TDBCD 08

Chapter 8

The mother of the nephews and the younger sister of Grand Duke Victor Bayern.

So her name was Susanna Bayern.

“What kind of person was she?”

“She was very kind. She loved singing. Ah, and she also played the piano. Even if someone in the family was being a terrible troublemaker, once Miss Susanna started singing, they would stop fooling around and listen.”

So she had been like the center of the family.

Losing someone like that must have left quite a wound.

“Would it be difficult to tell me what happened to her?”

“It was because of miasma. Miss Susanna gradually became ill because of the bad air and passed away.”

Aunt Vanya made a sad face.

Ibel wanted to sympathize with her pain deeply, but… she could not, which left her feeling awkward.

Because of miasma? There are still people in the countryside who believe in such ridiculous things.

Professor Pasteur had discovered what was called “germs” in France in 1861.

Of course, there was still much debate even within the academic world, but Ibel knew from experience that Professor Pasteur was right.

“Um, I heard that you graduated from a famous medical school and became a doctor… Is that true?”

At Aunt Vanya’s cautious question, she nodded.

The old woman’s expression immediately brightened.

“Oh, what a relief. The First Young Master’s cough has been rather serious lately. It must surely be because of miasma, so we have been keeping the windows tightly closed and keeping the fires burning, but he just won’t get better…”

What?

What did you say you were doing?

Unable to speak, Ibel listened as Aunt Vanya chattered on about some unbelievable things.

“One day, Lady Genevieve—that is, the Grand Duke’s aunt. Anyway, she had everyone in the entire house walk around carrying torches. That was supposed to make the miasma disappear.”

“……”

“Fortunately, after that, it seemed like the First Young Master was getting better, but once the rainy season ended, his cough started again. It seems the miasma does not disappear all at once.”

Where should she even begin explaining what was wrong?

Holding her forehead, Ibel touched each dress one by one before choosing a soft, light white dress and slipping her arms into it.

In any case, there was nothing she could say here without seeing the patient herself. Even if she tried, it probably would not be of any use.

Didn’t Dr. Lister recently publish his results on carbolic acid in the Lancet? I think it was in March 1867.

Well, it had not even been a year yet, so this was still a time when the belief that “bad air,” or miasma, caused people to become sick was widespread.

How could ordinary people know what germs were?

There were even doctors who still did not know that they needed to disinfect their hands and instruments with carbolic acid before treating patients.

But carbolic acid isn’t perfect either. In my opinion, aseptic methods would be much better.

What Ibel meant by “aseptic methods” was disinfecting the entire space where the patient was.

In particular, she wanted to have a separate operating room and prevent anyone from watching the surgery.

Having people pay money, buy tickets, and watch it like now…

Well.

It almost seemed like they were telling the patient to go ahead and die.

She also wanted doctors to keep their surgical clothes clean and wear them separately for surgery. She wanted the instruments to be soaked in carbolic acid and then properly dried before being used.

Of course, this kind of aseptic method existed only inside her head.

Both the academic world and the public judged a doctor’s experience by how much flesh and blood was stuck to his surgical knife.

“Are there no doctors in the Grand Duchy who use carbolic acid?”

“Pardon? What is that?”

“Then I suppose there aren’t any. If there were, they would have advertised it everywhere and gone to see it. Carbolic acid is, in other words, a disinfectant.”

“Disinfectant…?”

Aunt Vanya, who was tying the waist ribbon for her, blinked.

“At the university, they disinfect the entire operating room or examination room with carbolic acid to get rid of germs in the air. Of course, they disinfect the wound and the medical staff’s hands as well.”

It was a complete lie.

The universities were the ones most eager to sell tickets to surgical shows.

“Really? Why do they do that?”

“Have you ever delivered a baby, Auntie?”

“Of course.”

This time, Aunt Vanya put a necklace made of amber, exactly the same color as Ibel’s eyes, around her neck and looked as if she were remembering the past.

“Wasn’t the chance of both mother and child surviving higher when you washed your hands before delivering the baby?”

“Ah, in the Grand Duchy, midwives have been washing their hands carefully for a long time. I do not know why they do it when the water is dirty, but my grandmother’s grandmother did the same thing.”

“That is something like disinfection. It is a preventive method that keeps germs from entering the wound.”

But carbolic acid cost too much money.

It was troublesome, and it made the eyes sting. Even after disinfection, problems could still occur with the wound.

Because of such disadvantages, many doctors still refused to use it.

Dr. Lister would gain fame after performing surgery on the Queen of England in 1871.

Hmm… Then I need to start by establishing the concept of disinfection.

Now, her preparations were truly finished.

The woman in the mirror looked like the daughter of some noble and respectable family.

At this level, perhaps it would not be too difficult to fool people.

“You look absolutely beautiful. His Grace will be completely captivated by you, too.”

There was no way that stiff man would be.

Ignoring Aunt Vanya’s words, Ibel slowly changed her posture.

She straightened her hunched shoulders, tightened her waist, and gently pulled her chin in.

As the things she had painfully learned and absorbed since childhood slowly emerged, Aunt Vanya’s eyes widened.

She looked like a completely different person from just moments ago.

“So you are saying that I have to turn the candidate for the Duchess into a convincing lady in exactly two months?”

Matthias, the aide, put a hand to his forehead after receiving the detailed orders given to him.

Whatever operation His Grace had in mind, he must have given these orders because they were necessary.

The sudden advertisement for a temporary Duchess candidate, as well as this situation, must all have their reasons.

But honestly, he was not confident.

A noble’s dignity was closely connected to their birth.

After investigating thoroughly, he learned that the Claren family was a fallen noble family and that they had even sold their mansion not long ago because of their son’s gambling addiction.

On top of that, “Ibel Claren” was not even registered in the noble register.

Twins were uncommon and were sometimes considered a bad omen. If both were boys, it would not matter, but if the second child was a girl, some noble families sometimes chose not to register her.

This was based on the irrational and unscientific assumption that she would suck away the luck of the firstborn son.

I apologize for saying this, but she is practically a commoner. Of course, that is also why we can make her the adopted daughter of the Eberstein family.

If she had been registered in the noble register, they would have had to contact the Claren family.

That would have made everything extremely troublesome and complicated. It was obvious that the family would demand many things.

But the current situation was a legally recognized commoner being adopted by a noble family.

Since she was also an adult, even if her parents were nobles, they did not have to be informed in this case.

The paperwork itself is not a problem.

The problem was…

How was he supposed to make someone who was half a commoner look like a high-ranking noble?

And in only two months!

“We also need to shape public opinion. We can say that the adopted daughter of the Eberstein family has spent the past few years studying abroad.”

“Yes…”

Matthias decided to give up trying to understand.

“I assume she knows the basic etiquette, so I will focus on speech, dancing, foreign languages, and general education.”

Still, if she had carried out secret work together with His Grace, she should be quick to learn.

In fact, Matthias did not even believe that the boyish-looking person was a doctor. Perhaps that had been some kind of code known only to the two of them.

“The young lady is ready.”

At that moment, Aunt Vanya’s voice came from outside, accompanied by a knock.

The fact that Aunt Vanya had been assigned to personally attend to the Duchess candidate carried quite a lot of meaning within Bayern.

It was an indication of how much attention the Grand Duke was paying to her.

“Your Grace.”

The calm voice was so composed that it brought to mind a scene of autumn leaves falling.

Matthias raised his head.

And then Matthias froze completely.

Who… who is that?