Aurelius was the first to move.
With his round belly leading the way, he strode toward the inner chamber with an air of confidence that suggested the outcome had already been decided. He had deliberately waited until the other physicians had exhausted every possible method before stepping forward. In his mind, this was the perfect moment to make his return.
If he succeeded now, everyone would remember him as the physician who had saved the princess when the entire Imperial Palace had failed.
He could already imagine the scene.
Rolant regretting the decision to expel him. The Imperial Hospital begging him to return. Other medical halls competing to recruit him. His reputation, once damaged, restored in a single glorious stroke.
The thought made Aurelius's chest swell with satisfaction.
Zion followed behind him at an unhurried pace, carrying his medicine box. He didn't share Aurelius's excitement.
To Zion, the result had already been decided.
Black, perched near his shoulder in its pearl-like form, secretly glanced toward Aurelius before whispering through their mental connection.
'Master... is that fat pig really capable of curing Vanessa?'
There was genuine concern in its voice.
If Aurelius somehow succeeded, their carefully arranged plan would fall apart. The one hundred thousand gold coins would be gone, and more importantly, Zion's opportunity to establish himself through this incident would disappear.
Zion's lips curved slightly.
'The poison was created by me. Not even a divine physician born in this era is capable enough to cure it.'
There was no need for bravado.
The Scorpion Venom Powder was something Zion had personally developed, tested, refined, and mastered in his previous life. Even the elders who had once tried to understand and neutralize it had failed to produce an effective antidote.
The physicians of this era had never even encountered the poison before.
Aurelius's chances of curing it were practically nonexistent.
White immediately became excited.
'Then we're getting one hundred thousand gold coins for free!'
The little creature almost seemed to dance around Zion's shoulder.
'But, Master, what are you going to do with that arrogant pig afterward?'
Zion's eyes narrowed slightly.
He glanced at Aurelius's broad back.
'The loss of one hundred thousand gold coins will already hurt him badly. But the money isn't the real punishment.'
White fell silent, listening.
'He has already humiliated almost every physician in this room. If he fails after making such a show of himself, he'll lose far more than money.'
Zion's gaze remained calm.
'His reputation will be ruined. His credibility as a physician will collapse, and everyone who witnessed this will remember exactly how confident he was before he failed.'
Aurelius had walked into the trap himself.
Black blinked.
'Does he not have a brain?'
Zion almost laughed.
'There are always people who can't be judged by common sense.'
By then, Aurelius had reached the inner chamber.
The confidence on his face lasted exactly until he looked at the bed.
It vanished.
Vanessa lay motionless beneath the covers.
Her entire body was covered in swollen, inflamed blisters. Some had grown so large that they distorted the surrounding skin, while others had cracked from the constant swelling. Her face, once recognizable as that of a beautiful imperial princess, was now badly disfigured by the spreading condition.
Three days of agony had taken an obvious toll.
Her breathing was weak and shallow.
Her lips were pale.
Even her consciousness seemed to be slipping in and out.
Aurelius's throat tightened.
This was far worse than he had imagined.
The physicians who had examined Vanessa over the previous days gradually entered the chamber as well. None of them had any intention of helping Aurelius now. They simply wanted to see what the man who had mocked them so confidently intended to do.
The moment they saw Vanessa again, several of them felt their expressions become heavy.
"This condition is beyond anything I've encountered."
"It's progressing far too quickly."
"I've never seen an illness behave like this."
Some had already begun wondering whether Vanessa had been afflicted by some kind of curse or supernatural force.
Aurelius forced himself to ignore the comments.
He had already boasted that he was more skilled than everyone present.
He couldn't back down now.
Taking a breath, he reached out and placed two fingers against Vanessa's wrist.
He intended to diagnose her pulse first.
The instant he felt it, however, his expression changed.
His fingers remained against her wrist, but the confidence disappeared from his face.
The pulse was chaotic.
At one moment it seemed weak, then strangely forceful. Its rhythm refused to settle into any pattern Aurelius recognized. Every conclusion he reached seemed to contradict the next.
His medical knowledge offered him no foothold.
He checked again.
Nothing.
No known illness fit these symptoms.
No poison he had studied behaved this way.
Even the relationship between Vanessa's pulse and her physical condition seemed completely abnormal.
Aurelius's fingers began trembling.
A bead of sweat formed at his temple.
Then another.
Soon, cold sweat was running down his forehead.
The physicians watching him noticed.
Their expressions slowly changed.
"He can't diagnose it."
"So much for his confidence."
"He mocked all of us earlier. Look at him now."
"Rolant was right to throw him out."
"A famed doctor? He's not even able to identify the illness."
Their voices weren't particularly quiet.
Aurelius heard every word.
His jaw tightened.
The ridicule he had inflicted on them earlier had returned almost immediately, only now he was the target.
He wanted to refute them.
He wanted to say that he had discovered something they hadn't.
But what could he say?
He didn't understand Vanessa's condition.
For the first time since entering the palace, Aurelius felt genuine fear.
'What is this?'
He searched through everything he had learned over the years.
Nothing matched.
Not one condition.
Not one poison.
Not one known disease.
