Kaela envied the unconscious empress. She envied the dead mother of the gardener who worked at the Ostein Duchy’s townhouse.
She envied their peaceful entry into death, or a state close to it. She had desperately wished for death when lying in the northern tower of Lusenford, so why wasn’t it granted to her?
What was the point of living? Everything was tiresome now, and sometimes the weight of her father on her shoulders felt like an unfilial burden.
The Emperor would pick fights at the slightest provocation, and even though the Ostein Duchy held financial power, they were helpless before royal authority. If told to die, one must die. That was the Empire.
Continuing a suffocating life in Lusenford, where she was treated as if she didn’t exist, would only delay the inevitable arrival of death.
Everything was exhausting and meaningless. So she wished to die quickly. Those who desperately wish for death can immediately distinguish whether what they see upon opening their eyes is reality or not. Kaela knew this time too that she was alive.
“Kaela.”
Peon, with bloodshot eyes, was right beside her. Just by seeing the shape of the walls behind him, she knew this was Lusenford. The slight unfamiliarity of her surroundings was because this wasn’t the Grand Duchess’s bedroom she had grown accustomed to.
“Can you hear my voice?”
She could. Having held him in her heart for so long, she could recognize his voice even with her eyes closed.
“Do you recognize who I am?”
His questioning voice was thick with urgency. Kaela nodded vaguely and tried to get up.
“Don’t get up. Don’t move.”
If she had died like this, it would have been the best death for Kaela.
But at the same time, it would have been the worst death for Lusenford, so Peon must have desperately tried to prevent it. That’s why he was by her side with an unshaven, rough face. Her mind immediately went in this direction upon waking.
Was it because it was so strange to have the Grand Duke, who had never been by her side, with her now?
“Grand Duchess. I’ll check your temperature first.”
As Peon stepped back momentarily, the doctor approached.
‘Back to square one.’
She was still the Grand Duchess of Lusenford. What kind of insults would she face this time? Would they call her terrible for collapsing so dramatically after eating what she was told to eat?
“You’ve been asleep for three days. I’m glad you’ve woken up.”
The doctor with the kind expression told her what she was curious about first.
“Your fever has gone down a lot. That’s good. Now, can you follow my finger with your eyes?”
Asleep for three whole days? Yet her body didn’t feel heavy or painful, rather she felt refreshed as if she had just had a good night’s sleep. She didn’t feel like someone who had eaten a plateful of ferenco heavily seasoned with tour berries. What kind of medicine had they used?
Kaela shrugged her shoulders, remembering the tour berries that made her whole body feel itchy just by looking at them. She had always tried to avoid them.
Except for ferenco and a few desserts, it wasn’t even a commonly used ingredient, yet because of it, she had been labeled as “the Emperor’s spy refusing to be a Lusenford person.”
“Your condition was very serious. We thought you might not make it through the crisis, but thankfully you did.”
Indeed. Why didn’t she die? Kaela lowered her gaze. She had intended to die as soon as she arrived in Lusenford, so why didn’t she? She was too foolish to properly execute even a death attempt.
“Princess, Princess. I’m so relieved you’ve woken up. You don’t know how much we’ve prayed.”
But seeing the maids from Ostein approach with faces swollen from crying, rejoicing at her awakening, made her feel sorry. She didn’t care about anything else, but she still felt responsible for taking care of these three.
“We should have been more careful with your food. It’s my responsibility for not preventing this. I’m sorry, Princess.”
Cecil, the oldest maid, calmly bowed her head. Kaela thought this was nonsense, so she slowly shook her head.
“No…”
Her first attempt at speaking resulted in an incredibly cracked voice. The maids immediately turned pale.
“Princess, you shouldn’t speak now!”
“Water…”
She wanted to gulp down cool, refreshing water, but after much fuss, what arrived was just a little lukewarm water. Kaela gratefully drank even that.
“Are you not cold?”
The maids were always worried about their delicate princess in this northern region where cold winds blew fiercely.
Among them, Cecil, the oldest, had died from an illness contracted while serving Kaela here. Denise had married here, and the youngest, Marie, had stayed with Kaela until the end, but what happened to her after Kaela’s confinement was unknown.
“I’m fine. It’s hot.”
So much firewood had been stuffed into the fireplace that flames were licking out beyond the grate. Meanwhile, the doctor calmly reminded them to maintain proper humidity and ventilation.
It wasn’t the Grand Duke’s familiar physician, but a female doctor Kaela had never seen before. She wondered how an outsider had entered Lusenford Castle, where strangers weren’t allowed, but then lost interest.
It wasn’t her concern. She didn’t want to fuss over playing the role of a Grand Duchess who no longer had any authority. Besides, this place would be swept away by the Emperor on charges of treason in a few years anyway.
She didn’t know the details of that time due to her confinement, but even as Grand Duchess, no one had paid attention to her, and Peon had been indifferent, so she remained ignorant.
“Her Highness’s recovery speed is remarkable.”
The doctor quietly reported to the Grand Duke, who was sitting silently in a corner of his bedroom, which he had given up to his newly wedded wife.
“There’s almost no internal damage, and the swelling has already subsided. Thanks to the Retilin. With careful eating and sufficient rest, she’ll recover soon.”
It was truly a magical medicine. Peon, who had obtained the drug, looked at his curtained bed.
“Will she be alright with the weather still cold?”
“Of course, she needs to stay warm. This is sufficient. But don’t overdo it. This room is already too hot and dry. Moderation is key in everything.”
This was directed at the Grand Duke, who had been sensitively on edge about the Grand Duchess’s condition for the past three days, constantly stuffing more firewood into the fireplace. The Grand Duke nodded silently.
“Light liquid food would be best. Once she gains strength after eating, she should be able to walk around soon. But we must be very careful with her food.”
“We will certainly be careful.”
For the first time in Lusenford’s history, the lord of the castle began to directly intervene in the kitchen hierarchy, staff, and facilities within the castle.
He nodded and stood up. He had seen that Kaela was awake, and that was enough. The maids who had barely slept and were still by her side would take better care of her than Peon could. He forcibly turned away from the bed and tried to leave.
“Cough…”
But his gaze betrayed him again, immediately drawn to Kaela’s weak cough. Was she in pain somewhere? His heart, which had been tightly wound for three days, sank.
“I’m fine…”
This was true not just for Peon but for the other maids as well, so Kaela had to weakly wave her hand, almost whispering to the eyes fixed on her.
“Drink more water.”
Peon strode over, poured a little more water, and helped Kaela drink. His hand was quite skilled at feeding her directly.
In fact, Kaela, who hadn’t been satisfied with the small amount of water that had barely moistened her lips earlier, eagerly drank this water without hesitation.
With the doctor’s approval, she drank half a cup. After she finished, Peon wiped her mouth with a towel, watched her silently for a while, then spoke.
“I’ve heard everything about what happened.”
The maids from Ostein Duchy, who had been unable to eat and had cried a lot, unanimously testified that “the Princess, no, the Grand Duchess, clearly told the head maid that tour berries made her ill, but the head maid showed a very disrespectful attitude.”
Their testimony couldn’t be dismissed as unreliable due to being outsiders, as there were many who had witnessed the same scene at the banquet.
“It’s currently under investigation. I’ll make sure this never happens again.”
