WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Dark Fantasy Doctor Was Mistaken for a Saint ◈
Chapter 61: To You Without a Name (1)
──────
* * *
On the way home after the Founding Festival.
Inside the carriage.
When I raised my head, I saw Eri asleep in the seat across from me.
She was sound asleep, using my lap as a footrest and Freya’s shoulder as a pillow.
“Mmm. Hehe.”
Eri rubbed her slightly bloated stomach with one hand after eating her fill, drooling all over Freya’s dress.
Normally, Freya would have scolded Eri for violating etiquette.
But perhaps she was tired, or perhaps it was because it was a special day.
Freya silently lent Eri her shoulder without waking her.
Right beside me, Charlotte, having removed all her uncomfortable accessories, muttered.
“You keep a truly rude escort.”
“They say geniuses do not care what people around them think.”
“Certainly. Someone as talented as Miss Eri would have few peers who could rival her. There is no reason for her to be bound by convention.”
Perhaps because she was a genius herself.
Charlotte did not seem particularly bothered by Eri’s rudeness.
Then again, Charlotte herself was the sort to casually disregard convention whenever necessary.
“By the way, Young Master Nihirit... No, Julian.”
“Yes?”
“The promise we made at the banquet is still valid, correct?”
A promise?
Ah, right.
Charlotte and I had made one promise.
She would help me diagnose the Princess Consort, and in return, I would explain the diagnostic process to her.
She had said its logical structure would help develop her powers of deduction.
“Of course. We have time before reaching home, so I’ll explain it step by step.”
I immediately told her how I had arrived at the Princess Consort’s diagnosis.
First, I had learned her medical history through rumors. Then I had visually examined her from head to toe. Finally, with Charlotte’s help, I had checked her fingertips.
After putting all those clues together, I concluded that the Princess Consort had antiphospholipid antibody syndrome.
While listening, Charlotte showed interest in Raynaud phenomenon.
“What exactly is Raynaud phenomenon?”
“In patients like Her Highness, the blood vessels become vulnerable to external stimuli because of attacks from within the body. As a result, even a little cold causes the blood vessels to constrict abnormally. The blood cannot circulate properly, so the fingertips turn pale.”
“So that is why Her Highness’s fingers turned white when I handed her the cold cup.”
“You observed well, Miss Charlotte.”
Charlotte slowly nodded.
Then, as though she had suddenly remembered something, she took a notebook from her pocket.
After flipping through its pages, she snapped her fingers.
“I thought the principle seemed familiar. It is similar to the lividity you taught me about before.”
“Exactly. Both lividity and Raynaud phenomenon involve understanding blood vessels.”
Lividity.
It was the first piece of forensic knowledge I had taught Charlotte.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that lividity accounted for more than half of forensic medicine.
Lividity was the phenomenon in which blood settled in the lower parts of a body after death due to gravity, discoloring the skin.
Forensic experts could learn many things through it.
Purple lividity pooled on the back? Then the victim had died after collapsing onto their back.
It turned white when pressed with a finger? That meant the death had happened recently.
Pink or green lividity? Then they had been poisoned to death.
I had taught Charlotte all this knowledge.
It was to make her think that I was still the rival ahead of her.
And now.
She was connecting Raynaud phenomenon with lividity.
It was an impressive insight.
Because I had been about to tell her about a finding related to just that.
“There is a special finding that can connect Raynaud phenomenon and lividity.”
“Really?”
There was a type of lividity with a mechanism similar to Raynaud phenomenon.
Charlotte’s eyes sparkled.
“What is it?”
“There are markings called Wischnewsky spots.”
“Wischnewsky spots...?”
“They are special spots found only in people who froze to death.”
Put simply, people who died of hypothermia developed special spots in their stomachs.
They could tell us whether someone had frozen to death or had been murdered and dumped somewhere cold.
In this world, they could also be used to narrow down suspects to ice-magic users.
“I’ll organize the details and send them to you in a paper, like last time.”
“Thank you, Julian. You really are the only one.”
