The Doctor Cured The Villainess And Ran Away-Chapter 58: Your Highness, this is my bed

Asella was sleeping peacefully, clinging to me under the blanket.

Hmph. What the hell is this situation?

My last memory was of running with Asella and driving off the assassin.

I felt clear-headed—maybe I’d slept well thanks to passing out.

“Your Highness?”

I called out softly, but there was no response.

...Yeah, that’s Asella for you.

Wait, no. What the hell.

My body was clean, and I’d been changed into fresh clothes. Must’ve been the maids.

Asella was wearing nightclothes. The same design I’d seen during the X-ray exam, but in black.

But why is °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° she in my bed?

In my room?

“Your Highness.”

Still breathing softly, sound asleep.

“Asella.”

...She really seems to be asleep.

Good. If she were awake, I might’ve been dragged off for lèse-majesté.

As I watched her with her face buried in my chest, a strange impulse began to stir.

If I compared Neria’s cheek to Asella’s, which would be softer?

Even as a royal physician, I couldn’t just touch the imperial body for no reason.

Only what was medically necessary. For treatment purposes only.

Ten years later, Asella’s arms and face would be all slender, so I might never get the chance again.

Let’s see...

I carefully brought the back of my hand to Asella’s cheek.

She turned her head slightly but didn’t react much.

...Does she sleep really deeply?

I’d never run a sleep test, so I didn’t know her sleeping habits.

Just a little more.

I brushed her cheek with my thumb.

It might’ve felt similar to Neria’s.

Like a luxury linen balloon stuffed with flour.

I added my index finger and gently squeezed her cheek into a full pinch.

...Hmph.

Comparison complete.

Neria had better cushioning, by far.

Still, her skin was strangely cool, and it felt like I could mold it however I wanted—kind of addictive.

“Uunngh.”

Asella seemed uncomfortable and buried her face even deeper in my chest.

Whoa.

Almost got caught.

As I stared at the back of her head, which looked like she was digging for food in a burrow, her protruding ear caught my eye.

That looked soft too.

As I gently ran my fingers over the edge of her ear—

“Hyaak!”

A strange shriek. Asella shrank her shoulder and gripped my side in a hard, pinching twist.

Ow.

“Your Highness? Are you awake?”

Her back still twitched.

“Muscles don’t stay that tense for that long during sleep. If you’re awake, just say so...”

Finally, Asella groggily lifted her head.

Her brows were furrowed like something had seriously pissed her off.

“Why’d you wake me up?”

“You seemed to be sleeping in the wrong place.”

“...This is my palace.”

“That’s true. But it doesn’t have to be my bed, does it?”

“...I thought it was Max’s room.”

“Max?”

“Yeah. Sheila went to take a bath...”

“Sheila is...?”

“My doll... You don’t need to know!”

Asella threw a fit and kicked at the bed with her foot.

“Why are you up so early?”

“I usually don’t sleep long. Though last night was surprisingly restful.”

“...So annoying. I was going to leave before you woke up.”

“What was?”

“Shut up.”

As always, Asella was in a terrible mood in the morning.

Her blood pressure was probably low—I had to be understanding.

“After what happened yesterday, Your Highness should rest more. I’ll assess the situation and act accordingly.”

As I started to get up, Asella abruptly pushed my shoulder down.

“You rest too.”

“Pardon? But—”

“Rest.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

In my experience, making Asella repeat an order three times never led to anything good.

I opened my eyes wide and decided to count the stars in the ceiling pattern.

***

“My sincerest apologies.”

Tanya knelt before me, her head bowed.

“As a knight, I failed in my duty. While you were being attacked by an assassin, I wasn’t even there...!”

She seemed to carry an enormous weight of responsibility from the incident. Her clenched fists trembled.

But I’d sent her off knowing that. I could handle the assassin alone.

Besides, it had been Asella’s order, and capturing the culprit had been important.

This was the first time she’d ever shown such complete deference. I felt like teasing her a little.

Leaning back in the chair, I pressed an ice pack to my forehead.

“Ugh, my back. Commander, can you see the cut on the back of my head? I scraped it when I fell. My whole body aches from running full speed.”

“Urrgh, it’s all my fault...”

“I think I’ve got trauma now. Just seeing anything sharp makes me tremble in fear.”

“I’ll... I’ll commit seppuku to atone!”

Tanya closed her eyes tight and cried out in desperation. If I kept teasing her, she might actually do it, so I decided to stop.

“I’m joking. I’m fine. They caught the assassin disguised as an attendant, right? Good job.”

“But the mission failed nonetheless...”

“It was under Asella’s orders. Besides, Neria’s safe, and that’s what matters.” freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

“Ughh, I thought something terrible had happened to you...”

Neria, still shaken, kept sniffling into her handkerchief.

“I heard Boris and Bruno got you straight to the guest room. Good work.”

“We were just doing our duty, sir. You’re the one who had it rough.”

“Should’ve smashed that assassin’s skull in, though.”

Bruno cracked his fists together, and his thick deltoids bulged threateningly.

“This assassination attempt is serious. Infiltrating the palace and targeting both the duke and the princess? If we uncover who’s behind it, it’ll be a huge achievement. I already have a good guess.”

