“Kyaa…!”
Marie let out a gasp, clapping a hand over her mouth.
“Goodness, Miss Viola! It suits you so perfectly! How should I put it, you look like a princess in disguise!”
“Oh, could you wear your hair down like this from now on? How can you be this beautiful with no makeup at all…”
“That’s right! For it to radiate such elegance even in everyday clothes. Are you sure you aren’t actually a princess?”
“B-Becky! What if she really is? W-we agreed to pretend we don’t know…!”
“Oh, right!”
Just from the way they talked, it sounded as though the two of them had already fully decided in their own minds that I was a princess in hiding.
Where do they even come up with such detailed nonsense?
Both being young women in their late teens, they had wonderfully vivid imaginations.
My face burned, and I fanned it with my hand.
Ugh, so embarrassing.
But seeing the two of them so delighted, it didn’t feel bad at all.
After a good while, the sorting of the clothes was finally finished.
“Thank you both so much! You saved me.”
“Not at all! It’s only what we should do.”
“There’s no such thing as ‘only what you should do.’ Hmm, I’d like to give you something as a treat…”
The clothes hadn’t been just one or two pieces; there’d been so many. If I’d done it alone, I might have worked myself to death. I couldn’t just send them off empty-handed.
But unfortunately, all I had in my room were medicines, not so much as a single snack.
“I don’t have anything on hand right now. Should I give you some kind of tonic instead? Something that makes you a little less tired.”
“Ooh. Do you have something like that?”
“Yes, and it works quite well, if I do say so myself. It’s my secret weapon, made after pulling all-nighters.”
Both of their eyes lit up, clearly quite tempted.
“Wow, I’d love that!”
Becky answered right away, but Marie hesitated for a moment, then carefully raised her hand.
“Um, excuse me, Miss Viola. I’m sorry, but instead of a tonic… would you happen to have anything good for cuts or bruises?”
“An ointment?”
That, I had plenty of.
“Of course I can give you some. But why? Are you hurt somewhere?”
I hadn’t noticed any injuries on her earlier… Just in case, I quickly looked her over, but nothing seemed to be wrong.
Marie answered in a voice that trailed off to almost nothing.
“Well… actually, there’s an apprentice knight named Eric, a friend of mine from back home. He said he needed some medicine.”
“The knights’ order?”
At the unexpected mention, I tilted my head.
Marie had a childhood friend named Eric.
They’d grown up in the same village and come to Winterwald together, and after Marie became a maid at the ducal house first, Eric followed and joined the knights’ order.
The two of them relied on each other like brother and sister.
But lately, Eric’s expression hadn’t been very bright. And every time they met, he seemed to have a bruise somewhere, or small cuts.
Don’t tell me he’s being beaten…?
Marie had asked, genuinely worried, but thankfully, that wasn’t it.
But Eric’s answer had raised a different kind of worry.
“Are you underestimating me? I may not look it, but I’m an apprentice knight of the Silver Dragon Knights, you know.”
“Th-then…”
“It’s just that the knights’ order’s dedicated physician quit suddenly two weeks ago. And there’s still no word on a replacement.”
Eric had only laughed cheerfully, as if he had no idea what the fuss was about, but Marie couldn’t help but worry.
Because of Knight Commander Morden Barnes.
He was the Knight Commander appointed by the late Duke, one of the empire’s most formidable fighters.
But separate from his skill, there was something twisted about his personality.
Perhaps out of an excessive loyalty toward the Dragonblood?
He acted like a man whose one wish was to die working for a Dragonblood.
The problem was that he forced this same standard onto everyone else.
Marie recalled something Becky had told her once.
Back when the late Duke was alive, the Silver Dragon Knights had once gone out to subdue monsters.
A brutal battle. Countless knights had returned barely clinging to life, their bodies wrecked.
A situation where treatment was obviously needed.
What Morden had done then was something no one could have imagined.
Using his own authority, he’d dismissed the knights’ order’s dedicated physicians.
His reason had been absurd.
“Delaying our mission for treatment… You have your priorities backward. Would you halt a battle because the paint on a shield chipped a little?”
“S-sir.”
“It seems you’ve forgotten your place. You are consumables, for the sake of the Dragonblood. When you break and wear out, you ought to consider it an honor to have served your purpose.”
When knights badly injured after the subjugation had asked for their next mission to be delayed so they could recover, he had dismissed the physicians so they couldn’t even be treated at all.
Simply to show loyalty to the Dragonblood.
…I heard he’s held back a bit lately, at least.
After the late Duke died and Cain inherited the dukedom, Morden’s madness had settled somewhat. As if he were reading the new Duke’s temperament and being careful.
Eric said it was nothing, but… what if something else is going on?
And so, in the end, Marie had worked up her nerve and decided to ask Viola for help.
“The knights’ order’s dedicated physician quit not long ago, and everyone seems to be having a hard time. Getting treated isn’t easy either. So…”
Marie, who had been rambling on, belatedly clapped a hand over her own mouth.
Oh no. I really did say something I shouldn’t have.
Miss Viola was, officially, Young Master Jayden’s dedicated physician.
Asking her to take on something outside her duties, and a mere maid’s personal request at that, was clearly rude.
“I-I’m sorry. You must be so busy, and here I am bothering you with a request like this… Please just pretend you didn’t hear it…”
Marie was hurrying to take back her words when Viola’s eyes lit up.
Without a word, she sprang up from her seat and marched briskly over to a drawer.
Huh? While Marie and Becky blinked in surprise, Viola came back with an armful of something.
“I just grabbed everything I could think of for now. Will this do? Or is there anything else you need…”
Clatter, clatter. What spilled out onto the table was top-quality ointment, painkillers, bandages, and more. Marie’s mouth fell open.
“M-Miss Viola? This is far too much…”
“The knights get hurt a lot, don’t they? Hearing about it made me worried too. Wouldn’t it be better to bring plenty and share it around?”
“Goodness…”
Marie nearly burst into tears.
She’d never imagined Viola would look out for them this much.
“Th-thank you so much, Miss Viola!”
“I hope it helps. Here, take all of this to the knights’ order.”
Having already gathered and packed the items, Viola held out a bag. As Marie happily accepted it, Viola held out something else, too.
“And this one’s for you, Marie.”
It was the same tonic Becky had received earlier.
“Pardon? These medicines are already more than enough for me…”
“Those are for the knights. Not for you.”
Viola smiled brightly and clasped Marie’s hand warmly.
“You’ve worked hard too, so you deserve to be looked after.”
“…!”
A warm feeling filled a corner of Marie’s heart.
She was already grateful just for the knights’ share, and now Viola was looking after her separately, too…
How thoughtful could one person be?
“If the knights ever run short on medicine or supplies, tell me anytime. It bothers me. No physician at all, honestly.”
“N-no, that’s fine! I know full well how busy you are, Miss Viola. I couldn’t trouble you any further…”
At her warm smile, Marie found herself nodding without meaning to, though inwardly she hoped it would never come to that.
But the world didn’t always turn out the way one hoped.
A few days later.
Bang, bang!
Along with a frantic knock, Marie came rushing into Viola’s room, her face drained of color.
Her tear-streaked face was frozen with terror.
“M-Miss Viola! Sob, something terrible has happened!”
“Marie? What’s wrong?”
“At the training grounds… someone’s b-badly hurt at the training grounds… please, just this once, please help…!”