Charlotte smiled softly and leaned against my shoulder.
A fiancée who liked receiving forensic knowledge as gifts.
Could that really be called a normal relationship?
The thought crossed my mind, but it did not last long.
There were all kinds of relationships in the world.
A relationship like this could exist too.
“We’re almost there.”
Before I knew it, the carriage had reached the street where our residence stood.
Without realizing we had arrived, Erika wriggled her feet on my lap.
Another drool stain appeared on Freya’s dress as a bonus.
“Thank you for seeing us home, Miss Charlotte.”
“I had a wonderful time today too, Julian.”
“Big sister, wake up. We’re here.”
“Mmgh? Already?”
The carriage stopped in front of the residence.
Eri, Freya, and I got out one after another.
I exchanged a nod with Charlotte, who had leaned her head out the window.
Charlotte returned it.
The carriage that had brought us home disappeared into the darkness of the city.
“It’s cold. Let’s go inside.”
“Yawn. I’m going in to sleep, Teacher.”
After parting ways with Eri, whose room was in the annex, Freya and I headed to the main house.
When we entered the main-house drawing room, our parents, who had returned from the Founding Festival, greeted us.
“How was the banquet today?”
“Ah, I have so much to tell you!”
Freya told them about everything that had happened today.
How I had declared that I would give the princely couple a child.
How I was summoned separately to the reception room.
How I turned down the offer to become their dedicated healer.
And how the prince had patted my shoulder.
As Freya continued, Father’s teacup moved more and more slowly until it finally stopped.
Mother nearly dropped hers once halfway through.
“You... A dedicated healer appointment? From Prince Edmund himself?”
Father’s reaction was especially dramatic.
Apparently, Prince Edmund was famous in more ways than one.
I did not know much about that, nor did I care to.
Instead, I smiled brightly at them.
“Oh, and a carriage from the Imperial Palace will come tomorrow morning. Please do not be too surprised if a carriage bearing the imperial crest stops outside the front entrance.”
“W-What did you say?”
“Then I should turn in first, since I need to wake up early tomorrow. Good night.”
I bowed to my parents and went upstairs.
While I headed toward my room, the drawing room became somewhat noisy.
“Wake all the servants! We must make every possible preparation so that we do not offend the imperial family tomorrow!”
The residence became lively in every sense.
Regardless, I returned to my room and took out my medical bag for tomorrow’s house call.
‘Blood-draw equipment. Test tubes. Wassermann test reagent. An alcohol lamp for urine testing. And the medicine extracted from willow bark... What else...’
And most importantly, the secret weapon for the prince.
I packed every medicine and tool I needed.
After reviewing the necessary knowledge for tomorrow’s appointment one more time, I collapsed onto my bed.
* * *
The next morning.
After waking and getting ready as usual, I saw that an imperial carriage had arrived outside the window.
An imperial carriage stood at the entrance to the residence.
Two Royal Guard knights stood in formation on either side.
The knights did not move at all.
They did not knock on the front door or shout an imperial message toward the residence.
They simply waited quietly for me to come out.
It meant that Prince Edmund was treating me with considerable respect.
Naturally, Father, as the head of a baronial household at the bottom of the noble ranks, seemed quite burdened by such treatment.
Early in the morning, Father held his stomach as though it hurt.
“Julian. You can do this. Don’t be too nervous.”
Father encouraged me before I left through the front door.
Though it seemed that Father, not I, was the one who needed encouragement.
Anyway.
With Mother, Freya, and my youngest sibling seeing me off, I climbed into the carriage.
The knight on the driver’s seat spoke to me.
“Are you Lord Nihirit?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I’m concerned that we may have made you wake up too early. You could have come out at your leisure.”
“No, it’s fine. I usually go to work at this time.”
The Royal Guard knight’s gaze briefly shifted toward the clock tower.
The hour hand pointed at six.
“At six in the morning?”
“My clinic opens at six thirty.”
“We do not even train that early in the morning...”
Perhaps because this was a Western-based culture.