“R-Really? Brother, is the Imperial Court always this dangerous? I... I don’t want you to get hurt...”

Neria trailed off. She must’ve realized that being the royal physician wasn’t all prestige and comfort.

But she couldn’t exactly tell me to quit, so she probably felt conflicted.

“This kind of thing doesn’t happen often. I’ll coordinate with Asella and respond accordingly.”

“O-Okay... But I wish you’d come home more often.”

“I’ll take a vacation soon.”

I patted her head to reassure her.

I wanted to go home, too. I really did.

But for now, I had quite a few things to clean up.

“Commander, how long are you planning to kneel like that?”

Tanya had gone from bowing to the floor to gradually shifting into a full kneel-and-prostrate.

I helped the dazed Tanya to her feet and moved on to examine Asella.

***

“The mastermind confessed?”

“Yeah. A baron from a minor faction no one even knew was invited to the party. Probably a front they paid off in advance. He’ll be executed, and that’ll be the end of it!”

Bang!

Asella slammed the table during her examination, visibly irritated.

“Please don’t get angry. We’ll have to start the vitals check over.”

“How can I not be angry? We almost died, and now they’re telling us to swallow the enemy’s plot like it’s nothing.”

She clicked her tongue and glared.

“Two of our knights are dead. Lord Gotberg, I don’t show mercy to enemies. A grudge like this—”

“Must be repaid tenfold.”

“How’d you know? Exactly. I’ll tear them apart.”

Asella was expressing her rage more than usual. Probably one of those moments.

You know, when you get home after a traumatic event and lie in bed, thinking things over, and get even angrier?

The scapegoat baron must’ve pushed her over the edge.

She’d likely already deduced that the true culprit was from Tojin Palace.

If the duke was the target, then someone else’s interests were involved.

The actual target might’ve been a noble or even another member of the royal family.

But so far, the only people willing to assassinate Asella were other successors.

“I won’t let this go. I’ll declare war on Tojin Palace.”

Her heart rate and blood pressure were higher than usual.

Her pupils were dilated—adrenaline was flooding her system.

I gently stroked her back.

“Eek, what are you doing?!”

“It’s not good for your health. Calm down. Remember the breathing technique I taught you?”

“Sometimes you need to express your anger.”

“Then do it in front of the enemy. Right now, we’re surrounded by allies.”

“Allies...”

Asella seemed to take my advice and slowly returned to normal breathing.

“Do some stretching too. Raise your arms above your head.”

“Fine. I’ll do it myself, so don’t touch me.”

Didn’t you cling to me this morning?

Asella’s personal boundaries were... strange.

“Would you like me to fetch your comfort doll? It’s sitting right there.”

“Huh? Ah.”

When I pointed at the doll neatly placed beside the bed, Asella flinched and licked her lips nervously.

“U-Um, Lord Gotberg, that’s, uh...”

She scratched the back of her neck and mumbled awkwardly.

“It is a doll, but... you remember when I said I washed it? That wasn’t a lie...”

“Must’ve finished drying quickly.”

“Y-Yeah. That’s it. ...Why is it sitting there?!”

Even though I’d told her to stretch, Asella curled up her shoulders and clicked her tongue.

After a while, she calmed down somewhat, but the resentment still lingered.

“In any case, it’s war. Prepare for armed conflict with Tojin Palace.”

“You’re still not fully calm. But as a princess, I believe you can make a more level-headed decision.”

“Are you disobeying me? We were attacked first—how can we stand by and do nothing?”

“That’s not what I meant. But even if we went to all-out war, could we win against Tojin? Just dragging in the 2nd Regiment alone would crush us.”

“...You’re right.”

Asella wasn’t foolish enough to deny the reality of the numbers.

“And it’s likely His Majesty made the call to end this by executing the baron.”

“You’re unusually perceptive at times. You’re right. His Majesty must think this is just another internal succession squabble.”

“Really? And there’s no punishment?”

“Succession battles are seen as normal. Assassinations, political intrigue—it’s all par for the course.”

Normal, huh.

In the Imperial Family, the Emperor decides what counts as normal.

This place really is just a den of lions painted in gold.

That’s why Asella and the other successors were so desperate to expand their courts and factions.

Come to think of it, there were still siblings of the Emperor alive, but not his older brother.

He hadn’t been the firstborn—there was probably a history of purges during the succession.

And now he was repeating it with his own children.

“If it becomes known that this was a royal power struggle, it’ll be bad for His Majesty. The Duke might even demand reparations.”

“Exactly. It’s more convenient for them if the duke was the target. So he accepted the baron scapegoat.”

“Right. Which is why we need to hold back for now. If we charge in recklessly, no royal faction will side with us. We don’t have a legitimate cause.”

“So we just let this go?”

Asella looked deeply conflicted.

If this incident, like the Death Dragon, was swept under the rug, more attacks would follow.

And that would not only trigger bad endings but weaken Moonlight Palace’s entire faction.

Time to sweep Georg off the board while I still could.

“Of course we’ll retaliate, Your Highness. But there’s a way to reverse the power disparity.”

“How?”

I gave my answer.

“We’ll request a duel trial.”