Doctor Elise

Chapter 2

Part 1 Regression-1

She was finally able to stop crying.

Her father, Marquess Earl de Clarence, coughed. “I apologize. I didn’t know that you would have such a hard time.”

Her family thought that she had been crying over her punishment.

Jihyun answered calmly. “Not at all. I deserved it for what I did.”

The truth was that she had no idea what she had done to receive the punishment.

Well, whatever it was, I’m sure I was in the wrong, like throwing a ton of expensive things or bullying one of the servants.

It was a bit embarrassing to say about herself, but her temper was certainly something. So what if she was as pretty as a doll if her personality was like this?

But at least I haven’t done anything that’s too big of a problem, right?

The year was 283 according to the empire’s calendar. As a sixteen-year-old, she hadn’t yet committed any serious crimes.

I haven’t messed up yet, so I can still change everything.

She would live happily with her beloved family and not repeat her first life. That was Jihyun’s resolution.

Meanwhile, her family looked at her funny.

What caused her to change?

She was acting completely differently from normal. There wasn’t a trace of irritation in her behavior, and her tone was sweet. Also, this calmness was nothing like what one would expect from a sixteen-year-old. Someone might have thought she was an entirely different person altogether.

Was ten days too much for her? Marquess Earl wondered if he had punished his daughter too harshly. But before this, no matter what punishment I gave out, she wasn’t hurt, let alone repentant.

It was nice to see her sitting so calmly, but something nagged at him.

She’ll probably return to her usual self soon, won’t she?

His face fell bitterly.

It would be nice if she stayed this sweet, but he didn’t think it would last more than a few days.

She was his daughter, but despite her pretty face, her character was terrible. No matter how much scolding or teaching she received, nothing helped.

Will I see her mature before I die?

He felt frustrated.

But he had no idea at that moment how quickly his wish would come true.

His daughter Elise would become a completely different person from that day forth.

***

“I’ll do the rest, Marie.”

“I-it’s okay...”

“No, it’s just easier if I do it myself. You have a lot of other duties as it is. Go ahead.”

The maid, Marie, felt suspicious about the identity of the girl before her.

It couldn’t be a different person, right?

But that pretty, doll-like face had to be Elise’s.

“Oh, and thanks for the cake earlier.”

Marie found herself shocked again. Elise would never express gratitude because of her pride.

She’s really Lady Elise, right?

Marie thought back to the changes she had noticed. It was as though Elise had become another person overnight.

She even apologized to us.

Lady Elise did something unbelievable after her lunch with her family.

She sought out the people she had abused in the past and apologized!

Everyone accepted her apologies out of surprise, but there wasn’t a single person who thought she had truly changed. It was just a momentary whim, and she would go right back to her awful ways. People don’t change that easily, after all.

But Lady Elise had really changed after that.

She no longer throws tantrums, and she’s considerate of the servants...

Marie watched Elise’s face.

Yesterday, she even gave Hans money for his mother’s treatment after finding out she was ill.

That wasn’t all.

She gave Mary, another maid, a gift after finding out she was pregnant, and she even got medicine for Eunice, who was prone to falling ill.

There was no need to go into detail about how touched the people at the receiving end of Lady Elise’s generosity were.

Could an angel have taken over her ladyship’s body? thought the still-young Marie.

It was true that when the beautiful Elise smiled, it felt as though an angel was smiling.

If an angel has possessed Lady Elise, please don’t go anywhere and stay here.

That was what Marie wished for.

The current Lady Elise was so kind and good that Marie could serve her forever.

***

Ah, the time.

Jihyun had been in the middle of writing something down, but she got to her feet after seeing the time.

A month had gone by since she returned to Elise’s body. Now that she had grown somewhat used to her life, she had recently started something: being filial.

“Father, it’s me, Elise.”

She entered her father’s study after knocking.

“Ahem. Is that you?”

“Yes. You must be having a hard time with all of this work. I thought you might feel tired, so I readied some tea.”

“Ahem, ahem.”

She didn’t start out doing much. She merely prepared her father’s tea by hand, occasionally made some desserts, kept her stepmother company, and so on.

They were little things, but caring for one’s parents begins with the heart, after all.

In my last life, I couldn’t be filial even though I wanted to.

It was only after her death that she realized how precious her parents were, but it was already too late. So during her life as Jihyun Song, she desperately wished for moments like this.

“What is it, Father?”

Elise looked at her father with confusion over the awkward face he was making.

“Ah, no... You made me tea...”

She waited for him to continue.

“It’s very nice, ahem, to think I would drink tea that my own daughter brewed.” Her father cleared his throat after saying so.

It seemed that he was touched to receive this kind of filial attention from his daughter for the first time.

Seeing that touched Elise.

It was only tea.

I’ll brew it often from now on. No, I’ll do even better things for you now.

“Is the tea to your liking?”

“Mm, yes! It’s good. Even the tea at the imperial palace doesn’t have such a rich taste. How did you brew this?”

The marquess wasn’t lying. The tea brewed by his daughter wasn’t worse than the tea brewed by the imperial handmaidens. No, it was better.

“I did a bit of studying here and there.”

She thought to herself, Well, it’s not a lie.

In her first life, she studied all kinds of things in order to capture the tea-loving emperor’s heart after she became empress. It didn’t amount to much, but considering that she learned at the imperial palace, she was comparable to an expert.

She may not have had a proper opportunity to brew tea in her second life as a surgeon, but fortunately, her skills didn’t seem to have rusted.

“I’ll be going, then. Don’t push yourself too hard, Father.”

The marquess’s voice held a bit of regret. “Ah... You can stay a little longer.”

“Not at all. I’ll be in the way if I stay. I’ll see you at dinner. Work hard, Father.”

And then, she carefully closed the door behind herself.

The marquess stared at the closed door for a long time.

He thought to himself, touched, To think our daughter changed so much. She even looks after her father’s health.

Normally, children make one happy just by looking at them. Imagine how happy it made him to have his daughter be so filial.

He savored the tea his daughter left, taking small sips, as if he feared this happiness would fade away.