Chapter 18 (2/2)
“In my eyes, you are a very young lady.”
“Is my condition infertility?”
“Yes.”
It was the same answer that all the previous doctors had given her but she was desperate.
“Can it…be treated?”
The doctor chuckled and guaranteed her treatment that no one else had been able to do.
“You are lucky person. This is a treatment method passed down in only my family.”
So he gave her a prescription containing various drugs to be mixed together. She didn’t write it down but took a book out of her bag, tore a page from it and gave it to him.
“Since it is a secret method passed down in your family, is it ok to give me this?”
“In any case, it’s not something I need anymore.”
The doctor’s expression as he said this seemed a little sad.
“I…Can I really get better? They all said mugwort herb is a poison.”
It wasn’t that she didn’t believe the doctor’s prescription but that she had gone through hardship to get it treated and yet here he was, giving her a simple solution. The situation itself was a bit unbelievable.
“Poison…yes, it is known as such. This is an exclusive but I’ll tell you something special. Mugwort has a surprising effect. It doesn’t just do something simple like stopping blood flow. If you eat it, it completely purifies the body. That is the reason why menstruation stops. But the human body itself is a mass of impurity, there is nothing good to forcibly purify. The effect of the herb is just that strong that such side effects occur but it does not harm your body. And apart from not having your period, you haven’t gotten sick anywhere else, right?”
“Yes.”
“And truthfully, to become infertile from eating mugwort, you have to have been eating it for a long time, like from your first period onwards. Just like you. If you haven’t been taking it for that long, even if your menstruation stops for a while, there are no other symptoms.
And infertility definitely will not happen. But, people treat it as a poison because of its only symptom, which is to stop menstrual flow. Anyways, because it is not poison, if you weaken the effect of the herb, your body will return to its original state. If you regularly take your medicine, it will surely get better. I hope for you to have a pretty child and become a happy parent. ”
Not too long after, the doctor left the village. Unlike when the doctor first came to the village, the villagers were truly sorry to see him go.
Lucia went ahead and bought herbs that had been prescribed by the doctor.
“Why are buying these two herbs together? Surely, you aren’t planning on mixing them together? If you eat them together, you’ll have a huge problem!”
The prescription combinations that the doctor gave her didn’t seem to be one that complied with commonsense. However, Lucia didn’t think she could get worse and she was curious anyways so she followed his directions and started to make the medicine.
As long as no abnormality happens, once a month, steadily take the medicine until menstruation starts again; how to eat and how frequent was easy to know. She did wonder if it would actually work but then she shook her head and chose to believe it.
A lot of time passed and suddenly one day, her menstruation restarted.
***
Now the Lucia who had seen all this in a dream was not embarrassed like her 15 year old self from the dream. She already knew that she wasn’t sick and was not going to die.
However the 15 year old Lucia was mentally unstable for a reason different from the one in the dream. She had thought that she could change anything in the present since she knew the future however there was nothing that a young princess, locked up in a palace room could do.
It felt like a prophecy that the coming future would be exactly like the dream. The thought of getting married to the count at 21 again was extremely sickening and she couldn’t bear it. Her fears reached its climax as soon as her menstruation started.
‘I do not want to give birth to that bastard’s child.’
She already knew that getting pregnant was surprisingly not very easy. There were many married couples that had no children. Moreover, considering Count Matin’s sexual capability there was almost no possibility of her getting pregnant. However, she didn’t want to let the slightest possibility remain.
So, she chose to make herself infertile. The doctor she met in the dream had told her that the mugwort herb was not poisonous and the treatment method that she had received remained in her memory. Since she could treat at any time with the medicine, there was not really any worry if she was currently infertile.
Lucia could cure her infertility at any moment but she had already told Hugo that she could not get pregnant and would not suddenly tell him that she could.
‘At that time… I had thought I would get divorced…’
When she proposed marriage, she had thought that they would live together for a few years then he would ask for a divorce or after a reasonable amount of time, she would ask herself. However,
‘I won’t do something like divorce.’
Even if he did not mention the family tradition, he was the kind of person that would not proceed with the divorce process because it was annoying. She didn’t know if there was another woman who loved him to death and wanted to marry him by all means but it didn’t look like that was possible.
‘I already said I wouldn’t regret this…I made up my mind to endure.’
There was going to be no child in her life. The moment she signed the marriage certificate, she was already prepared.
[I hope for you to have a pretty child and become a happy parent.]
It would seem that whether it was the dream or the present, the doctor’s wish would not be fulfilled. Lucia dug into her memories for the doctor’s name.
“Philip.”
Right. That was his name.
***
It was afternoon and as usual, Jerome brought tea and quietly entered the Duke’s office. Because it was obvious who was coming in, Hugo didn’t take his eyes of his documents. But as Jerome didn’t go back and kept standing by the desk, Hugo raised his head.
When the Duke’s eyes left the documents and faced him, Jerome opened his mouth.
“Your Grace, Madam is planning to have a tea party tomorrow.”
“Yes. I’ve heard.”
“Since it is her Grace’s first time, what do you think of sending a congratulatory gift?”
“Gift?”
He gave a low ‘hmm’ and mumbled, lowering his pen and sitting more comfortably in his chair.
“A gift, huh.” [Hugo]
“Yes. Her Grace will be extremely pleased.”
Now that he thought about it, he didn’t have anything to give her. He was not the type to easily know when to give gifts but if he was told to get this and that, he could. But she didn’t tell him what to get and he didn’t know what she would like and couldn’t think of what to give her.
Is it enough to make the budget plentiful?
She didn’t ask him to give her anything but as it was her first time debuting in the northern social circles, it was enough reason. If she receives a gift that she could never imagine, would she like it?
When he thought of her sparkling eyes as she expressed her thanks, his mood somehow grew merrier.
What would be good? Jewelry? Or maybe…jewelry? If that didn’t work…then jewelry? Jewelry was the only thing that he could think of. He was sure that women like jewelry however strangely, he wasn’t too sure that Lucia liked them.
While his worries were deepening, Jerome was patiently waiting for his master’s answer. Jerome’s ear picked up the sound of a soft knock at the door. In order not to disrupt his master’s thought, Jerome left quietly then came back after a while.
“Your Grace, Sir Philip has arrived and is outside. He said he hasn’t returned in Roam in a long time and wants to give his greetings to your Grace.”
Translator’s Corner:
*Honestly, it’s either mugwort or wormwood. The problem is according to google those two PROMOTE menstruation…but the author is King. LOL.
*I was also too invested to stop translating so u get the full chap. May not happen again ha-ha.
*This was edited sparsely. Was about to miss my bus. Tell me if u see mistakes.
*Don’t hope for ch 19 anytime soon. Sorry *.*
If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us knowso we can fix it as soon as possible.