episode_0087

Episode 87. The Cause of Malingering (1)

****

We moved into the mansion’s reception room.

The first princess, Emily.

Miss Emily had changed from her pajama-like outfit earlier into proper clothes. The butler put it aside for a moment to reassure her.

Where should I start talking?

“That’s right. I think there are some cosmetics that are bad for your body. Especially the white ones.”

“Really?”

“Lead, that is, lead is bad for your body. Cosmetics containing lead should be banned, but there are still people making them.”

It would be difficult to expect a similar level of regulation as today. Emily looked up at the ceiling. As if she could see her dressing table upstairs.

“I see.”

“How long have you been sick?”

It means how long you have been pretending to be sick. Emily must have understood that too. The patient thought for a moment and then answered.

“About a month.”

“Why did you do that?”

It was a direct question. Emily glared at me. I wondered if I should have asked more subtly.

“I don’t want to tell anyone right now. Rather, how did you know, teacher?”

There were many clues.

First, the first clue.

“Starting with the wound on the back of your hand. You put your finger in your mouth, and you touch the back of your throat, causing you to vomit, so you have a wound that was scraped by your teeth.”

“Ah.”

Amy checked the back of her hand.

As if it was the first time he had seen the wound. Since it had developed over several days, he might not have thought it was a big deal.

Second clue.

“You hid books under your bed, right? Maybe you hid the books you usually study or read for fun so you wouldn’t act crazy in front of your family?”

“Ah… … . You saw that.”

Third clue.

“It’s clean, considering the crazy person left it there. Of course, it could be because I clean it up often, but the butler didn’t seem to be afraid of the patient either.”

There’s no law that says people should be pretty crazy. If you knock over a bookshelf once, your family will take it out of the room. It’s not for nothing that there are soft, furniture-less rooms in mental hospitals.

Emily closed her eyes.

“I feel possessed.”

“Isn’t a healer someone who fights illness? My job is to catch ghosts.”

Emily tilted her head.

“That’s right, really.”

“So why did you do that?”

What matters is the reason you came up with.

There must have been a good reason for him to act crazy and vomit in front of his family, at least in his head.

“Um… ….”

“I don’t intend to pursue it. If you find it difficult to talk about, you can think about it some more.”

“Yes.”

Emily just kept her mouth shut.

Although it was frustrating, I endured it.

There is little to be gained by confronting the patient, especially if he or she is a psychiatric patient. Let’s build rapport or at least give him or her time to think.

“If it’s because of anorexia or an obsessive compulsion to eat, there are medications to relieve the compulsive disorder. If it’s because you feel nauseous, there are medications for that too.”

The patient shook his head.

“No… … . As you said earlier, it is true that I vomited to pretend to be crazy. I also saw ghosts at home… … .”

What the hell is a ghost? Should I add hallucinations to the symptoms? Or is it an extension of pretending to be crazy? I’ve been thinking about the word choice.

“Did you see a ghost?”

“Yes.”

Let’s just know this.

“Your parents are having a hard time. How about doing what Miss Emily wants, but also thinking of a way to ease their worries?”

I thought it was a winning move, but Emily reacted indifferently. Why?

“They won’t have a hard time.”

Look, she’s mentally ill. Separately, I know that Emily has some kind of psychological aversion to the Duke and Duchess. I don’t know why yet.

Actually, it’s a bit too early to jump to conclusions. Emily may have good reasons for blaming her parents, if you look at it honestly.

“Think about them now. Their three children are sick. If things continue like this, the Duke and Duchess will die of illness first.”

“Yes… … .”

Emily nodded slowly.

I know the vomiting is just a faking, but it’s too early to be sure. As I said last time, healthy people don’t pretend to be sick.

****

That was the end of my conversation with my eldest daughter, Emily. She was a friend who was much more frustrating than I had expected.

No, you should have spoken properly. But I didn’t want to waste time just waiting for an answer. So I just left it for now.

“Istina.”

“Yes.”

“Go to the yard and see what flowers there are. Also check when they were planted.”

All you have to do is come and see the flowers.

Istina nodded. But then her expression changed to one of curiosity.

“Yes. But didn’t you already conclude that your eldest daughter was pretending to be sick?”

“All three of you are sick. We need to find out the reason. Even if the conclusion is that you are just pretending to be sick.”

