An Offer He Couldn't Refuse
It felt as though I could hear the words Rebert had left unsaid at the end of his sentence. Jenice and Cho sucked in their breath. His hard-lived life was laid bare before us, and the weight of everything he had endured pressed down heavily on my conscience.
So he's never once been shown a single act of pure kindness. My heart felt terribly heavy. He never had a proper adult looking out for him.
Every time I confronted a dark side of the kingdom I had never seen in my past life, I was reminded anew of my own shortcomings. I made such a fuss about becoming a great queen without truly understanding anything—looking only at the kingdom's shining surface. I couldn't be like that in this life. Resolving to face the kingdom's true face, its failings, head-on, I met Rebert's eyes.
"Don't try to give me something. Let's make a deal instead."
"What kind of deal could you mean? As I said, I have nothing to offer—"
"Make me medicine."
Rebert's eyes trembled as if an earthquake had struck. The color was draining from his face.
Manufacturing and distributing counterfeit medicine was illegal in the kingdom. Though not by design, Rebert had lived his life racking up violations, so no wonder he was frightened.
"You have nothing to lose. I told you I'd protect you, didn't I? All you have to do is make a painkiller that isn't harsh on the body. That's not so difficult, is it? You're already making one. Just stabilize it. I'll fund everything you need for your research."
I launched into a long explanation before he could get any strange ideas. It took quite a lot of words to convince him that I already knew about his medicine and that I had no intention of turning him over to the constabulary over it.
"...Everything I need for research?"
At last, Rebert was beginning to take an interest in our deal.
"Yes. Corpses too, if you want them."
"Young Lady!"
Jenice shrieked. I decided I would explain everything to her in detail later and focused on persuading Rebert.
"Well?"
Do you like my terms? Aren't they tempting? Don't you just want to say 'yes' before you even realize it?
Just as expected, Rebert's fingertips twitched. I really did make him an offer he couldn't refuse.
In the future I'd lived through before my death, Rebert had been called a madman of a doctor. Word had spread that he loved dissection, and it was no groundless rumor—Rebert would go anywhere a dissection was possible. There was even a famous anecdote about him going a full week without sleeping, day or night, making the rounds of the art associations to take part in dissection research.
He is a little mad, I'll grant. But Rebert's obsession with dissection was never because he was insane, as the gossips claimed. He was simply obsessed with researching effective treatments. And the reason behind it was hardly what you'd expect from a genius doctor.
The kingdom relied on divine power and magic for grave injuries and illnesses. In a word, that meant only those who could pay received treatment. The problem would solve itself if there were more healing mages and wielders of divine power—but magic and divine power are not fields a person can master through effort alone. By contrast, the field of medicine Rebert studied and sought to advance could be learned by anyone.
So Rebert threw himself into research on surgical treatment for the sake of medical progress. Advance medical technology and train more doctors—that was his argument. He wanted a perfect understanding of the human body in order to perform safe, flawless surgery, and so he carried out the dissection of corpses, banned in the kingdom, entirely on his own authority.
"Young Lady, no! Corpses? You mean a dead person's body, right? And you're offering to provide one?"
Jenice asked, terrified.
"Young Lady, this can only end in disaster."
Jenice tried to stop me, her voice dripping with worry, but for making a deal with Rebert, nothing could be better than this.
"Rebert, I'll provide them—the corpses for you to dissect."
I said, looking not at Jenice but at Rebert.
"Th-th-that's illegal, Young Lady!"
The answer came from Jenice. I turned to face her.
"There is such a thing as legal dissection. Painters do it twice a year, don't they?" To paint the human body perfectly, painters dissected at the association level, and that was not illegal. It was an age in which medicine, which saved lives, was held in less esteem than art.
"I've never once heard of an individual being allowed to dissect a corpse."
Jenice, you're going to cry at this rate. Perhaps the handkerchief I've got ready should go to you instead of Rebert.
"If we sit quietly because it's forbidden, nothing changes. If it's forbidden, we make it permitted. We'll make dissection possible in the name of medical research, and if we get blocked there, we'll simply found a dozen or so artists' associations, won't we?"
"They say that costs an enormous fortune. Is that easy, Young Lady?"
Registering an association cost nearly as much as three mansions in the capital. On top of that, since I would be founding phantom associations, I would have to hire fake members as well. In short, a single association would run to the price of five houses. And that was leaving out the cost of procuring the corpses. Founding an association for the sake of one single person? Something no one else could even dream of. But I could do it.
"Hard for other people. Easy for me."
Jenice's mouth fell open. Even Cho sat up straight—perhaps my wealth was finally becoming real to him too.
