episode_0088

Episode 88. The Cause of Malingering (2)

****

There are so many strange people here. I wasn’t worried because it was obvious to me that it was a pseudo-epilepsy. But the butler was freaking out.

“Uh, what should I do?”

“Just calm down.”

“Okay, I understand.”

“When a seizure occurs, calmly turn the patient to the side and put a pillow or something on the patient to prevent them from hitting their head. Grabbing their arms and legs or putting something in their mouth will not help.”

“Yes.”

Of course, this is only true if it is a real epileptic seizure. In this patient’s case, it is a psychogenic seizure, so it is okay to leave it alone.

I looked at the butler teacher.

“Butler, my bag is on the coat rack next to the mansion entrance. There is an anti-epileptic drug in the bag. Please bring the bag.”

“Okay.”

The butler ran. I looked down at Miss Elisa. As expected, it was just as I thought. After hearing about the enema, it seems like all thoughts of acting out the seizure have disappeared.

The strength that was fluttering has died.

“Patient. Are you awake?”

“Ugh… … .”

I shook Erica awake while she was lying on the floor. Erica stopped moving.

“The butler is gone. I’ll keep it a secret, so you can stop acting.”

“Hey, teacher. You’re not going to use an enema, are you?”

True. The first one is pretending to be crazy, and the second one is pretending to have a seizure. The family is really doing well. I avoided eye contact and snickered. But Erica looked genuinely worried.

ah.

I shouldn’t scare someone with something like this, but he already looked mentally ill. I tried to keep the smile off my face as much as possible. Seriously.

“I didn’t bring it. I was just asking to see if it was really a seizure.”

Erica sat on the floor with an awkward expression. I sat across Erica’s desk.

“Just say what comes to mind. I know that the patient’s seizures are conscious behavior. But the important thing is not that he is pretending to be ill, but that he is reacting to something, right?”

“I see.”

“We will help you by understanding the problem.”

Emily said it was because she didn’t like the person she was dating. I don’t know if that’s a valid reason or if it’s the only reason.

I guess we’ll have to see all three patients to find out.

“The doctor said you were the best doctor in the empire, right? He came to see us today.”

“Yes.”

“This is it. You said that I do it on purpose. It’s true that I’m conscious during a seizure, but I don’t necessarily do it on purpose.”

“That could be the case.”

Are psychogenic seizures a response to stress? It’s entirely possible.

More than that, I wonder if the three sisters know that each other’s illnesses are fake illnesses. Judging by their reactions so far, it seems like they don’t know.

“This might sound a bit stupid.”

“What is it?”

“Everyone around me is sick, so I feel like I should be sick too.”

I couldn’t say, “What kind of idiot is this?” So I covered my mouth with my hand and lowered my head, pretending to think.

You could call it a kind of mass hysteria, or peer pressure. It may seem funny to others, but it’s entirely possible.

“Any other reasons?”

“There is, but… … .”

Blood is thicker than water, I guess. Just like her sister, Erica kept her mouth shut. We’ll have to investigate further.

“If you don’t want to talk, think about it. Your third daughter will have to see a doctor anyway.”

“Yes.”

I’m definitely missing something.

“Teacher. I hope you believe me, this isn’t just a case of faking it. I’ve had hallucinations and even had bruises from seizures.”

Erica rolled up her sleeves, revealing a dark bruise on her shoulder. If Erica’s words were true, then it would mean that she had both a psychogenic seizure and a convulsion… … .

I frowned.

“Did you have hallucinations and seizures at the same time?”

“Yes.”

You can’t have hallucinations during an epileptic seizure. Because an epileptic seizure is caused by brain cells turning on and off, it’s hard to process meaningful information like hallucinations.

The fundamental cause of psychogenic seizures is said to be hallucinations. Then what could have caused the hallucinations? This doesn’t make sense again.

****

Istina was sent out to check the pollen. I, along with the butler, moved toward the room of the third daughter of the Duke’s family.

“Would you like a bag?”

I took the bag from Anderson.

“I’m glad the cramps stopped quickly. You don’t need an enema, right?”

“Yes.”

Anderson gave a small exclamation of admiration.

