Chapter 22

While Astelle put down her luggage, Theor ran to an arrowhead-shaped window on one wall.

“Aunt Astelle, look over there! I can see the village.”

Theor grabbed the window sill and shouted.

“Theor, you have to be careful not to fall off.”

Through the window, she could see a small country town at a glance.

Along with the square vegetable garden, small houses were gathered.

It was peaceful scenery.

Through the white clouds in the distance, the gray mountain ranges were also seen.

The sunset was sitting quietly through the fog on the hillside.

Astelle looked out the window unintentionally and found an unusual sight.

‘That…?’

On top of the dried branches, she could see the black and dried petals.

It was a silver plum blossom.

It is a flower that blooms white like a dove’s wings, but somehow, the fluffy petals were all withered.

‘You’re sick.’

Looking out the window, Astelle looked at the silver plum tree standing in the garden and thought so vaguely.

The death of that white flower was a harbinger of illness.

At this time, when silver plum blossoms withered for no reason, a terrible contagious disease occurred in the village each time.

‘Innes fever.’

It was an endemic disease common in the northeast of the continent.

In the past six years of living in the East, Astelle has witnessed that flower withers like that several times.

And at that time, new tombs covered with white flowers in the village remained lonely here and there.

‘If you take medicine within the time limit when you get sick, you’ll be better.’

Innes fever is a disease that can be easily cured with only medicine.

However, poor farmers were often victims of sickness because they could not take medicine.

This is because there was no way to make medicines in the old countryside where there were no pharmacists even though herbs were scattered around them.

‘Fortunately, there seems to be no big deal yet.’

If a contagious disease circulates in the village, there is no way to be decided as an accommodation on the emperor’s journey.

-Knock knock-

Someone knocked on the door.

“Lady, I brought refreshments.”

The old maid brought the teacup and cookies to the tray.

Theor, hanging from the window sill, quickly ran toward it.

On the tray was hot cocoa with a sweet chocolate scent.

“Can I eat it?”

“Sure, Young Master.”

The maid handed Theor a small cup of cocoa.

“Thank you.”

A smile even stood around the maid’s wrinkled eyes as Theor took the cocoa cup, laughed, and said thanks.

She also handed a teacup to Astelle.

“It is the one to warms the body.”

It was a fragrant medicine tea with steam.

“Thank you.”

The moment she took the teacup from the maid, the wrinkled fingers grasping the teacup touched Astelle’s hand slightly.

It was an instant moment, but Astelle looked closely at the finger.

The maid put the tray down and said she was sorry.

“Well, Lady. Due to the lack of labor in the castle, I will serve Lady myself today.”

“Yes, please. I’ll take care of the child myself. You just need to do a simple service.”

The emperor’s party was enormous, including knights and soldiers.

In such a small town, the labor was insufficient.

“Well, and this floor doesn’t have a bathroom in every room. You have to use the baths downstairs.”

“I see.”

These days mansions have small bathrooms in each bedroom, but there weren’t many private bathrooms in this old-fashioned castle.

Only the family and valuable guests could use the bedroom with the bathroom, and others took a bath in the public bath.

“The manager has asked for your understanding that he was sorry for making you uncomfortable.”

The maid was very sorry and bowed her head.

“I’m fine so don’t mind.”

“Thank you for your understanding, Lady. Instead, the only people staying on this floor are Lady and the Young Master, so you can use the bath anytime you want.”

“Is that so? Then I should go to the bath before the water cools down.”

Astelle opened the luggage bag and took out a change of clothes.

“Theor, you have to take a bath with aunt today.”

“Yeah.”

Astelle pulled out the clothes from the depths of the bag.

She turned over the piled clothes to get the clothes at the bottom, and the teddy bear she had put in the bag fell to the floor.

“Levin!”

Theor quickly picked up the teddy bear that had fallen from the luggage bag and hugged it.

Astelle took a change of clothes and headed for the bath with Theor.

The maid who guided her to the bath opened a small door and pointed to the inside.

“There is a bathrobe over there. If you take off the dress, we will wash it cleanly.”

The place the maid pointed to was a small room with a basket for clothes and towels.

‘Is it a changing room attached to the bathroom?’

