Chapter 62

‘Why is this happening?’

Aristine couldn’t immediately grasp the situation.

Lithren, who had been biting her lip tightly, shouted.

"It’s because I made the scalpel incorrectly...!"

Aristine’s eyes, which had been gazing at the water, widened.

‘Could there be a problem with the scalpel business? ’

Her heart sank.

‘No way. There’s no reason for it to fail...’

In contrast to the panic of the real Aristine, the Aristine in the water mirror remained calm.

"No, Lithren. It’s all my fault."

Aristine’s face was solemn as she spoke.

"I should have foreseen this problem. I was too overconfident and didn’t think ahead. I got too excited. I should have anticipated this..."

Aristine’s complexion in the water mirror was slightly pale.

Her face was marked with disappointment and regret over her own shortcomings.

Seeing this, Lithren began to groan, like a dog in pain at the sight of its suffering owner.

"No! It’s because Your Highness used someone as inadequate as me..."

"No."

Aristine firmly cut off Lithren’s words.

"You did well, beyond my expectations..."

"Your Highness..."

"It’s all my fault that this scalpel failed completely."

That was the end of it.

The water rippled and then resumed its normal flow.

What was reflected on the clear water was not Lithren or Aristine herself, but the blue sky and the trees in the courtyard.

‘Why?’

Even though the Imperial Eye no longer showed anything, Aristine continued to stare at the water.

Her eyes betrayed a deep unease.

‘It can’t be that it was made incorrectly...’

Even if it didn’t sell well, it shouldn’t cause problems.

It’s not like she had developed a new drug or a completely new medical tool.

She had only improved the shape of an existing scalpel. There shouldn’t be any issues.

"...Aristine?"

Tarkan, pale, called out to her as she stared at the water.

He looked at the flowing water, but there was nothing unusual.

Aristine, seemingly unaware of his call, continued to gaze at the water.

Her long lashes cast shadows over her deep, thoughtful eyes.

‘Think about it.’

Her future self had clearly said that it was not unexpected.

She had been overconfident and hadn’t thought ahead.

‘So, I can do it.’

This was her first experience with external life, interacting with people, and building her own achievements. The business plan was progressing smoothly.

For Aristine, who had been confined and never experienced anything, all of this was thrilling.

She couldn’t help but get excited.

When everything seemed to be going well, she couldn’t see the problems.

‘But now I’ve broken free from that illusion.’

Aristine’s mind began to work intensely.

Her excellent memory vividly recalled everything she had seen and heard while running the scalpel business.

The scalpel that cut cleanly as desired.

The light and sharp feel.

"Truly revolutionary! Why didn’t I think of this sooner!"

The experienced, top surgeon who had marveled.

The piles of individually packaged old scalpels.

"It’s hard to manage when you use one multiple times."

"It’s more difficult to use over time, not because of the blade but the maintenance."

Umiru had said this and asked Aristine to prepare as many scalpels as possible.

This meant that the same problem with the old scalpels would also apply to the new ones.

A sudden realization flashed through Aristine’s mind.

Aristine lifted her head abruptly.

She wanted to get up and go to the forge immediately.

But when she raised her head, she saw Tarkan and Nefter looking at her with puzzled expressions.

‘Oh no...’

She had been caught off guard by the unexpected situation and forgotten about the others’ gazes.

Having lived alone, she had never considered someone’s gaze when the Imperial Eye manifested.

To the two of them, it must have looked like Aristine had suddenly spaced out while looking at the flowing water.

‘The Imperial Eye perceives things as sensations, so almost no time passes.’

The scene in the water mirror was real but lasted only a few minutes.

So, the time Aristine had used the Imperial Eye was only a dozen seconds or so.

That was a reasonable amount of time.

‘The problem is that I showed too much agitation afterward.’

She couldn’t help it, seeing a future she had never imagined.

‘I need to be more careful next time.’

It was fine now with Tarkan and Nefter, who were on her side.

But if there had been a queen or an enemy, they would have surely noticed.

"Sorry. The flowing water was so beautiful that I lost myself for a moment."

Her pale face didn’t seem to be from being lost in the scenery, but the two didn’t press further.

They only looked at her with sympathetic eyes.

A princess who had been abused and confined since childhood.

Knowing this, they could understand why Aristine suddenly showed agitation.

‘It must have brought up some bad memories from the past.’

Thinking this, they wanted to help her feel more at ease.

No one here would abuse her, and no one could confine her.

Nefter was surprised by his own feelings.

In a royal family where power is concentrated, conflicts are inevitable.

This often leads to the persecution and oppression of rivals.

‘I thought overcoming this was part of growing up.’

Regardless of what the two thought, Aristine smiled and hid her anxiety.

She wanted to test the new information immediately but couldn’t just get up.

‘I can’t act on my own as Tarkan’s political partner.’

While Tarkan had the king’s favor, there was no guarantee it would be absolute and eternal.

King Ailugo was a cold and wise politician.

He hadn’t made Tarkan the crown prince and was still considering Hamir.

‘But...’

She wanted to solve the problem as soon as possible.

It was also for Tarkan’s benefit.

Aristine looked at Tarkan and unconsciously grabbed his arm.

Her eyes, like the dawn sky, were urgent and desperate.