“Could it be because of personal reasons? Like being a lovesick person, not liking the person you’re seeing on a blind date, or having strict parents… !”

Isn’t that too obvious?

“Well, first, bring the flowers. If you have any questions for the servants, ask them.”

“Yes.”

Istina took a bundle and went out into the yard. Now she had to go meet her second child… … What could be the problem?

I looked at the butler teacher.

“Teacher, can I ask you a few questions?”

“Yes. Come to the kitchen.”

I followed the butler.

We sat at a small table on one side of the kitchen. The butler was sitting at the table with a relatively cheerful expression. But I guess the butler knows the situation in this house the best.

Because the patient’s answer was strange.

“What is your name?”

“Please call me Anderson.”

“Mr. Anderson, are you feeling well?”

“I’m seeing a doctor too?”

Actually, it’s something I’ve said habitually.

“If you don’t have any, that’s fine. Have any of you ever sneezed or anything because of pollen?”

“Pollen? I don’t know. Sometimes I see people sneezing when they leave the house.”

– Sneeze when leaving the house.

“First of all, regarding Miss Emily. Has anything been stressful or upsetting recently? Like a breakup.”

The butler hesitated for a while, then shook his head. What I was curious about was the reason for his hesitation. It must have meant that he had remembered something.

“You saw the line a month ago.”

“Ah. What did you say?”

“They just said it was okay.”

What, it really might not have had much to do with medical issues. If I had to give it a medical diagnosis, I’d say it’s probably symptoms of an eating disorder and depression.

“Do you use a lot of cosmetics?”

“No. I hardly ever use it.”

That’s fortunate. Although Emily Lee did use cosmetics containing lead, it didn’t seem to be the cause of her symptoms.

“That’s not good for your body. Tell them to buy a new one that doesn’t contain any of those ingredients.”

“Yes.”

“Put away the flowers too. You’re already feeling unwell, so you don’t know what might make your symptoms worse.”

“Okay, I see. Okay… … .”

“Now let’s go see the second child. What was it, you said this person has seizures?”

“Yes.”

“Is there any chance of it being a smoke?”

“I don’t think so. The seizures were more severe than I thought. In physiological terms, it’s called epilepsy, right? I looked it up.”

I nodded.

“It could be epilepsy.”

****

We arrived at the door of Elisa, the second daughter of the Duke of Ceruleus. I stopped for a moment before entering.

The second princess, Erica.

“Are there only three daughters in the Duke’s family?”

“Yes.”

“That’s strange.”

I’ve heard that story before. People who work at nuclear power plants only have daughters. The male Y chromosome is more vulnerable to radiation.

Was there radiation exposure nearby? By any chance, high radon levels in the basement of the mansion. This may sound ridiculous, but… … .

I think so too. Let’s take a look.

I knocked on the door.

“Can I come in?”

“Yes… … .”

Although her voice was small, she said I could go in. I went into Miss Elisa’s room.

The second daughter of the Cerulean family certainly looked a bit younger than the Emily we had seen earlier.

“Are you okay with the treatment?”

“Yes.”

This patient was said to have seizures, right? First, we need to consider the type and cause of the seizures.

Let’s consider how to distinguish between a true seizure and a pseudo-seizure. Generalized epileptic seizures are usually accompanied by severe confusion before and after the onset, loss of consciousness, and loss of avoidance responses to danger.

Pseudo-seizures are, simply put, partial seizures. In the case of pseudo-seizures, there is usually an avoidance response to danger. It is rare for someone to get hurt or urinate during a seizure.

By the way, the correct term used these days is psychogenic seizure. However, pseudoseizures are shorter, so let’s call them pseudoseizures here.

What medical professionals often forget is that pseudoseizures are not necessarily not a disease.

Pseudo-seizures are also symptoms of something. They are not seizures caused by epilepsy, but pseudo-seizures occur because something hurts.

“First of all. I heard that the patient often has seizures. Is there a reason you can remember?”

Elisa looked at me with blank eyes. A look that said, “What are you talking about?” Oh, just looking at this, I can tell that I’m going to collapse at any moment-

As expected, Erica twisted her body in a strange way and fell to the floor. I let out a sigh.

What should I say to wake him up this time? Should I tell him that the enema is good for epilepsy?