IBVM 14

Chapter 14

At the end of Levert’s words, I felt as though I could hear what he had left unsaid. Zenith and Cho both sucked in a breath. His difficult life was laid bare without any embellishment.
The life he had lived pressed heavily on my conscience.

It seems he’s never once received pure goodwill.

My heart felt unbearably heavy.

There was never a proper adult around.

Each time I encountered the dark side of the kingdom that I hadn’t seen in my previous life, I was reminded anew of my own shortcomings.

How arrogant I was, thinking I could become a great queen without truly knowing anything—seeing only the shining side of the kingdom.

I must not repeat that mistake in this life. Resolving to face the kingdom’s true face—its flaws and all—I looked straight at Levert.

“Don’t try to give me something. Let’s make a deal instead.”

“A deal? As I said, I really don’t have anything to—”

“Make medicine.”

Levert’s pupils shook as if an earthquake had struck. The color drained from his face.

In the kingdom, manufacturing and distributing fake medicine was illegal. Unintentionally, Levert had committed many illegal acts just to survive. No wonder he was afraid.

“No need to tremble. I told you I’d protect you. All you have to do is make a painkiller that won’t strain the body. That’s not hard, right? You’re already making one. Stabilize it. I’ll support everything you need for the research.”

I explained at length before he could jump to strange conclusions.
I had to say quite a lot to make him believe that I already knew about his medicine and that I had no intention of turning him over to the guard.

“……Everything needed for the research?”

At last, Levert began to show interest in our deal.

“Yes. If you want, even corpses.”

“My lady!”

Zenith shouted. I decided to explain things to her later and focused instead on persuading Levert.

“So? What do you think?”

You like my conditions, don’t you? Tempting, right? Don’t you feel like saying “yes” without even realizing it?

Sure enough, Levert’s fingertips twitched.

I did make him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

In the future before my death, Levert would be known as a mad doctor.
Rumors said he loved dissection.

They weren’t entirely baseless. If there was a place where dissection was possible, Levert went there without hesitation.
There was a famous story of how he participated in anatomical research at the Art Association, going without sleep for days on end.

He’s a bit crazy, sure.

But Levert’s obsession with dissection wasn’t because he was insane, as gossipers claimed.
He was simply obsessed with researching effective treatments.

Isn’t that reason completely unlike a so-called mad genius doctor?

In the kingdom, serious injuries and illnesses relied on divine power and magic. In other words, only those with money could be treated.

It would be solved if there were many healing mages and divine power users, but magic and divine power aren’t things humans can learn through effort alone.

On the other hand, the field of medicine that Levert sought to research and develop was something anyone could learn.
That was why he devoted himself to researching surgical treatments for the advancement of medicine.

Develop medical techniques and train many doctors—that was Levert’s belief.
To perform safe and perfect surgeries, he wanted a complete understanding of the human body. That was why he independently conducted dissections of corpses, which were forbidden in the kingdom.

“My lady, no. You can’t. Corpses? You mean dead bodies? You’re going to provide those?”

Zenith asked, terrified.

“My lady, this could cause serious trouble.”

Her voice was thick with worry as she tried to stop me, but if I was going to make a deal with Levert, nothing could be better than this.

“Levert, I’ll provide them—the corpses you’ll dissect.”

I said, looking not at Zenith but at Levert.

“Th-th-that’s illegal, my lady!”

The response came from Zenith. I turned to face her.

“There are legal dissections too. Artists do them twice a year.”

To draw the human body perfectly, artists conducted dissections at the association level. That wasn’t illegal.
It was an era where medicine that saved lives was valued less than art.

“I’ve never heard of individuals being allowed to dissect corpses.”

Zenith, at this rate you’re going to cry. Should I give the handkerchief beside me to you instead of Levert?

“If you just sit still saying it’s impossible, nothing will change. If it’s impossible, make it possible. We’ll make dissection legal for medical research. And if that doesn’t work, we can just create ten artist associations.”

“That costs an insane amount of money. Is that really easy, my lady?”

Registering an association cost as much as three mansions in the capital. And since I’d be creating ghost associations, I’d have to hire fake members as well.
In short, creating even one association cost the equivalent of five houses.

That’s not even counting the cost of acquiring corpses.

Creating an association for just one person? Something others couldn’t even dream of. But I could do it.

“It’s hard for others, but easy for me.”

Zenith’s mouth fell open. Cho straightened up too—he must finally be realizing the scale of my wealth.

