Chapter 102: Paternity Confirmation Test
“Your Majesty… Are you saying that only Crown Prince Louis is of your blood, while Princess Beatrice is…”
“Yes. The child of my brother.”
“……”
I was momentarily flustered by the emperor’s utterly firm declaration, but his words couldn’t possibly be true. And as a doctor, it was my duty to dispel his misunderstanding. This was something only I could do in this world.
“Your Majesty, forgive my impertinence, but both of them are undoubtedly your blood. Twins—”
“I thought so at first too. Look at the image in the crystal orb. You’ll understand what I mean.”
“……?”
The emperor raised his hand slightly, cutting me off. As he said, I rotated the holographic image floating in the crystal orb like a 3D photo, examining it from every angle. But I still couldn’t grasp what he was getting at.
No matter how closely I scrutinized the photo, all I saw were two children who looked exactly like the emperor.
“I beg your pardon, Your Majesty. I don’t understand what you mean.”
At my admission that I couldn’t fathom his intent, the emperor let out a faint sigh and continued.
“Crown Prince Louis has my dark brown hair and Empress Sharon’s blue eyes. But… that thing attached to the prince’s back has my brother’s exact golden hair and golden eyes. Do you not realize that this proves it can’t be my blood?”
No, this…
His expression was so resolute that bewilderment washed over me. Ever since coming to this world, I’d known their medical knowledge differed greatly from modern standards, but this had to be the peak of it.
“I’ve asked countless mages how to separate the prince from that thing. But they all said surgery would endanger both their lives. It’s only survived this long because it was attached to the prince’s body. I want you to save the prince’s life.”
“……”
Siamese twin separation surgery must save both patients. No matter how much of an emperor he was, he couldn’t dictate one child’s life over the other’s. And even if he offered me a fortune, I had no intention of deliberately saving only the prince.
I couldn’t deny being a money-loving doctor. But I had zero intention of killing someone for cash, so I opened my mouth cautiously.
“Your Majesty, if I may speak boldly… In my view, Princess Beatrice is also undoubtedly your blood.”
“Are you ignoring my words? It inherited neither my hair color nor the empress’s eye color!”
The emperor raised his voice in anger, but I met his gaze calmly and replied.
“That’s certainly possible.”
“Possible? Do you even know what you’re saying?!”
Of course I knew. And now I’d explain it, so he’d better listen well.
“Have you ever heard of genes?”
“Genes?”
I’d asked just in case, but as expected, he had no idea what genes were. I’d have to explain it as simply and concisely as possible. At the emperor’s level.
“Genes are, simply put, traits like personality, constitution, and appearance inherited from ancestors. The process of passing them to offspring is called heredity. Like how Your Majesty’s hair color and the empress’s eye color were passed to Crown Prince Louis.”
“Do I seem ignorant of that? I know it precisely, which is why I’m saying this!”
“No, Your Majesty. You don’t know.”
His voice rose in agitation, but I firmly denied it.
“Are you mocking me now?!”
“Not at all, Your Majesty. First, it’s not impossible that the twins have different fathers, as you fear.”
If I could, I’d say it was absolutely impossible, but doctors must never claim 100% certainty in any situation. Exceptions always exist.
“In the case of Crown Prince Louis and Princess Beatrice, it’s an exception among exceptions.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Conjoined twins only occur in identical twins with the same appearance and sex. But identical twins don’t always have the same sex and appearance unconditionally.”
Our bodies contain various genes that determine skin color, eye color, hair color, and more. Identical twins usually share them, but if a mutation occurs right after the embryo splits, identical twins can have the same genetic information yet different appearances.
“The odds of identical twins having different sexes and appearances, and being born conjoined, are extremely low. But the odds of Crown Prince Louis and Princess Beatrice having different fathers are even lower.”
“Even lower?”
I nodded cautiously at the emperor’s question.
“Yes, Your Majesty. If they truly had different bloodlines, it would be utterly impossible for them to be born conjoined.”
To put it more bluntly, twins with different fathers have a one-in-a-million chance. For that minuscule probability to occur, the late empress would have had to sleep with both the emperor’s brother and the emperor himself on the same day.
But if I said that, my head would roll.
He was an emperor who’d renamed the capital after his beloved empress because he couldn’t forget her. Asking him would be too treasonous even to consider.
