The Sleepless Night of the Maid

While lying on the bed, Cecil opened her anxious eyes and looked at Eva. Eva, who was standing next to her, held her hand tight. At the end of the bed, Rex stood, looking at them with a strange expression.

The old doctor put one end of his monaural stethoscope on Cecil’s chest and put his ear at the other. With seriousness, he listened to Cecil’s breath and heart and asked the two women alternatively.

“Were you not feeling well?”

“No. She was seriously sick a few days ago. I thought she got better, but she’s not in a good condition again.….”

Eva replied instead of Cecil, who was out of breath. Cecil, who suffered severely at Baronet Biti’s house, seemed to have improved while running away. Eva thought she was okay, but her fever rose again and she also coughed more frequently. Having no choice but to watch from the side, she has no idea how upset Eva was.

“When you cough, do your lungs hurt?”

“A little bit.”

Cecil answered the doctor’s question in a small voice.

“Did you ever bleed when you coughed?”

“Yes.”

“What feels the most uncomfortable right now?”

“It’s… It’s getting harder to breathe.”

Cecil replied, glancing at Eva. She didn’t inform Eva because she would be worried, but because of the situation, she had to confess a lot.

Eva glanced at Cecil with a resentful gaze.

If she had such symptoms, she should’ve told me. Why was she holding out alone like a fool? I was more pathetic not to notice it than Cecil, who didn’t talk.

“Hmm. I think her cold got worse. Or maybe it’s mild pneumonia.”

“What should we do then?”

Eva urgently asked the doctor who was not sure yet. She could only come all the way here because Rex helped her. Also, since she couldn’t cause such inconvenience again, she wanted to hear the diagnosis and get medicine while she was still there. It was very hard for her to see Cecil sick.

“Rest well, eat well, take medicine regularly, and you’ll get better soon.”

“So it’s not a big disease?”

“Well, as long as you treat it well, you’ll be fine.”

“Oh…”

Eva’s shoulder, which had been getting tenser and tenser, finally loosened slowly. Cecil’s disease was the largest and heaviest of Eva’s worries. She knew that death stayed closer to people than she thought. Just as all the others next to Eva had left, she was afraid that Cecil would too disappear one day.

“See, Lily? Didn’t your mom say it was okay?”

Cecil, who was lying down, raised herself and scolded Eva. A little while ago, she stopped talking as if she was greatly scared, but now she could talk loudly because she was relieved.

I should’ve brought her here earlier.

Seeing Cecil’s face, who became comfortable to the fullest, Eva regretted not asking Rex for help earlier.

“But you must take medicine regularly and get better before it gets worse, mom.”

“There’s nothing to be sad about anymore, so stop worrying about me and take care of your health now.”

Cecil smiled affectionately, holding Eva’s hand. Cecil was smiling again, so Eva was happy. The warmth radiating from Cecil’s hands comforted her heart. Whenever she called Cecil her mom, she secretly got excited and thrilled.

Eva dispelled her anxiety that had been underlying throughout the day after hearing the doctor’s words that Cecil would be okay. Now that she had a mother, even if everyone else left her, her mom would still be by her side, in good health.

“I’ll give you medicine first. It takes time to prepare, so you’ll have to wait a while. If you’re tired, you can lie down here and rest.”

The medicine would take some time to make because they had to juice medicinal plants and mix them properly.

“Mom, take a nap on the bed. I’m going to talk to Rex for a bit.”

“What will you talk about?”

Cecil looked at Eva and Rex with suspicious eyes. It was Cecil who nagged them whenever she stopped coughing because they were together a lot these days.

Perhaps because she felt uncomfortable, her gaze alternating between Eva and Rex was unkind. Eva liked that.

“The food ingredients I bought today. I’ll be right back.”

Eva smiled, laid down Cecil, and covered her with a blanket. When she gave Rex a sign to come out, he shrugged and followed her out.

The two sat on a bench in the small courtyard outside the hospital. Eva, who sat first, looked at Rex, signalling him to sit down.

“You were good at acting as mother and daughter.”

He sat next to Eva and expressed his appreciation first. He didn’t talk about ingredients, but Eva wasn’t interested in that anyway.

“It’s acting, but I’m being sincere. To me, my nanny is just like my mother, and she cares about me like a daughter.”

It was embarrassing, but Eva answered seriously.

It was Cecil who raised her with all her heart, even though she didn’t give birth to her. Even when the employees of Bale Castle scattered, Cecil refused to work elsewhere and followed Eva. Even in Baronet Biti’s cruel house, she cared for, protected, and educated her in her arms. Even her biological mother would not have been able to do that. Cecil was like a mother to Eva. The mother she loved the most in the world.

“Do you like Cecil that much?”

“Of course. Are you feeling alright, Rex?”

It was a natural question for Eva, so Rex, who asked with a different nuance, was strange.

“Well, my mother died early. And it would be a relief if she didn’t hate me even if she was alive.”

Rex looked up at the sky and sighed. Eva saw the sadness and emptiness in his eyes. There seemed to be things that he couldn’t reveal. It seemed like behind his bright smile was a constant dark shadow.

“Why? Does your mother hate you?”

“It is what it is.”

Rex shrugged, looking despondent, avoiding the question. He looked unexpectedly weak for a person who was usually talkative and confident. Eva didn’t understand Rex’s attitude. He was a bit of a jerk but he still had a lot of power.

“Rex, you’re an amazing person. You’re leading and growing this merchant group.”

“…….”

“Your mother must be proud of you, Rex. I guarantee it.”

Eva meant it. The look of regret and shame in Rex’s eyes must have come from longing for his mother. That could be because he never received enough affection from his mother. She knew the nature of motherly love even without a mother. That there are no conditions and hatreds, and that there is only love. Rex’s mother should have been the same.