Beneath the Surviving Princess's Joyful Facade - Chapter 68

“Something’s bothering me,” Eirik said, his gaze fixed on Gella. Miesa blinked, sitting on the bed, watching the two of them converse.

“You mentioned the back alley that time, right? When you were talking about the purple spots,” Eirik continued.

“Yes? Why do you ask…?” Gella looked back and forth between the young madam and the young master, her eyes filled with confusion. She had thought the two had grown closer, especially since the young master was holding the young madam’s hand. But then, the conversation shifted unexpectedly to the subject of syphilis.

“Tell me more about it. You said it was about pork?” Eirik prompted.

“Ah, yes… Well, it’s not exactly the slums, but in slightly better-off areas, they do raise pigs,” Gella explained, relieved that it wasn’t about syphilis. She knew that the nobles were often unfamiliar with such matters.

“They use a lot of medicine when raising them, which causes the meat to change color when cooked. Actually, if you leave pigs out in the sun for too long during summer, their skin gets mottled and looks unsightly. When cooked, the meat turns entirely purple, so they coat it heavily with spices to hide the color,” Gella explained.

“What kind of medicine exactly?”

“It’s a kind of sedative. It makes the pigs less active and they eat less. They also use it during slaughter,” Gella replied.

“So, it’s a type of tranquilizer. Have you seen this before?”

“Yes, I have. I lived across from a slaughterhouse when I was young.”

Eirik turned to Miesa. “Miesa, do you remember what kind of medicine they gave you at the palace?”

“…It was red, and it made my nose hurt when I took it,” Miesa responded quietly.

“What?” Gella exclaimed, doubting her ears.

“Silife has a sharp smell and is red, but… that’s impossible. It’s too cheap and toxic…” Gella murmured, more to herself.

Eirik’s suspicions were confirmed by her words. He closed his eyes tightly. “They said they used a quantity of two Döners because of her tolerance,” he said.

Gella shook her head in disbelief. “No way. You know what a Döner bottle looks like. It’s about this size…” she said, gesturing with her hands.

“I heard Maleca say it directly,” Eirik stated firmly.

“Those bastards… they’re worse than animals…” Gella burst out, forgetting her manners in her anger.

“Wait a moment. That means your insides must have been in excruciating pain, young madam…,” Gella continued, her voice trembling with rage.

“My stomach did hurt a bit,” Miesa said nonchalantly.

Gella’s face twisted in anguish as tears streamed down her cheeks. “Those damn assholes…”

Eirik felt the same fury rising within him but knew that solving the problem was more urgent than expressing his emotions. He gently held Miesa’s hand and asked Gella in a calm voice, “Could her illness be a result of this?”

“I’ve never seen anyone consume it before. That… Oh, our poor young madam, what have they done to you…” Gella sobbed uncontrollably.

Miesa, watching Gella’s tearful outburst, murmured softly, “No, it’s not…”

Eirik looked at her silently. Miesa then turned to Gella and said calmly, “I survived. You should praise me, not pity me.”

***

Cullen, standing in the hallway, was paying close attention to what was happening inside the bedroom for the first time.

The commander had stormed into the bedroom a while ago, his eyes half-crazed with anger, and he was shouting at the top of his lungs.

The walls and door were thick, so only a muffled noise could be heard, preventing him from understanding the exact words.

That wasn’t all. The young madam made strange, short choking sounds, almost like she was having a fit.

The commander would yell, then there would be a scream, and then he would yell again… The odd timing of it all made Cullen uneasy.

Even more unsettling was that the commander then called for Gella. Gella entered the bedroom, yelled something, and then emerged, sobbing loudly and sniffling.

Just now, she had gone back into the bedroom with a medicine pouch she had retrieved from the knights’ quarters.

Something didn’t seem right. Could the commander be secretly abusing his wife?

Reaching this point in his thoughts, Cullen shook his head. He would sooner head to the palace and cut the king’s throat than raise a hand against his wife, who’ half his size. Moreover, he would never do such a thing to someone who wasn’t in her right mind; it couldn’t be that.

Only a few weeks ago, hadn’t he been carrying her around the estate in his arms? Cullen decided his wild imagination made no sense and dismissed the thought entirely. As usual, he turned his gaze to the trees outside the window.

“It’s strange here.”

Gella, who had been on edge, sighed in relief as she watched Miesa scratch her fingertips and leaned against the bedpost.

“Thank goodness. Oh, thank goodness.”

When pigs consume too many sedatives and their breathing weakens, they are fed boiled leaves from the Carilned tree. Since it’s non-toxic, she had brewed a tea from the leaves, and it seemed to have worked.

“If your fingers and toes are itchy or tingling, that’s a good sign. Does your head hurt?” Gella asked gently.

“A little.”

“I’m sure it’s more than a little… I don’t believe it when you say it’s just a little,” Gella said, lying Miesa down and massaging her head firmly for a long time.