They seemed surprised that I got up at this hour.
It was normal in South Korea, though.
“Our small talk has gone on too long. His Highness has given us instructions. You may decide when you wish to return as well. Once your appointment is finished, you may command us freely for the rest of the day.”
“Thank you.”
As I chatted with the knight on the driver’s seat, the early morning streets passed outside the window.
Before long, the carriage arrived at the secondary palace.
Rather than the chief attendant, the prince himself had come outside to greet me.
“Welcome, Lord Julian.”
He looked distinctly different from how he had appeared at the banquet yesterday.
Yesterday, he had been a prince in military uniform decorated with medals. Now, he was a young nobleman in a comfortable shirt with its sleeves rolled up.
Under the prince’s attentive guidance, I headed to the reception room.
Upon arriving, I saw the Princess Consort sitting demurely on the sofa.
“You have arrived, Lord Nihirit.”
The Princess Consort dipped her head.
She was also wearing comfortable indoor clothes.
Without her lace collar, the netlike red mottling above her collarbone was clearly visible.
The prince naturally took a seat beside her.
“Will you begin the examination immediately?”
“Yes. Let’s begin.”
I placed my medical bag on the table and opened it.
I inserted a needle into her vein to draw blood and, with the maids’ help, collected a urine sample.
I divided the blood between two test tubes.
Each was labeled [Coagulation Time] and [Wassermann].
Next, I borrowed a small room and heated the urine inside.
Since it did not foam when heated, proteinuria could be ruled out.
‘Fortunately, her kidneys have not been affected.’
Patients with antiphospholipid antibody syndrome often also had lupus.
That was why I checked for proteinuria.
Fortunately, the likelihood of lupus had dropped considerably.
Even if it was lupus, I had enough medicine to treat it, so it did not matter much.
I returned to the couple.
“I’ll return in a week to explain the blood test results. Of course, there is medicine you should begin taking before then.”
I took a small medicine bottle from my bag.
It was a crude glass bottle painted in an opaque color.
Normally, since it was medicine being presented to royalty, I would have wanted to find a more luxurious bottle.
But I had needed to prepare the medicine as soon as I returned home yesterday, so I had no time to decorate the bottle.
“It is medicine extracted from willow bark. The Merkuer Trading Company sells it under the name aspirin.”
“Hmm? Is that not a different medicine from the one we heard about yesterday?”
“Heparin is medicine you take once you’re pregnant to prevent problems from arising. Before pregnancy, you need to take aspirin in advance.”
“I see. Forgive me for doubting you.”
“Not at all. It is a patient’s rightful concern.”
Afterward, I explained how to take the medicine.
After listening, the Princess Consort carefully accepted the bottle.
She held it tightly, as though she had received a precious treasure.
“Thank you, Lord Nihirit.”
“Please inform me as soon as pregnancy is confirmed. From then on, I’ll give you the additional medicine I mentioned yesterday.”
“Understood.”
After finishing the examination, the princely couple invited me to breakfast at the secondary palace.
“You probably haven’t eaten breakfast at this hour. What do you say?”
“It would be an honor, Your Highness.”
I did have a lunchbox in my bag.
But I could not exactly decline an invitation to dine with royalty, so I accepted.
I was curious about the standard of imperial cuisine as well.
“Then let us talk a little before we eat. We should also discuss what recompense I can offer you.”
Prince Edmund naturally led me to his office.
Click.
As soon as we entered, the prince locked the office door and looked around.
Then he spoke in a whisper.
“Lord Julian.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“That... Did you bring it?”
“Yes. I brought it.”
I took a small box from the false bottom of my bag.
Edmund’s eyes sparkled.
When I opened it, dozens of blue diamond-shaped pills appeared.
Sildenafil.
Its product name was Viagra.
An elixir that restored a man’s pride.
“Oh... This is the thing I have heard about only through rumors...!”
“Your Highness, may I ask how that rumor spread?”
“Ahem. Well... One of my subordinates participated in the Merkuer Trading Company’s clinical trial. He was the one who fell from the wall and shattered his pelvis.”
