Chapter 82

With the guidance from Vivian, the physician could then reach the room fairly quickly. Just in case, the physician immediately grabbed hold of Vivian’s hand as soon as she was trying to turn the handle of the tightly closed door.

“Young Lady.”

“Yes?”

“Please wait here for a moment.”

Vivian was at a loss at the physician’s words.

“What do you even mean by that? I’d like to help you inside as well. You are understaffed and if I’m not there…”

“Didn’t I tell you before—to keep your distance?”

“Ah.”

Vivian’s lips reflexively went round at the physician’s words that had suddenly cut hers off. As she thought about it, she felt like she had heard of something along those lines before. Right, for example……

The first time she had witnessed the Grand Duke’s appearance, which she had never even seen before.

“Don’t tell me……. Is this the same as last time?”

“That’s right.”

The physician nodded his head passively. Unlike before, it seemed like he was no longer hiding anything from Vivian herself.

“Do you know why the Grand Duke is referred to as a monster?”

“Sorry? That’s just a rumor……”

“Why do you think that kind of rumor had propagated, then? And if it is truly a rumor just like that, why would the other nobles even avoid the Grand Duke as well?”

The physician eventually fixed his grip on the bag that he was carrying.

“It’s because of the fact that it’s just simply, not a rumor at all.”

“Not a rumor, you say…… Are you saying the Grand Duke could actually turn into a real monster?”

“It’s not exactly like that, but you’re half right. Everything is because of the curse that had been passed down on his family line for generations.”

A curse? Vivian took a step back at that unfamiliar word.

It was also due to the reason being that the current situation wasn’t really helping her to accept that sudden surge of information. Monster? A curse? As soon as those unrealistic words had filled Vivian’s mind, she unconsciously raised her voice in response.

“Then, does the Grand Duke have to keep on being sick like this forever?”

“…no. It’s just that His Highness is in a bit of a special situation. If his condition were to stabilize and his sickness gradually gets even better, I’m sure that he won’t be tormented in pain anymore.”

The physician’s eyes grew larger at the unexpected reaction, but it only lasted for a moment. He eventually shook his head while flashing a faint smile.

“There’s always someone out there who tried to slander the Grand Ducal family, which had lived as the Imperial family’s loyal dog. For that reason, the Grand Ducal family had always raised their heirs harshly in order to actually save them.”

“Then, it means that the Grand Duke doesn’t have any infectious diseases, right?”

The physician slowly nodded his head at Vivian’s sharp words.

“That’s right. The infectious disease is just another pretext. It was concocted only to make people avoid him.”

This kind of thing was never the first for the physician. He had never truly experienced it before, but his ancestors and the ancestors even before that did. He was merely following the policy that had been made by his ancestors in an orderly manner—just like it was a manual itself.

For the Grand Ducal family, blood was absolutely precious. Perhaps due to their vicious ways in raising their children, they couldn’t bore children that easily. However, even if there were kids miraculously managed to get born, it was unlikely that they would lead a good life.

All sorts of poisons had been injected through a very small dose ever since their childhood years. For that reason, the young Knox, who was consistently kept under the watch of the physician, had always been in pain. Even though the chief physician’s family in all lines of generations were there to assist him by his side, in the end, the one who had to endure all of that was undoubtedly, the young Knox himself.

If such a poison were to work on Knox, it meant that other people could truly die. Perhaps even the curse that had been passed down onto his family was actually concocted by themselves as well.

In the end, the attack for this time would also be just as same. The harsh method of education that persisted in the family had activated the curse yet again.

The reason why the physician wouldn’t allow her by his side was to protect her and at the same time, protect Knox as well. But, there’s no need for me to tell her all that, right? The physician stole a glance at Vivian before he quietly turned his gaze.