Chapter 21.1

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Chapter 21 – Part 1

Doctor Jane Thorpe looked to be in her early thirties, with a head of grayish-brown hair, light blue eyes, and a gentle countenance.

I was finally given my first ‘exclusive family doctor’ in the Valentino estate, yet this only induced complicated feelings.

This person… The moment Theodore got his memories back, she might get fired.

“His Grace has ordered me to take care of your health, Madam. My specialty is gynecology, but I also have proficiency in psychiatry. I heard that you’ve been dealing with insomnia, Madam…”

The doctor asked me this and that, and her expression gradually became more serious. It seemed to be because I told her about the toxic sleeping pills that I’d been taking for more than a year and a half.

“Madam, did you know that one of the side effects of those pills is infertility?”

With a trembling voice, the doctor asked cautiously. And I answered calmly with a nod of the head.

“Of course I knew about it.”

“……”

The doctor opened and closed her lips for a while as if she couldn’t find the right words to say, but she soon pulled herself together again and asked more questions.

“Are you very sure that you’re going to stop taking those pills starting today?”

“It just happened that way.”

“You’ve done well to decide on this, Madam. Instead of that, I’ll be prescribing you a different kind of medicine that wouldn’t affect your health negatively…”

She said that she would make three different kinds of hot and cold medicine for me, which I would be drinking regularly every breakfast, lunch and dinner.

In particular, she said that I must take the medicine every morning after meals as well, so I wasn’t allowed to skip breakfast from now on.

In many ways, it was annoying and bothersome, but I accepted it all silently. In any case… It was a hospital play that would end when Theodore’s memories return.

“Your health is not in a very good state right now, Madam. Your immune system is severely compromised, and… your blood circulation and the condition of your internal organs are not normal as well…”

“……”

“In simpler terms, your condition is comparable to that of a sixty-year-old individual. Depending on how your health will be managed in the future, you’ll be just fine, but if not…”

She brought this up with a very sympathetic expression and trailed off.

I nodded wordlessly.

It didn’t come to me as a surprise, really.

After this, the doctor imparted a few more words, then the check-up ended.

She bowed to me politely before she withdrew.

“Then, Madam, I’ll see you again tomorrow. If you perhaps feel sick, please don’t hesitate to call me any time.”

“Alright. See you tomorrow.”

The doctor left, and it was now eleven in the morning. It was going to be lunch time soon, but I wasn’t feeling hungry at all because I ate too much during breakfast. I thought I might just eat some scones and drink some tea later at around four in the afternoon to fill myself up.

After changing shoes, I put on a thin shawl over my shoulders and headed towards the library. I planned to read a book at one corner of the library.

I also wanted to take a walk in the garden, but I thought against it and decided to refrain from doing so from now on. It’s better to take a stroll either early in the morning or late at night, when there were only a few people coming and going. If I showed myself, the people in the Valentino Castle would find it unpleasant.

“Madam, I’ll be standing over there, so please call me if you need me.”

Charlotte whispered to me as she pointed at one side of the library.

It was a narrow space between two bookshelves, so I only stared at Charlotte for a moment, then I pulled out the chair next to me.

“You don’t have to do that. Just sit here.”

“Pardon? But I…”

I simply opened a book and gestured for her to sit down. There was no one else around, but Charlotte still hesitates to sit beside me. I pushed a book towards her.

Charlotte knew how to read. She grew up in an abbey when she was younger and learned how to read and write from the friars there.

However, the fact that an orphaned maid could read was something that her work environment didn’t consider good, that’s why while we were still in the Everett estate, she wasn’t given enough tasks to maximize her ability to read.

It was the same after we came to the Valentino Castle, even when she had become a lady-in-waiting.

Most of the ladies-in-waiting were daughters from knight households or from houses of respectable social ranks, so they were automatically allowed to use the library whenever they wanted to without having to ask for permission.

On the other hand, since Charlotte had no such affluent background, she found it difficult to go here to the library because she was wary of how others would perceive her. That’s why I often brought Charlotte in like this and let her read as much as she wanted.

“Thank you, Madam…”

“……”

Charlotte whispered again in a low voice. I nodded lightly and then concentrated on reading. After a while, only the sound of pages being turned could be heard occasionally inside the library. It was a peaceful, quiet time.

Strange rumors have recently been circulating in the Francia Kingdom. The main focus of these rumors were the Duke and Duchess of Valentino who were reportedly on good terms.

The Ducal Princess Adeline Alvinith glanced down at her teacup with a smile on her lips as she listened to the other noble ladies whispering amongst themselves.

Her mood had already plummeted even earlier in the afternoon, but she did not show this because she was very good at managing her countenance.

“Isn’t it that there were a lot of rumors that those two would be getting divorced soon? That’s what I thought as well…”

“But did you know that Duke Valentino recently gifted the Duchess a blue opal necklace from Laquia? I heard the necklace had been auctioned off the other day.”

“I heard that the Duke himself attended the auction and had bid a staggering amount of money just to win the necklace.”

The blue opal necklace in question was a precious treasure that was more than three centuries old, and it was famous for how it was worn by the last princess of the already fallen country of Laquia.

Its whereabouts were a mystery these last fifty years, but it suddenly appeared at an auction in the capital.

None other than Theodore Valentino had stepped up to bid for such a rare treasure, as if to prove also that House Valentino had recently recovered their wealth and power.

This caused quite a stir in high society for a while, but their recovery wasn’t all that surprising.

What surprised them all was the fact that Duke Valentino had presented the blue opal necklace to the Duchess.

“I thought that the blue opal was going to be for Ducal Princess Alvinith…”

“Shh, she’s going to hear.”

All the whispers from the next table over made their way to Adeline’s ears. Everyone was looking at her, but Adeline calmly sipped her tea as if nothing happened.

It was a perfectly aloof attitude that it would be difficult to tell from her outward appearance that she was, in fact, in a foul mood.

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