“That is, once I become the head of the family.”

Of course, there were hurdles to overcome before spending the money.

“Why… why go that far…?”

Levert, who had been fidgeting and keeping his mouth tightly shut, finally asked haltingly.

“Why? Because it’s for you.”

I pointed at Levert with my finger. Keeping Levert under Irenberg wasn’t just my selfish desire.
Levert’s talent flourished even under smugglers—he had proven that in the past.

But he had given up too easily. It was a great loss, both for Levert personally and for the kingdom.

“And it’s for me too. I need your help.”

Levert was visibly shaken.

“You… need me?”

When I nodded, tears welled up in his eyes. I quickly held out a handkerchief. With trembling hands, Levert took it.

“Do you need time to think?”

I sank into a sofa twice the size of my body and crossed my legs.
I wanted to show the composure of a refined adult woman, but since my body wasn’t fully grown yet, my feet dangled helplessly in the air.

Focus gradually returned to Levert’s dazed eyes. I was certain he would accept my offer.
In his tear-streaked gaze lurked desire and excitement.

“Yes, I’ll do it!”

At his energetic voice—so strong it made all his earlier hesitation seem meaningless—I finally smiled brightly.

Everything went smoothly. Levert accepted my proposal, and I prepared a laboratory for him.
For now, it was an expense I could cover with my personal funds.

In just half a day, he created the side-effect-free painkiller I had asked for.
The pills, roughly pressed together by hand, looked unimpressive and smelled awful. But I knew their effectiveness was certain.

“How do you know this actually works?”

Zenith still eyed Levert warily.

Is she still holding a grudge from when he bit her?

“They say you shouldn’t just take medicine carelessly.”

She said, pinching her nose.

“Right. We need to confirm it.”

I decided to become the test subject myself. After a restless night, my head ached—perfect timing for a painkiller.

“You’re going to take it, my lady?”

Her trembling voice and wavering eyes showed her worry clearly. I understood it, but if I didn’t trust Levert, who would?
And I couldn’t very well use someone else as a test subject.

“There’s no problem. I’m confident. My younger siblings all take it.”

Levert glared at Zenith as he spoke. Her constant suspicion seemed to have hurt his pride.

“He has siblings?”

Zenith tried to avoid speaking directly to Levert, so the question came to me instead.

The “siblings” Levert referred to weren’t blood relatives but children from the slums.
Barefoot, walking filthy streets, barely able to eat—being injured or sick was a daily occurrence for them. The medicine Levert had given me was made for those children.

Countless children had taken it and survived, proving both its effectiveness and safety.

“Trust me. That’s why I’m taking it.”

I swallowed the pill deliberately, right in front of Levert. Apparently he hadn’t expected me to actually take it—his pupils dilated. Soon, his wide eyes filled with tears.

I don’t have another handkerchief.

He’d cried earlier too. Levert was a man who cried easily.

“Want to wait in the room for a bit until the medicine takes effect? You want to see if it works too, right?”

Levert nodded. Unsure where to sit, he hovered awkwardly until Zenith, with a displeased expression, dragged him in front of the sofa. After confirming he was seated, I closed my eyes.

The effect came quickly. The heavy pain around my eyes vanished, and the heat in my temples cooled.

“Oh, this is nice.”

As my head cleared, I felt energized. When I opened my eyes brightly and spoke, Zenith stared at me in disbelief.

“It’s real, Zenith. It’d be good to take it once a month when it hurts too.”

“It worked?”

Levert jumped to his feet. He’d acted confident earlier, but her doubts must have made him anxious after all.

“Yeah, it’s great. Trust me and try it too.”

I probably sounded like a scam artist just now.
But truly, Levert’s medicine was good enough to recommend without hesitation.

“It’d be nice if you could get rid of the smell. And could you make something that works on stronger pain too—not just mild pain?”

I asked as I stood and walked toward him. I hadn’t brought Levert here just to make headache medicine.
I wanted him to treat Kasion’s illness.
If curing it was impossible right now, then at least to ease the pain.

“Yes, I’ll try!”

Levert nodded vigorously with a shy smile. He looked just like a big dog.

“Good work, Levert.”

I stepped closer and reached out, intending to pat his head.
But it wasn’t easy to pat someone who was half a head taller than me.

As I stood on my tiptoes, struggling, Levert smoothly bent down.

As I gently stroked Levert’s hair, I caught sight of Zenith’s very strange expression.