At first, the conversation had been nothing more than surprise and questions, but gradually, the words began to sharpen.
“They say she’s terminally ill. What happens if she collapses during the examination? Who’s going to take responsibility? A patient treating patients?”
“I feel sorry for the patients who have to let someone like that take their pulse. They might end up having their physician collapse before they do while receiving treatment.”
“If they’re willing to accept someone like that just because she’s a direct descendant, I suppose that’s how much the Ip-gwan Examination is worth.”
My footsteps stopped on their own.
The joy that had filled my chest only moments ago quickly sank as though cold water had been poured over it.
The Elders had acknowledged me.
They had accepted both the medicinal pills I had made and the purpose I held in my heart.
I thought things would change after that.
At the very least, I thought no one would see me as nothing more than a sick child anymore.
But I was wrong.
To other people, I was still a terminally ill girl who could die at any moment.
A child who had been given an opportunity through the power of her father and grandfather, no matter how hard she tried.
Someone whose very qualifications to take the examination were being questioned.
Just because I’ve been acknowledged once doesn’t mean everything will suddenly change.
It was something I already knew.
Even so, hearing it directly made one side of my chest ache as though it had been pricked.
Father’s footsteps stopped as well.
When I looked up, the gentle expression he had worn moments ago had disappeared without a trace.
Father slowly released my hand and strode toward the group of physician trainees.
With every step, the long hem of his robe fluttered roughly.
Only then did the physician trainees notice Father emerging from beyond the pillar.
“Y-Young Family Head…!”
The color drained from the three men’s faces in an instant.
They hurriedly bowed, but Father did not acknowledge their greetings.
His gaze swept over each of them in turn, growing cold.
“Did you just say that was how much the Ip-gwan Examination was worth?”
His low voice echoed through the corridor.
No one could answer.
When Father took another step toward them, the three physician trainees visibly shrank back.
“The Family Head and the four Elders personally examined the medicinal pills and discussed them before reaching that decision. Yet you, who are still nothing more than physician trainees, belittle their decision as special treatment and insult the family’s examination?”
“That, that wasn’t what we meant.”
The physician trainee who had spoken first hurriedly made an excuse.
“We were merely worried about Little Lady Ryeonghwa’s health…”
Father’s gaze grew even colder.
“Would a physician who worries about a patient mock that patient by calling her terminally ill?”
The physician trainee immediately fell silent.
“If you call yourself a physician, do not recklessly declare how much time a person has left to live.”
Father’s firm voice rang through the corridor.
“Anyone who speaks of death first in front of a patient struggling to survive has no right to wear Yakryeong’s physician robes.”
The wind swept through the corridor.
The hems of the white, flowing physician robes fluttered, but no one dared to move.
“Whether Ryeonghwa is qualified to take the Ip-gwan Examination is not for you to decide. If you have doubts, find out for yourselves at the examination.”
Father looked coldly down at the three men.
“Diagnose her condition before she does and prescribe a more accurate treatment. Then you may discuss the standing of the Ip-gwan Examination.”
The three physician trainees bowed even deeper.
“We’re sorry, Young Family Head.”
“Apologize to Ryeonghwa directly.”
They flinched and turned toward me.
I was standing several steps away, watching them.
After hesitating, the three physician trainees bowed to me.
“We apologize for speaking carelessly, Little Lady.”
“Please forgive us.”
I looked at them for a moment before quietly nodding.
“…It’s all right.”
I said that with my mouth, but my heart was not all right.
I was glad that Father had stood up for me.
But if Father hadn’t been here, would they have bowed their heads before me like this?
Probably not.
Their apology now was less an acknowledgment of me and more something forced out of them by the authority of the Young Family Head.
Father came back to me and took my hand again.
“We cannot let this go. If you want, I’ll find out their names and affiliations and discipline them.”
I slowly shook my head.
“It’s okay, Father.”
“How could it be okay? They recklessly spoke without even knowing what you’ve accomplished.”
Father still looked furious.
I wrapped both hands around his fingers.
“Scolding them with words won’t change what they think.”
Father’s expression hardened my words.
“That doesn’t mean you have to sit there and listen to things like that.”
“I’m not saying I’ll just put up with it.”
I turned back toward the physician trainees.
They were still bowing their heads, but there was still a trace of disbelief mixed with bewilderment in one of their eyes.
I did not avoid his gaze.
It had been the same in my past life.
Even when I said I wasn’t in pain, no one believed me, and whenever I claimed that I could do something, all I received was ridicule for overestimating myself.
What had always changed people’s minds was not words, but results.
“I’ll show you myself at the Ip-gwan Examination.”
Father looked down at me.
Suppressing the bitterness that remained in my chest, I spoke clearly.
“I’ll prove through my own abilities that this opportunity wasn’t something I received because of Father and Grandfather’s influence.”
My voice quietly spread through the corridor.
The physician trainees who had been bowing their heads also seemed to hear me, as one by one, they raised their faces.
Right now, all they could see was the fact that I was terminally ill.
Then I just had to show them.
How many illnesses I remembered.
How many medicines these hands of mine had made.
And that I was someone worthy of being entrusted with a patient’s life.
So that once the Ip-gwan Examination was over, no one would ever put the words terminally ill before my name again.
I’ll prove it with my abilities.
The bitterness lingering in my chest gradually transformed into a burning determination.
Father stared at my face for a while before finally smiling faintly.
“All right. Do as you wish.”
He firmly took my hand again.
“But if someone carelessly speaks to you like that again, your father won’t stand by and do nothing.”
“Father…”
“Proving yourself through your abilities and protecting my daughter are two separate matters.”
His words were delivered as though it were the most natural thing in the world, and I couldn’t help but smile faintly as well.
“Yes. I understand.”
We began walking down the corridor again.
Our footsteps were heavier than before, but the road ahead had become even clearer.
The only thing I had to overcome was not the Ip-gwan Examination.
It was the prejudice against a frail child.
The suspicion that I had gained everything through my father’s influence.
And the countless gazes that had already decided I could never become a physician.
I would overcome them one by one with my own abilities.
With my abilities alone.
Comments (0)