"Once I'm head of the household, that is."
Of course, there were still mountains to cross before I could spend money freely.
"Why... would you go to such lengths..."
Rebert, who had been fidgeting with his hands and keeping his mouth shut tight, asked haltingly.
"Why? For you, of course."
I pointed a finger at Rebert. Placing Rebert under Ehrenberg wasn't mere greed on my part. Rebert would make his talent bloom even under a black-market dealer—that much had been true in the past. But he had been defeated far too easily. A tremendous loss, both for Rebert himself and for the kingdom.
"And it's for my sake as well. I need your help, truly."
Rebert was deeply shaken.
"You... need me?"
When I nodded, tears welled in Rebert's eyes. I hurriedly held out my handkerchief, and he took it with trembling hands.
"Do you need time to think it over?"
I burrowed into the sofa, twice the size of my body, and crossed my legs. I had meant to display the poise of a fine grown woman, but my not-yet-fully-grown body left both feet dangling in the air.
Focus slowly returned to Rebert's dazed eyes. I was certain now that he would accept my offer. In those tear-stained eyes, desire and excitement lurked.
"Yes! I'll do it!"
His voice was so vigorous that all his earlier hesitation seemed pointless, and at last I could break into a bright smile as well.
Everything went smoothly. Rebert accepted my offer, and I set up a laboratory for him. For now, it was an expense I could cover from my own purse. In just half a day, he produced the side-effect-free painkiller I had asked for. The pills, pressed firm by hand, were unimpressive to look at and foul-smelling—but I knew their effect was certain.
"How do you know it even works?"
Jenice was still wary of Rebert. So her grudge against him hasn't dissolved yet?
"You're the one who told me medicine isn't something to take carelessly."
Jenice said, pinching her nose shut.
"True. It needs verifying."
I decided to become the test subject myself. I had slept badly the day before and my head ached—a perfect opportunity to take a painkiller.
"You're going to take it, Young Lady?"
A trembling voice, wavering eyes. I understood Jenice's worry well enough, but if I didn't trust Rebert, who would? And I couldn't very well make someone else the test subject in my place.
"No problem at all. I'm confident. All my little brothers take it."
Rebert said, glaring at Jenice. He seemed considerably offended that she kept doubting him.
"That man has siblings?"
Jenice avoided exchanging words with Rebert as much as she could, so naturally the question meant for him came back to me.
The "little brothers" Rebert spoke of were not blood kin but the children of the slums. For children who walked barefoot down filthy streets and could hardly eat their fill, being hurt or falling ill was simply daily life. The medicine Rebert had just handed me was one made for those children. The ones who had survived on it, swallowing it countless times, had proven its efficacy and safety themselves.
"I trust him. That's why I'm taking it."
I swallowed the pill with an exaggerated gulp, making sure Rebert saw. His pupils blew wide, as if he hadn't believed I would really take it—and then his widened eyes brimmed with tears.
I don't have a handkerchief this time. He had cried earlier, too; Rebert was quite the tearful man.
"Will you wait in my room until the medicine takes effect? You want to confirm it works too, don't you?"
Rebert nodded. Not knowing where to sit, he stood there hunched and awkward until Jenice, with a disapproving look, hauled him in front of the sofa. Once I confirmed he was seated, I closed my eyes.
The effect came quickly. The heavy ache around my eyes vanished, and the heat that had pulsed at my temples cooled.
"Oh, this is nice?"
With my head clear, I felt full of energy. When I spoke, eyes flashing open, Jenice stared at me in disbelief.
"I'm serious, Jenice. I'd love to take it whenever that once-a-month pain comes around, too."
"It worked?"
Rebert shot to his feet. Perhaps, for all the confidence he'd shown while Jenice doubted him, he had been anxious inside.
"Yes, very nice. Trust me and try it yourself."
I sounded like a con artist just now, didn't I? But in truth, Rebert's medicine really was good enough to press on anyone without hesitation.
"I'd like the smell dealt with. And beyond light pain—could it handle stronger pain as well?" I asked, rising and stepping toward Rebert. I hadn't brought him here merely to make my headache medicine. I hoped he would treat Cassion's illness—and if a cure was beyond reach for now, then at least to ease his suffering.
"Yes, I'll try!"
Rebert nodded vigorously, wearing a shy smile. He looked just like a big dog.
"Well done, Rebert."
I stepped close in front of him and reached out my hand—to pat Rebert's head. But patting a man half a head taller than me was no easy feat. When I rose on tiptoe and squirmed, Rebert smoothly bent at the waist.
As I stroked Rebert's head, Jenice's odd expression caught my eye.