Chapter 51 [part 1] (1/2)

(1)

TN: ‘Employees’ is changed to ‘servants’.

Several months passed since Anna and Philip’s steady exchanged continued. Anna found Philip for teaching whenever she had free time and Philip admired Anna’s great passion for learning at such an advanced age.

Once a week, Anna and Philip went to offer their medical services to the poor and needy. Just like always, they set up a simple treatment room in a remote location at the back of an alley and received a flood of patients. It was difficult but as Anna treated patients with all sorts of diverse symptoms, her skills dramatically increased.

“Look here, don’t you think the stupid thing is to say you ate mugwort to make medicine?”

The voice of a hot-tempered middle-aged wife rang out loudly. The simple treatment room had two tables set slightly apart and in between them, a thin cloth acted as a wall. So when one raised their voice a little bit, one could be heard from the other side.

On the other side of the wall, Anna payed attention to the audible voice of the patient who came to Philip.

“Did I know and eat it? I only knew the tusk had wild herbs.”

“Are your eyes crooked? How does that look like herbs!”

“Why did you leave it in the kitchen then!”

Mother and daughter went back and forth, raising their voices to each other as they quarreled.

Mugwort! Anna paused treatment on her side and fixed her gaze on the obscuring wall of cloth. Then she heard Philip’s calm voice.

“So what is the matter? Did you perhaps contact an ailment?”

“Aiyo! Doctor! This one ate that thing and her monthly period didn’t come. I don’t know what to do if this lass cannot perform her duties as a woman so I can’t sleep at night.”

“Tch, I like it this way.” (Daughter speaking)

“You crazy thing, ah! Do you want to be a lady who can’t give birth?”

Anna suddenly sprang to her feet. She didn’t notice the confused expression of her patient who was being treated. Anna lifted the wall made of cloth and went into the other partition.

Philip glanced at Anna once then spoke to the patient.

“I cannot treat you if you’re making so much fuss. Quietly. How much mugwort did patient eat?”

“About as much as a side dish? I mixed it up with vegetable and ate it.”

Her mother next to her: ‘This crazy-! How can you happily eat that foul-tasting thing and call it vegetable? Aiyo, I didn’t give birth to a human, I birthed a good-for-nothing. Ai! I can’t live in peace.’

She continued to grumble inwardly.

“When did you have your first menstruation?”

“I think the year before last?”

“You didn’t keep eating the mugwort, did you?”

“No.”

“Then, this is just a temporary state, your monthly periods will start again next month. So you don’t need to be worried. You too, Mother.”

Both mother and daughter were in disbelief so they had to be persuaded and promised several times before they left.

“What’s wrong, Anna? Is there a patient with a problem?” (Philip)

“…No. I’ll tell you later.”

After they finished giving free treatment, the day was darkening into night and the two returned and drank tea at Philip’s residence.

“Earlier…I’m talking of the patient who took mugwort. That was my first time seeing such a symptom but Sir Philip seemed to know all about it. I know mugwort has a hemostatic effect but for that to stop menstruation? How could that be when menstruation and the blood from wounds are from completely different structures?” (Anna)

“It’s rare but occasionally, it occurs in patients. It can happen when the poor hunger and do not distinguish what they eat. However, there is nothing to worry about. There’s nothing wrong with the body, it’s just a temporary state.”

“Then, by any chance, do you know of menstruation stopping entirely after eating mugwort?”

Philip’s hand lifting the teacup to his mouth paused for a moment. The mysterious glint in his eyes disappeared just as fast as it came. His relaxed smile was just as before and his voice was just as relaxed as he spoke.

“Interesting. Do you have such a patient?”

“Yes, in state of complete amenorrhea (absence of menstrual periods). The herb intake was for quite the long time.”

In the meantime, Anna had purchased hundreds of medicinal books in order to find a cure for the Duchess. She scrapped up all the books on the market and not only that, she asked around for the doctors living in Roam (city) and went to them diligently. However, there was not one person who recognized the symptom of menstruation stopping after eating mugwort.

Anna would have rather preferred to experiment the diet on herself but unfortunately, she was already in her menopause and because she didn’t know the side effects, she couldn’t test it on another person.

So, it was both surprising and frustrating to stumble across that patient today. If she knew beforehand, she would’ve gone digging through the slums. Anna admired Philip anew.

[How did you learn such excellent medical art? You know much of what is in the books and what is not in the books.]

The more she knew, the more amazed she was by Philip’s medical knowledge so one day, she had asked him directly.

[There are simply a lot of miscellaneous things I picked along the way when I was wandering around.]