“The imperial mages all said that thing attached to my son is my brother’s blood. You’re the only one claiming it’s mine, Gold Baron. Remember that.”
As expected, the imperial mages were just as incompetent as those from the magic towers. Even faced with his sharp words, I maintained a serene expression and spoke.
“Haven’t I already proven on the front lines that I’m different from the other mages?”
“You’re saying the imperial mages are wrong?”
I nodded vigorously with full conviction.
“Yes, Your Majesty. But if you find it hard to trust my words outright, why not perform a paternity confirmation test?”
“Paternity confirmation test? A test to confirm if the prince and that thing are my children?”
“Exactly. If you provide hair or nail clippings from yourself, Crown Prince Louis, and Princess Beatrice, I can accurately confirm the paternal relationship between Your Majesty, the prince, and the princess.”
The emperor fell silent for a long while at my words. Perhaps because he’d never once considered her his daughter, his deliberation dragged on considerably.
“Gold Baron, if your words to me prove false, you will bear the consequences.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
Now I had to ask him again.
“Your Majesty, if the paternity test proves both Crown Prince Louis and Princess Beatrice are your children, would you still want me to save only the prince?”
“……”
The emperor couldn’t answer. As if he’d never even contemplated such a scenario.
“……I’ll consider it.”
“Understood, Your Majesty. And may I mention one more thing?”
Still lost in thought, the emperor merely nodded.
“To perform conjoined twin separation surgery, Crown Prince Louis and Princess Beatrice must come to my hospital.”
“That’s impossible, Gold Baron. Crown Prince Louis cannot leave the palace for anywhere else.”
This time, it was Theodor who spoke up.
“The empire’s little sun, Crown Prince Louis’s safety is the utmost secret. We cannot escort His Highness anywhere his identity might be exposed.”
“Theodor is right. All surgical instruments must already be prepared. If anything additional is needed, we’ll provide it all, but leaving the palace is out of the question.”
I’d known it wouldn’t be easy from the start. Only a handful of people, including me, knew the crown prince was a conjoined twin across the entire continent. And the medical tools used by imperial mages were surely axes, knives, and ironsaws. Bringing all my equipment via subspace pouch was practically impossible, especially since I couldn’t embed every medical device’s function into one.
And that’s not all. Sterility is the real issue.
But no matter how much I explained until my mouth went dry, the emperor wouldn’t understand. Their idea of cleanliness was dust-free to the eye, while mine meant fully sterilized.
“Conjoined twin separation is an extremely difficult, high-risk surgery. It requires my assistant medical staff and must be done in a familiar environment. And we’ll need anesthesia, so…”
Thus, I persuaded the emperor using the need for surgical assistants and miscellaneous excuses. But he said we’d decide after the paternity test, leaving nothing more to settle in the palace.
* * *
The next day, the countship conferral ceremony in the palace was formal and brief. I received the hair and nail clippings from the emperor and returned straight to the Beauty Tower.
“You’ve worked hard, Director.”
“No hardship. I’m heading straight to run the test.”
Back at the Beauty Tower, I immediately began the genetic analysis. Known widely as paternity testing, it was just one part of gene sequencing.
Never thought I’d do a paternity test here. Not hard, though.
Genetic testing is typically done to check for mutations or family history. It’s highly beneficial in advance—not just for chronic conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes, or cancers like colorectal or gastric, but also for wellness like obesity, diet, exercise, bone health, and vascular health, aiding future lifestyle improvements.
I compared the genes of the emperor, prince, and princess using the genetic analyzer. After about five hours, the results came out.
“Crown Prince Louis: 99.997% paternity probability. Princess Beatrice: 99.998%. See? They’re his kids, no doubt.”
“Director, what did you say?”
Stella approached as I muttered at the paternity report.
“Results are in. Check my crystal orb for Guard Captain Theodor Holman’s contact. Take a photo of the paternity confirmation report and send it via orb.”
“Yes, Director.”
Whether to proceed with surgery on the children now rested entirely with the emperor. His choice would determine if I could operate on the ten-year-olds.
From the photos, it didn’t seem so, but if they share a brain by any chance… surgery would be impossible.
No matter how genius a doctor they called me, much of the human body—especially the brain—remained unknown territory. I prayed fervently it was within my operable range.
So those children, attached together for ten years, could finally feel true freedom.