After sildenafil was found to have a different effect instead of improving the heart, the clinical trial subjects began to include not only young, healthy men but also men who could not get it up.
It was to see just how much they could make it stand.
And the result was...
“That friend had found it difficult to sleep with his wife even once after injuring his pelvis. But after taking that medicine... Ahem.”
As you can see.
It was not for nothing that the medicine had become legendary among men in my previous life.
Its reputation did not seem much different in this world either.
“I understand how you came to know about it.”
“Ah, you said you were one of the clinical trial supervisors, did you not? I’m concerned that my friend might suffer some disadvantage. Could you handle it?”
“That will be fine, Your Highness. The trading company does not care much about a leak of this degree.”
“Really?”
“The medicine’s effect has been proven, so rumors spreading is only natural. Clinical trials are conducted while accepting that possibility. No disadvantage will come to him.”
“That is a relief.”
The prince sighed in relief.
But there was something he did not know.
‘Strictly speaking, it is not allowed.’
There was a reason the word embargo existed.
But I decided to overlook it this time.
Was it called viral marketing?
Sometimes, naturally leaked rumors were more effective than direct advertising.
In fact, if I wanted to promote it by using the prince, I needed to make more active use of such leaks.
So I decided to leave this sildenafil leak alone without taking special action.
“Come to think of it, Your Highness. Have you heard the precautions from that person?”
“Hmm? There are precautions?”
“Yes. Very important precautions.”
“Tell me.”
“You must never take more than one pill a day. No matter what.”
The prince nodded as though he understood.
But I did not trust him.
Human greed had no end.
No matter where you went, there were always people who overdid things.
Especially right after taking this medicine, many people became intoxicated by a sense of omnipotence and abused it.
So I cautioned Prince Edmund.
“If you take several pills, that part will not simply refuse to go down. It will begin to rot. In some cases, it may need to be cut off.”
Of course, it could be reattached even after being cut off.
For someone in the imperial family, receiving advanced healing magic would not be difficult.
If the operation was done properly, even a potion would be enough to reattach it.
But there was one thing we needed to remember.
Anesthesia in this world was still underdeveloped.
“...”
“Do you understand, Your Highness? At that point, even I will have no solution.”
“Have you... personally seen a case like that?”
I smiled meaningfully.
“Do you really need to see one? If you truly wish, I can show you the records.”
“...No matter what, I will only take one pill.”
“A wise decision, Your Highness.”
* * *
A week passed.
The Wassermann test result was positive.
It was proof that the Princess Consort’s illness was exactly as I had predicted.
I visited the secondary palace again, informed them of the results, and reminded them to contact me immediately once pregnancy was confirmed.
Another week passed.
I had just finished Eri’s regular transfusion at the clinic and was leaving work.
“Julian. A letter has arrived from the imperial family.”
Father held out an envelope stamped with the imperial crest.
I took the letter to my room and carefully opened it.
A short message was written in delicate handwriting.
=============
To Lord Nihirit.
It has already been a week since you visited the secondary palace.
As you instructed, I am informing you first of the small changes in my body.
My menstruation has not come, even though the expected date has passed.
To be honest, fear comes before joy.
But as you are working so hard for us, we wish to hold onto hope this time as well.
I pray that this news will mark the beginning of the miracle we have awaited for so long.
I will end my letter here.
============
It appeared that the Princess Consort had safely conceived.
It was wonderful news.
But there was one question.
‘Wait. The prince received the medicine from me exactly fifteen days ago. And the ovulation date would also have been fifteen days before her period.’
Then the timing of the Princess Consort’s pregnancy was...
‘She got pregnant as soon as he received the medicine?’
Holy shit.
That was fucking fast.
Author’s Note
As announced previously, I have decided to change the title.
As an apology for the inconvenience caused to readers, I am posting an extra chapter today.
Translator's note: Here, yeongsik is a noble form of address meaning “young lord,” not the homographic magic term “spell formula.”
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
