The Military Doctor Excels at Being a Contracted Duchess - Chapter 67

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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 67】

Guevre, whose under-eyes had somehow become even more sunken, slammed the table violently. Matthias, who sprang up as if bouncing away from the impact, let out a scream of “Ahhh!”

“Rules. There are rules. I finally understand.”

“Is… is that really true…?”

Right after the master couple’s honeymoon, these two had been stuck together in one space without being apart for even a moment.

Don’t misunderstand. It’s not a strange story, but a sad one.

They had tried everything to interpret the inscription carved on the statue that the queen had sent as a so-called gift.

They even found research materials on minority languages and compared them one by one, but the results were failure. Failure. Failure!

Of course it was natural.

They weren’t linguists, after all.

They had stayed up all night wanting to find at least a clue before the Grand Duke returned, but there was no progress at all, and they were about to give up and throw themselves onto their cozy beds.

Of course, that was Matthias’s sentiment, and Guevre was different.

He was quite surprised by a talent he didn’t even know he had.

Something in his head seemed like it would come together but didn’t, driving him crazy, when a book that Duke sent this morning provided a clue.

“At first glance, it’s no different from hieroglyphics, but the rules are definite.”

Excited, Guevre swept the objects on the desk to one side and spread out a large sheet of paper. Then he frantically wrote down the contents of the rubbing, while the Butler and Matthias just stared blankly.

Guevre, who was about to explain excitedly, saw their dumbfounded expressions and just wrote a readable interpretation next to it.

Let low fortune

Descend upon

Your wife with time

“I don’t know where you obtained this book, but thanks to it, I was able to grasp the grammatical structure.”

Of course, he thought it would be a curse. Who in their right mind would send such a sinister statue to a couple?

Assuming it couldn’t be a blessing, he extracted several words and compared them this way and that, and finally came up with a plausible sentence.

Whether this was correct or not would require additional verification, but the fact that he had made a meaningful interpretation was already a great achievement.

“I’m not sure if I interpreted it correctly, but it seems like a curse targeting the Duchess.”

“Hah.”

At Guevre’s words, the Butler let out a hollow laugh.

Seeing the strength tighten in the hand holding the teapot, Matthias slowly moved away and shifted his position toward Guevre.

“You’re really amazing. There was a reason His Grace suddenly told you to learn cryptography.”

The Guevre that Matthias saw was an extremely persistent man. Even Matthias, who had never lost in any concentration competition, was impressed enough to stick out his tongue.

“I hope I can repay his kindness even in this way.”

Guevre humbly bowed his head, scribbled the interpretation of each character, then rolled up the paper and handed it to Matthias.

“I’d like to study that book a bit more. I feel like there’s something more to be gleaned from it.”

“Tomorrow, additional books related to languages will arrive, so do it tomorrow. Trim your beard too, and get some sleep.”

“Yes.”

Now that he had accomplished something, it was time to go see Guevre’s Brother.

Guevre stroked his darkened chin and headed toward Guevre’s Brother’s bedroom.

Though he still couldn’t run around, he was showing improvement by steadily taking the medicine the Duchess had given him.

“Brother!”

“What were you doing? Are you feeling alright?”

“Yes! It doesn’t hurt at all!”

When he entered the room, Guevre’s Brother, who had been eating cookies, smiled brightly and jumped into Guevre’s arms.

His world and only family.

Just being able to protect Guevre’s Brother was enough for Guevre to pledge his loyalty to Bayern.

* * *

A peaceful afternoon in Tarifa, where the scent of coffee spread through every corner of the alleys on the sea breeze.

Ebel and Victor had taken seats in one corner of a coffee house and were watching people.

Due to the nature of port cities that quickly embrace change, the ‘salon’ that had once been the center of Tarifa’s social scene had now become a stale old story.

What filled that void was precisely the coffee house.

Ebel was sipping coffee with fresh milk while enjoying the sunlight and lively scenery.

While doing so, she occasionally listened to the stories being told, and there were many interesting rumors.

“I wondered why this place was so empty today, Cafe Owner! Do you know?”

“What do you mean?”

To call it empty when there were still customers bustling about.

If this was considered a decrease in customers, just how many were there usually?

Ebel thought this while perking up her ears.

“No, that newly opened coffee house in the back, you know. They’re selling something called Mazagran there.”

“Mazagran?”

“Cold coffee with ice in it. It’s sweet with plenty of sugar and even sour with lemon juice sprinkled on it. They say it’s excellent for quenching thirst.”

“What? Drinking coffee cold?”

As if it was unbearable nonsense, the Cafe Owner put down the glass he was wiping with a displeased expression.

“Well, they say it’s popular in France over there. It’s supposedly a trendy drink that sophisticated young people drink these days.”

“The end times. How can anyone drink coffee cold? Tsk tsk.”

The Cafe Owner clicked his tongue, but the customers’ eyes were already full of curiosity.

They would probably go try it soon.

“Victor, shall we ask them to make some when we return to the manor?”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll tell the head chef.”

She was curious about the taste, but didn’t want to drink it mixed in with other people.

Since she had just heard the recipe, she would try it when she returned home and serve it to guests when they came.

She was ordering a fresh cup after finishing her cold coffee when a loud voice burst out from a different group.

“No, it’s really true! There’s a fever going around. We need to be careful.”

“Come on, there’s never been an epidemic in this season.”

“Just believe me. How frustrating.”

This time it was something she couldn’t just ignore. An epidemic.

Victor must have had the same thought, as he immediately stood up and approached the men.

“What you just said. Can I hear the details of what you’re talking about?”

When a large man suddenly approached, those who felt threatened and were being cautious stammered out their answer.

“Over there, in District 10, an epidemic is spreading… they say? It causes fever and the body becomes hot, and people can’t even walk…”

“And?”

“Their eyes turn yellow, they say. District 10 is originally a poor area where diseases often spread… but this time it’s quite serious, they say.”

It was yellow fever.

It was a terrible disease with no proper cure that killed hundreds of people.

“It must be because of the foreigners.”

“But we can’t chase out all the foreign-born people from Tarifa.”

Those who were listening all chimed in one after another.

In an instant, the inside of the coffee house heated up, with opinions ranging from whether the fever was real or not to claims that it was because people weren’t praying to God.

But Ebel knew something about the vector of yellow fever.

“Victor. You remember, don’t you? That incident.”

“Of course.”

During the war, there was a time when heavy rain fell for a whole week. Both the enemy army and they were stuck.

The gloomy weather continued after that, and the standoff wasn’t resolved either.

In such a situation, what would have been the most troublesome?

Not being able to wash? The humid air? The unending tension?

No.

“Caught a mosquito!”

“Ugh, they’re acting up just because autumn has come.”

Men at one side of the coffee house slammed the table and laughed proudly.

Watching that scene, Ebel’s eyes lit up.

Bzzzzzz.

Mosquitoes were flying around, buzzing noisily.

‘Yes, it was the same back then.’

An insane number of mosquitoes born from stagnant water.

‘Everyone who contracted yellow fever had definitely been bitten by mosquitoes.’

Of course, it wasn’t like there were no people who remained fine despite being bitten by mosquitoes.

‘But that battlefield wasn’t near the port. It was rather inland. In other words, it wasn’t caused by ships… wind, seawater, or foreigners weren’t the source.’

At the time, Ebel had hypothesized that mosquitoes might be spreading the disease and suggested it to her superior.

Fortunately, it was accepted, so they began filling in water puddles and catching mosquitoes, and surprisingly, there were almost no additional people who fell ill.

“This time it’ll be mosquitoes too. The symptoms are the same.”

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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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