“I’ll replenish what you’ve sweated out. Mix the salt and sugar I brought with water. You need to mix very little. Just enough so that the taste is barely noticeable.”

I had no idea about the ratio of salt to sugar, let alone how many liters were in one water bottle.

I knew that sweating a lot leads to dehydration, but it was still a challenge not knowing how much salt and sugar to mix in.

“Good heavens! After chasing away the doctor, all you’re doing is giving her water? We might as well have done bloodletting!”

“It’s not just water. It’s water with a tiny bit of salt and sugar mixed in.”

“Isn’t that the same thing! Even if you are the lady of the house, you can’t do this. This won’t do. We should call Mr. Owell back even now. Lucian, what are you doing? Quickly, get on a horse and bring Mr. Owell here!”

Rose’s father shouted, unable to hide his bewilderment.

I answered calmly.

“Don’t you see those sheets over there? Those are all soaked with Rose’s sweat from overnight. She’s lost this much sweat, so of course we need to give her water.”

I retorted while putting water into Rose’s parched mouth.

The concentration was as I wanted, barely salty or sweet to the taste.

“Rather, I’d like to ask you. Rose has sweated so much her lips are dry, but hasn’t Mr. Owell given the patient even a single glass of water until now?”

I carefully poured the water spoonful by spoonful, but Rose couldn’t drink it properly.

“Cough! Cough!”

Half of it flowed out.

“Rose!”

Rose’s father clutched his chest in anguish.

‘If you’re going to be this sad watching her unable to swallow even a spoonful of water, why on earth did you suggest bloodletting that involves cutting the body?’

“Come here and support her head! We don’t need to give her a lot, but we must make sure she drinks this whole bowl!”

It wasn’t water prescribed as medicine. There was no need to give a lot. Just enough to replace the lost fluids. Just one or two bowls. In other words, that much was absolutely necessary.

“The air is stuffy. Open the window and ventilate.”

“But Miss Rose has been feeling cold all this time. Is it alright to let in the breeze?”

“It’s fine, I’ve tucked the blanket tightly up to her neck. If you’re worried, just open it a little. Having this muggy air stagnating can’t be good either.”

At first, Rose couldn’t even swallow a spoonful of water properly, but with persistence, we were soon able to give her as much as she needed.

‘Phew, hydration is taken care of now.’

“She hasn’t eaten anything all night, right?”

“No, she’s been unconscious the whole time.”

Rose’s mother promptly answered.

Rose must have been starving for nearly a day and a half, considering she hadn’t eaten since being stranded.

“Please prepare some honey water and thin porridge, no, make it a light soup. Unseasoned soup.”

“I’ll request it from the kitchen right away!”

Something to immediately replenish calories while being easy to digest. That was what Rose, who had a fever, needed most.

“My lady… Rose’s breathing seems to have improved! Until just now, it seemed like she might stop breathing at any moment!”

After most of the treatments were done, Rose’s condition improved considerably. Lady Temery, with tears in her eyes, grasped my hand.

“Thank you so much. Thank you, my lady! Your words were right, bloodletting was the wrong method!”

“My lady…”

Even Lord Lucian and Rose’s father, who had been adamantly advocating for bloodletting, now looked at me with slightly confused expressions. But I shook my head.

“No, the fever has gone down, but I’m worried because evening is approaching.”

Patients with fever typically improved during the day but worsened at night. For Rose to fully recover, she needed to endure this night.

‘Is there anything else I can do…’

Thud. As I sat down in a chair for the first time after standing all day, something caught my eye.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, that’s the whiskey that Dr. Owen brought as a substitute for painkillers. He said we should give her alcohol to calm her down if Rose couldn’t bear the pain during the bloodletting procedure.”

If you have alcohol, you should think about using it to sterilize surgical tools, not giving it to the patient!

“Alcohol, yes! There was something that could serve as alcohol!”

Still, I exclaimed with joy to the people.

“Bring all the alcohol from the castle right away! The higher the proof, the better!”

After chasing out Lord Lucian, Rose’s father, and the rest of the male family members from the room, we soaked towels in alcohol. Then we wiped Rose’s body with the alcohol-soaked towels.

“Oh no, this is whiskey that the late Grand Duke personally brewed… Ah, forget it!”

“Right, if it’s well-aged, the alcohol content must be high too. Perfect for evaporation!”

“Th-th-this is alcohol that His Majesty the King bestowed upon us long ago! I’m sorry, ancestors!”

