Born As The Daughter of a Lowly Concubine - Chapter 126

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Born the daughter of a concubine of the lowest rank.
Chapter 126
When I went to the Clinic next to Siyeong School to meet Seong-ji, I found Heo Yeon-tae, Seong-ji, Se-hwa, and Im Jubu—the overseer assigned to Hye Minser—deep in weary conversation. They scrambled to their feet upon spotting me.
“Seong-ji… and Se-hwa is here too?”
“Is it really alright for them to be moving about like this?”
Seeing So-i’s startled concern blocking my path, Seong-ji and Se-hwa hurried to explain themselves, visibly flustered.
“Ah, well, the truth is neither of us needs to worry about contracting smallpox, so please don’t be overly concerned.”
“What? You’ve had smallpox before?”
Smallpox—once you’ve suffered through it, immunity develops and it never recurs. Yet both their faces were smooth and unblemished, without a single pockmark.
‘I’ve heard there are milder strains of smallpox that pass without much scarring…’
Besides, I’d also heard the contagion risk during the incubation period was minimal, so it should be fine.
“So what happened yesterday?”
“Yes, among the servants attending to the courtesan, one showed fever. Beyond that, no one else has displayed symptoms yet.”
“You look exhausted.”
“Ha, well, thanks to rotating shifts with the physicians at Hye Minser last night, I was able to step away.”
“Physicians from Hye Minser?”
“Yes, this is Hye Minser’s matter in any case.”
Se-hwa aside, Seong-ji is ultimately a private physician. Of course, in situations like this even private physicians must cooperate, but this wasn’t meant to be his sole responsibility.
The people from Hye Minser would naturally work in better coordination anyway.
“We burned the clothes we’d been wearing as a precaution, thoroughly scrubbed ourselves with soap, and then came out.”
“I’ve heard soap prevents the spread of disease, but would it be effective against smallpox?”
“Well, it’s probably better than doing nothing at all.”
It likely has considerable effect. I was glad we’d distributed soap so readily.
“How is the patient?”
“By the time we discovered it yesterday, the rash appeared to be just beginning, so it’s difficult to say for certain yet. We’ll need to observe the condition further. And regarding this, Se-hwa says the medical attendant has a request to make of you, so she’s asked me to beg that you come directly.”
“To me? What’s the matter?”
As Seong-ji’s gentle prompt encouraged her forward, Se-hwa opened her mouth, her face tensed with nervousness.
“The truth is, I wish to create a disinfectant, but Hye Minser says it’s difficult, so I bring this request to you.”
“A disinfectant?”
“Yes, by adapting the method used to make soju, we can produce a distilled spirit with higher proof than ordinary drinking soju, and using this to disinfect wound sites can prevent inflammation.”
Wait—is this actually medical-grade alcohol she’s describing?
“But distilled spirit… just making ordinary soju alone consumes no small amount of grain.”
“I’m aware. In fact, Hye Minser has brought this up several times before.”
As Se-hwa turned her gaze toward Im Jubu while speaking, the overseer opened her mouth.
“Unfortunately, Hye Minser’s financial circumstances make it difficult to attempt.”
Of course they would… there’s a reason liquor bans are issued during poor harvests.
The amount of grain that goes into brewing is substantial.
‘Naturally, it would be impossible within Hye Minser’s budget.’
But if we had not just soap but disinfectant as well, we could certainly prevent secondary infections.
‘Hygiene really does cost dearly.’
The resources consumed in making soap alone are hardly trivial.
But if it could be made, if it could save lives otherwise lost, it was worth attempting.
“You know how to make it?”
“Yes, I happened to learn it by chance from some drunken gentleman some time ago.”
Se-hwa showed me the blueprint she’d already prepared and explained simply.
As this was a briefing to secure investment, discipline was tight, but the preamble was somewhat amusing.
Ah… the work of some lover of spirits that was perhaps less than purely medicinal in origin.
Really, invention has always occurred unintentionally anyway, and regardless of the process, if it disinfects wound sites, that’s what matters.
