Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Chapter 14 : He’s My Real Brother, Duke
In order to catch this bad child named ‘Sam’, I had to go into the tiger’s den, the internal treatment center at Duke Castle, where Sam was working as a healer.
I’ve been out of treatment for a few days, so I miss my patients.
“Please check this!”
I was convinced by holding the proposal I had been planning for a long time in my hand.
The Duke would never ignore this perfect document I prepared.
Because there would be few healers in the North who would be able to perform a proper treatment for shapeshifters.
Before he ascended and became the Duke, about a decade ago, the land of the shapeshifters were more severe fighting for survival of the fittest than it was now.
If they were sick, shapeshifters were simply culled, so there had been no developed treatment or cure for the weak and injured shapeshifters.
Only recently, the shapeshifter-related treatment has been developing little by little.
The number of treatment centers outside the Duke Castle also does not exceed five.
Right now, I knew that there were thousands of knights in need of treatment, but the number of healers was less than fifty.
In the meantime, the existence of a healer who learned the treatment for shapeshifters early and went through clinical trials for several years like me was precious.
Finally, the Duke accepted my plan.
In order to increase my chances of success, I’ve also crossed the flattery I’ve used before.
“Ye-yes! The Duke was very handsome today as well!”
I spoke foolish flattery-like words, but what I said was true.
The Duke of Anais wearing glasses was really incredibly cool!
After flattering him, I was a little afraid of what would come out of his mouth.
Because of that, I shrank like a frightened rabbit, but I kept pouring out words of flattery.
“I’ve never seen the Duke wearing glasses before, but you’re so handsome that I feel like you took my breath away.”
“…”
“You’re always handsome, no, no! It’s not flattery! Please consider my honest words!”
When I saw the Duke’s ear twitch, which was calmly passing through the ‘Shapeshifters Treatment,’ I smiled deeply.
No matter how many times the Duke of Anais has seen many kinds of proposals, he would’ve never seen such a detailed “Treatment-Plan Table.”
* * *
Duke Anais frowned, looking at the pile of documents that Astel proudly handed over.
The paper carefully recorded the medicines, treatments, and even the results that Astel had developed so far at the treatment center.
In addition to the secrets gained from some of my experiences on which treatment was effective for which type of shapeshifter, and information on herbs that could be used and which herbs should never be used, depending on the type of shapeshifter being treated.
How to cure the mana poisoning, how to improve the PTSD and trauma of the Knights…
(N: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that’s triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it.)
“I’m still lacking, but the knowledge I have would be helpful to the shapeshifters residing at the Castle.”
No, it’s not to the extent that it helps the shapeshifters improve.
A slight surprise spread to his face, who usually doesn’t have an expression.
He doesn’t know if he was self-aware or not, but Astel was definitely a genius.
Even if the Duke’s most outstanding healer was brought along, it was unlikely that he would be able to study the shapeshifters with this degree of detail.
Astel laughed at him with an innocent face, who had no idea how great the plan she had brought was.
“To be honest, I didn’t write down all the secret treatments I know!”
Astel, who had noticed all the time after entering the office, felt that the atmosphere had improved.
“When I went around the castle, it seemed that there was a little bit of a shortage of healers for the shapeshifters. So I wanted to be of help to them. Just like how I helped the Duke!”
In fact, Astel was right.
Shapeshiter’s medicine was not very developed.
In the first place, they were born with a constitution that hardly felt any pain.
They lived in a world where the weak barely survived and only the strong who were culled and able to endure the pain could remain.
About twenty years ago, it was a beast-like society where it was natural for the sick to be abandoned in the fields.
In fact, Duke Anais also thought it was a reasonable way.
However, Astel seemed to be worried about the weak and wanted to treat them.
“I could help you, Duke.”
Astel, who was writhing, quietly added one more word.
“Doesn’t the Duke also worry about the other shapeshifters?”
Contrary to Astel’s expectations, he wasn’t really interested in the people he manages, whether they were hurting or not.
He was just interested in Astel.
“I believe it would surely be helpful!”
Pushing the documents aside, he looked at the innocent woman, eagerly speaking In front of him.
A strange human woman who he thought was timid but shrinks back when she thinks she was bold and reckless.
It bothered me that Astel’s white cheeks swelled up every time she breathed.
“If you only treat one patient an hour a day…”
“…Yes! Oh, and…”
Astel hesitated and opened her lips again.
“I heard… there was a human healer in the Duke Castle! I heard that his name was Sam.”
Stretching her words was somehow embarrassing.
“Sally told me, then I gave you the proposal… It’s amazing that there was another human healer at the Duke’s Castle. I got interested in him…”
The duke opened his mouth in a strange tone.
“… you’re interested in him?”