She was unfamiliar and never used a public bath like this.

The Duke’s mansion of the capital where Astelle grew up had a private bathroom in the room of the attendants.

She now lives in her grandfather’s old villa, although it turned into ruins, there was no bedroom without a bathroom.

“Now, let’s take off our clothes and get ready for a bath together.”

She removed Theor’s clothes and put on a little bathrobe.

Astelle herself took off her clothes and wore a thin bathrobe on one side.

It was a white gown covering the knees made of thin cotton wool.

The curvature of the body was reflected as it is.

Astel changes her clothes and sat down with her knees bent and asked Theor.

“Theor, could you lend me Levin for a while?”

“Huh? Why?”

Astelle smiled as she looked straight into Theor’s curious eyes.

“I will do a new play.”

* * *

After a while, she put all her clothes in a basket and went outside.

When the two came out, the maid quickly picked up the basket, as if she had waited.

The moment she took the basket, the maid’s gaze quickly glanced over Astelle’s body.

Wearing only a thin gown, Astelle showed her slender body.

She had no place to hide something.

The maid, who was about to go out with a basket, found a doll in Theor’s hand.

Theor noticed the maid’s gaze and hugged Levin tightly.

“I wanna take Levin too, I want to take a bath together.”

“Theor, you have to leave the doll.“

“No!”

Theor wrapped the doll in his arms and stepped back.

The maid glanced at the doll held in Theor’s hand.

It was an old teddy bear made of brown cloth.

There are several decorations on the body like a rag, and a small ribbon was attached to the back of the neck.

It was just a children’s doll made of cotton.

She didn’t seem to have any place to hide something, but…

Her gaze instantly turned to the doll’s body filled with cotton.

The maid said with a laugh as if to be a kind.

“If you take the doll in the bath, it will get all wet. As you know, it’s a public place… we apologize for making you uncomfortable.”

“No.”

Astelle smiled a little and asked Theor again.

“Because Levin took a bath before, he wouldn’t want to get into the water. Let’s call Blin and wait here with him. Huh?”

Theor came forward with the doll in his arms, wriggling.

“Then will you give me a cookie?”

“Yes, I’ll go to the room after taking a bath and give it to you.”

Slowly, Astelle put the teddy bear he was handed over on a small side table in the bath.

The maid did not show much interest and picked up only a basket with clothes.

“I’ll keep the clothes clean while Lady is bathing.”

Astelle replied with a smile.

“Yes, please.”

“Blin, come here.”

Theor stroked Blin’s head next to him.

Wearing her bathrobe, Astelle grabbed Theor’s hand and pulled him into the bathroom.

Blin, the dog, wagging its tail, crouched down in front of the bath door.

After a while, the sound of water began to leak from the inside.

As soon as the maid heard the sound of water, she put down the basket and picked up the teddy bear on the side table.

She pressed the doll’s body here and there and touched its plump limbs without exception.

However, she only touched the fluffy cotton, and there was nothing inside.

She put the doll down and she went through Astelle’s dress.

Even the usual dresses and underwear, and even the child’s clothes were scrutinized, but still, nothing came out.

The maid put the basket down and she went to the room Astelle used.

When she entered the room, she opened the luggage bag placed by the bed, and she opened the boxes in it one by one.

She checked the medicine box as well as instructed in advance.

She carefully touched the herbs in the box, and she opened all the vials to smell and taste.

Then she walks around the room and she looks here and there.

With little furniture, Astelle had no place to hide.

She put her hand under the bed and even behind the dressing table and touched it, but it didn’t come out too much.

The old maid eventually rearranged the luggage, picked up the basket, and walked out into the hallway.

There was a knight guarding the door in the corridor.

The maid went to the knight and said quietly.

“I looked over everything as ordered, but there were no special drugs. There are no medicines for dangerous illnesses or chronic diseases, they are all common cold medicines and headache medicines. There are some herbs, but…”

The maid frowned on her wrinkled eye for a moment.

She said the medicines in the bottle were nothing special, but the herbs were a little peculiar.

It wasn’t a common herb used in ordinary remedies, and it was a medicinal herb that was hard to find.

But she couldn’t figure out what Astelle was trying to use just by looking at the herbs.