230 - The Maids of the Detached Palace
The long-pile carpet usually absorbed the sound of footsteps, but with my ear pressed to the floor, I could hear the footsteps of someone approaching the room. I thought I heard Leonardo and a woman's voice, somewhat muffled, from beyond the door, but immediately after, an impact ran through my head.
"Oww... tchiiiiiiii..."
A truly fine thud rang out. Reflexively pressing both hands to my forehead and looking up, I could see Hermine looking down at me through the slightly opened door.
...Damn, I overslept.
I'd be scolded for sleeping on the floor, I knew that without even thinking. I'd decided to sleep by the door since Leonardo was on the other side, but I'd planned to return to bed before Hermine got up and I'd slept too deeply. I'd only vaguely woken at the sound of footsteps, and had slept until the door literally smacked me awake by hitting my forehead. That was entirely my fault.
...Huh? Something's weird, isn't it?
Maybe it was from hitting my head, but my vision was spinning woozily. As if dragged along by the pain in my forehead pulling my consciousness toward wakefulness, I noticed how heavy my body felt.
"What are you doing in a place like that, Tina-sama?"
"G-good morrnin', Hermine-sensei."
Ah, my tongue won't work. When I realized that, I found myself accepting both the heaviness of my body and how my thoughts wouldn't quite come together. It was nothing special. Almost every time after long travel, the following day I'd come down with a fever and be bedridden. This time, the fever had just happened to come a day late.
"Tina, are you alright?"
"Mmm, I'm fine, deshu."
I tried to straighten up and dutifully listen to Hermine's scolding, but my body was too heavy to move. As I lay limp on the floor, Leonardo quickly came into the room and lifted me up.
"Your temperature is high."
"It's because you were sleeping on the floor. Why would a lady sleep on the floor... No, I understand. No explanation needed."
In any case, I was carried to bed by Leonardo and laid down. Soon Hermine picked up the blanket and pillow and arranged them, tucking the blanket up to my shoulders.
"Leo's hands are hot and uncomfortable..."
I assumed he was checking my temperature, but Leonardo's hot hand on my forehead felt a bit unpleasant. Kalisa and Tabitha's hands were cool and felt nice, but when I had a fever, Leonardo's hands weren't very welcome.
With a sluggish motion I brushed Leonardo's hand away, and then Hermine's hand was placed on my forehead instead. Hermine's hand was cold and felt good.
"...I'll call for a pharmacist."
"No, I don't want that."
Even though I'd just brushed away his hot and uncomfortable hand, I caught the sleeve of Leonardo, who was starting to rise. I didn't appreciate his hot hand touching my forehead, but I also didn't want him to leave my side. There were plenty of servants at the detached palace, so if a pharmacist was needed, someone among them could be sent. There was no reason for Leonardo himself to leave my side.
"...Tina really is weak to changes in environment."
"I'm a child, after all."
Adjusting the bed cushions so I could rest more easily, Hermine headed to the kitchen to change the breakfast plans. It seemed she would also tell a servant to call for a pharmacist.
"Please wait until I'm better to explore the hearth."
"No, we need to check the hearth urgently. Better to look at it today."
"Okay, mashita. Then I'll go too."
With a "hmpf" I tried to push the blanket off with all my strength. Since my body was weak, I couldn't push the blanket off from on top of me, but I succeeded in getting both arms out. I swung my arms vaguely forward, saying I'd go too, and Leonardo made an angry face as he said "No" and fixed the blanket.
"We can't just leave it alone knowing there might be some hidden passage or something we haven't identified. Tina is forbidden from getting out of bed until your fever goes down."
"But I want to explore too..."
"Then once your fever's down, we'll explore slowly. I'll have Aaron or someone check it out first."
"That's fine, right?" he pressed, so I reluctantly nodded. If I could confirm something as interesting as a hidden passage myself, it didn't matter if I wasn't the first to see it. Either way, even if I were healthy, there might be danger, so I probably couldn't be the first anyway.
"What are you doing today, Leo?"
"Well..."
He'd said he had no particular plans or work in the capital, so he'd be at my side as my escort, but now that I'd become a bed-dweller, Leonardo would probably get bored staying by my side all the time. Being in bed meant no moving around and no lessons with Hermine.
"It looks like my clingy little sister wants me to stay with her, so for today at least, I'm scheduled to be confined to my sister's room."
He said it would be easier for me to rest that way, and reached out to pat my head, so I let him. He was a brother with various dissatisfactions, but lately he'd been going along with my wishes like this, so I couldn't let my guard down. At this rate, I had a feeling he'd develop a full-blown little sister complex. A siscon brother and a brocon sister, the troublesome thing was that it was mutual. As a brother, maybe his previous incompetence level had been just right.
The breakfast changed on Hermine's instructions was very easy to eat. To recover my strength with something digestible, bread soaked in mild vegetable soup was served. Plus some fruit juice, the same as yesterday, for different nutrients. Right now, ease of swallowing was everything to me.
