The unidentified intruder hurried through the first floor, freely wandering from place to place.
Maybe he's not a thief...?
Kwon Minseong tilted his head.
What kind of thief was that careless?
Whoosh—
Without warning, the intruder turned his head and looked up toward the second-floor staircase.
Kwon Minseong was hidden in a blind spot invisible from the first floor, so there was no danger of being discovered.
Even so, his heart nearly stopped.
Not just his heart.
A wave of nausea rolled through him.
He clutched his abdomen and squeezed his eyes shut.
From the long scar left behind, an indescribable sense of revulsion surged upward like bile. Behind his eyelids floated a turquoise afterimage.
The intruder's eyes were the same turquoise color as the psychotic Emperor's.
But it wasn't the Emperor.
The intruder was much shorter.
Judging by where the staircase railing reached, he was at most around the same height as Kwon Minseong, perhaps one centimeter shorter.
Unless this world possessed some bizarre mechanism that ignored perspective, the possibility of the intruder being the Emperor was effectively zero.
Whether he had noticed Kwon Minseong or not, the intruder began climbing the stairs.
Ten more steps.
That was all it would take before they met face-to-face.
Kwon Minseong tightened his grip on the bread and waited.
Five steps.
Four.
Three.
Crack!
Just as the intruder turned onto the second floor, Kwon Minseong swung.
The Tooth Crusher struck him squarely on the head.
"Uh...?"
Uh?
Not "Agh."
Not "Urgh."
Just... "Uh?"
"Hng... that hurt..."
The intruder rubbed the back of his head.
Was he serious?
He got hit with the Tooth Crusher and that was it?
This guy was no ordinary person.
"What are you?"
Emerging from the darkness, Kwon Minseong pointed the loaf at the intruder's face.
"Me?"
The intruder glanced around before tilting his head.
"Who else would I be talking to? Are you a thief or a lunatic? Identify yourself."
"N-No. Nothing like that... Hehe..."
The intruder, whose eyes were identical to the Emperor's, slowly removed the hood attached to his cloak.
Thunk.
The Tooth Crusher slipped from Kwon Minseong's hand.
The moment the shabby hood came off, bright golden hair the color of forsythias spilled free.
The hair was beautifully maintained and carried a pleasant fragrance.
Beneath it were luxurious silk garments that made the finest creations of Ellun's most famous tailor, Zigbird, look ordinary by comparison.
After smoothing his hair, the handsome young man gave Kwon Minseong a small bow.
"Good evening. I'm sorry to disturb you so late. Is this Doctor Sisi's hospital?"
"...Technically."
The young man's face brightened with a smile as warm as sunlight.
"Ah, thank goodness. I found the right place."
"You didn't find the right place. You broke into it. How did you even get inside? The security system should only allow members of the Imperial Family to enter."
At Kwon Minseong's shout, the young man twisted the cloak in his hands nervously.
"W-Well..."
"Don't tell me you're the Emperor's younger brother."
"Gasp! H-How did you know?"
Did he think Kwon Minseong had gotten through medical school by luck?
Picking up the Tooth Crusher, Kwon Minseong dusted it off.
At least the man wasn't a thief.
And he wasn't some deranged patient seeking revenge.
That was a relief.
"Your clothes, your hair, even your hands. It's obvious you've been raised with privilege. And most importantly, your hair and eyes look exactly like the Emperor's. Unless the Emperor secretly has a hidden child somewhere, you're his sibling. The age doesn't match, so you're obviously the younger brother."
He paused.
"Unless the psycho somehow fathered a child at nine years old."
The Emperor's brother stared at him with wide eyes and a hanging jaw.
Then he hurriedly began putting his cloak back on.
"I-I've come to the wrong place. My apologies. I'll be leaving now."
"Wait. What?"
The young man pulled the hood tightly over his head and hurried down the stairs.
Kwon Minseong immediately chased after him.
"You interrupt someone's dinner and then decide to leave?"
"It's eleven thirty at night. Were you really still eating dinner?"
"I got off work late today."
Partly because he had spent so long eating.
"I heard this was a hospital. I didn't realize it was a detective agency."
"Huh...?"
"It seems the rumors got mixed up."
"What...?"
"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you tell me where Doctor Sisi's hospital is?"
"Uh..."
"I'm in a bit of a hurry..."
The Emperor's brother twisted the end of his cloak and smiled sheepishly.
Behind the weak smile was unmistakable anxiety.
"If you tell me why you're looking for Sisi, I'll tell you where the hospital is."
"I can't do that."
Despite looking like someone who would hand over his liver if asked nicely, the young man shook his head with surprising firmness.
"I can only tell Doctor Sisi."
"I'm telling you it's okay."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because no matter how skilled you are as a detective, only Doctor Sisi can solve this."
He's an idiot.
And not an ordinary idiot, either.
Clicking his tongue, Kwon Minseong clapped his hands toward the ceiling.
Clap!
Immediately, the lights throughout the lobby and first-floor hallways illuminated.
Turning toward the Emperor's brother, Kwon Minseong said,
"I'm Doctor Sisi."
"Huh?"
"I'm the one who delivers babies."
After making his terrible joke, Kwon Minseong used the Tooth Crusher like a massage stick, thumping it against his shoulder while examining the young man from head to toe.
His estimate had been correct.
The Emperor's brother was only one or two centimeters shorter than him.
Roughly one hundred seventy-five centimeters tall.
Early twenties.
"You're really Doctor Sisi?"
The Emperor's brother clasped his hands together, trembling with both fear and joy.
"That's right."
"M-My name is Aswin Eickhalden. I'm Emperor Tillio's younger brother, and..."
"Skip to the reason you're here."
"Ah...?"
"Tell me why you showed up at this hour, Your Extremely Frustrating Highness."
Tears welled up in Aswin's eyes as he lowered his head.
Meanwhile, a gentle smile spread across Kwon Minseong's face.
The Emperor's younger brother had to be rich.
The thought of charging an enormous after-hours consultation fee was enough to make him excited.
"All right. Let's head to the examination room first."
With noticeably lighter steps, Kwon Minseong led Aswin toward the clinic.
"I... I'm pregnant..."
Aswin mumbled hesitantly.
"Right. That's usually why people come to see me. What I'm curious about is why you came to me specifically, in the middle of the night, when there are Court Physicians available."
"I can't tell Reiner."
"Really? Why not?"
"Because the child in my womb..."
"The child?"
"...belongs to an enemy nation."
Hmm?
Did he just say the child belonged to an enemy nation?
"That's a strange name. Enemy Nation... Mr. Enemy Nation..."
"It's not a person's name! The Crown Prince of Debia and I...!"
The moment Kwon Minseong heard the word Debia, he spun around and headed straight for the front entrance.
"Ah, so the Alpha's name is Debia? That's a lovely name."
"W-Why are you suddenly speaking so politely?!"
"Unfortunately, today's clinic hours have ended. It's the weekend. Please come back next week."
"But... the examination room lights are still on..."
"The lighting systems have been acting up lately. That's the problem with automated machinery. You can't trust it. Things work much better when handled by human hands..."
Kwon Minseong clapped twice.
The examination room lights immediately switched off.
"They seem to work perfectly fine..."
"Machines are like that. Some days they listen. Some days they stubbornly refuse."
"You're lying."
Aswin looked at him pitifully.
"You're just making excuses because you're trying to throw me out, aren't you?"