His confidence began to crack.
Then Zion's voice came from behind him.
"It seems you're not quite the great physician you claimed to be."
Aurelius stiffened.
Zion's tone was almost casual.
That made it worse.
He hadn't shouted or mocked him loudly. He simply stated the obvious while standing there with the calm certainty of someone who already knew exactly how this would end.
Aurelius turned around.
Zion was smiling faintly.
That expression made Aurelius feel as though the wager had already been lost.
But he refused to accept it.
"Who said I don't know how to treat her?"
He forced confidence into his voice and straightened his back.
"The princess is clearly suffering from poisoning. I have a Universal Detox Pill. Once she takes it, the poison will be neutralized."
As he spoke, he reached into his medicine box and produced a dark-colored pill.
The words sounded confident.
His eyes did not.
There was panic hidden beneath them.
He had no idea what the poison was.
He had simply seized the first explanation that seemed plausible and decided to gamble everything on it.
Aurelius stepped toward Vanessa and prepared to place the pill in her mouth.
His fingers had barely reached her lips when someone spoke from the crowd.
"Don't bother."
Aurelius stopped.
Everyone turned toward the speaker.
One of the physicians stepped forward and spread his hands.
"I already tried that pill."
Aurelius's face changed.
The physician continued matter-of-factly.
"You advertised it as a universal detoxification pill, so I used it on Her Highness earlier. It had no effect whatsoever."
The chamber went silent.
Aurelius stared at him.
His hand remained suspended in the air, the dark pill still between his fingers.
Slowly, the confidence drained from his face.
Then the whispers began.
"Rolant didn't expel him for nothing."
"Look at him. He came here boasting about being a miracle doctor."
"He can't even identify the poison."
"All that arrogance for this?"
Rolant folded his arms and looked at Aurelius coldly.
"Aurelius, it seems your reputation as a 'miracle doctor' was more impressive than your actual ability."
Aurelius's face alternated between red and pale.
He couldn't answer.
His hands trembled as he lowered the pill.
Everything had gone wrong.
He had waited for the perfect opportunity to prove himself, only to reveal in front of the entire palace that he couldn't even diagnose the patient.
Then Zion approached.
"Since you're not helping, step aside."
His tone was light, almost lazy.
Aurelius immediately seized upon the words.
"You!"
He turned sharply.
"You little brat. Do you actually know how to cure her?"
The question was deliberately provocative.
Aurelius had already humiliated himself. If Zion failed as well, at least he wouldn't be the only one exposed.
For a moment, hope returned to his eyes.
'Go ahead. Claim you can cure her.'
If Zion made that mistake, Aurelius could drag him down with himself.
But Zion merely tilted his head.
"Why do you think I came to the palace?"
He looked at Aurelius calmly.
"Did you think I came here to stand around and boast like you?"
Aurelius's expression stiffened.
The insult landed cleanly.
Yet a moment later, his eyes brightened.
'Good.'
Zion had accepted the challenge.
If he failed, Aurelius would no longer be alone in his humiliation.
"You can cure her?" Aurelius said, his confidence returning. "Then go ahead. Let's see whether you can do better than me."
The surrounding physicians exchanged uncertain glances.
None of them believed the young physician could succeed.
They had spent days examining Vanessa without finding an answer. A physician who had only just arrived at the palace couldn't possibly solve what had baffled all of them.
Some looked at Zion with sympathy.
Others simply waited to see another failure.
Zion ignored them.
He walked toward Vanessa's bed.
His steps were steady, his breathing even.
When he reached her, he didn't immediately announce a diagnosis. He first examined her carefully.
His fingers rested against her wrist as he checked her pulse.
Then he observed her breathing.
He examined the temperature of her skin.
His eyes moved across the swollen blisters, taking in their distribution, color, and progression.
Every movement was controlled and deliberate.
There was none of the hesitation that had plagued Aurelius.
The physicians gradually fell silent.
Even those who doubted him found themselves watching closely.
Rolant's expression became thoughtful.
At least his fundamentals were sound.
The way Zion approached the patient wasn't the reckless behavior of an inexperienced child. He was methodical, focused, and completely unaffected by the number of physicians watching him.
Even Aurelius's sneer gradually disappeared.
For a brief moment, he found himself simply watching.
Then Zion straightened.
Aurelius immediately recovered his voice.
"Stop pretending, boy. Just admit you can't cure her."
Zion turned toward him.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Who said I can't?"
Aurelius's expression twisted.
"You're claiming you can cure her?"
"You couldn't," Zion replied calmly. "That doesn't mean I can't."
Aurelius's face darkened.
"If you fail..."
"Prepare your one hundred thousand gold coins," Zion interrupted.
His voice remained completely relaxed.
"And remember your other half of the wager. You'll apologize to every physician here."
A few doctors exchanged glances.
Someone quietly muttered, "How arrogant."
Even Rolant hesitated.
He respected Zion's courage, but confidence was one thing. Claiming that he could solve a condition that had defeated the entire palace medical establishment was another.
Rolant looked toward the young physician standing beside the princess's bed.
'Can he really do it?'
For the first time, the entire chamber waited for Zion's answer to become reality.