TFSG 113

Chapter 113

The Terminally Ill Baby Doctor Doesn’t Hide Her Genius

I didn’t answer.

How I found out wasn’t important.
What mattered was how I handled this situation.

I looked straight at the head of the family with a calm expression.

‘He’s not completely sure yet.’

As the saying goes, “Even a rotten fish still has its bones.”

I thought he had completely prevented me from being diagnosed—but apparently not.

“During the last meeting,” he said, “your father stopped me, but for a moment, I was able to look into you.”

I remembered that moment—standing at the bottom of the stairs while the family head blew his sharp, oppressive aura toward me.

“If you must speak,” my father had said back then, “please refrain from intimidation, my lord. My child is still very young.”

Father had known that the head intended to diagnose me and had stepped in to protect me.

“Why do I see a fragile, almost terminal weakness in you? You seem to know the reason.”

So he wasn’t certain, after all.

Doctors—especially skilled ones—hate being diagnosed themselves.
Because they know exactly what kind of information that exposes.

Especially weaknesses.

“I’m just a weak child,” I admitted plainly. “I’m smaller than others my age, and not very strong.”

“You say you saw weakness in me during that brief examination? That might be all it was.
In this world, it’s not strange for a baby like me to die young.”

“Hmph. You’re not wrong,” he said. “But that’s not the answer I wanted to hear.”

A sharp gust of wind swept through the room. It brushed my cheek—and then lifted my chin roughly.

“I’ll stop trying to diagnose you,” he said. “Instead, prove that you are not weak. I’ll give you five years.”

Five years…

I thought about that sudden timeframe carefully.
Ah. Could it be—

“Five years from now, go to the Imperial Capital. There—”

“—there will be the exams to select Senior and Master Physicians, won’t there?” I replied.

Among the empire’s official physician ranks, the Senior-level exam was held every three years, and the Master-level every five.
Five years from now, both exams would coincide.

“Oh? You know that?” he said, his lips curling. “Clever girl. That’s right. That year, countless talented people will gather.”

“……”

“Make your name—and the name of our Black family—known there.
Show the world that we still stand strong.”

His face was full of greedy satisfaction.

“If you do that, what could I possibly hold back from you?”

He spoke as if he would give me anything.
Of course, he meant we’ll see when the time comes.

“If your talent is truly as great as you claim, this should be an easy task.”

Well, I wouldn’t deny that. But how generous of him, giving me five years.
So in that time…

He’s saying he won’t interfere, no matter what I do?

If one of his daughters—one of my aunts—were to “disappear,”
I suppose he wouldn’t notice at all.

“Yes, understood.”

The private audience had gone exactly as planned.

“Then may I take it that your words mean you’ll protect me?”

I asked to confirm, just in case.

“We can call it a contract, my lord.”

“Insolent child.”

He lightly scolded me, resting his chin on his hand.
After a brief silence, the answer I wanted came.

“Fine. Let’s call it a contract. As part of the terms, I’ll grant you what you desire.
You said you wanted punishment, didn’t you?”

I smiled brightly.

Why yes, my lord. Let me have a little ‘backing’ for once.
Though soon enough, I’ll surpass you anyway.

* * *

Ah, so tired…

After finishing the meeting, I left the family head’s reception room.
As I stepped into the corridor through one of the broken doors—

—I froze.

What is… this situation?

A tall, broad silhouette stood there. It was unmistakably a man—my father.

“Kh—kgh! Cough, cough!”

But another man was dangling in his grip, struggling as the hand around his throat tightened. His face had turned blue.

Uncle-in-law?

It was my third aunt’s husband.
And Father’s expression—no, the man’s—wasn’t angry. It was worse.
It was bored.

I swallowed hard.

I come back from a successful audience only to walk into a horror scene…

Behind my uncle-in-law, I saw Third Aunt, trembling in fear.
A few bodyguards were suspended midair, caught by wind currents.

Ah. So she came to interfere, huh?

“Father.”

The man flinched slightly. Odd, considering he must’ve already sensed me.

He turned his eyes toward me, utterly calm despite the scene.

“What are you doing?”

“Just keeping order,” he replied smoothly.

His voice was so gentle that for a second I almost thought we were out for a walk.

Clearly, Third Aunt had rushed here in person after hearing that her attempts to sabotage me had failed.

From bribing the stewards to controlling the elite guards at the main gate—everything bore her touch.

Though, I’ll have to check if she acted alone.

As for my uncle-in-law, Bae Seonghyun—he should’ve been strong enough to lead the Black Horn Unit, at least in skill.
But seeing him always beaten by my father or uncle, I couldn’t help but think—
he really was just a small-time villain.

“Well then,” I said lightly, “since I’m here, you can stop the disciplining now.”

“Stop. I don’t like killing people.”

“……”

For a brief moment, the man’s gaze felt like that of an untamed beast.
Different from the madness I’d seen in my uncle before—
it was like glimpsing a ghost of my father’s past self.

“Aren’t you going to move? I’m hungry.”

Thud.

The man instantly released his grip, and my uncle-in-law collapsed to the ground.

“Hah…! Hahh, hahh…!”

He gasped desperately for air, face red and drenched in sweat.

I felt the wind swirl around my small body again.
It had been doing that ever since I met this man who’d lost his memories—so I didn’t find it strange anymore.

He lifted me gently into his arms.

“Shall we go, daughter?”

Something in the way he pressed the last word made me glance up briefly before nodding.

“Seonghyun! Seonghyun! Wake up, Bae Seonghyun!”

He walked past my aunt, who was shaking her half-conscious husband.

While I’d been having my private meeting, it seemed there’d been quite the commotion—
the floor was soaked with spilled water.

My aunt glared at us, eyes burning with hatred.
Our gazes met.

“You insolent, vulgar brats! Do you think I’ll let this humiliation pass?!”

Just like the family head, my aunts had always loved calling others “insolent.”

It was ridiculous.
If someone was more capable than them, that alone made them “arrogant.”

I smiled sweetly and looked down at her.

“Well then, we’ll see who ends up watching whom, won’t we?”

Sometimes, I was grateful for the pretty face I’d inherited from both my parents.
People tended to get even angrier when a delicate, childish face looked down on them.

“You should worry about your own safety. Anyway—good luck!”

I clenched my tiny fist and gave her a playful wave. Then I patted the man’s shoulder.

“Let’s go, Dad!”

Move along, fake father.

The way back from the successful meeting felt light and almost cheerful.

Well—technically, I wasn’t the one walking.
I swung my legs idly and glanced up.

A strong, graceful jawline came into view.

His face hadn’t changed at all—
yet the person was entirely different now.

Yeah… it’s almost nice.

When Father lost his memories, I’d thought we’d both drown in unhappiness.
Maybe I’ve just become numb to misfortune.
It doesn’t even bother me anymore.

That was when he suddenly slowed his pace.

“……My sister said something interesting.”

His voice was low and kind—but I no longer let it move me.
He was just another person now.
A stranger with a gentle voice.

“She said you recently took an ability test.
That your results were overwhelming—
and yet, the records were destroyed.”

“That’s probably true.”

I replied lightly.

“The one who kept my test results secret and omitted the report to the family head was Third Aunt.”

“So your talent never saw the light of day.”

He stopped walking.

“Even though you were skilled enough to heal me?”

“Well…” I hesitated. “Can we really call that treatment a success?”

I lifted my eyes to meet his.

“If we look at the result… maybe it was a failure.”

I said it calmly.

For just a moment, his eyes trembled.