Not Knowing The Betrayal Of That Day

‘Well… Even if the situation worsens here and now, it’s none of my business what the Marquis is aiming for—as long as I can get Tessa out safely.’

Of course, he didn’t know what kind of honey pot Marquis Borwen was hiding here, but Hert had no intention of just leaving it alone. He, too, was thinking of making preparations on his own.

“I’m going to go outside for a while.”

Hert stood up, picked up his papers, and handed them back to Mogen. The wind had been strong since the morning, and he had a feeling that something was about to blow here.

“I will prepare immediately.”

Hert left the room with Mogen after telling the other knights that if Tessa woke up, they should immediately report back.

* * *

Kennis passed through a more heavily guarded hallway and came down the stairs. Recently, the atmosphere in the castle had changed a lot. Several times a day, the soldiers standing guard changed to faces she had never seen before, and interrogations that were not interrogations kept taking place unexpectedly. As Kennis witnessed some of them being dragged away silently, she couldn’t help but be distraught.

‘I should have changed jobs sooner…’

Even if the salary was a bit small, she should have accepted the offer when it came from a peaceful County. Kennis muttered grimly to herself and sighed quietly. Who would have known that the prominent Jutert Marquisate would collapse so quickly.

Reflecting on her regret over her choice a long time ago, Kennis returned to her usual medical room. When she opened the door, the smell of herbs hit her, and she saw medicine cabinets filling one side of the wall. Judging by the rattling sound coming through the screen, a maid must be doing some cleaning now.

Kennis set down her examination bag on her seat, took off her overcoat, and put her hands through the gown. Even today, she had to diligently allocate both morning and afternoon to prepare the Mistress’s medicine.

“Doctor.”

Then the maid came up to her and called out to Kennis hesitantly. The maid spoke cautiously as Kennis looked puzzled, holding a hair tie in her mouth to tie her hair up.

“Actually, there is a guest who has been waiting for you since a while ago…”

“A guest? Who?”

“That is… The Marchioness came to visit. She said she wanted to see the doctor because it was suddenly cold these days, and she seemed to be having body aches.”

Marchioness? Why did the Madam come down here? Kennis was puzzled, but at first she nodded.

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“…Ah, okay. Is she in the parlor? I’ll go.”

“Thank you.”

Kennis finished tying her hair up, grabbed her examination bag, and hurried to the parlor connected to the medical room. Along with her maid, the Marchioness was there, sitting in a wheelchair. As she was sitting by the window, she stared outside. The Marchioness greeted Kennis with a gentle smile as soon as she entered the room.

“Welcome.”

“Hello, Madam. Coming all the way here… If you had called me to your room, I would have gone right away. I apologize for making you wait so long.”

“No, I didn’t wait very long. I just came out of the room because I was feeling stuffy.”

Elena said as she rolled her wheelchair towards Kennis. Kennis set down her examination bag and tried to get her stethoscope from inside.

“Well, it seems that you have been having body aches. Would it be alright if I take a look?”

“No, I just came to get the medicine. It’s okay if you don’t go through the painstaking examination. It’s usually at this time of the year that my body aches.”

“Still, I thought it would be good for me to take a look.”

“I see. Then please.”

Elena nodded her head.

“Oh, are you on your way to the Mistress?”

“…… Ah yes. I am doing a medical examination of the mistress every morning.”

“How is the mistress these days? It’s been a while since I haven’t seen her face.”

During the examination, Elena implicitly asked Kennis. Kennis just smiled lightly at the Marchioness’ question and said that she was doing well. Hearing the doctor’s blunt answer, Elena closed her eyes gently with a knowing tone.

“Right. If that’s the case, I’m glad.”

“Yes, that’s a relief.”

“You work hard.”

“No. It’s my job.”

After the Marchioness’ examination, Kennis said that she did not show any symptoms and that she would prescribe a good medicine to recover her energy. Elena was satisfied and nodded her head with Kennis’ advice. Elena then opened her mouth as if she had just remembered.

“Did you finish the Mistress’ medicine?”

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“…Not yet. why is it…”

“Don’t make it too strong.”

“What?”

“More than that. I have a favor to ask of you.”

Ignoring Kennis’s questions, Elena gestured to her waiting maid. Then the maid came over with a little box and put it on the table. Kennis looked at it and looked at the Marchioness. What is that?

“Can you pass this to the Mistress?”

“…Yes?”

“It’s nothing special, it’s lemon tart. I made it myself.”

Lemon tart? Kennis’ eyes blinked at the sudden word. Then Elena spoke again with a cautious expression.

“Is it not okay for the Mistress to eat lemon tart right now?”

“Oh, no, Madam. She is okay. The Mistress is simply fatigued…”

“Then please. In fact, even if I wanted to hand it over to her, I couldn’t go see her. So I would like you, the doctor, to give it to her. That makes it more believable.”

Certainly, Tessa was currently restricted from meeting anyone. So the only people she could meet in a day were Hert, the doctor Kennis, and a few maids to attend to her.

But why a lemon tart out of the blue?

Kennis looked at the Marchioness with a puzzled face.

“But why a lemon tart…”

“Actually, I owe her something…”

Elena answered Kennis’s question with a soft smile.

“I want to pay her back in some way.”

.

.

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08. Crisis and Courage

“Don’t move, Your Majesty. The portrait won’t come out well.”

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“I think my feet will get cramps. When will it end?”

Jean murmured, stroking her feet in her shoes. What kind of trouble was it because of some portraits from early in the morning? The jewels clustered around her head and neck were all so heavy that it seemed as if her neck would break at any moment. How many hours does she have to stay still? Jean realized that being the queen was a new annoyance.

“Your Majesty, a letter for you has arrived.”

Just as her calves were tingling, an attendant opened the door and appeared. It was great timing, so Jean asked for the letter, and quickly jumped off the podium. Beside her, the ladies-in-waiting said a word, but Jean shook them off and walked over to the sofa and lay down.

“Your Majesty.”

“Never mind, bring the letter quickly.”

At Jean’s urging, the attendant ran quickly and handed her the letter. Jean opened the letter with the knife prepared by the lady-in-waiting, with an expression of satisfaction at the neat and sleek handwriting. Then, after a while, her face was distorted by the fairly short correspondence.

“Ah… Seriously, what the hell is Sister trying to do?”

Oh my god. If things go like this…

Jean jumped to her feet and beckoned her lady-in-waiting to come closer. Jean began to whisper something in her lady-in-waiting’s ear as the lady-in-waiting bent her knees, accustomed to it, and put her ear to the queen. After all of her words, the lady-in-waiting nodded and rose.

“Everyone get out.”

In an instant, at her command, the people in the room fled, and after a while two of the attendants quietly came to her. Jean skillfully commanded them to kneel at her feet and bow their heads.

“You, find the whereabouts of Duke Callias right now and report it to me. And you go over here and deliver this. Of course, you both will have to act quietly and behind the scenes. No one should know anything. Understand?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”