Burned as a Witch, Reborn as the Royal Physician

Synopsis

Celeste, a pharmacist, spends eighteen years developing a wound-cleansing medicine, only for her adopted brother Andrew to steal the formula and claim the patent as his own. He substitutes a different medicine, harms patients, and shifts the blame onto her. At the stake, her father shields his adopted son while her mother pressures her to confess. Celeste dies in the flames—then awakens at eighteen, on the very day she asks to accompany Andrew to the academy as his study companion. This time, she uses that arrangement to gain entry to the academy, but is excluded even from assignments and examinations. When Roy, a student who bullies her, is accidentally injured, she stops his bleeding in front of a professor and uses the opportunity to request permission to sit the same examination as the other students. Roy responds with resentment, but she has no intention of waiting for his gratitude. Her perfect score brings accusations of cheating, and her father demands that she withdraw and admit wrongdoing. Celeste insists on being tested again. By solving a medical case that has baffled the professor for years, she earns admission as a full student and begins her own research. But the sooner her talent is recognized, the sooner Andrew’s jealousy spirals out of control. He spreads rumors of witchcraft, and her parents bind her and drag her to church. Celeste persuades the priest to have her untied by offering to help with his old injury. Only then does she realize that gaining opportunities earlier has also brought her closer to the fate she is trying to escape. She moves out of the family home and takes Helen, a tailor’s daughter, as her apprentice. Her research proposal wins funding from the Royal Medical Society, and she refuses to hand her work over to Andrew. Her father nevertheless vouches for him, helping him use stolen early drafts to register a claim ahead of her. Celeste demands a public demonstration of the preparation process, with physicians assessing the samples. Andrew’s medicine reveals its flaws, while she produces a continuous record of her research and samples that meet the required standards, reclaiming credit for her work. Her father is penalized for his false attestation. Andrew then incites villagers to surround and attack her pharmacy. Celeste arranges for help and confronts him openly. Her patients testify on her behalf, and the priest and the constable arrive in time to prevent the pharmacy from being set on fire. Andrew is sentenced to penal labor. Celeste refuses her parents’ demands for a license to manufacture her medicine, instead investing the proceeds in research and the education of female apprentices. When an adverse reaction she never encountered in her previous life appears, she voluntarily suspends the trial. Working with her colleagues, she traces the problem to the dressings and revises the procedures. Years later, she becomes head of pharmaceutical research for the royal court. In her new laboratory, she pulls out a chair for a young girl—and asks her to write down her own name first.