“I can see it over there. The blue roof the old woman mentioned.”

“Oh! It really is… Wow…”

As I continually expressed my amazement, the corners of his mouth slightly lifted, seemingly pleased. I wasn’t just flattering him to make him feel good, but I was genuinely very surprised.

I wish I could find my way around so easily too. It seems God was so preoccupied with giving me abilities as a pharmacist that He forgot to give me the basic ability to find my way and determine directions.

“By the way, did you really intend to start again from the pharmacy?”

“I’m a bit lacking in sense of direction…”

“Not just a bit, but seriously lacking…”

“Anyway. If I try to be clever and start from the middle, I end up wandering around strangely and it takes two or three times longer. But today, thanks to Your Highness the Crown Prince finding it for me, that won’t happen, which is good.”

“This is why I have no choice but to stick with you. Whenever you need to go somewhere, make sure to call me and we’ll go together.”

“Well, let’s do that. It’s an honor that Your Highness the Crown Prince will act as a guide, but if you’re offering, I won’t refuse.”

At my words, Ian smiled with great satisfaction, as if pleased. It really feels like walking around with an obedient puppy.

Today, on the way back, I should buy some jerky and stop by the dog that lived in front of the pharmacy. Since I can’t scratch under Ian’s chin, I’ll at least scratch under that pup’s chin.

Lost in these random thoughts, I soon arrived at our destination while walking with Ian.

The gravedigger’s house was a building with a blue roof, and compared to the neighborhood where Cass lived, it exuded a fairly nice atmosphere.

Although being a gravedigger might be a job others avoid, it was more stable than those who lived on day-to-day wages, as it came with a fixed salary.

“This seems to be the place.”

Ian stopped in front of the building and knocked on the door. The wooden door wasn’t locked, as it opened with a creaking sound.

Ian turned to look at me.

“It’s open?”

“Shall we go in then? Excuse us.”

Although no one welcomed us, we entered. Unlike the fairly decent exterior appearance of the building, inside there was an unidentifiable foul odor.

“There’s a musty smell.”

Ian took out a handkerchief and handed it to me.

“Use this.”

“I’m fine. Smelling is also part of the diagnosis. You should use it, Your Highness.”

Ian looked at the handkerchief for a moment, then put it in his pocket. Since he’s not the one doing the examination, it wouldn’t matter if he used the handkerchief.

“Is anyone here? Did they go out…”

There was no sign of life inside the house.

“This atmosphere is perfect for ghosts to appear.”

It’s not something to say when entering someone’s house without permission, but the interior really did feel gloomy.

There weren’t any particularly eerie decorations, but it was unusually dark and shadowy, and the musty smell like that of a corpse gave that impression.

“Who’s there!”

As Ian and I were looking around inside the house, the door opened and a man with a rough face entered.

Ian stood in front of me, wary of him.

Isn’t it ridiculous? We were the ones who had entered the house without the owner’s permission, yet Ian treated him like an intruder. I gently pushed Ian aside and stepped forward to greet him.

“Hello. I’m Doctor Claire, apprentice of Pharmacist Jane.”

I almost introduced myself as Jane. Although I had never directly faced the gravedigger before, I shouldn’t let him think I was lying.

Building trust with a patient was quite important in the treatment process.

“So why are you in someone else’s house without permission?”

“Grandmother Cass told us there was someone unwell here and asked us to provide medical care. We knocked but there was no answer, and the door was open… I’m sorry for entering without permission.”

“I forgot to lock the door because I had to leave suddenly due to some business. So, miss, you say you’re a doctor?”

As I was about to answer “Yes,” Ian stepped in and pointed out his manner of speech.

“Your words are disrespectful. She is not only a doctor but also the owner of the Hydrangea County.”

Despite Ian’s explanation, his expression remained indifferent. It was somewhat amusing to be concerned about titles in this situation, but I thought he would at least show a surprised expression when told I was a countess. However, he merely reacted as if he had heard a long, drawn-out name.

“So you’re a noble, are you? Well, please understand my way of speaking. It’s just how I was born and raised, can’t help it.”

“…”

He responded without being intimidated by Ian’s words. Ian frowned, seemingly displeased with his attitude and manner of speaking, but he didn’t engage in further argument.