After breakfast, I leaned against the cushion and sat quietly until my stomach settled. I was only keeping my body upright to prevent the contents of my stomach from coming back up, so it was practically sleeping while sitting. Leonardo was in the same room with me, but he didn't speak to me so as not to disturb my sleep.
When enough time had passed and I was about to lie down, the pharmacist who'd been called by the servant arrived at the detached palace. I'd thought they'd go all the way to the Sedovara Church to bring a pharmacist who made house calls, but Leonardo told me there were many pharmacists at the royal castle dispatched from the Sedovara Church. Having pharmacists from the Sedovara Church within the royal castle rather than having to call one from the city was very convenient. There were apparently times in the past when wise women served at the castle for the king and royalty.
...That's weird. Aurelia-san might have been at the castle too, huh.
I felt a little lonely again, probably because I was weakened by being sick. I had Hermine bring out Aurelia's lace ribbon and tied it in my hair.
"...It's just fatigue from the long journey. It's not an illness, so no medicine is needed. Just eat nutritious food and rest."
The pharmacist's diagnosis was simple. I always get sick after travel, so I had no complaint with this diagnosis. I had no complaint, but Nadine seemed dissatisfied with it. She pressed the pharmacist, insisting that it might really be an illness and not just overwork, since I'd been energetic on the day after arrival, to the point where I felt a bit sorry for the pharmacist. If I might add, Nadine herself was a bit noisy and had become a headache for me. After the pharmacist and Nadine left the room, Hermine asked to excuse herself, so I left it to her. I'd heard that Hermine had been Dietfried's tutor before becoming mine. Which meant she should also be acquainted with Nadine. She'd probably gone to keep an eye on the fierce Nadine to make sure she didn't press unreasonable demands on the pharmacist.
The pharmacist said to rest, so I obediently followed instructions. Since Hermine wasn't there, I had a maid readjust the cushions and pillows and lay down. After that, I planned to keep sleeping endlessly until the fever went down. Even if I forced myself to stay awake, there was nothing I could do, and it would only delay my recovery.
As soon as I closed my eyes, my consciousness drifted away. I didn't need to toss and turn complaining I couldn't sleep.
...What's that?
I heard a rustling voice and my consciousness surfaced faintly. Today I hadn't closed the canopy so I could see wherever Leonardo was in the room. So if I opened my eyes slightly, it was easy to spot Leonardo sitting on the lounge chair reading a sheaf of papers. Every time I woke up I looked for Leonardo, but he only occasionally moved from the lounge chair to the edge of the bed or the desk by the window, doing more or less the same thing. Either reading a book or reading a bundle of documents.
"My apologies for keeping you waiting, Leonardo-sama. These are the documents regarding the large-scale renovation done twenty-six years ago."
One of the maids handed a bundle of documents to Leonardo, but something about her expression felt odd. If my memory was correct, she was supposed to be one of the maids assigned to me, but I'd never once seen such a soft expression on her face as she was showing Leonardo now. The way she called out to Leonardo was also that flattering tone unique to women.
...Ulrika, was it? She has the same vibe as Kaya.
Leonardo didn't even glance at Ulrika's beautifully crafted smile, and handed her the documents he seemed to have finished reading. His instruction was brief, just "Return them to the library." Even as Leonardo gave orders without even lifting his face toward her, Ulrika still smiled at him adoringly.
...Leonyaldo-san, did you pick up another weird woman? Are you okay?
Ulrika didn't seem discouraged by Leonardo's cold attitude either. After she respectfully hugged the documents, her cheeks flushed as she gazed at Leonardo for a good long while, and then noticed I was awake in bed, for just a moment, her face twisted.
...Alfred-sama did say I could have them replaced, right?
Alisa's words, which I'd heard from Kalisa, said that workplace romance wasn't good. Indeed, in this world, workplace romance probably wasn't advisable. Far from the eight-hour workday of my previous life, maids and servants worked live-in jobs where they were on duty twenty-four hours a day. In such a place, forgetting their position as working adults, not working, not moving, and making eyes at the master's family would be a problem.
...No, it's not jealousy, okay? This is important.
I made some vague excuse to myself and decided to observe a bit more. After all, my brother, though somewhat regrettable on the inside, at first glance had a sharp, handsome face and a sturdy, solid build. Aside from appearances, he was well-paid, had meritorious deeds, and was prime material for a lover or husband. I could understand a girl of marriageable age getting fluttery over him.
...If she's someone who can properly separate work and romance, I'll overlook what happened today.
It's not jealousy. It's just the natural observation of the mistress of the detached palace, I repeated my excuse in my head, and waited for Ulrika to leave the room before using a spoiled tone with Leonardo, saying I wanted water. If there were no maids around, Leonardo would take care of me. I milked it for all it was worth.
...I wonder if my fever will be down by tomorrow morning?
By evening, my head felt considerably clearer. It wasn't as heavy as in the morning, and the breathlessness had decreased. My body was still a little sluggish, but I felt like my appetite was coming back.
