The Quack Lady - Chapter 61

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

Episode 61

Protecting something requires that many sacrifices.

The reason he couldn’t trust the child before him at face value was also because he had so much to protect.

The child trembled all over.

Then spoke in a very small voice.

“The Duchess… Brien wants this. She wants the child to live.”

“…!”

“I’ll do my best so her heart won’t be in vain. I’ll definitely save them. Both Brien and the baby.”

“…”

“Right now, rather than fighting over whether this will work or not, we need to do our absolute best! If there’s a way to save the Duchess!”

Only then did the Duke come to his senses as if struck hard by something.

When everyone said it couldn’t be done, this child was the only one who said it could.

Looking at it coldly, the child had no reason to go this far.

She could just wipe some sweat and leave.

However, the child was already fighting alone to solve Brien’s problem.

“That child will save me.”

He recalled the words Brien had quietly murmured.

‘From the beginning, this wasn’t a problem I could choose.’

He approached the child who was kneeling.

Then he helped the child stand up and said.

“Alright, then shall we have a talk too?”

* * *

The conversation with the Duke that followed was tremendous.

He promised to spare no support for the Duchess.

He said he would assign people if needed.

After hesitating briefly, I brought up Tenoa’s story, and he tilted his head for a moment then immediately ordered through an attendant.

“Have the child named Tenoa help Rtemeia.”

The Duke’s support wasn’t just that. I was also able to move to a larger research lab.

It was a very comfortable space that was spacious, well-ventilated, and filled with warm sunlight.

“Is the research going well?”

“Yes. Of course.”

The Duchess asked about my research from time to time.

“I’ll definitely make it so you can be with your child.”

During my research, whenever I had time, I practiced suturing and incision countless times with pig skin.

Of course, most people watching this didn’t seem to understand.

“But… does this really help?”

The Duchess asked while looking at the pig placed in front of me.

“Yes. It has many similarities to human skin, so I need to keep practicing.”

To perform a cesarean section, I had to cut through various fascia and muscles.

Naturally, these were things unfamiliar to me as a pediatrician.

“Done! Tenoa! Come here and push the bladder!”

After cutting through to the peritoneum, I shouted toward Tenoa.

“He, here?”

He hesitantly approached and gently pushed the bladder downward.

“If you push that gently, it won’t move.”

“…Push harder?”

“Yes, that’s how you can see the uterus.”

At my words, he made an “ugh” sound and pushed the bladder downward.

‘Perfect!’

Once the surgical field was secured, everything after that went smoothly.

I quickly incised the pig’s uterus and immediately sutured it.

“My goodness…”

“Your hands are really fast.”

“To touch something so disgusting without any hesitation…”

I heard various comments but didn’t pay attention.

“Phew.”

When I finished all the suturing, a sigh of relief escaped.

‘Wow, it worked properly.’

The practice over more than a full month was worth it.

The slightly crooked sutures had changed into quite a pretty shape, and there was less bleeding than before.

However.

“This process is necessary for the Duchess’s surgery, right?”

“Yes, it seems efficient… but is this really correct?”

They had gathered in small groups and were discussing my surgical process.

The midwives asked if the baby could really be rescued this way.

“Yes. That’s what I’m trying to do.”

Not only theory but practice was important, so I had to work hard.

Especially considering that a moment’s mistake could determine a patient’s entire life.

“You have no hesitation.”

Then, the Duchess, who had been silently watching my surgery from one side, stood up and spoke.

“You know everything. How to handle all these things.”

She looked at the sutured pig and let out a short sigh.

“Except that I have to be in that pig’s position.”

“Ah, that’s…”

For a moment, I wondered if I should have refused her request to watch the surgical practice.

“But I think it’ll be okay. Especially looking at this.”

She pointed to the pig’s belly that had been meticulously sutured to the end.

“A wound like this seems fine. It’s not red and swollen, and the scar isn’t big either.”

The purpose of my surgery was to safely save both child and mother, but…

‘Minimizing the wound during incision’ was also part of it.

“The Duchess didn’t make an easy choice either. If there’s anything I can help with, I want to do my absolute best.”

I smiled while looking at the incision site that was barely 10 centimeters.

In this world, it was just a wound from a very small incision.

Most importantly, if properly cared for…

‘The scar will gradually fade.’

That’s when it happened.

“You’re really a doctor who understands people’s hearts.”

“Pardon?”

“Ditten was right.”

The Duchess patted my head.

However, I thought her words were wrong.

I had never once tried to comfort people’s hearts.

“It’s all because the Duchess made up her mind strongly. It has nothing to do with me.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Mothers are strong.”

When I raised one arm and clenched my fist, she burst into laughter.

For a noble facing surgery, she seemed strangely bright.

Just when I thought everything was flowing smoothly.

“But can I ask you just one thing?”

“Yes.”

“Mother… Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?”

At those words, the hands that had been busily organizing supplies suddenly stopped.

“Wh-what’s wrong?”

“No, it’s just that lately you seem to want to stay alone in your room.”

She rolled her eyes as if somewhat worried.

I tried to avoid answering with a forced smile.

‘No, when is the Duchess planning to tell her!’

Perhaps because my medicine was effective, the Duchess maintained an oddly stubborn silence even to my words that she should inform about the illness soon.

Thanks to that, only I, caught in the middle, was in a difficult position.

“For now, please think of the baby and the Marchioness first. The surgery isn’t far off either.”

It had already been two months since I came here.

In that time, the Marchioness’s belly had definitely dropped lower than when I first saw it.

“Really? Can I go into surgery now?”

Rather, she didn’t hide her excited mood, seeming to think that surgery was soon a way to meet the baby.

I smiled at her like that.

‘Come to think of it, Tenoa is also acting strange.’

Lately, the guy had been fidgeting and trying to keep his distance from me.

Like just before, when we were preparing for surgery.

Of course, at first I thought he was afraid of the surgical process.

But the curious gaze watching the surgical process, the way he assisted until the end despite being afraid…

‘I should probably look into this more.’

I carefully asked the Marchioness.

“By the way, the servants at the Marquis’s mansion use the apothecary room, right?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“Then who is the doctor who gives prescriptions?”

“Ah, it’s someone called Banlette. He’s older than me and is the Marquis’s mansion’s attending physician.”

“Banlette?”

My eyes widened at a name I had never heard before.

“Yes. Haven’t you seen him?”

When I made an expression showing I didn’t understand, she waved her hand saying that couldn’t be right.

At the same time, she added that he was quite a skilled doctor who personally organized all the medicinal materials.

“But why do you suddenly ask about that?”

I unknowingly let out a hollow laugh.

But I quickly composed myself and said to her.

“It’s nothing. Nothing at all.”

* * *

The apothecary room was divided into several rooms according to the management methods of the herbs.

The maze-like intertwined space had an extremely closed nature, so outsiders would easily get lost.

In one of those spaces, Banlette spat toward the floor and said.

“The whole world has gone completely mad!”

In Banlette’s hands was a tangled whip.

In front of the whip that bore traces of time, Tenoa stood blankly like a criminal.

“Who the hell is this girl called Rtemeia!”

He let out a scoff as if dumbfounded.

Soon his cold eyes turned toward Tenoa.

“Don’t tell me… you two are conspiring together to steal my position…”

Having thought that far, Banlette roughly shoved Tenoa.

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