Magic Academy's Bastard Instructor - Chapter 274: Lasting Happiness to You [2]

Chapter 274: Lasting Happiness to You [2]

Karina’s rise through the ranks was swift.

One of the core requirements for servants under the Empress, Julia Barielle, was strength. After all, their duties went far beyond just attending to daily necessities.

No, they were expected to possess real combat capability. For the Empress, maids were not merely servants.

They were Chasers.

In other words, personal soldiers who acted directly under the Empress’s authority.

Karina fit that role far too well.

Among the ranks, she was regarded as exceptional. Not just competent, but outstanding. It would not have been an exaggeration to call her the most promising talent present.

Some even said that, given time, she would surpass everyone else serving under the Empress.

“Vanessa, come over here.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

And in just two years, Karina accomplished just that. She had become the Head Maid, tasked to serve as the Empress’s personal maid herself.

“What do you think of the name Angelina?”

“…Angelina?”

Perhaps it had to be said. The Empress was pregnant, and her delivery was only a few months away. Karina was certain of one thing. The child growing within her was, without a doubt, the Astrid she knew.

But Angelina?

That wasn’t right.

“What about Astrid?”

“Astrid…” The Empress paused, then smiled. “Wow~ That has a nice ring to it… I should consult my husband.”

“You should consult the Emperor first, Your Highness.”

The Empress let out a chuckle. “He’s still my husband, is he not?”

Karina lowered her gaze. “Of course. I only meant that His Majesty tends to be particular about such matters.”

“That he is,” the Empress replied fondly. She placed a hand against her bulging stomach. “But I think he’ll like it. Astrid sounds strong.”

“…It does.”

“Do you dislike it?” the Empress asked, glancing back at her.

Karina shook her head. “No, Your Highness. I think it’ll suit her perfectly.”

The Empress smiled wider.

“And if it’s a boy, how does Alexander sound?”

“….”

It wouldn’t be a boy. Karina was certain of that.

And a few months later, she went into labor.

The palace was thrown into chaos. Servants moved quickly through the hallways.

“Your Highness, please,” one of the midwives urged. “Breathe. Just like we practiced…”

Karina stood by the Empress’s side. She held a cloth soaked in cool water, pressing it lightly to the Empress’s forehead as sweat gathered along her hairline.

“It hurts,” the Empress murmured, her fingers tightening around the sheets.

“You’re doing well…” Karina said. “Just a little longer, Your Highness…”

Hours passed like a blur. Outside the chamber, the Emperor waited, pacing back and forth. Even the Imperial Prince, Franz, and the Imperial Princess, Irene, were here.

It was then.

“Waaah!”

A cry resounded.

For a brief moment, the world stopped.

The midwife’s face broke into a smile. “It’s a girl, Your Highness.”

The Empress let out a breath she had been holding for what felt like an eternity. Tears welled in her eyes as the child was placed gently against her chest.

“Astrid…” she whispered.

Karina watched from the side. The sight was surreal. To think she would witness the birth of Astrid herself.

At least this part of history had gone right.

But there was a problem.

“Her pulse is weak…”

Astrid was a dying child.

This time, Karina was certain. This was a part of history beyond her reach. Something immutable and out of her control.

Astrid Barielle had been dying from the moment she was born.

Karina stayed silent as she watched.

She watched Empress Julia’s smile slowly crack.

Watched hope turn into desperation.

Watched a mother who refused to accept reality.

From that point on, everything spiraled.

The Empress’s sanity eroded day by day, until all that remained was obsession. The research facility was repurposed into a single, all-consuming project.

To save her daughter, Astrid.

Resources were diverted. Ethics were abandoned. Lines that should never have been crossed were erased. Those who questioned the Empress’s judgment were silenced.

Those who resisted disappeared.

And all of it was done in the name of a dying child.

Karina bore witness to everything.

The beginning of countless sins committed in the name of a mother’s love.

And the birth of a tragedy.

* * *

In a few years, the tyrant who ruled from the shadows, responsible for the deaths of countless innocents, fell ill herself.

Day by day, Karina wondered when the right moment would be to finally end this monster of an Empress. And yet, despite everything, she chose to watch it through to the end.

“Get him out of my sight!”

The court physician, who had been attending to Julia’s condition, went pale.

“Your Highness, I only meant that increasing the dosage again is dangerous,” he said. “Your mana channels are already showing signs of necrosis. If we continue this way—”

“I don’t care!” Julia snapped. “You said this treatment would help me stay lucid!”

“Yes, but Your Highness,” the physician replied, “the compound was never meant for prolonged use. It suppresses pain, yes, but it accelerates cellular decay. Your organs—”

“Enough!”

She slammed her hand against the armrest.

“You lied to me! You’ve been sabotaging my recovery!”

“I haven’t! The human body cannot—”

“Guards!” Julia hissed. “Remove him at once!”

The physician’s protests were cut short as he was seized and dragged from the chamber.

Karina stood silently at the Empress’s side.

She understood the mistake.

The physician had not erred out of incompetence. He had adjusted the stabilizing agents too conservatively, refusing to push the dosage beyond what the body could endure.

In doing so, he had delayed Julia’s death, but failed to give her what she wanted.

Control.

And in the Empress’s eyes, that was unforgivable.

By nightfall, a new physician would take his place.

Karina lowered her gaze.

The Empress was killing herself.

And in doing so, she was dragging the entire world down with her.

“Vanessa, do you know anyone I can trust?”

“Pardon?”

“A physician,” the Empress continued. “Surely you must know someone reliable.”

