Chapter 151 151. Preparation Is Completed, Part X
Julietta's Dressup
Translator: Khan
Editor: Aelryinth
"Yes, then Iâll go and clean first. When the doctor comes, letâs have him treat her and then move in. Iâll go to the dining room and get some food." Sophie went out to get something to eat from the dining room in the main house.
A few minutes later Gibson returned with the doctor. The middle-aged doctor didnât express much after seeing the severe wound. Thanks to him, Phoebeâs face visibly relaxed. The doctor gave her an ointment to treat her back injury, and began to pack his medical bag to go back.
Julietta waited for Phoebe to speak first, but when she was quiet and he packed up all his luggage, she spoke carefully to the doctor who was getting up, "Doctor, please take care of that patientâs leg."
When the doctor looked at her without realizing the reason, Julietta hesitated for a moment before lifting a sheet on the side where Phoebe had lost her leg.
"Well, I think you used a prosthetic leg. Where is it?"
"... I lost it."
As if he guessed before Phoebeâs answer by her bruised face and bloodstained back, the doctor asked a different question. "What kind of prosthetic leg did you use?"
"It was a wooden prosthetic leg."
The doctor rose with a nod. "Itâll take about four days. Iâll send it here as soon as itâs complete."
When the doctor went outside after saying goodbye, Julietta followed him out and said to Amelie, "Iâll check to see if the bed is ready. Gibson, Iâm sorry, but you need to go to the Ducal Mansion."
Gibson was waiting by the door, and nodded quickly as Julietta touched his clothes softly. She asked Gibson to bring a maidâs uniform from the Ducal Mansion, and then hurried after the doctor who was heading toward the wagon storage.
"Doctor, wait a minute." Doctor Paulo turned back at the voice calling him.
" I have something to tell you about her prosthetic leg."
"Yes, please speak. Is the wooden prosthetic leg okay for use?"
"Itâs a very expensive thing in itself. A wooden prosthetic leg is used most by ordinary people." He said it was the worst type of prosthetic leg.
"Well, I donât care about the cost, so Iâd like to have a prosthetic leg thatâs easy to use, please. I donât know, but is it impossible to make a leg so that she can wear a pair of shoes?"
"No, itâs possible. The metal and leather prosthetic leg can even form toe joints. As long as itâs made exactly the same length as the other leg, and if she is used to it, it looks like she is not wearing a prosthetic leg."
"Oh, Iâd like that, then. Will it take a long time?"
"One week is enough. But can I ask you a question?"
"Yes. Is there a problem?"
"Not that... was the patientâs hair originally white?"
Julietta only had her eyes bleary and asked him again, not knowing what he was talking about. "Wouldnât that be the case? Actually, I donât know the details because I met her for the first time."
"Itâs very rare to have white hair from birth."
"Then are you saying that something caused it?" asked Julietta, recalling the story of Marie Antoinette whose hair was white with intense fear.
"I donât know that either. I was just wondering if it was the same symptom that someone I knew went through."
"Was it bad?"
When asked by Julietta, Paulo answered after a short pause. "Yes. Suddenly her hair became white and she died in less than a week."
Surprised, Julietta pressed the doctor without realizing it. "So are you saying that the person in there is going to die in a week?"
"Oh, no. Other than having white hair, there are no symptoms like that. Just in case, I looked at the color of the tongue and the ends of her fingernails, and fortunately, I found no abnormalities other than trauma."
"Then why didnât you ask the patient about the color of her hair? Iâll go ask her right now. What if thereâs something wrong?"
Dr. Paulo stopped her when Julietta turned around and tried to run into the house. "No. Let her rest for now. She looks fine on the outside, but she is very unstable. If itâs true that the color of her hair has changed suddenly, the impact will be very severe, so youâd better not irritate her."
Dr. Paulo added a moment of hesitation, "I donât have to keep coming to examine, her back wounds and bruises will actually heal with only medication. But if you donât mind, Iâd like to visit tomorrow. Of course, I will charge the cost of treatment only for todayâs examination and a prosthetic leg. If the color of her hair suddenly changed, this time I want to find out!"
"It must have been someone close to you. Iâll be relieved if you visit often." At the pained eyes of the doctor, Julietta agreed.
"Thank you. Iâll be back by this time tomorrow."
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Julieta saw off the doctor and then moved to the main house to help Sophie.
Of the rooms on the left side of the second floor, the three bedrooms facing the street were used as a doll room, a sewing room, and a tailorâs room, while the right-side bedrooms on the other side were all locked. Sophie looked at Julietta as she tried to clean up one of the innermost bedrooms on the right. "Iâm afraid she can see people coming and going in and out of the annex, but I can give her this bedroom."
"Yes, we canât give the patient a noisy bedroom on the street. Besides, if she looks out the window... Iâm worried if she can show up. Iâm sure sheâs had a bad thing happen to her, so I think itâs better to stay out of sight of other people. Well, the people who come and go should be careful. Itâs better if he doesnât come here this time. Iâll tell the Prince to refrain from going in and out of the annex.
"In fact, it doesnât matter now that itâs less than two weeks to the end of the social season."
Amelie and Sophie had been told by Maribel about the future of Julietta and the Prince. They didnât hear the details, but just by looking at the frequent visits of the Prince to the small annex, they could infer the situation. Sophie was just hoping things would go smoothly.
"What do you mean it doesnât matter?"
Julietta didnât understand what she was saying, but Sophie was busy changing the new bed sheets. The two began to skim and clean the clothes covering the furniture in the bedroom, which had been empty for a long time.
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Phoebe was not able to move to the second-floor bedroom of the main house until evening, when the cleaning was finished. Julietta came downstairs after watching Phoebe lay in bed and fall asleep with a strange yet happy face.
After changing into the maidâs suit Gibson brought from the mansion of the Duke, she asked Amelie and Sophie about Phoebe.
"Taking care of her is not difficult, but I canât help but wonder what she went through and what caused her to be abandoned."
Julietta murmured sadly at Amelieâs concern. "I donât think itâs anyoneâs business if I think that what happened to Phoebe might have been me. Iâll be back in a couple of weeks as a normal Julietta without a guardian. Because of this dressing shop, Iâm not as grim as I used to be, but itâs still disturbing. I could have been in a bad situation... take good care of Phoebe."
Sophie was stunned at Juliettaâs words. "Why are you saying such an unlucky thing? Your future must be solid. We wonât talk nonsense, so donât even mention such ominous things. Do you understand?"
Julietta smiled at Sophie, who was anxious about her unnecessary words. "Iâm sorry. I wonât do it again. See you tomorrow, then. I think Veraâs worried because Gibson brought me the maidâs suit, so Iâve got to get back to the mansion."
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The next day, Julietta went to the dressing shop and checked on the clothes for the fashion show. When Dr. Paulo visited, she took him to Phoebeâs bedroom. Phoebe was lying in bed, and greeted the two with a much better face than yesterday.
After simply treating her back and checking her tongue and fingernail ends again, Paulo asked a serious question a moment later. "Miss Phoebe, this is a doctorâs question, so I hope you wonât feel bad."
When he carefully asked for her understanding, Phoebe nodded with anxious eyes.