Gently closing the slightly ajar door.

Tristan quietly waited for them with his back against the door.

·

·

·

“There’s something I didn’t tell you all.”

“I spoke to Tristan about it, but it seems like it’s time for you to know as well.”

“The woman lying here now is not Christina Julius.”

“Julius, believing that I would not return, sent another woman in place of Christina five years ago.”

“Reina Astarin.”

“That’s the name of my wife who’s in the bedroom now.”

Chirp chirp.

“……”

Not startled by the morning sunlight and bird calls, Reina opened her eyes.

For the first time in three days, she woke up calmly in bed.

Reina blankly stared at the white sunlight cast on the bed sheet.

“……”

For the first time, the bed felt cozy.

Rolling over as if restless, Reina snuggled into the fluffy duvet.

The damp towel that was on her forehead rolled off to the side.

“……”

Reina blankly stared at the wet towel that had rolled off and dropped next to the pillow.

“……”

Faint memories of the previous night flashed across her mind.

On the way back from finishing meeting the bereaved families around the Julius estate.

She had been drowsy in the carriage, and he silently lent her his shoulder. The events came back to her one by one.

The body that had been as still as soaked cotton from some point.

And in the morning, the prickly feverish feeling that made it impossible for her to get out of bed. All of it felt faint like distant memories of a dream.

“I’ll be back shortly. I won’t be late.”

“……”

Was it a dream?

Reina blankly blinked her eyes, covering her forehead with her own hand.

Only the moist and cool sensation from the damp towel that had been there remained.

“……”

Reina stirred to get up.

Her body was dressed in comfortable sleepwear.

Her body was slightly damp with sweat, but it didn’t feel too bad.

However, her stomach didn’t feel very well.

She felt queasy……

Reina propped herself up on the bed with her elbows.

Brodie and a knight she was seeing for the first time were leaning against the wall near the door.

And there was her attending physician, Dr. Lorensen.

Arthur was not in sight.

Her eyes searched for Arthur.

…Where did Sir Arthur go?

“Did you wake up?”

Dr. Lorensen came closer upon seeing her wake up.

Before that, Brodie quickly came over and draped a shawl over Reina’s sleepwear.

Brodie tidied up the fallen towel and wet pillow on the bed, and made it comfortable for Reina to sit.

“How do you feel?”

The doctor asked.

Her gaze, which had been looking for Arthur, turned back to Lorensen.

“I’m fine.”

She answered out of habit, but she didn’t actually feel well.

Her throat was parched.

Coughing to clear her throat, her stomach turned and she couldn’t help but press against her chest with a look of discomfort.

As her expression twisted, Dr. Lorensen came closer to Reina’s bed and extended his hand.

“Give me your wrist. I’ll take your pulse.”

“Ah… okay.”

Reina extended her wrist to Dr. Lorensen.

Dr. Lorensen placed his finger on Reina’s wrist.

“……”

Dr. Lorensen started his examination.

“Do you feel discomfort in your stomach?”

“…Yes. A bit.”

“When did it start?”

“It’s the first time today. After waking up from sleep….”

“What did you eat yesterday? How many hours of sleep did you get?”

The questions continued.

Feeling grateful that the doctor was asking so meticulously, Reina answered each one.

“Do you eat regularly these days?”

“Oh, yes. More so than any other time….”

“Do you eat a lot?”

“I don’t have much appetite… but I eat more than usual.”

“How about sleep?”

“That too, I sleep a lot longer than usual….”

Reina blushed, pressing her neck.

Her gaze went to the unfamiliar knight, feeling conscious.

Wasn’t her change of lifestyle from a maid to a lady too obvious from her answers?

Reina awkwardly pulled up the shawl that Brodie had draped over her.

“Do you have trouble sleeping?”

“Sometimes… but I sleep much better than usual.”

“Your menstrual cycle? Is it regular?”

“…I… don’t keep track well…”

Reyna answered in a small, uncertain voice.

“Hmm…”

After a while, Dr. Lorenson quietly moved away to a tray placed on a trolley.

There was a clinking sound.

“How much tea did you have yesterday?”

He must be talking about the red liquid.

“A full cup.”

“…”

The clinking sound stopped for a moment.

“…That’s a lot.”

“…”

For a while, Dr. Lorenson stood there, clinking.

Clink.

The sound stopped as the doctor turned his body.

“It seems like your body is having a hard time adapting to the medication you’re not used to taking. It seems like it was harshly accepted because the medicine entered while the fatigue accumulated in your body did not resolve.”

Alvin Lorenson presented a cup filled with water and the tablet he had been accompanying, leaving the red liquid on the tray as it was.

“Just take this today.”

It was clear water.

Reyna could not accept it and looked at Dr. Lorenson with a flustered expression.

“…”

Reyna glanced at the red liquid warily.

…Will this not be reported to the countess?

“One day is fine.”

Dr. Lorenson raised and lowered his hand as if to recommend again.

Reyna accepted it.

Then Lorenson picked up the medicine bowl on the tray and went to the window. Just like that, he poured it into the plant, following it with the liquid.

“!”

Reyna was startled.

The ‘red liquid’ was a fairly expensive medicine.

Even though the maids’ weekly wage at the Julius residence was quite generous, she had seen many kids roll their feet and suffer financial difficulties when they needed that medicine.

To throw it away like that?

“Take a rest today.”

Lorenson said flatly.

Squeak.

“Your Highness.”

With the knight’s voice, the atmosphere changed.

“The lady woke up a little while ago,” came a voice.

The one who entered the room turned his head this way and our eyes met.

It was Arthur.