The Doctor Cured The Villainess And Ran Away-Chapter 75: Thousand-Mile Eyes

—Fwaaaah!

A flood of brilliant golden light filled the entire training ground.

The magic circle drawn by Asella filled the sky and spun with violent force.

Before anyone had noticed, gray clouds had gathered above—and then shhhh!—a blizzard began to pour down.

Asella, having successfully completed the incantation, swung her staff to disperse the storm.

“Hoo...”

It was a difficult spell, and it had consumed a great deal of mana. Asella wiped the sweat from her brow and caught her breath.

“Your Blizzard incantation is perfect now. I’d say you’ve reached the Fifth Circle with no issue.”

Seymour chuckled, flicking his beard.

“Really? There wasn’t anything lacking?”

“Mm. From here on, it’s just repetition and practice. I’ve nothing more to teach you.”

“I’m still a long way off, though.”

Magic was the one field in which Asella showed humility. Seymour, her teacher, was a Sage—someone who had reached the Seventh Circle, a historical figure who’d carved his name into human history.

It might seem like just a single digit, but the difference between each magic tier was astronomical.

To advance from the Fifth to the Sixth Circle required more than double the effort and experience it took to go from the First to the Fifth.

And the same held true for the Sixth to the Seventh.

There was no end to the path of magic.

“I mean it. There’s truly nothing left for me to teach you.”

“Pardon?”

Asella felt something off in Seymour’s tone—it wasn’t like his usual self.

“Asella, your specialties—space-time and ice magic—aren’t mine. You know this already, but among high-ranking mages, unless you share blood, you can’t properly teach the same elemental affinity.”

“That’s true... The structure of our innate mana circuits is different.”

“If I continue to instruct you beyond this point, it won’t have the dramatic impact it once did. I stayed in the Imperial Palace all this time only because I owed a debt to the Emperor—from the war, twenty years ago.”

Seymour nodded as he spoke.

“I repaid that debt long ago, but I stuck around too long just because I found you interesting.”

He added, chuckling again, that teaching spells to “that Gotberg kid” had been fun too.

“Then... you're leaving the Imperial Palace?”

“I must begin developing my own magic again. That is the purpose of a mage’s life.”

Asella fully understood his reasoning.

“Do you have one last question for me?”

Asella bit her lip.

There were mountains of things she’d want to ask him in the future.

But at her current level, she didn’t even know what to ask yet.

“Please watch my magic one more time.”

“That’s no trouble at all.”

Asella steadied her breathing.

She circulated mana through her circuits, focused it into her staff, and drew her formation.

“Clairvoyant Eye.”

—Fwaah!

Asella’s vision and senses shifted drastically.

She’d cast Clairvoyant Eye many times now.

Whenever she had mana to spare, she practiced it constantly.

She’d gathered a fair number of clues about the imperial family over time. Most were useless in the current moment, so the accuracy rate had been low.

Still, what pleased her most was that in every future she saw—she was always the Emperor.

Let’s see where I end up this time.

Her vision shifted.

The next moment, Asella was in an office.

She recognized it—it was the Heavenly Imperial Palace, the Emperor’s office.

She was receiving a report via crystal orb from a secretary.

A projection streamed from the orb.

An adventurer party?

She saw a warrior woman swinging her sword at the front of the group.

She was cloaked in a divine aura, and the weapon in her hand was unmistakably a holy sword.

A Hero.

Asella instantly discerned her identity.

The Hero will appear soon.

This was a huge discovery.

Even in visions of the future, people who exist don’t simply vanish.

A Hero-level individual was bound to emerge in the world—it was inevitable.

If Asella could recruit her into Moonlight Palace’s ranks first, it would be an immense advantage.

The Hero was flanked by a warrior, a mage, a healer, and a saintess—all battling demons together.

A classic Hero’s party.

Hm?

At the rear of the formation, a healer was casting spells while engaged in fierce combat with the demons.

And Asella found the healer’s face... familiar.

Las?

Las Gotberg was there.

And the Saintess... was his younger sister, Neria Gotberg.

Strangely enough, they didn’t look all that different from now. In fact, they looked younger than they had at the social banquet.

Why is Las there?

Asella didn’t have the answer. But since Neria had been chosen as the Saintess, it was clearly a future that did not follow directly from the present.

—Kuh!

Las was struck by a demon and went rolling across the ground. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

Her heart sank—but only briefly.

Watching him dart around the battlefield like a seasoned adventurer while casting healing spells calmed her.

—Ugh, damn it, this thing’s slow as hell!

Then, in frustration, he smacked his holy text.

Seeing that ridiculous scene, Asella laughed inwardly.

If I don’t raise him right, he’ll just suffer endlessly.

A slow-burning sense of satisfaction welled up in her.

—Las, over here!

But the next scene irked her a bit.

The Hero cut down the demons around Las with an elegant slash.

—You okay, Las?

—Thanks to you. You’re always so dependable.

The Hero helped Las up and gave him an encouraging smile.

They slung their arms around each other like best friends, supporting one another.

In that deadly, high-stakes battlefield, they called each other by name and trusted one another with their lives.

They were comrades, yes—but still.

The Hero’s a woman.

Asella’s concentration wavered as her annoyance flared.

Ugh.

Her vision distorted.

In the final moment, she saw herself scribbling something onto a sheet of paper while looking at the crystal orb.

