Chapter 17
Julius whispered softly, but Lincia did not believe his words were sincere.
He had spared her life after succeeding in his rebellion, but that did not mean he liked her.
She could not understand why he had chosen to let her live at all.
If his intention was to keep her by his side and torment her endlessly, then he had succeeded, for Lincia now trembled at the mere sight of his shadow.
“Sister, why won’t you eat properly?”
“Am I making you uncomfortable? I am personally looking after you, am I not? I am helping you.”
Lincia shut her eyes tightly against the sudden rush of old memories.
When they arrived at the bedchamber, Oberok helped her lie down upon the bed.
At least lying down brought some relief.
The blurring of her vision, the dizziness that clouded her head—both eased somewhat.
“Please lie on your side. It will be more comfortable.”
Following Oberok’s advice, Lincia turned to face the wall.
Her breathing grew easier that way, even though the oppressive presence nearby still lingered.
She closed her eyes anyway.
“Go on, check if the child is all right.”
Seated now on the sofa, Julius played the part of a man genuinely worried for her.
“Excuse me.”
As Oberok reached out, Lincia spoke in a faint, weary voice.
“Now that I’m lying down, I feel better. More than that, I’d rather be alone…”
The patient’s wishes were, above all else, important in treatment.
Yet Oberok did not regard Lincia’s wishes as especially meaningful.
“Her Grace does not seem to want treatment.”
“I see.”
Julius surprisingly accepted her request without protest.
“Go on.”
At his command, Oberok busied himself with packing away his medical kit.
Truth be told, he felt relieved.
Nothing horrified him more than being mistaken for the child’s father, and he did not want to create any further scandal.
Unlike Oberok, who rose at once, Julius remained seated on the sofa.
“Your Majesty will not be leaving?”
“How could I part so soon after finally seeing my sister again? Leave her here, sick and alone?”
The phrasing made Oberok out to be a heartless man, and caught off guard, he could only move his lips without speaking.
He could hardly tell the man who paid his wages that the only prescription Lincia truly needed was Julius’s absence.
“If Your Majesty stays, then I cannot leave either.”
“Why? I wish to speak with my sister at length.”
“Because Your Majesty has come here disguised, into the lady’s bedchamber.”
Oberok stated the truth plainly, and Julius rose at last as if he had no choice.
“Very well, I suppose I must. My sister grows stressed in your presence, after all.
If she is to recover quickly, the best thing is for you to take that face of yours away from here.”
Just as Julius reached for the doorknob, the door opened from the other side.
“My wife…”
Standing there was Harvich.
***
On Oberok’s strict orders for absolute rest, both Harvich and Julius were driven from the bedchamber.
“My sister must find even the sight of your face unbearable.”
“I will wait outside as well. The child seems fine for now, and her Grace needs rest more than treatment. I will guard the door in case, so please send a maid to assist her Grace.”
With that, Oberok closed the door and stationed himself before it.
Neither Harvich nor Julius could enter, however much they wished, for Oberok blocked the way with firm resolve.
Though it was for the patient’s rest, Oberok did not truly care for Lincia.
More likely, he simply did not want to face both Julius and Harvich together in the same room.
They both knew it, yet neither argued.
Harvich had no desire to see Lincia in Julius’s company anyway.
Her condition troubled him, but if he entered, Julius would follow, and so he had no choice.
“I am returning to the banquet hall. What will Your Majesty do?”
He had rushed here the moment he heard that Lincia was being escorted to her chambers by Oberok and ‘Julian,’ and now someone had to cover for him.
Harvich asked out of courtesy, and Julius answered curtly.
“I, too, must return to the banquet hall. People should hear that Her Grace the Grand Duchess is recovering.”
The polite tone was so unlike him that Harvich frowned.
“Now that I think of it, her Grace had no attendant by her side.”
The strange behaviour was puzzling, yet Harvich chose to play along.
“And what business is that of the Viscount of Sebiak? I appreciate your concern for my wife, but your question oversteps.”
Why Julius was so intent on involving himself in Lincia’s affairs was impossible to fathom.
“She is my sister. Why should I not care?”
Dropping the veneer of politeness, Julius returned to his usual tone, as though he felt himself at a disadvantage.
A petty man indeed.
Halting in his steps, Harvich turned to face Julius.
Julius, too, stood still and looked at him.
He seemed more dispirited than when they had first met atop the Grand Duchy’s walls.
Harvich could not comprehend the sudden shift in his mood.
“I knew my sister would be treated poorly in the North, but not even assigning her a personal maid?”
“Does that trouble Your Majesty?”
“Of course.”
Julius widened his eyes as if shocked.
“Is it not natural for me to treat my sister’s affairs as my own? You know how deeply I love her.”
“…Hah.”
Unable to bear the hypocrisy, a bitter laugh slipped from Harvich’s lips.
“This won’t do. I shall send a maid of my own to attend my sister.”
The absence of a personal maid for Lincia was confidential information.
Since there had once been a spy among her attendants, such details were kept tightly hidden.
“When she was in the Imperial Palace, this maid served at her side. She will serve her well here too.”
“…”
“I will not hold it against you that my sister went without a personal maid for a year. But you must take in the one I send.”
Julius possessed information far too accurate to be a coincidence.
The way he moved to insert a trusted maid of his own was seamless.
Harvich had no choice but to accept.
“Very well.”
“She will arrive in her chambers before the day is out.”
Only then did Harvich realise Julius had brought the maid along from the start.
His feigned concern for Lincia had been nothing more than a ploy to plant this so-called ‘personal maid’ at her side.
***
When Lincia opened her eyes, a familiar face greeted her.
“Your Highness!”
“…Anna?”
Anna flung her arms around her and held her tight.
Then she checked Lincia’s frail body all over.
“Why have you grown so thin?”
Tears welled up in her eyes as she gently stroked Lincia’s cheek with a tender hand.
“Why are you here?”