“Yes! I’m mostly with the Duke, so I’m also curious about how another human being handles and treats the shapeshifter patients, and how he takes care of the victims.”
The Duke did not know exactly about Sam, the human healer.
He only remembered vaguely hearing that a human had entered the treatment center in the name of being a ‘benefactor of the Jaguar family’.
The Duke of Anais observed Astel’s expression as if studying her.
As she continued to talk about Sam, Astel’s eyes sparkled.
“…Ah.”
Duke Anais’s bleak look turned grumpy.
“When I saw this treatment plan, I remembered something I wanted to tell you.”
Seeing the curiosity in her sparkling eyes, he was a little irritated.
“Please treat me too.”
Astel’s gaze carefully examined the Duke’s face and hands.
“Eh? The Duke doesn’t seem to have any problems other than the imprint, but when I checked earlier,…”
He played innocent with round eyes and acted before the doubt arose.
“It hurts.”
It was a simple thing to tell a lie without a blink of an eye.
‘It was just a practical lie that I played for the first time in my life.’
However, Astel’s cheeks turned white hearing his words.
* * *
Astel grabbed his hand and shook it a few times and left with a blushing face.
‘I think it’s okay if I hold your hand! Right?’
‘…yes.’
‘Should I kiss the back of your hand?”
As he looked at her red face, he shook his head slowly.
‘Not yet.’
‘Tha-that’s right! Well, I’m going now!’
The little back, leaving in a rush, with her red-hot ears like tomatoes.
He quietly squeezed his chin without recognizing the smile on his lips.
His life, which was always static, was strangely disorganized, but his mood was overly pleasant.
‘Because of the imprint with unknown cause…’
He thought of Astel.
Her little hands that tremble when she touches him, the cheeks of a hamster with sunflower seeds, and the white nape of the neck that always burns brightly.
He slowly rolled the fountain pen in his hand.
Unlike Astel, he was able to guess the cause of imprinting.
However, he won’t tell her about it.
Now, just being together in Duke Castle’s Fortress was satisfying enough.
His eyes stayed on the old fountain pen that he had used for more than a decade.
Old, insignificant off-the-shelf, but with his signature engraved on it…
His heart, which had always been beating so slowly enough to be boring, started beating faster.
But that calm peace did not last long.
It was because his assistant, who had been on a business trip to the capital for a while due to the war, knocked on the door of the office as soon as he returned.
“The Emperor says he would send the Red Rose Knights of the capital to support the War of Demons, sir.”
The Duke stared at his aide.
“Yes.”
The assistant, who had been making a report on a clerical basis, faced the Duke’s gaze and hurriedly swallowed his breath.
“Pfft…”
“…?”
“Si- sir. Why, why are you laughing? If there’s any problem… I-I’ll do it! I’ll correct anything sir!”
It looked like he was shivering.
Only then did the Duke of Anais realize that the corners of his mouth were loose.
He opened his mouth quietly, stiffening his expression again.
“The problem was…”
“Yes, sir.”
“…No. I don’t have one, but I’ll ask. Was there anything wrong with my smile?”
He stared as if observing the aide’s face.
That reaction from the aide’s face…
“I looked a little scary.”
Astel said he was handsome.
Sweat trickled down the aide’s spine at the Duke’s honest words.
“Yes, yes? Tha-that’s obvious, no. No, it’s not!”
The Duke tapped the table with an eerie gaze, making a soft sound.
“…Please continue reporting.”
The aide continued, barely with a nervous beating heart.
“Yes, yes. However, the head of the Knights of Roses wants to see the Duke directly and discuss the battle.”
“…”
“So, the Knights of Roses asked for a permit to pass. By all means, the Knights Commander was very thrilled to be able to visit this castle, sir.”
The Duke of Anais was, in fact, a family to the empire only in words, like the Principality of the Empire.
This was thanks to the signing of a non-aggression treaty between the Emperor and his predecessor.
Therefore, it was impossible to enter the northern Duke Castle without the permission of the Duke or the 4th major guardian family with the same authority as the Duke.
The knights from the capital who decided to join this monster war could not be an exception.
The assistant glanced at the Duke’s indifferent face and recalled the happy expression of the knight commander he had seen in the capital.
Of course, he wasn’t thrilled just to be able to visit Duke Castle.
Underneath it was the yearning for the Duke of Anais.
Beyond the fear of the Duke of Shapeshifters, who kills an enemy with his bare hands, the admiration for the Duke of Anais, the Magistrate, a magical swordsman who uses both external force and magic, was great.
“Keep talking.”
“Oh, ye-yes!”
“I have prepared the personal details of the members of the Knights for the operation, so please approve them.”
The Duke’s gaze stopped immediately, after receiving the documents that contained the personal statement list of the knight’s information.
This was because the familiar name was visible.
“Cassian Gray.”