“May I see the patient?”

He guided us further into the house while speaking.

“My daughter has been very ill for two weeks.”

“Were there any specific symptoms?”

“At first, she had a fever and couldn’t sleep at night. I thought that was actually a sign of her getting healthier. You know how they say your body gets warmer and your temperature rises as you get healthier. So I thought it was a good thing.”

He says he thought she had become healthier after getting good food while working as a maid in a noble household.

“Then the child started dry heaving and having diarrhea, going in and out of the bathroom all day. How could she endure when she was expelling everything up and down without even having a chance to eat…”

“When symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting persist for a long time, it drains one’s strength. What kind of medicine did you use during those symptoms? Did you ensure sufficient fluid replenishment?”

“I had heard something somewhere, so I mixed salt and sugar in water and gave it to her. And I brewed medicine that’s supposed to be good for diarrhea and vomiting. But just as she seemed to be regaining some strength, she fell into a sleep a week ago and hasn’t opened her eyes since. Sometimes I get so anxious about whether the child is alive or dead that all I can do is put a saliva-moistened finger under her nose.”

He spoke in a calm tone. But precisely because of that, a great sense of sorrow could be felt in his words.

“What did other pharmacists or healers say the illness was?”

“None of them gave a proper diagnosis.”

The gravedigger sighed deeply and continued.

“The high-and-mighty healers didn’t even want to come here. I begged and pleaded, promising them good burial plots in the distant future when they pass away, and managed to get my daughter examined, but it was of no use. They all said she wasn’t sick, just sleeping…”

The gravedigger, who had seemed to have given up, raised his voice in anger as he recalled what the healers had said.

“For heaven’s sake, how can not waking up for such a long time be just normal sleep? She’s not eating, not excreting, just drying up like a corpse, and they say she’s just sleeping. If that’s their diagnosis, even I, who’s only handled corpses, could make such a diagnosis. Those quacks…”

When he said ‘those quacks,’ his fierce gaze was directed at me. It conveyed that if I said the same things as those quack healers, he wouldn’t be able to contain his anger.

I didn’t give him any definite hope that I could cure his daughter. Even I found it difficult to guess what illness it might be just from hearing the symptoms he described. The situation was that unfamiliar.

There are various illnesses that show symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea, but falling into a sleep like death…

Even for someone who sleeps a lot, it would only last a day or two at most. They’re not hibernating bears, and it’s natural to wake up when hungry or needing to use the bathroom.

Sometimes there are people who suffer from depression, not eating, not washing, and just sleeping, but that’s just an expression. Even such people engage in minimal activities necessary for survival.

‘What kind of illness could this be?’

As I couldn’t think of any specific disease based on his explanation alone, my concerns deepened. Ian, also finding the illness strange and unfamiliar, asked me in a small voice with a puzzled tone.

“Do illnesses like this really exist?”

“Well… To be honest, this is my first time hearing about it too.”

“How strange.”

Although we tried to keep our voices down, given how small the space was, our conversation must have reached the gravedigger’s ears.

However, he didn’t react much. It seemed he had completely given up hope that his daughter could be cured after consulting various healers and pharmacists.

His calm reaction made my heart feel even heavier.

“I can’t say for certain that I can cure your daughter’s illness. But I’d like to examine her… if that’s alright?”

When I cautiously asked him, he sighed and then nodded.

“Go ahead. My daughter is in this room.”

He didn’t seem to have high expectations of me. Nevertheless, he opened a small wooden door and led us to where his daughter was. It was the only room in this house that had a door, seemingly set apart as the daughter’s personal space.

‘It’s like a completely different place.’

It was entirely different from the bleak atmosphere of the house that smelled of corpses. It felt as if we had opened a door connected to another world.

Sunlight streamed in deeply through the windows, and the dressing table was decorated with cute accessories.

Especially the vase on the bedside table and the fresh flowers decorating the entire room showed how much the gravedigger cherished his daughter and was waiting for her to wake up.

“I’ll take a look for a moment.”

“Do as you please. I’ll wait outside.”

He spoke in a gruff manner and stepped out of the room. It seemed his heart was too weary to watch over his sick daughter.