could hear.

“Freya. Do you know something?”

“...What?”

“There is a man I know from that lower district. He always says that not everyone gets to start from the same place.”

Freya’s foot fell one beat behind.

“...Why are you saying that all of a sudden?”

“To our teacher, I am still a patient and a commoner.”

Freya’s hand stopped.

At that moment, Erika’s chronic illness came to mind.

That was right.

From the very beginning until now, Erika had always been Julian’s patient.

Guard, guest, assistant. No matter how many identities overlapped.

The fact that Erika was Julian’s patient had always remained.

And Julian always... his patients.

As Freya’s thoughts reached that point, her dancing faltered by half a beat.

But Erika did not stop.

Continuing her clumsy lead, she spoke calmly.

“For now, all I can do is eat well, sleep well, and get healthy as soon as I can. I need to find out whether my feelings will still be the same then.”

Freya looked up at Erika.

At that moment, a scene passed through Freya’s mind.

“Just grow up healthy, Big sister.”

Whenever she heard those words, Erika would let out a small laugh.

“Do not tell me...”

Erika gave a small laugh at Freya’s reaction.

It was the same laugh as always.

Freya did not ask what that laugh meant.

The two danced silently for a while.

Then, as the song neared its climax, Freya asked Erika a question.

“What do you want to do once you are healthy, Big sister?”

“I wonder...”

Erika looked up at the ceiling.

The chandelier light reflected in her crimson eyes.

“Maybe I’ll apply to become a hero first. Or perhaps a knight or a mercenary. If I earn achievements beyond the wall, I might be able to become a noble too, right?”

At those words, Freya stared at Erika in a daze.

That night, as Erika continued her clumsy lead, she seemed larger than life.

* * *

After the dance ended.

The two left the dance floor and returned to the buffet.

The moment Erika sat down, she picked up a new plate.

Then she began piling food from the buffet onto it.

“Dancing made me hungry.”

Sausages, chunks of cheese, tarts, smoked salmon, meat, and bread.

When Erika first picked up her plate, Freya had looked at her with sympathetic eyes.

She thought it was the best Erika could do for herself right now.

But the tower on her plate continued to grow taller.