The Immortal’s Personal Doctor Is an Internist

Chapter 1 of 5

Chapter 1

Prologue

“You’re fired.”

The handsome, white-haired man sitting across from me delivered the news without a hint of hesitation.

“What? Why?”

“One of the advantages of hiring someone on a contract is that I can invent as many reasons as I want to dismiss them. Surely you knew that?”

So this was what being a contract worker meant.

And here I had thought unions and things like that were problems for other people.

“However, if you wish to continue working as my personal physician, I can hire you again under a new contract starting today.”

While I was calmly considering how I should respond to this blatantly unfair employment practice, my employer, Duke Carceido, slid a new contract toward me.

I took it—

and my eyes widened.

“This is a permanent employment contract, isn’t it? And my annual salary is being increased by two hundred percent...”

A salary increase.

A private consultation room.

Paid vacation.

Even travel expenses.

The conditions were so perfect they practically sparkled.

But as my eyes moved down the contract, one clause suddenly stood out.

“Wait. What is this? ‘When required by the employer, the employee shall perform the role of the Duchess.’”

“As you already know, I periodically announce my marriage to the public at appropriate intervals. It happens to be time for this generation as well.”

It sounded completely insane.

But for him, it was perfectly natural.

After all, he was an immortal who neither died nor aged.

He had spent generations pretending to be his own descendants.

“You’re saying you want me to play the role of your fake wife?”

“Exactly. Whenever I need you, you simply have to stand beside me and act as my wife. Nothing more.”

I stared at the contract and thought carefully.

The words whenever I need you bothered me quite a bit...

Still, it was better than getting fired.

More importantly, I had come to this mansion practically fleeing from home because I refused to marry a seventy-two-year-old count.

If I went back, that old bastard might start pestering me again.

And besides... he’s nice to look at.

Someone once said that the greatest employee benefit at the Carceido estate was the employer’s face.

I wholeheartedly agreed.

“About the Duchess duties. Please add a condition saying you can only use me for them during my regular nine-to-six working hours. If I have to work outside those hours, I want overtime pay.”

The Duke picked up his pen.

A faint smile appeared on his lips.

“Gladly.”

1

Illegitimate children in fairy tales were always miserable in more or less the same way.

Seven-year-old Lionel, who went searching for her baron father with nothing but her mother’s will in hand, was no exception.

“What kind of filthy beggar crawled in here...? Be grateful we’re even taking you in. And don’t you dare call me Mother.”

The family worked Lionel relentlessly.

Whenever she looked at her blistered hands, she thought this misery would continue forever.

And perhaps it would have—

if her stepmother, Ravienne, had not suddenly collapsed one day with a deathly pale face.

“Wait... isn’t this hypoglycemia?”

Fifteen-year-old Lionel moved before she even had time to think.

In her previous life, she had been a second-year internal medicine resident who died instantly in an unexpected traffic accident.

“Orange juice! Candy! Sugar! Anything! Bring it here right now!! Hurry!!”

In an instant, the hated illegitimate child became the woman who had saved her stepmother’s life.

There was something deeply satisfying about watching the same people who had once thrown dirty rags at her now cautiously ask for medical advice.

After that, Lionel began thoroughly managing everything from her stepmother’s lifestyle habits to those of the rest of the family.

“Mother. I told you, didn’t I? Eat the broccoli first, then the egg, and only after that should you eat the bread.”

Now twenty years old, Lionel was already diligently scolding her stepmother first thing in the morning.

Five years was more than enough time for a young girl to awaken into a demonic instructor.

Ravienne hurriedly put the rye bread back onto her plate.

Baron Francia, who was sitting beside her, cautiously joined the conversation.

“Lionel. Ravienne’s fasting blood sugar was 100 this morning too. So maybe you don’t need to be quite so strict...”

As though she had been waiting for him to say that, Lionel pulled a small device from her pocket.

It was a measuring instrument she had specially commissioned from the Magic Tower.

“You can fool a fasting blood sugar test, but you can’t fool an HbA1c test.”

HbA1c: an indicator that shows the average level of blood sugar control over the previous two to three months.

“Would you like me to test it right now?”

“A-All right.”

Ravienne placed the broccoli in her mouth and chewed reluctantly.

Just as Lionel instructed, she ate the egg next.

Then she reached for the rye bread.

At that exact moment—

Smack!

Lionel grabbed Ravienne’s wrist.

Something immediately slipped out of Ravienne’s sleeve and dropped onto the table.

A small single-serving packet of strawberry jam.

“Stop right there. Are you trying to cheat?”

“I-It’s fine if I spread just a little!”

“No, it is not fine, Mother. Will you only come to your senses after complications force them to cut off your hand?”

Her half-brother Luen, who had been silently chewing his rye bread, shook his head.

Ravienne’s fists trembled with frustration before she abruptly changed the subject.

“Lionel. You do remember the promise you made, don’t you? If you fail to repay your medical school tuition within one year of graduating, you’ll marry the person I choose. And considering you’ve already quit two jobs...”

Ravienne continued poking directly at Lionel’s nerves.

“I suppose being a doctor was too difficult for you after all?”

“It’s all right. Living as a noblewoman isn’t such a bad life, you know. So what if he’s a little older? They say love has no age or borders.”

