IWIAHC Chapter 35

'Why, why is he suddenly going berserk?'

Gnawing her lips, she cracked the door open just enough to peer out with one eye and assess the situation.

Julius seemed to have not a shred of interest in Lily. Indeed, he appeared to have forgotten her existence entirely.

[Themis! Ah, Themis! When will I see you! Themis!]

Lily closed the door again. If it came to it, she'd have to escape through the window. It was only the first floor—hardly dangerous.

She actually threw the window wide open. Only after dragging over a chair for a footstool, ensuring she could flee at any moment, did her mind begin to work properly.

'Themis? Otto? So who are they, exactly? Wait... Ah!'

Themis Scheiwartz, Otto Scheiwartz. The names of the Emperor's wife and son.

Julius was crying out his family's names with the desperation of one who would never see them again. Anyone listening might think he was conducting a funeral, yet the Empress and Crown Prince were very much alive.

'No, actually being alive might be more problematic. Imagine the cult leader pretending to be Emperor, getting his hands on the wife and son too. Or disposing of them. No wonder he's going mad. Though it seems thinking of his family has restored some of his wits?'

The ostensible friend with whom he'd maintained a cooperative relationship possessed a nature vicious enough to kill at the first opportunity, yet apparently cherished his family desperately.

Lily recalled the favorite saying of a doctor protagonist from a novel she'd once read.

In treatment, nothing is more important than the patient's will.

Irritating though it was, love for family would make an excellent motivator.

After some deliberation, she left the room.

Julius was still throwing himself against the door. The sound of wooden panels creaking echoed from all directions, and debris rained from the ceiling. The sections she'd so carefully purified were turning grimy black again.

Watching this, her legs trembled despite thinking she'd grown rather accustomed to ghosts.

A malevolent spirit grotesquely corrupted, having lost all reason and throwing a violent tantrum. Going near and speaking to him seemed unlikely to achieve anything resembling comprehension.

Honestly, for a moment she found it utterly lamentable that she was standing here at all. Throwing herself at a task beyond her capabilities—she was asking for trouble. Her delight at having him fall for her doctor's act seemed like ancient history now.

Then Lily, startled by her own weakness, pinched the back of her hand hard. The sharp twist of thin skin snapped her back to alertness.

'Why indeed. I'm doing this all to help His Grace! I will win. I will dominate that deranged ghost!'

Lily steeled herself completely. She slapped both cheeks hard enough to bring tears, forcing them red, then approached with thundering steps.

"Your Majesty! Ah, our Majesty!"

Calling out loudly, she collapsed in a heap at Julius's feet. Not content with that, she bent her entire upper body forward, prostrating herself on the floor, then sobbed while beating the ground with her fists.

"Sob. And our poor Empress, His Highness the Crown Prince, oh dear, oh dear..."

This was about spirit. She would push through on spirit alone.

"Hic, sob, sob sob... Your Majesty's heart, I understand it a hundred, a thousand times over. How you must long for your family. Did that wretch perhaps dishonor the Mother of the Empire? Did he torment the young master?"

When she raised her head with bulging eyes, sure enough, a dumbfounded Julius was looking down at her.

"Your Majesty watched that wretch, so please tell me. If you answer yes, I'll get employed there under false pretenses if I must, and make absolutely certain he pays the price."

Julius only moved his eyes left and right without answering. He seemed to be struggling to grasp the situation following Lily's sudden intrusion.

Lily didn't miss her moment and bellowed.

"Th-th-this damned bastard!"

She sprang up and went into the bedchamber. Snatching the basket with exaggerated movements, Lily walked steadily back before the Emperor.

"Your Majesty, though our time together was brief, it was an honor to serve you. I apologize for failing to heal you completely and return you to your body. However, under these circumstances, I cannot remain idle as a citizen of the Empire. I shall have your revenge."

Standing with shoulders squared, she spoke resolutely.

"Though I alone possess the ability to see souls within the duchy, it will be fine. Someday another with abilities will appear. I don't hold the arrogant belief that I'm unique or special. Then I pray for the Sovereign God's grace!"

