Chapter 17
Even where everyone could see, I took it off and placed it down. Pouting my lips like a duck, I looked straight ahead again.
Sir Barren was carrying the princess, who was sweating coldly.
“Shall we hurry a little? She doesn’t look well.”
“I will do so.”
Sir Barren quickened his pace and practically ran down the corridor. Grandpa Eugene, who had also started hurrying, pointed to a bedroom.
It looked like a guest room that had not been used for a long time, but there were traces showing that Grandpa had scrubbed and cleaned it diligently that morning.
Sir Barren laid the princess down on the bed.
“Can someone please go and bring some hot water? I think we need to wipe her body.”
“I will go.”
“Thank you. Grandpa, please watch over the princess. I will bring clothes for her to change into.”
After confirming that Sir Barren had gone into the bathroom attached to the bedroom, I also headed toward the room where Rita was resting.
I quietly opened the door, and Rita was sleeping between a cat and a rabbit plush toy, breathing evenly.
‘That kid is really worrying.’
Killian had completely ruined the child’s emotional education. Clicking my tongue, I took from the wardrobe a loose-fitting dress suitable for a pregnant woman and a potion “for use when symptoms are mild.”
The princess did not appear to have any visible injuries at a glance.
Huh? Now that I think about it, this is strange.
The princess wasn’t with anyone like Rita was, so why did she look completely unharmed without a single wound?
“Please step outside for a moment, gentlemen.”
I could worry about it later. Carrying the things I had prepared, I sent Sir Barren and Grandpa Eugene out and sat beside the princess.
The princess’s silver eyelashes were long like a doll’s, her wet silver hair sticking to her damp cheeks. Were her eyes emerald green like Louis de Cocoa’s?
I soaked a cloth in steaming hot water and wiped the princess’s face and neck. She, unconscious, did not move at all.
After wiping her hands and feet reasonably well, I opened the potion bottle and held it to the corner of her mouth. Half of the flowing potion entered her mouth, while the other half ran down her chin.
“…Mm.”
“Are you regaining consciousness?”
“….”
I checked her condition at the small groan, but the princess did not move at all. It seemed it would take a little more time for her fever-like body temperature to return to normal.
“Excuse me.”
After hesitating briefly, I undressed her. Changing wet clothes alone is never easy, so I had to struggle by myself for a while.
“Oh, this is hard. Ugh.”
After dressing the princess in a loose-fitting dress, I was completely exhausted and staggered out of the bedroom.
I also needed to wash off the rain that had soaked me thoroughly.
I switched places with Grandpa Eugene, who was guarding the door, and was thinking about taking a bath with hot water when, just before closing the door—
“….”
The princess, who had opened her eyes at some point, was looking directly at me through the crack of the door.
Her pale white face and emerald eyes made her look like a doll that had lost its soul.
Feeling inexplicably frightened, I rubbed my eyes and looked again.
The princess had closed her eyes as if nothing had happened.
“Did I see wrong?”
I was sure I had met those unusual eye colors just now.
“What is the matter, miss?”
“It’s nothing. I’ll go wash up.”
“Yes. By the way, what about the archbishop…?”
“I buried him properly. You were very surprised earlier, weren’t you?”
“Surprised, yes, but it was not entirely unexpected. He had only accompanied us for a few days, yet that man was truly…”
Grandpa Eugene wore a bitter expression as if trying to hold back his words.
Indeed, there was no one who mourned the archbishop’s death.
“I’ll go wash up.”
Shaking my head slightly, I returned to my own room. Rita was still asleep, and only the cat, awakened by the rustling sound, meowed and followed me, rubbing its cheek against my ankle.
After petting the cat’s back for a moment, I went to the bathroom and filled the tub with water.
It was not even noon yet, but I felt tired as if it were already night.
“Mm, sister?”
“You’re awake? Why not sleep more?”
After taking a long bath, I lay down on the bed. Rita, with sleepy eyes, snuggled into my arms.