A little older?

There was a limit to what counted as a little.

Would you be happy marrying a seventy-two-year-old man?

Those kinds of old men are already ancient, yet somehow they’re always obsessed with producing heirs and demanding children!

Lionel quietly clenched her molars.

“I’ll find a new job as quickly as possible so that you can focus properly on managing your blood sugar, Mother.”

“Ohohohoho! Yes, I certainly hope you find one soon! Not that it matters to me either way!”

And with that, the tense battle of nerves between the blond middle-aged lady and the black-haired young noblewoman finally came to an end.

Baron Francia, who had remained silent until then, suddenly spotted an article and showed it to Lionel.

“This is Saint Louis Hospital, where you used to work, isn’t it? It says they were fined twenty million gold for violating fire safety regulations. Did you know about this?”

“...I’m not sure. Even when I worked there, people did throw cigarette butts wherever they wanted.”

That was what Lionel said aloud.

But in truth, she knew the incident extremely well.

Of course she did.

She was the person who had reported the hospital to the fire department.

Lionel knew she had been reincarnated.

What she didn’t know was what novel—or whether any novel at all—this world belonged to.

So far, nothing had happened that might remind her of some original story.

That was why she had decided to simply make use of her abilities, work as a doctor, earn plenty of money, and live comfortably.

Then, when she turned seventeen, she brought up money with Ravienne for the first time.

Just like in the modern world, anyone who wanted to work as a doctor here had to attend medical school.

Ravienne, who managed the baron family’s finances, was predictably stingy about the matter.

“Suppose I lend you the tuition money. How exactly are you planning to repay me?”

“I’ll earn money. I’ll pay you interest too.”

“Do you think finding a job will be that easy? Fine. Let’s do this instead. If you fail to repay your tuition within one year of graduating, you will marry someone I choose.”

In other words, Ravienne intended to collect a bride price and use that money to repay Lionel’s debt.

Honestly, Lionel hesitated for a while.

But she desperately wanted to become a doctor.

Of course, she needed the financial independence necessary to escape her family.

But there was another reason too.

She never again wanted to experience the helpless pain of losing someone precious, just as she had lost her mother.

“Fine. Let’s do that.”

And so, Lionel entered medical school using borrowed money.

After completing the regular three-year program, she graduated at the top of her class and began searching for employment.

Unfortunately, the real problems started after she was hired.

“A little brat like you dares to try forming a union? Do you think the world is that easy? You’re fired!”

Lionel had tried to establish a union to improve the terrible working conditions of the women who worked in the hospital cafeteria.

Unfortunately, management discovered it almost immediately.

“That’s fine. I’m not easy either.”

Lionel took photographs of doctors smoking while sitting in front of the emergency exit and sent them to the fire department.

Then she resigned.

It happened exactly one week before she was supposed to be converted into a permanent employee.

Her second job was as the exclusive personal physician of a viscount household.

Exactly one month later, the Viscountess handed her an absurdly small salary.

“It’s not as if you work all day, is it? So I calculated your wages based on two and a half hours per day, five days a week. Naturally, weekends were excluded.”

Lionel had heard stories about employers splitting working hours to avoid paying proper wages.

She had never imagined someone would actually do it.

She immediately packed her belongings and walked out.

The Viscountess shouted after her.

“Doctor! You have to submit a resignation letter before you leave!”

“We never even signed an employment contract, so what resignation letter?!”

Afterward, Lionel sent the Viscountess all the letters the Viscount had given her, each one overflowing with shameless flirtation.

She even added a postscript informing her that the underwear he had stolen from the maids was hidden in his study.

In the end, Lionel was the only one left unemployed.

She had certainly quit in spectacular fashion.

Unfortunately, it had also been rather disgraceful.

“...Is this really my only option left?”

After finishing breakfast with her family, Lionel picked up a recruitment notice from the table.

It was the option she had deliberately saved as her final resort.

Recruitment Notice: Personal Physician for the House of Duke Carceido

Job Description:
Health management and medical treatment for the Duke and the employees of the estate.

Annual Salary:
To be determined during the interview.

So far, everything looked completely ordinary.

What made Lionel’s eyes widen was what came underneath.

Employee Benefits

Room and board provided within the estate.
Interest-free housing loan of 1,000,000 gold for employees who prefer commuting.
100% coverage of all work-related expenses.
In-house hairstylist permanently available free of charge.
One month of paid vacation for every three years of employment.
Birthday bonuses and financial support for family occasions.
Personal nanny provided after childbirth.

There was a reason Lionel had hesitated despite the unbelievable benefits.

After all—

The House of Duke Carceido, guardians of the Empire, was famous because every Duke throughout its history had possessed extraordinary beauty from birth until death.

There was also an infamous rumor explaining why.

People whispered that they maintained their youth by drinking human blood.

And on top of that, thirty-two people applied, and all thirty-two resigned...

Doesn’t that basically mean every single one of them ran away?

No way.

Absolutely impossible.

There was no way she could work in a place like that.

Lionel was about to toss the notice away—

but then she read the benefits one more time.

“...No matter how awful the place is, it has to be better than marrying some perverted old man, right?”

Right.

She should at least try.