The Dark Fantasy Doctor Was Mistaken for a Saint - Chapter 62

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Haruto

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◈ The Dark Fantasy Doctor Was Mistaken for a Saint ◈

Chapter 62: To You Without a Name (2)

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Late at night, beneath a mana lamp.

The princess consort’s fountain pen scratched across her notebook.

=================

[To You Without a Name]

[Preface]

Right after I became pregnant,

Lord Nihirit recommended a notebook to me.

He called it a maternity notebook.

He told me to record every change in my body each day.

Not to leave out even the smallest detail.

To write down everything: what I ate that day, when I went to sleep, when I woke up, whether my body felt heavy, whether I felt nauseated.

I heard it was best to fill it as densely as a court historian recording national affairs.

That way, during my next examination, Lord Nihirit would not overlook anything happening to my body.

I was a little worried.

What if I missed something?

What if something happened to our baby because of me?

I was frightened, but His Highness said he would help me.

That gave me courage.

=========================

[First Regular Examination]

Date: October 14, Imperial Year 1047

Gestational Age: 4 weeks, 2 days

Maternal Blood Pressure / Weight: 108/66 // 52 kg

Proteinuria / Edema: (-) / (-)

Fetal Heart Sounds: Not audible by stethoscope (4 weeks, normal)

Fundal Height: Not measurable (4 weeks)

Blood Spots: No change

Medication: aspirin 100 mg, once daily (continue), heparin 5,000 IU, twice daily (begin today)

Clotting Time: 62 seconds (within target range)

───

Attending Physician’s Comments:

Pregnancy confirmed. Begin heparin administration today. The mother is in good condition.

───

[Maternal Diary]

[6:12 a.m.]

Woke up.

The moment I opened my eyes, I felt as though my body temperature was slightly higher than usual.

I immediately ordered the head maid to take my temperature. It was 0.2 degrees higher than usual.

Could this be a sign of fever?

(Must ask Lord Nihirit during the next examination.)

[10:15 a.m.]

Walked through the greenhouse.

The left side of my lower abdomen felt as though ants were crawling over it. There was a very slight pulling sensation.

I stopped walking at once and took three deep breaths. The pain disappeared a minute later.

(Must ask Lord Nihirit during the next examination.)

[12:37 p.m.]

...

=========================

[Second Regular Examination]

Date: October 28, Imperial Year 1047

Gestational Age: 6 weeks, 2 days

Maternal Blood Pressure / Weight: 110/68 // 52.3 kg

Proteinuria / Edema: (-) / (-)

Fetal Heart Sounds: Not audible by stethoscope (6 weeks, normal)

Fundal Height: Not measurable (6 weeks)

Blood Spots: No change

Medication: aspirin 100 mg, once daily (continue), heparin 5,000 IU, twice daily (continue)

Clotting Time: 58 seconds (within target range)

───

Attending Physician’s Comments:

Morning sickness has begun. Progress is normal. Maintain the current heparin dose. Drink plenty of water. Instructed the mother on how to keep her maternity notebook.

Excessive compulsive recordkeeping may cause stress for the mother and is discouraged.

───

[Maternal Diary]

Lord Nihirit gave me a thorough scolding.

He looked through the notebook I had densely filled over the past two weeks, down to the minute and second, then sighed.

He said that too much information could cause truly important signs to be missed.

He sternly warned me that such compulsive recordkeeping would only exhaust me.

Even His Highness was overwhelmed by Lord Nihirit’s force and could not dare take my side.

After that, Lord Nihirit carefully organized the parts I needed to record in my notebook.

He also taught me several things about morning sickness.

No milk for the time being.

Drink ginger tea.

No warm soup. Eat cold fruit instead.

The strangest instruction was to eat dry bread in bed as soon as I woke up in the morning.

But surprisingly, all of it worked.

From that day on, my nausea became much better.

Afterward, I instructed the head maid to place dry bread beside my bed every morning.

=========================

[Third Regular Examination]

Date: November 11, Imperial Year 1047

Gestational Age: 8 weeks, 2 days

Maternal Blood Pressure / Weight: 112/70 // 52.1 kg

Proteinuria / Edema: (-) / (-)

Fetal Heart Sounds: Not audible by stethoscope (8 weeks)

Fundal Height: Not measurable (8 weeks)

Blood Spots: Slightly lighter

Medication: aspirin: ______, once daily (continue), heparin: ______, twice daily (continue)

Clotting Time: 60 seconds (within target range)

───

Attending Physician’s Comments:

Morning sickness continues, but progress is normal. The slight weight loss is believed to be caused by morning sickness and is not concerning.

Confirmed folic acid and iron intake.

Strengthened dietary guidance. Strongly recommended eating liver, spinach, and egg yolks every day.

Recommended choosing a prenatal name to support the mother’s emotional well-being.