She instinctively knew it was important—she wanted to check what it was—but whoosh, her vision went dark.

The scene changed.

“His Majesty has collapsed!”

“Where is the court physician?!”

Still the Heavenly Imperial Palace.

The red tones in the background told her it was during the current Emperor’s reign.

This is before I became Emperor. Is this when Father is assassinated?

Asella estimated the vision to be several years in the future.

Ambrosia stepped out of the Emperor’s bedroom.

“He is critical. We need more top-tier healers.”

A young court physician made a suggestion.

“What about the Marquis of Gotberg? Outside the clinic, he’s the only healer who comes to mind.”

“He’s also the father of a Saintess candidate.”

The discussion began to shift toward summoning the Marquis of Gotberg.

There happened to be a teleport gate at the Gotberg estate. In a crisis like this, the marquis could arrive in seconds.

So Father dies here. Someone exploits his condition to carry out the assassination. That’s why the Marquis of Gotberg gets implicated.

Her viewpoint shifted toward one of the court physicians.

The long-haired man who’d first mentioned Gotberg.

I don’t recognize him. Was there ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) someone like that in the clinic?

The fact that she was focusing on him now meant he was a singularity.

Those executed for treason were the court physicians and the Marquis. But this man wasn’t among them.

There would definitely be a conspiracy during the Emperor’s treatment.

And if someone is pulling the strings, it’s probably the man Asella was now watching.

Wait. Las isn’t here.

This wasn’t a direct future from the current timeline either.

But if the same scenario played out in her present reality—

Then Las might be the one summoned instead of the marquis.

And if that happened, he’d be blamed for assassinating the Emperor.

Hmm.

Asella felt like she’d just fastened a collar around Las’s neck.

There’s no way Las would ever see this coming.

If she didn’t tell him this, he was as good as dead.

Even if he survived, he’d be branded a commoner and dragged to the frontlines of some battlefield.

He really was the kind of man who’d fall apart without her.

His family would be destroyed, and he’d be ruined.

This was incredible information—a massive bargaining chip.

Maybe I can trade it for something good.

Her irritation over the Hero’s scene faded a little.

Asella’s vision whooshed! back to the present.

“A flawless casting. What did you see?”

Seymour praised her use of Clairvoyant Eye.

Asella smiled slightly.

“I found a lead.”

“Ho ho, watching you cast confirms I was right about you.”

“But Master...”

Asella bit her lip.

“My Clairvoyant Eye isn’t perfect. I can’t choose the timeframe, and I can only see scenes from inside the imperial palace.”

“Improving your mastery is something only you can do. No one else can help you with that.”

Seymour leaned down to meet her gaze.

“They say the visions change depending on where you cast it from. You might want to try using it outside the palace sometime.”

“Outside the palace...”

Asella nodded at his final piece of advice.

“If we meet again, you’ll surely have become a Great Mage. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

With that, Seymour handed her a small ornate box.

“Master, what’s this?”

“Open it when you need magical aid. You’ll have to use it with your betrothed.”

That day’s lesson ended, and Seymour vanished from the palace without a trace or regret.

Outside the palace...

In her newly arranged office, Asella flipped through reports.

She picked up a file detailing another faction’s movements.

[First Princess Faction – Barbarian Subjugation Campaign]

“Your Highness, I’m here to submit a request for extended leave.”

Right then, Las appeared with his vacation request in hand—

And Asella immediately finalized her own outing plan.

***

“Welcome home, brother!”

As I stepped out of the teleport gate, Neria greeted me with a beaming smile.

“It’s been a while, Las. I’m glad to see you looking well.”

After reporting my return to Father, I turned—and of course, a VIP arrived alongside me.

None other than Asella.

“It’s an honor to see you again. Thank you for once again visiting our domain, Your Highness.”

Father gave her a formal bow.

I also had to greet her as a subject of Gotberg.

“I accept your welcome. I’ll walk your lands for a while, Marquis Gotberg.”

Unlike her first visit last year, Asella walked with confident, dignified steps.

As she reached me, she turned her head slightly to glance at Neria.

“Still haven’t grown much, have you?”

“Pardon?”

Without answering Neria’s puzzled look, Asella clicked forward down the path.

“Las, Her Highness is radiating even more presence than before.”

“Yeah.”

Maybe she’d gotten a little taller.

She exuded far more confidence.

Though I still felt a disconnect, she was becoming more and more like the Emperor Asella I once knew.

“You don’t need a guide through the mansion, right?”

“Well... I wouldn’t mind taking another look around.”

I escorted her like a handmaid through the estate. At the entrance, Sivers bowed his head.

He seemed genuinely happy to see me after so long—but he kept his emotions in check in front of the princess.

The head maid relayed Sivers’s report to Asella.

“Your Highness, we’ve prepared your room in the main residence. Please rest there first.”

It was probably the same room as last time.

But Asella lifted her chin in disapproval.

“Why did you prepare a room?”

“Ah, because you’ll need a place to stay during your time at the marquisate...”

“I’ll stay in Las’s room.”

...What?

What the hell did she just say?

Everyone had a different reaction to her bombshell.

The head maid looked visibly flustered.

Father’s jaw dropped in shock.

Sivers clasped his hands together and squirmed in giddy excitement.

Neria covered her mouth with both hands and whispered,

“Brother... you’re amazing...”

I didn’t know what that was supposed to mean.

But one thing was certain—this vacation would be anything but relaxing.