“If we can make disinfectant with this, nothing could be better. Let’s make it and test it first.”
“Thank you so much, miss!”
Smallpox itself… ugh, I just imagined pouring disinfectant onto ruptured blisters and nearly went into shock.
As my body shuddered, everyone looked alarmed and began fussing.
“Are you unwell?”
“Is there somewhere that pains you?”
“No, I’m fine. It’s not pain—I just remembered hearing that smallpox is tremendously painful, that’s all.”
“Miss…”
No, this isn’t the moment to be moved and touched by my empathy.
I gave my approval and summoned someone to deliver the blueprint Se-hwa had drawn, instructing them to send the budget request to me later.
‘How long will it take to make that.’
I placed the order for it to be made as quickly as possible.
It will likely be made a top priority, since it’s being done under my name.
“You should have said so earlier.”
“I apologize. I did consider requesting it, but I feared it would be presumptuous to ask so abruptly. And besides, the Princess has been far too occupied since then…….”
“Ah…….”
Could it be that revealing I was a writer was also a premeditated move to build rapport and seek investment? And then, just as we grew a little closer, I got kidnapped again, of all things.
And since I hadn’t appeared for quite some time, I couldn’t very well launch into an idea briefing the moment we met again.
“It seemed necessary, as there have been reports of smallpox patients. That is why I’m raising the matter now.”
“Hmm.”
“And I would also like to discuss treatment and prevention methods for smallpox.”
“Is that so?”
“……!”
Se-hwa’s words struck both me and Heo Yeon-tae, and we gasped in surprise simultaneously.
“You know both treatment and prevention methods?”
“Yes, my master who taught me medicine instructed me in this. However, since people may find it difficult to accept, I wished first to seek the counsel of others.”
It made sense—one couldn’t simply apply an unverified treatment to people.
So that’s why she’d brought Im Jubu along.
“But Se-hwa, the physician, says she herself has undergone preventive treatment by this method and is therefore certain she will not contract the disease.”
“……!”
At Seong-ji’s words, Heo Yeon-tae, who had been silent until now, opened his mouth in shock.
“Could you possibly be referring to Variolation?”
Variolation was a method of inducing a mild natural smallpox infection by rubbing pus from an infected person onto a wound or inhaling it through the nose.
But this method carried such high risks that it was hardly something to recommend outright.
I had already returned to the palace yesterday and asked the royal physicians if they’d discovered any treatment or prevention methods. I had some knowledge of the matter.
“I asked the physicians about it as well, and they said Variolation wasn’t recommended due to its high mortality rate.”
“No, it is a different method. In fact, it is…….”
Se-hwa hesitated before speaking.
“A method using cowpox—not human smallpox, but the disease in cattle.”
Ah. There it was—Vaccination.
At her words, Im Jubu also spoke up.
“Ah…… I too, while conducting a nationwide survey for medical compilations, heard tales of people who had contracted cowpox never falling ill with smallpox. However, the evidence seemed insufficient, so I understand it is still being verified.”
“When one contracts cowpox, the symptoms are much milder than smallpox, yet immunity to smallpox develops. The procedure involves applying cowpox pus directly to a wound, similar to Variolation.”
“But there is no time for verification.”
“That’s the problem—not only do we lack time to verify it, we also lack time to treat patients.”
“You speak truly.”
If the physicians had at least some knowledge of Variolation, there was room for persuasion.
But if Se-hwa knew of Vaccination…….
‘So the likelihood of Se-hwa being the female lead really is high…….’
Ugh. I’d asked Se-hwa to recreate the original work, but what do I do now……. Is this not going to follow the original at all?
“But how could one possibly introduce cattle pus into a human body?”
“It is fact that those who have contracted cowpox recovered with only mild symptoms and did not thereafter fall ill with smallpox.”
While several people debated the merits of Vaccination, Heo Yeon-tae, who had been notably quiet, suddenly rose from his seat and asked my permission.
“I have something to fetch from home. May I absent myself briefly?”