───

[Maternal Diary]

Lord Nihirit was especially strict today.

He is always thorough, but today he was even more thorough than usual.

He asked me one by one about everything I had eaten over the past two weeks.

He asked about bread, meat, vegetables, liver, spinach, egg yolks, and more.

I thought I was going to be scolded again.

Fortunately, he was not scolding me.

He said this was the most important period for the baby’s head and spine to form.

That was why he had checked so carefully, because certain nutrients were absolutely necessary.

Iron / Folic Acid

I was told to note this down and make sure I ate them properly.

And today, there was one more thing.

We chose a prenatal name.

His Highness and I decided on it together.

Stelle.

My star.

When I told Lord Nihirit, he nodded and wrote it in the notebook.

He said it was a good name.

=========================

[Sixth Regular Examination]

Date: December 23, Imperial Year 1047

Gestational Age: 14 weeks, 2 days

Maternal Blood Pressure / Weight: 114/72 // 54.0 kg

Proteinuria / Edema: (-) / (-)

Fetal Heart Sounds: Not audible by stethoscope (14 weeks)

Fundal Height: 12 cm

Blood Spots: Almost gone

Medication: aspirin: ______, once daily (continue), heparin: ______, twice daily (continue)

Clotting Time: 61 seconds (within target range)

───

Attending Physician’s Comments:

Progress is good. Fundal height is within the normal range. Blood spots have almost disappeared.

Signs of anxiety observed in the mother. Emotional support is needed.

───

[Maternal Diary]

In two weeks, I will be sixteen weeks along.

Around this time, I used to bleed down there.

And then I had to send my children away.

I put my hand on my stomach. It is too quiet.

I was so anxious that I pressed my fingers into my lower abdomen.

There was no response.

Lord Nihirit got angry with me earlier today, telling me not to poke at my stomach carelessly and that irregular movement was natural at this stage, but I cannot stop.

Just once. If only you would tap me just once, I would wish for nothing else.

December 25

Stelle has not responded.

Could it be because my coagulation time was one second longer than usual this time?

December 27

I am so afraid.

Please move just once.

December 28

In the end, we really went and did it last night.

My husband, who was even paler than I was, and I sent the knights from the separate palace in the middle of the night. We practically kidnapped Lord Nihirit while he was sleeping.

Lord Nihirit arrived with only a coat thrown over his pajamas and examined my stomach first.

Then he let us hear the heartbeat through his stethoscope. After that, he sat the two of us side by side on the sofa and gave us a harsh scolding.

He said that if the mother was this anxious, the child would become anxious too.

The mother’s body was the child’s home. If that home shook, the child inside it would shake as well.

His Highness was scolded too.

He said that when his wife was this anxious, His Highness should have reassured her instead of becoming anxious with her.

If the husband became unsettled in front of his wife, where was the mother supposed to find support?

In the end, Lord Nihirit scolded us for an entire hour.

Yet it was very strange.

After being scolded by Lord Nihirit that day, I was no longer anxious.

Thinking about it, being scolded by Lord Nihirit felt somehow familiar.

It felt like when I lived with my birth family and was scolded by the elderly elders there.

I know Lord Nihirit is not yet twenty.

But why was that?

It felt as though I had been scolded by an elder over fifty.

=========================

[Ninth Regular Examination]

Date: January 20, Imperial Year 1048

Gestational Age: 20 weeks, 2 days

Maternal Blood Pressure / Weight: 112/70 // 56.8 kg

Proteinuria / Edema: (-) / (-)

Fetal Heart Sounds: 152 beats per minute (normal)

Fundal Height: 18 cm (normal)

Blood Spots: Gone

Medication: aspirin: ______, once daily (continue), heparin: ______, twice daily (continue)

Clotting Time: 58 seconds (within target range)

───

Attending Physician’s Comments:

Twenty weeks pregnant.

Both mother and fetus are very healthy.

Fetal heart sounds can be heard with a standard stethoscope.

First fetal movement confirmed. A small celebration to relieve the mother’s stress is permitted.

However, excessive eating is forbidden.

───

[Maternal Diary]

A miracle happened.

The weeks from sixteen to twenty, which had tormented me so much, passed without incident.

There was no bleeding, and my stomach did not turn cold.

My belly grows rounder every day.

Then, a few days ago, I was lying in bed and reading a book.

I felt a strange wriggling sensation in my stomach, like a tiny fish swimming.

Stelle had greeted me for the first time.

Today, a very small party was held at the separate palace.