Seeing this, Nefter raised an eyebrow.

Aristine, who had been confused by past wounds, now clung to Tarkan with a desperate look.

It seemed she felt no one else could comfort her.

‘Indeed, they rely on each other as a couple.’

After all, Tarkan and Aristine were newlyweds who sparked at the slightest eye contact.

‘I heard they broke the bed on their first night.’

Nefter, being married, knew exactly how to comfort them.

"I must be getting old; I didn’t notice."

"Huh?"

"Go on, leave now."

Aristine tilted her head at Nefter’s words.

Of course, she wanted to leave, but so suddenly?

What was the best way to handle this? As she hesitated, Nefter stood up.

"History doesn’t have to be made only at night."

Nefter patted Tarkan’s shoulder, his eyes proud like a father looking at his son.

Actually, Aristine was the first daughter-in-law he had brought in.

Among his many children, Tarkan was the only one married.

Being human, he genuinely wanted to see a rabbit-like grandchild soon.

"Don’t push her too hard."

Tarkan frowned.

"That’s not it."

Despite his protest, Nefter chuckled and nodded.

"Yes, of course. But your wife is weaker than an Ailugo, so you should be careful..."

"That’s not what I meant."

"You’re such a kid. Be embarrassed."

King Ailugo looked at his son and daughter-in-law with a satisfied smile.

Tarkan was exasperated.

Nefter hadn’t even made this face when Tarkan defeated the Great Magician Murzika and returned.

What misunderstanding was he having now?

"That’s not it at all."

"Yes, it’s your business. I won’t interfere anymore. I was being silly."

No, you’re still being silly.

Tarkan clenched his teeth to hold back his words.

* * *

Contrary to Nefter’s expectations, Aristine left Tarkan and headed to the forge.

"Lithren!"

"Your Highness?"

Lithren, surprised, greeted her while working.

"Such a rush... What’s wrong?"

His kind face showed concern, making him look like an angel.

Aristine quickly shook her head.

"Something almost went wrong."

"Really?"

"But I’ll stop it."

Aristine smiled.

The reason scalpels weren’t used multiple times, despite the blade not being the issue, was simple.

"Oxidation!"

"Really?"

Seeing Lithren’s wide eyes, Aristine chuckled.

"Let’s minimize the oxidation of the scalpel!"

In other words, let’s make a scalpel that doesn’t rust easily.

‘That’s why Umiru stored the scalpels that way.’

Even with many surgeries, there was no reason for this to happen on average.

‘But if the scalpels are used once and discarded, it’s a different story.’

Thinking about when surgery began, even on Earth, single-use scalpels were relatively recent.

‘In the 19th century, when doctors were told to wash their hands before surgery, they protested, saying a gentleman’s hands are clean.’

It was a time when surgery with bare, unwashed hands was the norm.

There was no sterilization of surgical instruments or the operating room.

In her past life, she found the idea of a gentleman’s hands being clean absurd.

Of course, it was absurd even by the standards of this world.

Umiru sterilized everything before surgery, and Aristine did the same.

‘But how much hygiene management do other hospitals do?’

Tarkan’s palace hospital was one of the best-managed in Ailugo.

Moreover, it didn’t have to worry about operating costs.

Run by Tarkan, who had the most cash reserves in the country, for his warriors, it was free.

Even with the huge costs, they could use and discard scalpels once.

‘But other places can’t do that.’

They would inevitably incur losses.

If they managed it properly, it would be better, but many places wouldn’t.

"How do you prevent rust?"

She remembered asking Mukali about his sword.

"You have to maintain it to prevent rust. I do it every morning and evening."

Various hospitals, large and small, in different conditions. It’s hard to keep all scalpels in top condition.

‘Even a single lapse is 100% for the patient.’

Now she understood why there were so many medical malpractice disputes blaming the blacksmiths.

‘Of course, the hospital’s failure to properly manage the scalpels is the biggest issue, but they try to shift the blame to the blacksmiths, who are easy targets and have a bad reputation.’

Since the infection was indeed through the scalpel, and there were no other issues in the surgical procedure.

"Your Highness, preventing rust on iron isn’t easy. Especially for a scalpel, which is constantly exposed to blood and water..."

Aristine nodded at Lithren’s cautious words.

"Then, what about making them disposable?"

"Disposable? Brilliant idea! That way, we wouldn’t need to worry about rust..."

Lithren paused, excited.

"But it would be a huge burden for buyers. Previously, they bought once and replaced every few months, but disposable use would be very expensive..."

"I know. If it’s too expensive, people will hesitate to buy, even if it’s good."

"So, we’ll make it so that only the blade is replaced, while the handle is reused."

This way, the cost of disposable use would be minimized.

‘On Earth, only the blade was replaced, focusing on the appearance.’

Now she understood why her future self had regretted so much.

‘Even if they’re disposable, I won’t give up on corrosion resistance.’

As Nefter said, it needs to be outstanding to change the market.

She didn’t want to regret later for not doing what she could.

"Did you experiment with any alloys that resist rust, Lithren?"

"I’m sorry. I tried many, but none... "

Lithren shook his head, looking disappointed.

"It’s okay."

Aristine smiled.

"I know about it."

‘I’ll focus on making money now, not being a wife.’