“But it’s not just the sedatives; I’m concerned about the medicine you took before the royal wedding. The sedatives are related to your weakened body, but your lack of menstruation seems to be due to something else.”

“……”

Miesa got up without a word. She might have unknowingly taken a lot of medicine, and Gella’s diligence made her feel guilty. As long as her life wasn’t in danger, it was fine. But her lips wouldn’t move well to say more, so she sat quietly.

“Anyway, your hair is all tangled. Let me brush it for you,” Gella said, bringing a comb.

She gently brushed Miesa’s hair, trying not to hurt her, while sniffing back tears. It pained her to see someone so beautiful and delicate go through such suffering.

Tears threatened to fall again, but she held them back, feeling it inappropriate for a mere maid to cry when both the young master and the young madam herself were so composed.

“…Should I call you young madam or baby madam?”

“Whatever you prefer,” Miesa replied, her speech noble yet endearing despite the clumsy pronunciation. Gella chuckled through her sniffles as she continued to brush Miesa’s hair.

“Oh, our baby madam,” Gella said affectionately.

Sitting upright, Miesa quickly raised her hand and made a sign for “previous” and “speak.”

“No, please don’t use sign language anymore. I won’t understand it,” Gella said.

“Why?” Miesa asked.

“The young master said you should start practicing speaking again from the beginning,” Gella explained.

“…Call me young madam,” Miesa requested.

“Yes, young madam,” Gella replied promptly, carefully combing through Miesa’s radiant white hair. As she finished, she glanced in the mirror and saw the young madam practicing her smile.

“Oh, how pretty. You look so beautiful when you smile.”

“‘Oh my, save your flattery,’” Miesa mimicked.

“What?” Gella stopped combing, startled by the sudden fluency of Miesa’s speech, though still marked by her distinctive accent. Miesa giggled at Gella’s reaction.

“I’m good at imitating.”

“Can you imitate me too?” Gella asked, intrigued.

Miesa exaggerated her expression and said, “‘Oh, our baby madam. How pretty.’“

“Goodness! Do I really sound like that?”

Gella waved her hands in denial, flustered by the accurate imitation. Miesa, delighted by Gella’s reaction, continued to mimic phrases she had heard before, without fully understanding them.

“‘Then she said she didn’t know. She completely denied it.’“

“Uh…”

Gella’s face twitched. The words were something she had once said while talking about her sister. Gella turned red, then sighed deeply.

“Young madam, that’s a wound too painful for me. It makes me sad when you imitate it.”

Miesa stiffened, startled by Gella’s words. Seeing this, Gella’s anger subsided. “I know you didn’t mean any harm. But please, don’t say things like that to me anymore.”

“I’m sorry, Gella. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s alright. Actually, there’s no need for someone like you to apologize to someone like me—”

But Miesa didn’t seem to hear her. Her large eyes were wide with distress as she clung to Gella’s skirt, frantically apologizing.

“I didn’t know… I didn’t know. I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, since you didn’t know. It would be better if you don’t say it again.”

Seeing Miesa cling to her like a frightened child afraid of being abandoned by her mother, Gella felt a pang of pity. After a moment of hesitation, she cautiously asked, “Young madam, may I hug you just once?”

“Hug me? Why?” Miesa’s eyes widened. She couldn’t understand why she was being rewarded when she was the one who had done wrong.

Seeing Miesa blink in confusion, Gella waved her hands. “Oh, of course not. No, young madam. Forget I asked.”

“Uh… so you won’t hug me?”

The way Miesa asked, with her eyebrows drooping, left Gella unsure if the young madam liked or disliked the idea. But seeing her look so disappointed, Gella couldn’t help but want to embrace and comfort her, even if she was a noble.

“Ah, whatever. This will be our little secret.”

With that, she opened her arms and hugged Miesa tightly, like one would a younger sibling. Feeling Miesa rest her head gently on her shoulder, Gella patted her back and murmured, “Oh, our baby madam.”

“‘Oh, our baby madam,’” Miesa echoed softly, imitating Gella’s words. Hearing the young madam mimic her in a tiny voice made her feel like she was holding a lost sister.

Gella sniffled and mumbled, “You married well, despite everything. It’s a good thing your husband is decent.”

“…That’s right.”

“The young master really cares for our baby madam.”

“…Really?”

“Of course. He’d probably do anything you ask.”

“Anything?”

“Yes, anything.”

To Miesa, those words held great significance.

Although they had talked last night, she hadn’t received a clear answer from Eirik. Today, she intended to get a firm promise from him. Hearing Gella’s reassurances made her feel at ease.

“No matter how unreasonable your request, he’ll fulfill it.”

He wouldn’t leave even the smallest gap for anyone else, though Gella kept that thought to herself, clicking her tongue and turning her head.

The late summer sky outside was a clear blue. Such beautiful weather, yet the young madam was cooped up in her bedroom…

“By the way, where did you used to go when you rode in the carriage?”