The Conquering Queen's Command
Canna finally had an audience with the Queen of Yalden.
“Raise your head, Tatiana Evgenia.”
Queen Yekaterina was nothing like what she had imagined.
Is this really the Conquering Queen?
She looked far too gentle, as if she couldn’t even bring herself to kill an ant. It was hard to believe this was the same woman who had unified a fractured Yalden and achieved an undefeated record in the process.
“I know a great deal about you. Your actions have left quite an impression. Solving the madness that dominated Pailon Island for so very long was particularly remarkable.”
Yekaterina smiled as she continued.
“Yet the Isaberg imperial family was foolish enough not to grant you even a proper position as a physician. Had they polished you properly, you would have become a jewel that illuminated the entire empire.”
She clicked her tongue.
“The Addis and Valentino families elevate the Aslan Empire’s prestige, but the Isaberg imperial family has sat atop its throne for far too long without making any effort. Stagnant water always rots, after all.”
The queen delivered devastating criticism with the sweetest expression imaginable, then smoothly changed the subject.
“Yalden excels in many areas, but there is one glaring weakness. Our medical standards lag far behind the empire’s.”
“……”
“Therefore, Tatiana Evgenia, I want you to assess Yalden’s current medical state, analyze its shortcomings, and derive concrete improvements.”
The queen took a sip of tea and smiled brightly.
“If you succeed in elevating us to the empire’s level, I will offer appropriate compensation.”
“I will do my utmost, Your Majesty.”
“But before that.”
At that moment, the queen’s smile vanished completely.
“I wish to determine whether your reputation is genuine or merely empty fame.”
Here it comes. The story Alexei mentioned. Canna had expected this.
“The second prince, Lorenzo, has been suffering from an unidentified illness for several months.”
Just as she thought.
The youngest prince’s illness. Various excuses had been offered, but at its core, the real issue was curing the queen’s own son.
“Treat Lorenzo, Lady Tatiana. Everything else can begin after that.”
“Get out!”
Crash! A vase shattered.
Canna stared quietly at the glass shards. They lay scattered far away, on the opposite side of the room from her.
“All physicians are liars! Every last one of them is a fraud!”
The outburst reminded her so strongly of Amelia that she nearly laughed, but she held it in.
Thirteen or so? Lorenzo Friedrich was still a boy with a small frame. Yet his striking resemblance to Crown Prince Alexei made him look like a breathtakingly beautiful youth who might have stepped out of a painting.
“Loren, you little brat!”
Yoanna strode over and smacked the boy on the head. Thwack!
“Does being in pain give you the right to act like the king? Huh? Do you think everyone has to cater to your every whim?”
Thwack. Thwack! After several more blows, Lorenzo burst into loud sobs.
“Waaaah! You devil!”
“How dare you speak to your older sister that way!”
When Yoanna raised her hand to strike him again, Canna quickly stepped between them.
“Princess! That’s enough!”
“I’m going to fix this brat’s behavior today. There’s a limit to how much indulgence you can give someone just because they’re sick!”
“He’s a patient! You cannot treat him like that!”
“Huuuuh… You devil! You demon!”
“What? Come here! Get over here right now!”
It took a long while to calm the rampaging Yoanna. By the time Canna succeeded, she was completely exhausted.
“Princess Yoanna, I apologize, but could you leave the room?”
“But that insane colt might act up toward you again, Tatiana.”
You’re the insane colt! Canna thought, forcing a smile through gritted teeth.
“The most important thing for a patient is peace of mind and body. I’m sorry, but please leave.”
Yoanna left with a sullen expression. At last, peace returned to the room.
Lorenzo gazed at her with eyes full of awe and respect. Something along the lines of She drove that demon away so easily.
Are these people really royalty?
It was completely different from the Isaberg imperial family, where everyone seemed to stand on a blade of ice.
“Prince Lorenzo.”
“Y-yes?”
“I understand why you’ve lost faith in physicians after suffering for so long. But you mustn’t give up. You only have one body. Once you let go, it’s over.”
Canna wiped the boy’s tears and smiled gently. Lorenzo’s cheeks flushed pink.
“Your vision is poor, isn’t it? It seems difficult for you to focus.”
“H-how did you know?”
“You’ve also lost sensation in the soles of your feet, correct?”
“Yes! Yes, that’s right! How? Did someone tell you beforehand?”
No one had told her. She had simply come close and observed.
