Chapter 015. The Worsened Hand
“Are you… really okay?”
Early in the morning, as Deborah was getting ready with a pale face, Hanna asked with concern.
Last night, when Hanna had dragged her exhausted body to the attic, the room was empty.
Waiting for Deborah, who hadn’t returned even late into the night, Hanna had fallen asleep at some point, only to be awakened by a strange sound in the early dawn.
In the dim morning light—at first, Hanna couldn’t make out what the sound was while half-asleep, but she soon realized it was groaning.
Lighting the lamp by her bedside and shining it toward the source, she saw Deborah lying on her bed, moaning in pain, having returned at some point.
Alarmed, Hanna rushed to Deborah’s bed and shook her shoulder.
After a while, Deborah blinked her hazy eyes, slowly focusing.
“Deborah? What’s wrong… Are you sick? My goodness… look at all this sweat…”
Hanna placed the lamp on the bedside table and wiped the sweat drenching Deborah’s forehead.
Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t just her forehead.
Seeing the sheer amount of sweat running down her neck, Hanna realized Deborah’s condition was serious.
“Deborah! Pull yourself together! This won’t do. Let’s go to Lady Charlotte.”
Asking if she could stand, Hanna slipped her hand under Deborah’s back.
But Deborah faintly shook her head.
“…I’m okay. I’m just a bit exhausted… I’ll be fine after some sleep.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?! Your body’s burning up!”
At Deborah’s stubborn words, Hanna snapped in frustration.
But Deborah was adamant about not causing a fuss in the middle of the night.
Unable to drag her against her will, Hanna had no choice but to stay by her side, wiping her sweat and watching over her until dawn.
Fortunately, she sighed in relief when Deborah’s fever subsided in the early morning.
But she couldn’t completely relax.
Deborah’s already pale face looked so ashen today that she resembled a corpse.
At Hanna’s worry, Deborah forced a smile.
“I’m fine. I feel much better after sleeping.”
“Much better, my foot. You look like a dead body…”
Seeing Hanna grumble about her stubbornness, Deborah let out a small chuckle.
As she finished getting ready and was about to put on her headdress, a short groan escaped Deborah’s lips.
Hanna, already on edge from the night’s events, jumped at the sound and quickly rushed to Deborah’s side to check on her.
“Your… hand…”
In the darkness of the night, she hadn’t noticed, but seeing the white cloth wrapped around one of Deborah’s hands, Hanna’s eyes widened in shock.
As Deborah awkwardly tried to hide her hand behind her back, Hanna grabbed it faster.
“It’s… it’s not as bad as it looks.”
Seeing Hanna’s eyes grow wider, Deborah cautiously spoke up, trying to preempt her reaction.
“What is this?!”
But ignoring Deborah’s words, Hanna let out a sharp yell.
“…I broke a teacup yesterday… and while hurriedly picking it up, I…”
Deborah said with a dejected expression, and Hanna, incredulous, shook her head with her mouth agape.
“You idiot! You should’ve gotten it treated right away. Did you just wrap it up with a cloth like a fool?!”
At Hanna’s horrified expression, Deborah clamped her mouth shut, at a loss for words.
“Are you out of your mind?! Don’t you know if the wound festers, it could become a big problem?!”
Saying it wouldn’t do, Hanna grabbed Deborah’s wrist, ready to drag her somewhere.
Whether to Lady Charlotte or a hospital.
Deborah hurriedly grabbed Hanna’s hand and spoke quickly.
“H-Hanna! I was already planning to ask Lady Charlotte for permission to go to the hospital after the morning assembly.”
“…Really?”
Hanna glared at Deborah with deep suspicion.
Deborah nodded quickly.
“Of course, I’m human too—how could I keep working with my hand like this? I’m serious.”
As Deborah blinked earnestly, pleading to be believed, Hanna, after staring for a while, slowly released her grip.
But still not entirely convinced, she shot Deborah a sharp look.
“You’d better go to the hospital today. I’ll check tonight!”
Pointing a finger right in front of Deborah’s nose, Hanna issued a stern warning.
At her uncharacteristically scary expression, Deborah quickly nodded in agreement.
* * *
It wasn’t a lie—she really intended to go to the hospital.
Her wrist had been throbbing with increasing frequency, likely due to inflammation, but the most serious issue was the wound on her palm, which caused excruciating pain with the slightest touch.
Though she had done her best to remove the shards yesterday, the wound from the tiny glass fragments had evidently festered.
When she peeled back the cloth in the morning, the situation was visibly severe.
It wasn’t a lie to reassure Hanna—she genuinely needed to visit the hospital, and she had promised to do so.
But after the morning assembly, Lady Charlotte seemed too busy with preparations for the evening banquet to have time to talk.
Moreover, due to the banquet being moved up slightly, Miss Cecilia’s tea party, originally scheduled for early afternoon, had been abruptly pushed forward by several hours.
As a result, all the manor’s servants were set to have an overwhelmingly busy day.
‘…What do I do now?’
As she clutched her throbbing hand, deep in thought, a voice urgently called out to her.
“Deborah! Miss Cecilia is looking for you—hurry and go!”
“…Me?”
“Yes, hurry! The maid who passed on the message said she’s urgently asking for you, so go quickly!”
“Yes, hurry! The maid who passed on the message said she’s urgently asking for you, so go quickly!”
“……”
“……”
The maid, clearly in a rush, delivered the message quickly and turned to leave.
Deborah stood there dazed for a moment before hurriedly moving her feet.
* * *
As she rushed into Miss Cecilia’s bedroom, she was met with a sight so luxurious it made her eyes widen, with several maids already bustling around.
Due to the suddenly rescheduled tea party, maids assisting with Cecilia’s preparations were frantically surrounding her.
In the midst of it all, Cecilia sat regally, like a queen.
The stern-looking personal ladies’ maid standing beside her spotted Deborah entering and urgently gestured for her to come in.
Hesitating, Deborah approached and politely bowed to Miss Cecilia.
Despite the greeting, Cecilia merely cast a cold, indifferent glance downward.
“Hurry up and do the lady’s hair.”
The ladies’ maid pointed with her chin at a box containing ornate hair accessories, a comb, large curling scissors, and an iron rod, barking sharply at Deborah.
Her gaze was as fierce as if she were looking at a thief who had stolen something of hers.
“What are you dawdling for when I told you to hurry?”
At the harsh words delivered with a scowl, Deborah silently moved to stand behind Miss Cecilia.
‘Of all times… my hand…’
She had heard Cecilia’s aesthetic standards were extremely exacting, and with the severe pain in her wrist and palm, Deborah wasn’t confident she could produce results that would satisfy her.
Under the watchful, scrutinizing gaze of the ladies’ maid, as if testing her skills, Deborah began reaching for the hair accessory box.
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BY ANNA 💓