=========================

[Fifteenth Regular Examination]

Date: March 17, Imperial Year 1048

Gestational Age: 32 weeks, 2 days

Maternal Blood Pressure / Weight: 116/74 // 62.5 kg

Proteinuria / Edema: (-) / Slight (+)

Fetal Heart Sounds: 144 beats per minute (normal)

Fundal Height: 30 cm (normal)

Blood Spots: Gone (maintained)

Medication: aspirin: ______, once daily (continue), heparin: ______, twice daily (continue)

Clotting Time: 57 seconds (within target range)

───

Attending Physician’s Comments:

Progress is good. Slight ankle edema, but within the normal range. Fetal activity is vigorous. From this examination onward, the mother may record her maternity notebook at her own discretion.

───

[Maternal Diary]

Stelle’s kicks grow fiercer every day.

This morning, Stelle kicked my right rib so hard that I gasped.

Stelle must take after His Highness.

His Highness also looked pleased, saying Stelle would become an excellent knight.

But I think I would like Stelle to become a mage.

At today’s examination, Lord Nihirit said there was truly nothing left for me to write in the notebook.

But since I have already written this much, I intend to fill this diary to the end.

When our Stelle learns to read, I want to show you how much of a fuss Mother made trying to protect you.

There is one more thing I should write down.

A strange rumor has been circulating through high society lately.

It says that His Highness and I conceived not purely because of Lord Nihirit’s treatment, but with the help of medicine.

His Highness was the culprit.

It seems he drank a little too much at the twenty-week celebration.

He was in high spirits and told his subordinates this and that.

Everything, with no one forcing him to.

A bizarre rumor has spread through high society that His Highness obtained an “extraordinary elixir for the night.”

We worried that Lord Nihirit’s great achievement and hard work would be buried beneath such a crude rumor.

So whenever we attended a social gathering, we stopped people and explained the truth.

But no one believed us.

In fact, the more we explained, the more ridiculous details were added to the rumor.

Perhaps because of that, carriages and automobiles have reportedly been prowling around the Merkuer Trading Company headquarters lately.

I must sincerely apologize to Lord Nihirit.

=========================

[Nineteenth Regular Examination, Final]

Date: May 12, Imperial Year 1048

Gestational Age: 40 weeks, 1 day

Maternal Blood Pressure / Weight: 118/76 // 66.2 kg

Proteinuria / Edema: (-) / (+)

Fetal Heart Sounds: 140 beats per minute (normal)

Fundal Height: 34 cm

Blood Spots: Gone

Medication: aspirin: discontinued two weeks before delivery. Heparin: discontinued forty-eight hours before delivery.

Clotting Time: 48 seconds (returned to normal range)

───

Attending Physician’s Comments: /_________/

───

[Maternal Diary]

This is the final page of this notebook.

Since dawn, my stomach had been tightening at regular intervals.

At first, I thought it was Stelle kicking again.

But this time was different.

A wave-like pain that tightened, relaxed, then tightened again.

It was the kind of pain Lord Nihirit had warned me about.

The head maid immediately summoned him.

Lord Nihirit arrived in thirty minutes.

This time, he was not in pajamas. He wore formal clothes.

He was apparently on standby because my due date was near.

After examining me, Lord Nihirit nodded.

I was moved into a room immediately.

The maids busily followed Lord Nihirit’s instructions, but from that point on, the pain was too severe for me to remember much.

Then.

I heard crying.

Lord Nihirit told me it was a boy.

Stelle.

It seems we cannot use this name after all.

Fortunately, we had another name prepared.

Your name is...

===================================

“Aster. A good name.”

Tap.

I placed the princess consort’s maternity notebook beside her head as she slept peacefully.

It seemed she had written in her diary immediately after giving birth.

Her mental strength was remarkable.

I wanted to read more.

But from that point onward, it was no longer medical business, so I left it closed.

The only reason I had opened the maternity notebook now was because the princess consort wanted me to.

She had asked me to fill in the final physician’s comments, so I had simply written down yesterday’s delivery record as best as I could remember it.

I closed the notebook and stood.

The princess consort was asleep soundly, holding the baby in her arms.

I was about to leave the room quietly when I found Edmund waiting in the corridor.

His eyes were red and swollen.

I thought he had cried like that yesterday.

It looked as though the effects of yesterday’s crying had not worn off yet.

“Lord Julian.”

Edmund stepped in front of me.

Then he tightly grasped both my hands.

“Thank you.”

“I merely did what I had to do.”

“Even so, I sincerely thank you. If it had not been for you, I might never have held that child, and I would have lost my wife.”

Come to think of it.

This pregnancy had held very important meaning for the couple as well.

She had miscarried four times, and rumors had even spread that the imperial family intended to cast out the princess consort.

Now that such a healthy child had been born, they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

“Is there anything I can do for you? Name it.”

“Then please keep the promise you made at last year’s Founding Festival.”

“If it is lending my name to the medicine, I have no objection. But will that be enough?”

I nodded.

An amusing rumor had been circulating through high society lately.