“That’s fine, but…….”
“Seong-ji, come with me for a moment.”
“Yes? Of course.”
Seong-ji, suddenly called upon without warning, followed him uncertainly.
‘What is this about?’
Puzzled, I rose as well.
“Everyone looks tired. Rest for a while. I’ll visit Siyeongwon briefly and return.”
“Yes, my lady.”
As I moved, everyone stirred in my wake, and Seong Gyeom-sabok asked me, a confused look on his face.
“Where are Heo the physician and Seong-ji the physician going so suddenly?”
“I’m not sure—they said they were going home, but I don’t know what it’s about.”
“My lady.”
I let out a small laugh.
For someone always singing about wanting to retire, this man’s occupational habits run deep.
“I’ll be gone a short while at Siyeongwon, so you rest too. It’s not just anywhere—this area is safe, isn’t it? Cheon-ho and So-i will be with me, so don’t worry.”
“……Yes.”
At my words, Seong Gyeom-sabok’s expression grew a little troubled, but he soon accepted and withdrew.
Not before leaving Cheon-ho with a thorough reminder to attend to me well, of course.
“Where are you headed, Seong Gyeom-sabok?”
“Oh, just somewhere.”
Seong Gyeom-sabok, unlike Seong-ji, had never warmed to Heo Yeon-tae.
It certainly didn’t help that he’d collapsed the moment he saw me that day—that first impression had stuck. But there was something else, some vague unease in the way he seemed to regard me.
‘It is strange. He can barely meet my eyes.’
One would think a physician trained at the royal Clinic would be accustomed to nobility, yet he seemed to struggle with me in particular. It made me wonder if something else troubled him.
That he carried some trauma from failing to treat the children was understandable enough.
‘But I’ve seen him perfectly at ease with the other children at the school now.’
So was it me being a princess?
Perhaps. But he couldn’t have known my station when he collapsed that first day.
‘I’m told I favor my mother more than my father.’
I still remembered Song Bi’s laughter from my childhood, how she’d marvel at how alike my mother and I were, swearing that any stranger would recognize our bloodline at a glance.
So it was unlikely he’d divined my royal status from my face alone.
‘Of course, I can hardly blame him for his unease—I don’t take kindly to such obvious discomfort directed at me.’
Perhaps Seong Gyeom-sabok himself was troubled by something else entirely.
I was pondering this as we made our way toward Siyeongwon when Cheon-ho smiled and offered an observation tinged with something like disappointment.
“It seems the young miss places great trust in Seong Gyeom-sabok.”
“Well. He’s earned it. We’ve been through much together.”
“Then, if I were to share as much time at your side, might I earn such trust as well?”
“That’s something we’ll have to see in time.”
Was he already jockeying for position?
It was true that keeping Seong Gyeom-sabok tied to my service seemed a waste of talent, but gifting him wholly to the Crown Prince felt equally awkward.
Thinking of the Crown Prince stirred a question I’d been meaning to ask.
“Now that I think of it—the day I was kidnapped, news reached here remarkably quickly. Did you really ride all the way to Hye Minser yourself?”
“No, that would have been impossible. That’s in Gyeonggi Province. I’m swift on my feet, but not that swift.”
Ah, I thought as much.
“By chance, I encountered a gentleman riding nearby. When I told him there was a critically ill patient and I needed to reach Hye Minser urgently, he kindly lent me his horse. Thanks to that, I was able to meet your brother as well.”
“You were fortunate. And what became of the horse?”
“I left it at Hye Minser. The gentleman said it would find its own way back, and when I checked later, it truly had.”
A horse is no trifle—it’s strange that he’d lend one so freely if there was any risk of deception.
The man sounded like a blessing in this harsh world. I owed him my life, yet I couldn’t help but worry he might be the one deceived instead.
“Hmm. It’s rare to find someone so selfless. If you ever see him again, let me know. I should offer him some token of gratitude.”
“Yes, young miss.”
Though I doubted our paths would cross again.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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