Episode 40
“Treatment… “
Camilla inadvertently echoed the word after me and seemed to notice something as she narrowed her eyes at me.
“Even if I seem a bit different from before, it’s not because I’m crazy.”
I let out a light sigh.
“I want to save my husband, and I want to get pregnant soon and give you a cute grandchild. It’s a positive change, not madness.”
I persuaded her in a low voice. My calm tone seemed to unsettle Camilla.
“Where did you hear that? Don’t tell me Raymond…”
“I can know about matters related to my health. Don’t blame Raymond.”
I stood up from my seat.
“Then, I will take my leave now.”
As soon as I left the room after saying goodbye, a long sigh followed.
“Phew.”
Rona, who had been waiting outside, quickly stuck to my side.
“My lady, were you okay? Why were the ladies here?”
“I wonder. I am also curious about how I ended up in there.”
Camilla’s bewildered expression still flickered in front of my eyes.
“Rona. What was the name of the maid who came to me earlier?”
“I don’t know… I…”
“I see.”
“Seems like she is a maid who hasn’t been here long. Should I find out?”
“No need.”
She would no longer be found in the mansion. Whether she left on her own or was hidden somewhere.
“What an incredible head maid.”
Rona looked surprised at my clicking tongue.
“Do, don’t tell me… Greta, the head maid, deliberately…”
“Shush.”
I whispered in a low voice.
“There are many ears and loose lips around the mansion.”
“Yes.”
Rona lowered her voice as well.
“Let’s go back quickly.”
At least one thing was clear from today’s event. There was really no one on my side in the mansion. And Greta’s hostility towards me was deeper than I imagined.
* * *
“You look so tired.”
Rona handed me a hot towel with a worried look.
“Yes.”
I breathed out with the towel on my face. As the hot steam blew on my face, the stress I got from the tea party seemed to ease a bit.
“Do you still have nightmares?”
Rona asked as she tidied up the bedding on the bed.
“…sometimes?”
I stroked my neck with my hand. Seeing my neck wrung in a noose until it was about to break from hanging was terrifying.
“But it’s less these days.”
Definitely, the frequency of nightmares was decreasing. Previously, I had such dreams almost every day, but now they were becoming less regular. More precisely, it started when my relationship with Amoide, at least outwardly, improved.
I could only hope this was a good sign.
“The kettle is empty. I’ll fill it up.”
Hearing the sound of Rona leaving with the water kettle, I leaned against the pillow and let out a deep breath. The words I heard at the tea party strangely didn’t fade.
< I heard that Veronica is coming back soon.>
< Wasn’t she unusually close with Duke Ifrit? Oh my.>
“……”
I didn’t fail to anticipate that – that there were noble girls who had marriage talks with Amoide before me. But I couldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams that it was Veronica. I was so startled that I couldn’t ask properly, but there was a lot I was interested to know.
When did they meet? What feelings did they have for each other?
If he had been healthy…
“What am I going to do even if I know that.”
I wasn’t going to do anything about it, but I couldn’t stand not knowing what I was curious about.
As an avid reader of ‘Lady Crown’, Veronica is the one who marries the Crown Prince and ultimately becomes the empress. But I didn’t expect her to have marriage talks with Amoide as well.
‘But why wasn’t that in the book?’
Perhaps it wasn’t an important enough detail. It was plausible. Given what I heard about their childhood betrothal, there was a high possibility that they had been close in their younger years.
“Argh, let’s stop thinking.”
I decided to erase unnecessary thoughts. My only goal was to make him healthy and successfully get the divorce papers in my hand, nothing more, nothing less.
So, I couldn’t care less about Veronica’s connection with Amoide.
‘Should I count sheep?’
Because it’s better to fall asleep quickly at times like this.
As I was counting the sheep, one, two, with my eyes closed.
“……”
Something cold touched my leg. Cold, slippery. I felt a sensation I had felt before. I removed the towel covering my face and looked down. Nothing was visible.
That’s when it happened.
“Huh?”
It seemed like something was moving under the quilt.
“Am I seeing things…?”
