Chapter 16 …
In the silence, the first to speak was Maxim.
“He’s a verified physician. He’s been working for the Adeloph Duchy for the past five years. His name is Miles Eloise. Before that, he apprenticed under Orlendo Kidel, and he’s even worked at the Imperial Palace for a time.”
As Maxim recited this background fluently, Elena blinked. What was his intention?
“…Can we entrust Leana to Miles?”
His voice softened as he asked. Seeing her pale face, he couldn’t help it. He had come to deliver dreams and hope, but now it felt as though he’d become a villain snatching away her last piece of candy.
That was how terrible Elena’s face looked.
“M-Mr. Miles himself… will treat Leana? But Leana isn’t part of the Adeloph household.”
Hazel nudged Maxim in the ribs. His eyebrow twitched.
“…She’s a guest of Adeloph. That’s enough reason.”
“Oh.”
Tears streamed down Elena’s face. The sorrow of having spent all of yesterday desperately searching for a doctor melted away like snow. Maxim had appeared, completely unbothered, with a doctor she couldn’t have found even if she’d offered her entire fortune.
And it was Miles Eloise, no less. Elena had heard of him. Back when she was searching everywhere to cure Leana’s illness, she’d combed through every imperial physician, every newspaper, every medical thesis.
Having practically lived in the library, she’d come across Miles’s name countless times among the authors of medical papers. Even the doctors in Revunto had spoken highly of him.
They said he was an authority even among doctors.
One would never guess it from the mild-mannered man in glasses sitting before her. Elena nodded vigorously.
“Thank you… thank you so much.”
Hiccuping with emotion, she stepped back as Miles took her place before Leana. The little girl’s small face was drenched in sweat.
After examining her, Miles asked Elena a few questions. She answered earnestly to the best of her knowledge.
“I’ve also reviewed the medicinal ingredients Leana has been taking. Mrs. Hazel provided them to me.”
“Y-Yes.”
“However, several of the herbs… do not suit her constitution. Moreover, some are unnecessarily expensive.”
Miles glanced at Elena’s face. With every word he spoke, her expression shifted drastically.
“W-What do you mean?”
“Are you saying some of those herbs might have worsened her condition?”
Maxim cut straight to the point. Hazel glared at him for being so blunt.
“Yes, Your Grace. With the current formula, it’s difficult to expect any improvement.”
“What about the expensive ones you mentioned?”
“They’re merely tonics. They’re typically used for the elderly, so they have little to no effect on a child.”
Maxim sighed quietly and asked,
“Who prescribed these medicines?”
“A man named Derrick, in Revunto…”
“And who introduced you to him?”
“My mother. She brought him.”
Elena’s voice wavered as she spoke. Five years ago, when they first arrived in Revunto, Leana’s fever had begun to rise. Cecil had insisted on abandoning the baby, but Elena had clung to her, sobbing. She wanted—no, needed—to save her child.
[I’ll do everything! I’ll earn the money, I’ll care for her… Just please, don’t do this!]
And then Cecil had brought that doctor. Elena pressed her throbbing temples. Cecil had said no other doctor would tend to a poor child for that kind of money. So she hadn’t even thought to seek another one.
But now, to hear that the medicine had been wrong all along…
“Then… does that mean Leana can be cured?”
“If that doctor ever did one thing right, it was the diagnosis. This child does indeed suffer from a rare disease. She’ll have to take medicine for the rest of her life.”
“B-But she can live, right? That’s what you’re saying?”
Elena’s voice trembled with desperate hope, her hands clasped tightly as tears welled up again.
“…”
Miles silently wiped his glasses. She could live, yes. But would that truly be a life worth living? That, he couldn’t say. She would never be able to skip even a single dose, would have to maintain strict dietary control forever.
No strain, no running, no excitement. A life where she could only experience half of what others could.
No social life—no romance, no friendship, no arguments, no laughter. She would never know most of the emotions that make a person human.
Miles held his tongue.
Elena swallowed hard.
She had always been the kind of woman who found a way even in the darkest of places. This time would be no different. She wiped her tears with renewed determination.
“Still, if she can live long, long years by taking medicine… that’s enough for me. What kind of medicine should she take?”
Miles wrote out a new prescription.
“You should be able to find these herbs at the dawn market. I’ll go right away, Mrs. Hazel.”
“There’s an Adeloph carriage waiting outside. Take it.”
“Yes.”
Elena replied firmly and hurried down the hall. As her footsteps faded, Maxim let out a long sigh.
“Did you bring any of the medicine I’ve been taking?”
“I did, just in case.”
“Give it to me.”
Maxim looked down at the bottle in his palm. A lifetime bound to medicine—wasn’t that the same for both him and Leana? In his experience, this world… was still worth living in.
He wasn’t happy, but seeing others—his parents, Hazel, and his siblings—smile because he continued to work, eat, and live as if everything were normal, that was enough.
That was all the happiness he needed.
As he turned to leave, he muttered in a weary voice,
“…Even if you live because you can’t die… it’s still okay.”
“Pardon?”
Miles looked at him in surprise.
“When you see Elena again, tell her that. That Leana’s life will still be worth living… as long as her being alive makes Elena happy.”
“…Ah.”
Understanding his meaning, Miles gave a faint, awkward smile. Hazel’s gaze followed Maxim’s retreating figure. His once-imposing back looked small and fragile.
She clicked her tongue softly.
“Still not sleeping?”
“…No, ma’am. He can fall asleep with sedatives, but…”
“The nightmares persist.”
No wonder Empress Liena’s worry ran so deep.
“At least he no longer suffers from those… episodes.”
Hazel couldn’t bring herself to say the word seizures. Meeting her eyes, Miles shook his head firmly.
“Not once since then.”
“That’s a relief.”
Hazel tightened her gown. Somehow, this warm room felt unbearably cold. Perhaps because her heart was colder still. After a long sigh, she asked one more question.
“…Will you show Leana to your mentor? Is there truly no way for her?”
Miles turned to look at the sleeping child’s fragile face.
“I don’t even know the name of her disease. It’s one of those still under study, unrecorded in medical literature. Whoever defines it first… will have it named after them. I can’t say what my mentor will think.”
“Does Orlendo know of this illness?”
“He’s been fighting it… for a very long time.”
Miles gave a bittersweet smile. There was a reason he had been so startled upon examining Leana.
The illness she suffered from…
“My mentor’s eldest daughter died of the same disease when she was a child.”
Hazel’s eyes widened.
“Since that day, he’s been battling this illness. If anyone in the Empire understands it best, it would be him.”
“I see.”
That meant there was still hope. Hazel looked down at Leana’s tiny face. When the child smiled, she was radiant—but now, the pallor of sickness was unmistakable.
You’d better wake up soon, little one—for your sister’s sake.
Hazel brushed a hand across Leana’s forehead. The heat beneath her palm made her chest ache.
“Before you go, check on Maxim one more time.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
So many hearts to worry for, so many hands to tend. Hazel pressed a kiss to Leana’s brow.
She prayed that, at least in this child’s dreams, the path ahead was lined with nothing but sweet, blooming flowers.