His gaze was directed at her, yet subtly off-target. And despite the broken glass shards lying beneath his heels, he showed no reaction whatsoever.
Canna lifted his foot and removed the glass fragment.
Diplopia and paralysis.
Her examination revealed pain in both legs and the buttocks, complete loss of sensation in the feet, and an inability to lift his right leg, making it impossible for him to walk unaided.
“Before the pain began, did you suffer from severe diarrhea?”
Lorenzo stared at her as if she were a ghost.
“How did you know that too?”
Because it was a prodromal symptom of this disease.
The situation felt strangely fascinating to Canna.
Come to think of it, the patient I was treating right until the moment I returned to this world suffered from the same condition.
Guillain-Barré syndrome.
It was a rare disease affecting only a tiny number of people—the very illness Canna had been treating while in Juhwa’s body.
I couldn’t finish the treatment before I came here.
Coincidentally, that patient had also been a young boy.
It was remarkable.
In this new life, she had encountered someone suffering from the same condition she had left untreated.
When she stepped outside, Alexei was leaning against the wall, waiting.
“Well? Can you cure my brother?”
“There is sufficient hope. However, it will require quite a long time. If he had been treated during the acute inflammatory stage at the onset, recovery would have been relatively quick. But the nerves have already been damaged…”
“What about your hair and eyes?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m asking how you changed your hair and eye color.”
Canna ran her fingers through her hair.
It was now a bright golden-brown reminiscent of a wheat field, paired with pink eyes.
“I commissioned an alchemist.”
“Is that so? Aslan must be full of exceptional alchemists. I had no idea such techniques existed.”
Alexei’s lips curved into a smile.
“By the way, have you heard the news?”
“Pardon?”
She hasn’t heard, then. Alexei muttered to himself and handed her a newspaper.
What news could it be?
With a lukewarm expression, Canna unfolded the paper.
“What a shame.”
The Holy Spirit let out a regretful sigh as he folded the newspaper.
“The Addis family has fallen into decline.”
First Canna, now Kallen.
From the circumstances, it seemed he had been unable to endure Canna’s death and had followed her.
“That Kallen Addis… to meet such a pathetic end…”
The Holy Spirit gave a short laugh.
“Blood truly cannot be denied, can it?”
He settled himself against one of the World Tree’s massive roots and leaned back.
The tree was charred black as if burned to death, its surface densely embedded with glittering black magic stones.
He plucked one of the stones free and examined it.
“Canna, my poor daughter.”
Yet there was no sorrow in the Holy Spirit’s black eyes. No regret.
Fortunately, he had acquired a replacement not long ago. So even without Canna, there was still a way.
All thanks to Alexandro.
He had accepted Canna’s divorce and sent her to the Great Temple to annul the sacred marriage.
He must have known they would collect her blood upon her arrival at the temple.
Yet he sent her anyway? Or had he truly been unaware?
There’s no way he didn’t know.
Perhaps his mind had been unstable.
Alexandro would occasionally lose his reason if he didn’t take the medicine provided by the alchemist Celia.
I cannot read his true intentions.
Whatever Alexandro’s motives, the Holy Spirit had obtained Canna’s blood.
Thanks to that, he no longer needed to chase after her.
He had brought a foreign substance even more perfect than Canna to this place.
As he hummed to himself, the fine hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood on end.
He turned slowly.
“…What a shame.”
A black specter stood there.
Entirely black, streaked with red. His cheeks were covered in crimson bloodstains.
And in his hand—
That brutal grip held the severed neck of the executor the Holy Spirit had always cherished.
“How willful of you, Raphael. You ignored me so completely when I summoned you, yet now you invade so rudely. What have you done with the other executors?”
“Behind.”
Raphael’s answer was curt and clipped.
Behind?
The Holy Spirit narrowed his eyes.
Did he mean piled up as corpses behind him?
“Father.”
“Yes, my son.”
“I have changed my mind.”
A chill ran down the Holy Spirit’s spine. He rose from his seat, feigning composure.
“You cannot possibly be suggesting a fight between blood relatives? This is the sacred Great Temple.”
Thud. The executor’s severed head fell from Raphael’s hand.
He exhaled slowly, then drew in a deep breath. It was the breathing of a wild beast.
“In a world where blood relatives already devour one another—”
Raphael swept back his blood-soaked hair with a bloodied hand. He bared his teeth in a smile.
“—there is no reason I cannot kill you.”