It was said that sildenafil had played a decisive role in the prince and princess consort’s pregnancy.

In truth, it was half right.

The treatment I provided was meant to prevent another miscarriage after the baby had already been conceived.

Therefore, sildenafil deserved the credit for the baby being conceived.

And in this situation, the prince would endorse sildenafil?

‘When else will I get to cash in on the imperial family’s name?’

No matter what I imagined, the result would surely surpass it.

Especially among imperial nobles who were sensitive about producing heirs.

But Edmund, an honest soldier, failed to notice my wicked plan. He kept trying to do more for me.

“This alone is not enough to express my gratitude. Ah, I hear the head of House Nihirit is competing for a promotion these days. I will lend him my name.”

“My father would not want his abilities recognized in that way, Your Highness.”

“Is that so? Hmm... This is difficult. Preparing rewards for someone who wants so little is work in itself.”

“This is more than enough for me, Your Highness.”

Prince Edmund laughed heartily and patted my shoulder.

“Very well. I will gladly lend you my name. I do not know whether this will truly repay you, but if you say it will, I have no choice. Still, if there is ever anything you need from me in the future, tell me.”

“Thank you for your consideration, Your Highness.”

I released his hands and turned to leave, but Edmund caught my sleeve.

Then he whispered,

“Ah, but Lord Julian. Just in case... could you set aside a few for me before it is released?”

“...How much do you need?”

“About a month’s supply.”

* * *

A few days later.

The Merkuer Trading Company decided to formally release sildenafil.

Its product name was Viagra.

Even before the medicine was released, we began advertising it in newspapers.

This was the full-page advertisement that appeared in major daily newspapers throughout the Empire.

===================

Courage takes many forms.

The courage to enter the battlefield.

The courage to fight illness.

And the courage to break silence.

“ED,” erectile dysfunction, is never a stigma.

Consult your healer.

Merkuer Trading Company

=====================

The advertisement did not mention the name of any medicine.

It resembled a public-service announcement more than a commercial.

I was the one who pushed for that style of advertisement.

The board of directors and the trading company president had expressed concern.

[Director Schun, are we really advertising it like this? Are there not other methods?]

The trading company president fidgeted inside the communications crystal, rubbing their hands uneasily.

I spoke to our president, who still could not shake their nouveau riche mannerisms.

“The name Viagra has already spread widely through unofficial channels. Rather than making the name known, it will be more effective to lower the barrier to seeking help.”

Rumors about the prince had already been added to the story.

There was no longer any advertising effect to expect from publicizing the name.

So despite the board’s passive opposition, I pushed the advertisement through.

And the public’s response was explosive.

“Did you see the Viagra advertisement?”

“Viagra? Ah, that medicine?”

Citizens and nobles immediately understood what medicine those dignified words referred to.

The prevailing opinion was that the indirect advertising approach, which considered patients’ feelings, made the company seem more mature and trustworthy.

“The advertisement seems decent.”

“Seeing that, maybe I should visit a healer too. Healing magic may be expensive, but medicine is not that costly.”

“Maybe I should go too...”

Above all, the term ED, erectile dysfunction, lowered people’s psychological barriers.

In this era, reduced male sexual function was called “impotence.”

But once the dry term ED settled into the public consciousness, men no longer feared the stigma as much.

Though they were not yet open about it, attitudes had improved enough that they would discreetly visit healers.

And though I had not intended it, the medicine’s image changed because this was its first advertisement.

It could have become a medicine that encouraged promiscuous sex, but in the public’s mind, it became the last refuge of suffering men.

In the end, even the board that had looked at my advertisement with suspicion had no choice but to fall silent.

“You see?”

[If you are even good at business, then why am I sitting here at all...?]

“I was merely lucky this time. Are you not far better at managing the trading company than I am, President? Come to think of it, how much stock do we have?”

[We have prepared plenty.]

“That will not be enough.”

[?]

There had been one small problem.

The trading company was still estimating demand for this medicine far too low.

A decorous newspaper advertisement out in front.

Rumors about the prince behind the scenes.

Our board was underestimating the power those two things would have when combined.

‘Well, it does not seem as though demand will be met even if we run every factory we own.’

Based on what I knew from my previous life, I had heard that more than three hundred thousand prescriptions were issued in the first week after this medicine was released in the United States.

There was no reason for demand to be any lower in this world.

But there was nothing I could do about that even if I explained it, so I left it alone.

[One hundred thousand tablets should sell within a week. Hehehe...]

I left the trading company president alone too, since they still could not predict the chaos to come.

A few days later.

Viagra, sildenafil, was finally released to the public.

And it sold out in a single day.

[What? Why? Huh?]

The board became busy in many ways, but that was not my concern.

I was the person who developed medicine.

Production infrastructure was outside my area.

That was for those people to handle.