...If my fever goes down after one day of sleeping, does that mean I've been building up stamina?
I thought I used to be bedridden for about three days, but this time the worst was this morning. By evening my appetite was returning, so I should just need to recover from here.
...Sometimes getting a fever isn't so bad.
No, it would be best not to get a fever at all. But this time in particular, I felt I'd had a very productive experience.
...The other one was Leonardo's maid, wasn't she.
Thinking I was asleep, the maids showed me a very honest side of themselves. Besides Ulrika, there was one maid whose use of flirtatious looks toward Leonardo was completely obvious. She was a maid who had formerly served the previous master of the detached palace. Ulrika was still only a suspect. She'd just gazed at Leonardo with adoring, passionate eyes. But Leonardo's own maid was so blatantly black-hearted that I couldn't help but laugh on the spot, and I had a hard time passing it off as sleep-talking. Just as she was making her advance on him, Leonardo ignored her and came over to me asking "Are you awake?" Even someone who wasn't me would have laughed.
...No, I mean, making such a blatant, no-room-for-misunderstanding, straight-as-an-arrow nighttime solicitation and being so smoothly brushed off, I couldn't just pretend to be asleep and let it pass. I thought it was a joke.
Whether I should praise Leonardo for having turned her down well, or whether considering he visits prostitutes he's just properly separating work and private life, I decided not to touch on that for now. At the very least, it was good to know that Leonardo wouldn't entertain a maid who made eyes at the master's family in the workplace. I wouldn't want a big sister who couldn't distinguish between public and private either.
...The only one who honestly took care of me was Valerier, huh.
It was unexpected, but Valerier was the daughter of a Staff Peer. Of the four maids assigned to me, she had the highest rank, but she was working most diligently as a maid. For a Flower Peer, I could understand them working eagerly to earn merits, but the daughter of a Staff Peer, whose position was stable, working sincerely as a maid was strangely odd.
...Is that prejudice? I should look at Valerier more properly.
The maid who rattled the tea things at the first day's tea party was apparently Stina of the Flower Peerage. Perhaps afraid of being fired, she took care of me without any idle chatter. I wouldn't mind if she talked a bit more, but I'm not good with people I've just met either. I didn't know if that was Stina's original personality or if she was just shy, but I wanted to support people who worked earnestly. Since I'd be under her care while in the capital, I wanted to get a little more comfortable with her.
...Rebecca is... well, never mind. Once I'm feeling better, I'll ask about how to dismiss her and send her off.
A maid who seduces the master's brother is one thing, but Rebecca was even worse. She hadn't made eyes at Leonardo, but I didn't want to get close to her.
Leonardo is human too. There was no way he could stay in the same room all day. To give a concrete example, he inevitably had to step out for bathroom breaks, and I understood that. It was a natural part of being human. During the brief times Leonardo left the room for those reasons, Rebecca showed me her wonderful true nature.
She said things like, what if I'd brought some strange disease into the detached palace? What if she caught it too? How awful. She didn't want to take care of some child like me.
Content like that, Rebecca murmured by my pillow, not knowing I was awake. On top of that, her job at that time was to attend to me, but since she didn't want to take care of a sick person, she pushed the work onto Stina on the grounds that Stina was lower-ranked in the Flower Peerage.
...I don't need maids who don't do their work.
Having a fever making my body sluggish and heavy was tough, but it was a day that yielded good results. Alfred had said I could have them replaced, so starting with Rebecca, I'd like to send a few of them off. For simple personal care, Hermine was enough, and I could do some things myself. Four maids was too many from the start.
"...So, it was a very productive day."
After dinner, since I felt a bit better, I spread out a Reversi board on the bed and got Leonardo to play with me. I'd been sleeping all day, so I couldn't fall asleep right after dinner, I whined.
"You were awake quite a bit, Tina."
"Just occasionally. When I woke up now and then, I just happened to see their... humanity?"
As my report of the day's findings, I told Leonardo about the behavior the maids had shown today. About the behavior of Leonardo's own maid, I deliberately didn't touch. I planned to let Leonardo handle that himself and quietly observe.
"Alfred-sama said I could have them replaced, but who should I consult about dismissing someone?"
I didn't need a maid who made eyes at men at work, or a maid who abandoned caring for a sick child. To say more, people with such problematic personalities had a bad influence even on the normal people around them. Once you noticed something was wrong, it was better to decide before sentimentality made it hard to cut them loose.
"If you consult Alfred-sama, it wouldn't be a consultation about dismissal, it'd be a final ultimatum outright, so... first, Nadine?"
I'd heard from Alfred that Nadine was the coordinator. That personnel matters at the detached palace could be left to Nadine.
After that, consulting with Leonardo and Hermine, I carefully reviewed the content of my report to Nadine. Ulrika would just be reported for observation. Rebecca I'd request to be dismissed or transferred from the detached palace. I was a little curious what kind of response Nadine, who seemed to have some sort of ulterior motive, would give me.
Typos and omissions again another day. Fixed any typos and omissions I found.