I shook my head and kept watching the covers over the bed.
Squirm.
“……”
It was clear. Something was moving slowly, and then quickly, under the bed sheet. I hastily backed away, heeding the warning bell ringing in my head. The clearly revealed shape kept squirming over the white sheet.
With a swoosh, it seemed to have finally found a way out, stretching its body through the gap where the sheet was lifted.
Finally revealing its identity, it raised its scaly head and opened its mouth.
“……”
Seeing the snake, poised to strike, I froze in an instant. I couldn’t scream or run away, so I only swallowed my saliva in a panic.
“Ah……”
Looking at the snake flicking its bright red tongue, memories of that time surfaced. I felt its slit pupils clearly watching me even in the darkness. The tension squeezing my whole body felt like it could bring me to tears.
The snake, flicking its tongue, continued to watch me. One wrong move and I would surely be bitten.
“Go away.”
I squeezed out a mosquito-like voice, but of course, the snake couldn’t hear or understand me.
“I said go. Go.”
I was nearly in tears as I spoke.
Though I was backing away, the distance between the snake and me didn’t narrow at all.
That’s when the door swung open and Rona entered.
“Madam, I’ve brought water… Eek!”
Clatter.
The porcelain water jug and cup in Rona’s hand dropped to the floor and shattered.
“A… A snake?”
I turned my head and met her gaze.
Even if Rona went to fetch someone, there was no guarantee that nothing would happen in the meantime. By the time Rona brought someone to catch the snake, I could already be gone from this world.
The snake crawling on the bed had a clearly triangular head. A pair of fangs were clearly visible inside its open mouth.
“It’s a viper.”
At my faintly spoken words, Rona looked at me with a face about to faint.
I carefully examined the surroundings. Any large movement could provoke the snake and make the situation more dangerous, so I tried my best to restrain my movements. Of course, I wanted to run away screaming right away.
“Wh… What should we do?”
Rona stood there, looking even more like she was going to faint than I did.
“Rona, stay calm.”
That was a message more for myself than for Rona.
“Stay calm, stay calm……”
<Selene, stay still.>
It was as if I could hear Amoide whispering in my ear. When he caught the snake, he was nimble and did not hesitate at all. Even at the risk of being bitten himself, he didn’t hesitate to catch the snake with his hand.
‘I should use that.’
It’s possible to make it through this if I do as he did. First, grab the snake’s head….
Ah, no, I can’t. I gave up at step one already.
“Eek.”
While I was grasping at straws to come up with a solution, the snake had come a bit closer. Each time it approached, the flickering tongue seemed to touch my body, giving me goosebumps.
With a little more movement, I was in an ideal position to be bitten. I had to do something before then.
“What should I do, what should……”
Then I saw Rona pulling a cover off a pillow that had fallen to the floor. Rona slowly stood up, holding the empty pillowcase. But it would take great courage to cover the snake with it. Even with courage, if done incorrectly, it was a perfect opportunity to get bitten.
I reached out randomly. Then I grabbed the towel that I had put on my face earlier, which was still steaming. Seeing me grab the towel, Rona nodded vigorously.
One, two.
We counted in unison.
Thwack.
At the count of three, I threw the hot wet towel at the snake.
Fortunately, the snake was hit squarely by the towel, lost its balance and flipped over, and without missing a beat, Rona threw the pillowcase over the snake.
“Eek, ahh.”
Holding the wildly thrashing pillowcase, Rona screamed as if her life depended on it. Each time the snake squirmed inside, her screams grew louder.
Soon after the screaming began in earnest, I heard someone rushing in.
“What’s going…… Eek!”
The maid who rushed in turned pale when she saw the squirming pillowcase.
The other maids who came in behind her, rubbing the sleep from their eyes, were the same; as soon as they saw the snake, screams echoed like pressing piano keys one by one.
“Th-this!”
Rona was running around with the captured snake in hand, but no one stepped forward right away to take it from her. I was no different. I could only sit on the bed and watch Rona fight alone. It took a long time for my senses to return to reality.
The astonishing event happened next.