“Yes, shall we sleep a little more then? Just a little….”
“Alright, sleep as much as you want.”
I patted Rita and closed my eyes.
Please, I hoped there would be no conflict with the princess.
I kept recalling the scene of Killian stabbing the archbishop’s forehead with a knife he had used to peel apples, like throwing darts.
✦ ✦ ✦
I woke up in the late afternoon.
Ssshhhhh…
The rain continued to fall heavily.
Holding the cat in one hand, I went outside. The dark corridor felt deserted.
Only one room emitted a yellow light, and I walked toward it.
“Really? You mean my sister is alive?”
I gently opened the door and looked inside the bedroom.
I saw Grandpa Eugene clasping his hands together and crying as if in prayer.
Wondering what was happening, I looked around a little more and saw Rita almost clinging to the bed, with Sir Barren guarding beside her.
“Marie sister, you’re awake?”
“Yes. But…”
“The Princess Jeanne said that our sister is alive!”
“Really? That’s good news!”
Rita wiped her tear-like drops and smiled brightly.
The child tightly held the princess’s hand, which was resting against the headboard of the bed.
The princess blinked her emerald eyes and looked at me.
The girl with the doll-like beautiful face lowered her head.
“Thank you for saving me. My name is Jeanne de Cocoa.”
“The living should live. Please call me Marie.”
“Marie? Is that a childhood name? As far as I know, you are from the Count Arthur family… hmm, but it doesn’t matter.”
The princess naturally spoke down to me despite meeting me for the first time, befitting her high status.
I let the struggling cat down from my arms and asked.
“How is your body feeling? We found you collapsed alone.”
“Thanks to you, aside from feeling hungry, I am not bad. But it is strange that this place alone remains so intact amid such chaos.”
The princess looked around in wonder, as if asking for an explanation.
But this time, I took the initiative.
“Princess, do you have companions? Or were you alone when the disaster occurred?”
“If I were alone, I would not be breathing like this. I was enjoying tea time with my maid and my younger brother Louis. Then suddenly the ground shook…”
“Fire pillars rose in the streets, carriages were shattered, and people were screaming to run away…”
Rita, whose memory of the disaster before the collapse was vivid, trembled.
The princess stretched out her arm and embraced Rita.
“My maid is the older sister of this child. Fortunately, I survived under the protection of my guards. But my mother and father…”
The princess lowered her long eyelashes.
“The place where they were was engulfed by a fire pillar and turned into ashes. It was such a terrible chaos.”
“I apologize for asking, but where were the others that left the princess alone?”
Many people must have lost their families in that chaos. I nodded sympathetically and then returned to the main topic.
I learned one thing from the archbishop’s murder case.
I should not sympathize recklessly with others.
If I didn’t stay mentally alert, I didn’t know what other misfortune might happen.
“Our palace collapsed, so we headed toward the relatively less damaged detached palace. Then we encountered a band of thieves.”
“Ah…”
“In the chaos, there was no such thing as royalty to them. They took my ring and necklace, and even the emergency food I had prepared for this child.”
The princess touched her swollen belly and fell silent.
It seemed she had been wandering apart from her companions amid the turmoil.
Now that I roughly understood the situation, there was nothing more to ask.
Come to think of it, Killian is not here.
“Please wait. I will bring something to eat. Rita, you will stay here, right?”
“Yes! I want to hear more about my sister. She said she tried to save the princess even in that dangerous situation.”
It was only natural that Rita missed her real older sister, but somehow I also felt slightly excluded.
Smiling faintly, I said I understood and went outside to look for Killian.
Sir Barren followed me.
“I will go with you. I think I need to get used to the mansion.”
“Are your injuries better now?”
“Yes. It feels almost like a miracle… If it weren’t for Lady Marie, I would be rolling in that mud by now.”
“Oh, surely not.”
I pointed to the gloomy window outside and smiled at Sir Barren, who smiled back at me.
Even in the darkness, he avoided my gaze, coloring the tips of his ears red enough to be visible.