It was an absurd request. Karina knew no one. Not a single physician she could vouch for. And even if she did, who would willingly step into this den of madness—

“….”

…Wait.

According to the historical record, the Empress’s court physician was Zelliel. A renowned doctor of the Empire. And yet, in this timeline, he had not appeared.

Karina felt it then.

A premonition.

As if all instincts whispered in her ear.

“I do,” she said. “In fact, I know someone.”

That was how Doctor Zelliel was brought into the picture.

Through worded letters and formal recommendations, his name passed through the right hands. After a brief period of deliberation, the doctor accepted the appointment.

He was scheduled to arrive at the Imperial Palace the following week.

For Karina, this was everything.

“Hello, Miss Maid?”

For the first time in her life, she was standing face to face with Zelliel.

Her biological father.

“….”

“Uhm. Why do you keep looking at me like that?”

Platinum blond hair. Sapphire blue eyes. If one looked closely enough, it would not be strange to wonder if they were related at all.

“You look kind of familiar,” he added. “Have we met before, Miss Maid?”

Karina snapped herself out of it.

“Ah, no,” she said, lowering her gaze. “Greetings, Doctor Zelliel. I am Vanessa, the Head Maid of the Imperial Palace, and I have been assigned to assist you during your stay.”

Zelliel blinked, then smiled politely.

“I see. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Vanessa.”

The way he spoke was calm and professional. It was quite a funny sight. He had no idea he was standing in front of his own daughter.

Karina felt her chest tighten, but she kept her expression composed.

“This way, please,” she said, turning on her heel. “Her Majesty is expecting you.”

As she led him down the corridor, Karina clenched her hands behind her back.

This was it.

The moment history had always glossed over.

And this time, she was inside it.

* * *

“From what I’ve gathered,” Zelliel said, “it appears to be Mana Core Degeneration Syndrome.”

“Mana core…?”

“Yes. Though rare, Mana Core Degeneration Syndrome occurs in roughly one out of every hundred children. It is an inborn disease, and in most cases, it is fatal.”

He paused, his brows knitting together.

“What troubles me is this. If that is truly the case, how did it manifest so late in Her Majesty?”

Karina remained silent.

There was no answer she could give.

How could she explain that it was the result of a facility that had claimed countless lives?

That the prolonged exposure to radiating mana had corroded the Empress from the inside?

No matter how she phrased it, it would sound like madness.

A conspiracy, even.

And the moment such words left her lips, everything she had painstakingly built would all come crashing down. One careless tongue was all it would take.

So Karina lowered her gaze and said nothing.

“Whatever the case,” Zelliel continued, “I will be clear about this. At this stage, it is terminal.”

“….”

“What I can provide is life extension. At most, I can extend Her Majesty’s lifespan by three more years.”

Three years.

It had only taken a single year in a hospital bed for Karina’s own mother, Beatrice, to die.

“Why couldn’t you have…” Karina nearly mumbled.

“Excuse me?”

Karina let out a slow breath, trying to calm herself. “Doctor Zelliel, do you have a wife?”

Zelliel blinked, momentarily caught off guard by a question that did not fit the atmosphere.

“No.”

A resounding no.

“I see.”

Karina lowered her gaze once more.

“Not anymore.”

“….”

“I did have a family,” Zelliel continued after a pause. “But I had to leave due to personal circumstances. Looking back on it now, my daughter… I never even got to see her properly.”

His eyes went somewhere distant.

“It saddens me to have parted like that. But it is what it is.”

Karina remained silent, her fingers clenching into fists.

“I told myself it was for the best,” Zelliel went on. “That if I stayed, they would be dragged into things they never should have been part of.”

He let out a dry breath.

“I thought that by leaving, I could protect them.”

It all sounded like excuses. A man like this, with all his status and influence, unable to protect his family?

Bullshit.

“…Even so,” Zelliel said, straightening his posture, “I don’t regret wanting to protect them. If they lived peacefully, if they never had to remember my face…”

Karina’s lips parted slightly, then closed again.

He had no idea what they went through after he left.

“Strange, isn’t it? A physician who saves lives, yet abandons his own family to do so.”

He glanced at her then, a tired smile on his lips.

Karina lowered her head, her shadow stretching across the floor.

“Do you ever wonder,” Karina asked, “if by leaving, you only made them even more unhappy? That perhaps a life with you would have been better?”

“….”

Zelliel had no answer to that.

For a long moment, the room was filled only with the sound of the ticking clock. His fingers curled before slowly relaxing.

“I do,” he admitted. “More often than I care to admit.”

He looked down.

“There are nights when I wonder what kind of person my daughter became. Whether she laughs easily. Whether she hates me. Whether she even knows that I exist.”

“….”

“But wondering doesn’t change anything,” Zelliel continued. “The past doesn’t bend for regret.”

“Are you certain, Doctor,” she asked, “that the path you chose was the correct one?”

Zelliel closed his eyes.

“I don’t know,” he said. “If there was a correct path, I failed to see it at the time. I chose the one that seemed least cruel. Or perhaps the one that demanded the least courage.”

He opened his eyes again, meeting her gaze.

“If I had stayed,” he went on, “they might have suffered with me. If I left, they suffered without me. Either way, pain was inevitable.”

“….”

“All I can say is that I acted believing I was protecting them. Whether that belief was right or wrong… only they can decide that—Ah, I don’t know why I’m telling you this—”

“Sometimes,” Karina cut in, “people don’t need protection from the world.”

“….”

“Sometimes, they just need someone to stay.”

“….”

“Thank you for treating the Empress, Doctor. We’ll see you again tomorrow.”

“…Right.”