"Th-that was nerve-wracking," Yao let drop as soon as they boarded the carriage back. Noticing that she had spoken, she immediately schooled her expression, but it was already too late. If En'en was here, she would probably be making a face saying isn't our careless young lady adorable. Instead, Maomao kept a close eye on her.
Their first doctor's visit was over, but Maomao could say that it was dicey. She couldn't confirm the circumstance with Dad at the place; they had to speak after leaving the villa.
(It's too roundabout.)
The priestess had come all the way here via a boat from far away so she had thought that she had some hope with the medical treatment here, but…
"So how was it?"
How was it? Dad had asked, but Maomao felt that this gentle, kind and overly soft-hearted man knew her answer.
She reported. "Is the Priestess-sama really ill?"
It was Maomao's honest impressions.
"What are you talking about? She came all the way here from Sha'ou, you know," Yao cut in.
"Yeah, she purposely took a long journey here by boat. Certainly, I thought that she was ill, but I wouldn't think that it is something you would go as far as to rely on foreign doctors to cure."
Since Yao was before them, Maomao made sure to speak politely to Dad.
"Then, what kind of illness does she have?"
At Dad's question, Maomao answered as she looked at Yao's written notes. "Her symptoms are fatigue, insomnia, low physical strength, and she seemed to have put on weight. Also, the most worrying is…"
That her broken bone can't be healed. It was the pinky of her left hand, so it doesn't have much influence on her daily life, but it would probably be discomforting.
"I think it is probably a disorder based on losing her femininity. It's a pretty common illness for people in old age."
It is mainly an illness from the ceasing of menses. From their diminished feminity, they become unstable mentally and physically. Among that, their bones become brittle.
Considering that she was in her forties, it was a little early, but menopause wasn't unusual, and hypothetically, if she never got her period in the first place, she would probably get sick more easily.
"Is that so?" Dad said, "Then, I'll ask a question on the assumption that Maomao's diagnosis is correct. Medical treatments will differ depending on the country. The priestess might be depending on Rii while truly believing that Sha'ou cannot treat her illness. Do you have some basis for that?"
"Yes." Maomao took out the written record of what the priestess ate. "Her medicine is comprised of things that increase feminity. But, as far as I can see of her usual diet, to the point that is unneeded, she is only eating things that can replace medicine."
"By that, could you mean… that time, where they bought up the entire shop's inventory…?"
It seems Yao noticed. A couple of days ago, the priestess' attendant had bought up a large number of ingredients. Among those, were comprised of a lot of things that can be used for gynecological disorders.
How the priestess dealt with her own illness, that was understandable. And yet, does the reason she purposely came all the way to Rii have a great relation to politics?
"Can I take that you two share the same sentiments?" Dad asked Yao as well.
"I don't have as much doctor's knowledge as Maomao does, but I did see Priestess-sama's attendant buy a lot of medicine the other day, so I don't have a different opinion." Yao was probably slightly vexed that she had to mention her lack of ability. She was frank enough to acknowledge that, which was cute.
(She knew that it was medicine.)
Then, is she personally aware that eating hasma is medicine? Maomao suddenly thought. Let's try asking her later.
Dad made a troubled expression. He usually made a troubled expression, so speaking of what troubled face it was, it was an expression that was a little troubled. "I'll say one thing."
"Yes."
"Yes."
Maomao and Yao replied.
"Our job is tied with people's lives," he said.
That was a given.
"There must not be anything about the priestess's medical treatment that is tied with life."
"Yes, that's the case, though?" Yao asked, looking confused.
"Even if mistaken, you must not speak of what you said just then to the Priestess' side. We should just give the Priestess medical treatment that is adequate for her."
Even if the remedy was what the other party had already been doing.
(She looks like she's disagreeing.)
It was probably that. In the capacity of Yao, she was thinking why they can't talk about using the same treatment the other party was doing. If they do such a thing, she would probably be wanting to say that they were incompetent.
(Acting stupid, is also important.)
Dad had said that you must not have anything that is tied with life just then.
The life he said here, was about Maomao and Yao's.
In the air that stunk like politics, it posed a danger to life to carelessly speak the truth. It was something the naïve young lady still needed to understand.
(En'en would be able to persuade her well, though.)
Said court lady was currently in the middle of a business trip, so it can't be helped.
"Yao, we'll be arriving soon."
Maomao looked out the carriage to skirt the topic. It took longer to return from the imperial court to the medical office than the villa from the imperial court, so it was rough. "Shall we look for medicine when we're back at the medical office? There might be some medicine that can only be found in this country, and isn't it good enough if we make her physical condition a little better with that?" she asked.
"…I get it," Yao said.
She's smart, so she understood that it's meaningless to raise a fuss here.
She went silent for once.
.
.
.
When they arrived at the medical office, Dad immediately went to report all the data.
Maomao and Yao obtained Dad's permission and started to look for prescription medicine in the drug room. Things that won't be effective to the priestess' constitution, and things that probably can't be used, they laid those out for the time being.
With the things Maomao knew on one side, Yao took them out one by one as she looked through a book. Although they got permission, they had the drug room to themselves so a court physician got curious and looked in.
"What are you doing, having such a spread, what medicine…. Woah!"
She heard a voice of disgust. When she wondered who it was, it was an old court physician who was an old acquaintance of Dad. He was one of the court physicians who went along to check Former Consort Riishu's virginity.
"What is it? It is an odd combination?" Maomao looked puzzled.
"Ahh, no, for a second I got a shock, thinking that I got taken back to that place."
"That place?"
"That place." The old court physician pointed to the north of the imperial court. "The inner palace."
"What about it? Certainly, I've gathered up medicine for gynecological disorders, but it has nothing to do with the inner palace." Maomao looked at the spread of medicine, feeling mystified.
"Gynecological disorders, huh. Then I understand. We don't treat those often since the vast majority of our patients in the imperial court are male, so I fell into a panic."
Could he have some unpleasant memory? That said, she was reminded of the fact that court physicians that weren't eunuchs also had passage into the inner palace a long time ago.
"Which reminds me, I heard that you have once worked as an inner palace court physician before, but did something happen at that time?"
"It's nothing major. I just have a slightly unpleasant memory. This, this, and next is…" He picked up the medicines Maomao and Yao took out. "If you mix various other types, you get a special pseudo-eunuch medicine."
""Pseudo-eunuch medicine?"" Maomao and Yao's voices overlapped.
"It's nothing major. It was when the inner palace needed men that aren't eunuchs. It'll be troubling if something happens, right? Hence, there's medicine to suppress male desire where you can be considered like a eunuch."
"Ahhh." Maomao understood. Jinshi aside, when Gaoshun entered the inner palace, she had wondered if anything would happen, but he was probably made to drink this kind of medicine. "Anyways, it sounds bad."
"Yeah, it was really bad," the one with personal experience said. "Moreover, if you get used to it, you'll get odd side effects."
"So they really do have it, side effects."
"There are. That's why I didn't really like it."
She understood the reason he sounded disgusted. She wanted to ask him about the kinds of side effects there were, but he had already left the drug room, seemingly busy.
"This type of thing is En'en's forte though," Yao said.
"It seems she'll be good at it."
"There's also the side effects he mentioned just then, but shall we write a letter to get her to check, just in case?"
"I guess so. En'en will be delighted."
The court lady had been lacking in her young lady, so she might be getting withdrawal symptoms soon.
But perhaps, thanks to that, Maomao was able to speak better to Yao, so it was a good thing. This was what Maomao felt while she considered what she should do with the combination of medicines.