“The real names are different. I don’t know if it’s because of my mood, but just by coming here, the ladies’ symptoms seem to be getting better.”

Well, that’s why I stopped pretending to be sick.

“Does the mansion have a basement?”

“Yes.”

“Do people come and go often?”

Anderson hesitated and shook his head. I interpreted his hesitation as meaning that it was a space frequented by people.

“Not many people come in here except for the occasional visit by children. It’s almost like a warehouse.”

“Let’s go to the basement.”

“Nothing. Just dust.”

“Still.”

There may be hallucinogenic mushrooms growing in the basement. Even if they aren’t hallucinogenic mushrooms, the allergenic spores can affect your judgment. We headed into the basement.

“The doctor seems to be interested in the mansion environment. I thought he only looked at patients.”

“There must be a cause for the pain. It doesn’t seem to be an infectious disease, so there must be something at home.”

Creak.

The basement door opened. I coughed at the dust and basement smell. It was definitely the environment that was the problem. There was something seriously wrong with the mansion.

“It’s worse than I expected.”

“That’s right.”

“You’re coming in here? Why?”

“Because it’s a warehouse that was used by previous generations, it’s fun to wander around like a treasure hunt. I got rid of all the money-making stuff a long time ago though.”

I see…….

I didn’t want to go in and see for myself. If what Erica said was true, then there was a hallucinogenic substance somewhere in the mansion.

You have to be careful.

“You look really sick. I hope you clean up the basement as soon as possible. Either block the door or clean it out.”

“No way. Could the symptoms be due to the basement?”

“That could be possible.”

“I’ll clean it up starting today.”

“Cover your mouth and nose when cleaning. Mold may be causing problems.”

We closed the basement door again.

“That’s right. Butler, have you ever seen a ghost in the mansion? The patient said so.”

“Could it be a symptom? I haven’t seen it. I’ve seen maids say they’ve seen ghosts sometimes. There are also some people who can’t go to work because they’re sick.”

“Because of the ghost?”

“Yes.”

The maids claimed to have seen ghosts. Some even said they were sick and couldn’t come to work. I can think of something though…

On the way out of the basement. Far away, in the living room, was Istina. As soon as she saw me, she motioned for me to come over.

“Hey, butler, would you please step aside? I have something to brag about with my disciple.”

Now I need to talk to Istina. I’ve found out something new and have something to explain.

****

Let’s summarize what we’ve found out so far. I just gave Emily and Erica’s medical records that I had written to Istina.

“Istina. What are the patient’s symptoms?”

“Hallucinations, convulsions, impaired judgment, lethargy, general weakness, depression, psychogenic seizures.”

“What is the most important symptom here?”

“Oh, it’s a hallucination.”

“That’s right.”

The most characteristic of these symptoms is hallucination. Emily said she saw ghosts, and Erica said something similar.

“What cause was found?”

“Pollen, lead, stress, mold.”

However, it doesn’t seem easy for pollen to cause hallucinations. If pollen caused hallucinations, the butler and the duke and duchess should have shown some symptoms, but there was nothing like that.

“If it was pollen, other people would have gotten sick too.”

“That’s true.”

“If it was lead, the Duchess would have been sick too. More importantly, it seems like she hardly ever wears makeup.”

“Yes.”

There was no vanity table in Miss Erica’s room. It may be theoretically possible that lead causes hallucinations, but… … It’s far from the typical symptoms of lead poisoning.

Crucially, it doesn’t make sense to hide thick books and read them while your brain cells are damaged by lead. It’s not lead poisoning.

“Stress. But not all the symptoms the patients showed were psychogenic. Erica had bruises and hallucinations that were unexplained.”

“Could this be fabricated evidence?”

“Bruises? Nope.”

Finally, mold.

“Same problem as pollen. There are probably more butlers and servants moving around the basement storage than the princesses, so why are only the princesses sick?”

“I don’t know, me either. What’s the conclusion?”

I think I know something.

The maids were said to have been sick or had hallucinations. Diseases, mold, plants, mass hysteria that selectively targeted young women… … .

Oh, I remembered.

“It’s a witch hunt.”

“What does witch hunt mean?”

Istina tilted her head. If witch hunting is talking about some kind of disease… … .