Be My Medicine

Chapter 1

"My lord, a letter has arrived from Greenwich Palace,"

The brunette maid carried a letter on top of a silver tray, Carolynn stared at how elegant the maid was carrying it, she was weirded out by the way she was carrying a simple letter. 'It's only a letter, she's carrying the letter as if it was the holy grail." She thought, but in all seriousness, she was a tad curious on what was written in the letter.

"Ah- Mary, put it on my desk please."

The maid nodded as she exits the Morton house's dining room.

"I wonder if it was news from the queen?"

"Mother, for the last time I do not want to become a lady-in-waiting, I'd like to be- "

The duke stood up. Silencing his last child and his whole family. Standing up he saw his second son eating his mashed potatoes, his wife nervously wiping her mouth, his first daughter looked at him but continued soon afterwards, and his last child flinched as he stared at her.

"A doctor? Carol, we've talked about this before! It's preposterous! Nobody would want to have a female working on an occupation that is specifically set for males, and even if you do succeed? They'll just be accusing you of witchcraft!"

Carolynn clenched her fists, for the thousands of time her parents have been disapproving her of her future. She thought to herself, she'd just end up marrying a nobleman like her 22-year-old sister who is carrying a child at this very moment.

She thought it'd be lucky if she were to marry some random noble on her 20s, or maybe even late 20s if she's that lucky. Ever since she read Andreas Vesalius' books, she immediately fell in love with the world of medicine. Then she discovered figures like Hippocrates and Avicenna and proceeds to read books and/or scriptures like Sushruta Samhita.

Her parents thought it'd only be something to pass time, but it escalated to the young noble trying and mixing different herbs, in her study room which her parents have granted (which at the very least Carolynn was thankful for) are thousands of herbs like cloves, arnica, citronella, and a lot more. She keeps a little pouch containing first-aid herbs such as aloe vera, yarrow which has been ground, essential oils that were made from lavender, witch hazel, and citronella, and a 'massage' oil from arnica.

Though her parents disapprove, the servants and her older sister approve of her creations saying it helps. Carolynn stood up from her seat.

"Let them then! Let them say that I'm a witch! They'll soon be thankful to me for finding cures for syphilis, smallpox, and the plague."

"We both know that is impossible Carolynn, the best doctor of London hasn't even figured out where the plague comes from, the closest we have is that it was from the miasma!"

"Father, think about it, it does not make sense. It can't be from miasma, what if it came from something we pass daily? What if it was so obvious that we just forget about it?"

"Carolynn, you will do as I say! If the queen accepts you to be one of her ladies-in-waiting, then you shall leave tomorrow. Maybe the queen will somehow fix that head of yours."

And so, the duke leaves the room to go on and fetch the letter from the queen. The last sentence her father said made her heartaches, but more importantly, Carolynn had a heart-wrenching feeling that the queen did accept her. The duchess soon followed her husband, while her sibling carefully glanced at her.

"Carol, are you alright?"

Her sister, Beatrice, asked her worriedly. To her, Beatrice was her closest family, and Beatrice loves her sister dearly. Though she can't say the same to her brothers, though of course, she cannot bring herself to hate them. Her eldest brother Edmund is the replica of their father: cold and serious, the expression they both show daily; yet overprotective, generous, and weirdly understanding. He married a merchant's daughter, though their statuses are different, their father allowed him because she was a genius at trading and convincing.