Climbing to the upper floor, it seemed the wind that had been blowing since yesterday had finally ceased. The murky clouds began to clear, giving way to a brighter sky.

“We should call the doctor before the wind starts up again.”

At the mistress’s words, the maids prepared to go out.

“Mistress, let me apply some ointment to your leg.”

“I’m fine, Lise.”

“Mother, it will be a big problem if the wound worsens.”

Yurik, who was standing nearby, persuaded the mistress. Seizing the opportunity, I sat next to the mistress with the firstaid box.

Upon closer inspection, the wound was deeper and bled more than I had initially thought. After disinfecting it, I slathered on some ointment. The mistress flinched several times, perhaps because my touch stung.

“How is your sibling doing?”

“He’s not improving.”

While I was administering treatment, Roger went to check on Yune.

“He keeps having a runny nose, and his nostrils are also blocked.”

“He’s had a blocked nose and been coughing even after the fever subsided. He especially complained a lot about his nose being uncomfortable.”

“Has he been coughing up phlegm?”

“I think he was uncomfortable because of the phlegm.”

Yurik wiped the sweat from Yune’s face as he explained the symptoms.

“It’s not certain, but could it be sinusitis?”

“…Now that you mention it, a doctor once diagnosed it as such.”

The mistress, whose wound treatment was finished, responded to Roger’s comment. Roger then walked over to the window, looked outside, and rolled up his sleeves.

“I heard from my mother that elm bark is good for sinusitis. There’s a tree just ahead, so I’ll go get some bark.”

“What? Roger…!”

Roger identified the location of the elm tree and left the room without looking back. The mistress glanced at the spot where Roger had stood and then shifted her gaze to me. She seemed puzzled by Roger’s knowledge in home remedies.

“Um… It seems Roger must have had sinusitis at some point.”

Though I dodged the question, I wasn’t sure. Sinusitis was one thing, but considering that Roger had also reset a coachman’s leg bone, did he have an interest in medicine? The only thing in his room was sheet music for the violin.

Soon enough, Roger returned with elm bark and put it in a cup, adding warm water to it.

The water quickly turned yellow. Roger handed the cup to Yurik, who helped Yune sit up to sip the tea.

Yune seemed to dislike the taste.

“Swallow it anyway.”

“Uh.”

“Quickly.”

After finishing the tea, Yune lay back down on the bed. Although the cup was empty, Yune’s condition remained unchanged, making me skeptical. However, as time passed, things started to improve.

He seemed to breathe easier than before, the blocked nose had improved, and the fever had subsided. Yune’s face became tranquil, and we could now wait for the doctor with some peace of mind.

“Roger, what exactly did you do?”

Color returned to the mistress’s face.

“My mother was a doctor. I used to accompany her to the orphanage on weekends to volunteer. I learned how to recognize sinusitis and set bones because it was my mother’s specialty.”

Roger said with a faint smile. I recalled Mrs. Backus’s kind face; I had known her as a close friend of Isabelle but had not known she was a doctor.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

At my question, Roger tilted his head.

“What? I thought you knew.”

“How could I know if you never told me?”

“Because Mrs. Marsen and my mother went to the same college.”

“….My mother?”

I was stunned by this shocking revelation.

Hearing that Isabelle had attended college was news to me. After all, it was rare for women to attend college in our world. They needed to be exceptionally talented or outstanding in a specific field.

“As I heard, Mrs. Marsen left college midway.”

“…Why?”

“Probably because of marriage? If my family weren’t wellknown medical professionals, my mother might have also quit college to marry.”

Why didn’t I know this before?
Even though she dropped out halfway, it was true that Isabelle had enrolled in college. But Isabelle never even talked about college, let alone her major.

Could I have believed her if she had? Isabelle fit the title of a lady, not a student.

She spoke on equal terms with nobles or talked down to those with lower ranks than herself. She was not someone who pursued knowledge as a student under a professor.

At least, not to me.

“But… she went to college?”

Isabelle was the eldest daughter of the Prolong family.

I haven’t been to the Prolong mansion many times, but I know they run a carpentry business. Originally, it was small, but I heard it grew significantly with the help of the Marsen family.

Thinking about it, the Prolong family needed the power of the Marsen family for their growth. So the marriage between the two was a good move.

I understood why she gave up college and married.

But why did she ignore my desire to go to school and take away the book I was reading? If she was an intellectual, she would have understood my pursuit of learning…

“Thank you, Roger.”

Lost in thought, I heard my lady’s voice.