“I don’t care, the ancestors will forgive us!”

Without considering taste, price, or who made it, we rubbed Rose’s body with only the strongest, highest-proof alcohol.

With each bottle of alcohol emptied, the maids trembled, and Lady Temery, who shared history with Inkhart, prayed to the heavens.

And the expensive ones were certainly effective.

“Miss Rose is no longer talking nonsense. It seems the fever has finally stopped.”

“She couldn’t bear it when we wiped her with water.”

By midnight, Rose’s body temperature had completely gone down. Her breathing became comfortable, and she just looked like a young lady with slightly flushed cheeks. The maids who had worked hard all night burst into tears at Rose’s recovery.

“To think we almost cut into a child who could recover so quickly… Where on this small body could we have possibly made an incision.”

Lady Temery sniffled. After dabbing her tears with a handkerchief, Lady Temery suddenly raised her head and trembled with anger.

“Those people! I told them so many times that bloodletting was not the answer! I’m going to bury those people right away!”

Just after saving one patient, it looked like we might have another. This patient, even I couldn’t cure.

* * *

As I came out wiping sweat from my forehead, Darius was waiting for me.

“Have you been waiting all this time?”

“I believed you would succeed.”

Even though I was the one who chased him out.

“Thank you. For saving a child who is dear to me as well.”

“No, I should be thanking you.”

In the end, it was Darius, the highest authority in this castle, who suppressed the opposition of the court physician. It was because Darius advised Lucian to reconsider that Rose’s family also took a step back.

“Thank you for believing in me and entrusting her to me.”

We smiled at each other and embraced. The refreshing satisfaction of putting down a heavy burden. And the fatigue from not sleeping properly since last night rushed in all at once.

“Darius, I know you’ll be startled if I fall asleep like this again today, but…”

My vision blurred.

As the tension eased, I couldn’t help but feel sleep overtaking me immediately.

“How much more are you going to worry me? …But it’s alright. I’m here now.”

Darius whispered something in my ear as my eyes closed. I smiled faintly at his gentle voice.

* * *

Anette’s body fell into Darius’s arms like a thread unraveling.

Darius cradled Anette, who had closed her eyes, as if handling something fragile.

Pale white skin, a high-bridged nose.

The blue eyes that always seemed to convey so much with just a glance were now hidden behind her eyelids.

This woman had saved Rose.

The mischievous little sister of a friend he had known since childhood. Despite facing criticism from everyone.

“My lady saved my little sister.”

“You almost lost your sister because of your wrong choice.”

Lucian’s face was pale. Darius ignored him.

All of Darius’s senses were on edge from the sensation of Anette in his arms.

Something soft, gentle, and warm.

With this small body, Anette had ridden a horse through the dangerous forest and stayed up all night by the patient’s side as soon as she woke up.

“Still too reckless indeed.”

The advice he had given her when they saw the wild boar, now he realized, was what she should have heeded.

This woman who bustled around Inkhart Castle all day long, but who looked so small and fragile when her eyes were closed.

Just holding her made him smile involuntarily, but seeing her collapse from exhaustion like this…

A twinge.

His chest tightened, just like when Anette had collapsed in the forest not long ago.

Why? Why did looking at her make him smile like this, and make his chest tighten?

While Darius was lost in thought,

“Your Grace, we will take care of the lady.”

At the servant’s natural suggestion, Darius stared at him blankly.

“She is my wife, I will do it.”

Yes, wife.

Although it was a marriage of convenience formed out of necessity, they had decided on this marriage entirely on their own, without anyone else’s interference.

Thus, Anette had become his wife and only family.

‘But how did you feel when you first tried to accept Anette as your wife? You had no interest at all. All your vassals cared about was the dowry Anette would bring.’

A voice inside Darius spoke to him.

‘What have you done while Anette has done so much for you?’

Another twinge.

His chest tightened again.

Although he had tried his best to treat her well until now, seeing her so devoted to the affairs of the North made his efforts feel inadequate.

He wanted to treat her even better. Even more so to make up for what he couldn’t do at first.

“Mmm.”

“Shh.”

As Anette stirred, showing signs of waking from her undisturbed comfort, Darius soothed her, worried she might wake up.

‘What kind of future will Anette and I create together?’

The thought made his heart race.

“Give me a role too, Anette.”

Darius carefully soothed Anette as she mumbled in her sleep.