The Military Doctor Excels at Being a Contracted Duchess - Chapter 19

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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【Chapter 19】

“Please tell me. I’ll listen.”

“Bayern’s family disease is… a lung disease of unknown cause.”

This suddenly manifested disease goes back several generations.

In the past, they thought it was a curse, and after having many children, whoever survived would inherit the family.

Now that science and medicine have advanced, they learned it was a lung disease, but similarly, there was no solution.

They went to doctors, alchemists, even witches, but it was meaningless.

“It mostly didn’t manifest in the collateral lines. But it hit the direct line hard.”

“I see.”

“I was fortunate enough not to manifest it. But Serena was weak from childhood. After childbirth, she became increasingly frail.”

“Did Serena always live here?”

Ebel carefully organized the story she heard in her mind.

If she applied the process of elimination, she would surely be able to understand why Victor didn’t catch it while Serena did.

“Serena never once left the estate. She was always here. I wandered quite a few regions following my father from around age ten.”

“Then when you two were young, um… did you also keep the curtains tightly closed and not open the windows?”

“That’s what I understand.”

“Did your grandparents’ generation do the same?”

Ah, I’ll need writing materials.

Ebel, who stood up while asking questions, brought a fountain pen and notebook and opened them.

She had already expected it to be a lung disease, so what needed to be changed immediately was the environment.

“Since the perception of it being a curse was strong, that’s probably what happened. If there’s anything strange, it would be that Serena’s husband also died of illness.”

Then isn’t it a bit ambiguous to call it a family disease?

“First, let me tell you this. In modern medicine, if it’s a lung disease, ventilation is considered important. All those unsightly curtains must be removed and the windows opened wide. Where curtains are absolutely necessary, replace them with thin ones, but washing them once every two weeks is essential.”

“Yes.”

“And I really, really wanted to say this… please prepare several ladders. The corners of Langbri, the stone cracks, between the statues…! We’re going to clean all the mold that’s grown there.”

Forget medicine and everything else, changing the environment comes first.

Next was to closely examine the condition of the two children.

“I heard Angelm coughs. What about Damian?”

“As far as I know, Damian is fine.”

“Fine, you say?”

That didn’t seem right.

‘I didn’t conduct a proper examination, so I’ll let it pass for now.’

She heard that the attending physician had changed three times because they couldn’t endure the children’s ferocity. Then there would obviously be no proper medical records, so she’d have to create them from scratch.

“And Ebel, I’d like you to observe this point. I don’t want the children to learn about the family disease.”

“You don’t want them to be needlessly afraid.”

“That’s right. If this house is the problem, I considered sending at least Angelm to boarding school, but he’s showing symptoms before reaching an age suitable for enrollment, and as you’ll see when you meet him, Damian probably can’t be sent to school.”

“And the difficulty of separating the two would be one of the problems. I heard the children are very close.”

She felt like the work to be done was taking shape to some extent.

Actually, there was no medicine for lung disease. Many internal medicine doctors were researching it, but there was no proper solution.

It was a regrettable situation.

“In the capital, there are many people who live with coughing sickness because of factories built nearby. But the reality is that all we can prescribe for them is painkillers and recommendations for recuperation.”

“Is that so.”

“Honestly, I don’t know if I’ll be able to overcome the limitations of medicine. But I’ll try my best.”

“Please do.”

Scratch, scratch.

Ebel, who had been writing something in her notebook, wrote the words woman and man, then asked.

“Your aunt doesn’t have symptoms either, right?”

“Yes. For reference, my aunt went to a convent around age ten. After Serena left, she came to the estate under the pretext of caring for the children.”

Then it’s not just men who get it, there seems to be some other common factor.

Retracing her thoughts, Ebel asked about Damian again.

“Does Damian also wander around frequently?”

“That’s what I’ve been reported. Right after Serena left, he went into the forest and didn’t return for about two days, and that became a habit afterward. He’s such an active kid that it’s difficult to make him stay still in a room.”

“Conversely, Angelm spends a long time inside the manor?”

“That’s also what I’ve been reported. He likes books and enjoys learning, so he’s mostly holed up in the study.”

They’re twins, but one has manifested the disease and one hasn’t.

There’s a big difference in their lifestyles.

‘From what I can see, this house seems to be the problem.’

Then is the house itself the problem?

Or is the house’s environment the problem?

She had no choice but to find out by eliminating possibilities one by one.

“It’s reassuring that Banya is helping me.”

Having finished organizing her thoughts, Ebel smiled.

“I need a list of people who worked in the manor for a long time. Especially focusing on servants who live and eat in the manor. I also need a list of people who had coughing sickness.”

“I’ll call Banya right now.”

Soon Victor called Banya and the butler.

With the two people before her, Ebel explained gently and then mentioned what she wanted.

“I’d like to look around the servant quarters tomorrow afternoon, so let everyone know.”

“Understood. The servants have separate quarters built near the annex.”

The butler politely explained while showing her a map of the estate.

‘Looking at it this way, it really is magnificent.’

Behind the main manor were three annexes in total. Two servant quarters divided by gender. One building that was used as knight’s quarters long ago but was closed because it didn’t fit the current era. Food storehouses, one each on the east and west sides.

Clicking her tongue at House Bayern’s wealth, Ebel examined the map closely.

After that sufficiently entertaining time passed, Ebel went down to the first floor to receive greetings from the servants.

Strictly speaking, this should have happened only after holding a ceremony, but Victor had given the order first because Ebel wanted to seize domestic power as quickly as possible.

There couldn’t be anyone in Bayern who would refuse when the head of the family ordered it.

“We meet again, future madam!”

“We meet again, future madam…!”

As she slowly descended the spiral staircase, the servants who had gathered in orderly fashion all greeted her together.

That was… how should she put it.

More than she had thought, that is.

It was a scene that made her realize she had become Victor’s wife.

Even if it was just a few-year contract job.

* * *

“What?! Is that really true!”

That night, Genevieve, who had returned from an outing, burst into anger after receiving a report of the day’s events from her cherished maid.

“She was bitten by Damian but handled it composedly, and that made a good impression?”

“Y-yes.”

“Ha, really. Such a young thing knows how to handle children. I wonder if she didn’t come here after having a child somewhere.”

Actually, Genevieve was in a very upset state right now. But hearing that the servants called Ebel ‘future madam’ made her even more twisted inside.

“I thought she’d run away with her tail between her legs when she encountered Damian…”

As Genevieve muttered lowly and fanned herself, the maid quickly brought a fan.

“This is my house. How much have I decorated with my own hands! But that Victor doesn’t even appreciate it. That’s one thing. Now telling me to become a back-room old woman? This can’t happen. This can’t happen.”

How much trouble it had been to raise the blood clots Serena left behind.

Victor didn’t acknowledge such things at all, but Genevieve had made efforts in her own way.

She had tried to break their spirits through various discipline and beatings.

“Instead of recognizing my contributions, he brings a wife without even proper courtesy. Future madam overnight!”

Genevieve was truly hurt.

Mrs. Eberstain, whom she met today, was the immediate problem.

“I’ll handle the matter with my daughter myself, so please don’t worry about it.”

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