She grasped the handle.

[W-wait...!]

Julius placed his hand over hers. With a face like he'd been struck by lightning, he said:

[I, I forbid it.]

"But..."

Lily trailed off while glancing sideways at the doorknob. At her lukewarm response, Julius grew agitated and repeated himself.

[I forbid it.]

His pronunciation sounded quite proper. No stuttering, no dragging words, with the authoritative quality of someone accustomed to issuing commands.

'Shock therapy really is the best.'

Lily thought to herself.

Even the most deranged ghost grows frightened upon meeting someone more unhinged than themselves.

Moreover, looking at how things were developing, he must be thinking this isn't right. If he wasn't careful, he'd lose his spiritual physician.

The haughty Aiden Casimir himself was anxiously worried about losing none other than his sole communication channel—Lily Dienta. And for Julius, dropped into enemy territory, it went without saying.

Knowing her own value well, this wasn't a gamble for Lily.

"If Your Majesty so commands, as Your Majesty's faithful physician, I have no choice but to obey. I can only rage at failing to avenge Her Majesty the Empress's dishonor. No, I won't give up. After safely treating Your Majesty, I'll head to the imperial capital immediately."

She brazenly spouted false promises. The reality being that she had neither the enthusiasm to return the Emperor to his body nor any determination whatsoever to avenge the Empress.

Now only a splendid finish remained. She just needed to drive home one memorable statement to secure his voluntary cooperation.

However, Julius seemed to have more to say. He desperately moved his stiff tongue to speak.

[Themis, did not suffer any such dishonor.]

Lily wanted to snort derisively.

How could such a thing be possible? The Emperor was the Empress's husband.

The moment one seized the Emperor's body, one automatically gained the title of Empire's ruler—and just so, one also gained the Empress.

Moreover, Emperor and Empress Scheiwartz were a couple famous for their marital harmony. The pair were renowned throughout society for doting on their young son together.

If the cult leader intended to avoid unnecessary suspicion, he would have played that role as well.

And this was Lily's prejudice, but such a wicked man coveting another's position would surely take his nemesis's wife as his trophy.

It would inflict even greater humiliation and defeat upon Julius, after all.

So while she knew the Emperor's statement was absurd, his heart's desire to protect his wife's honor was rather touching, so she created an out for him.

"Of course it would be so. My meaning wasn't that the wretch dared commit vile acts upon Her Majesty the Empress, but rather that his very act of posing as Your Majesty's husband is itself the dishonor."

At that, Julius shook his head with a frustrated expression that also appeared somewhat melancholy.

[He never met her at all.]

"Never met her? Her Majesty the Empress?"

[Yes. He, not even, once.]

"Realistically, they must have met at least once."

Julius's eyes bulged as he brought his face close.

[Not even once!]

"Eek, y-yes, yes. I'll believe you. I believe you."

Lily flinched backward. This was a grotesqueness that spirit alone couldn't handle.

Still, seeing how firmly he insisted, it seemed to be true that the fake Emperor hadn't met the Empress.

Could a married couple truly never meet even once all this time? While not strictly impossible, it certainly wasn't natural.

"This seems like quite an important clue."

Lily checked the clock. The time to leave was approaching. At this rate, the guards would break through the window, and that might cause the barely-calmed ghost to have another fit.

"Your Majesty, I say this repeatedly, but it's no exaggeration that the success or failure of treatment depends on Your Majesty's will. Though I dare not claim to understand the despair and rage Your Majesty must feel, your family is waiting."

She spoke with an appeal to emotion.

"You must see your beloved family again. Even in difficult and painful times, think only of that. After I leave, meditate whenever you have time, and try to recall whether there's any useful information."

Julius listened silently to her words. Touching on family was the right answer. She was proud of herself.

"As your spiritual physician, I guarantee that if you follow my prescription, you'll be able to return to your body before long. Yes, that's already a determined future."

She spoke with maximum swagger.

She didn't think a few words would have tremendous effect, but in gaining a patient's trust, a confident attitude was essential, after all.