Third is the preventive measure you came up with. Lord Alexei told me that the face masks are in such high demand that the manufacturers are struggling to keep up with the rush of orders. The hub town of Hersche is buzzing with activity as a result. It helps that you insisted the masks be distributed to the mining towns before anywhere else, but Hersche was also the first place to produce the cloth, remember? The same goes for the cure itself, of course. Thanks to that, the town is being inundated with a flood of people and cargo. It’s forcing Earl Ralshen and Lord Alexei to make the trip back and forth between Hersche and Modzth just about every other day.
Lady Rachel, the earl’s wife, has gone back to her manor for the time being. I also have reports about what’s been going in the manor and who’s been coming by to visit. I imagine Lord Alexei has already informed you, but Duchess Rosalia is lucid and on the road to recovery. It was such a relief to hear.
Also, remember the concerns you had about the red cloth and the cure? Well, I’m afraid counterfeits have already started popping up. Fortunately, we were able to identify them as fakes straight away. I had to stop myself from bursting out laughing. I can’t believe you accounted for all the possibilities in the midst of your frantic departure!
“We ought to mark authentic red cloths and remedies with the royal crest.” That alone wouldn’t stop bad people from using the royal crest to their own ends...though it would constitute a serious crime. “The government officials who distribute them and the merchants with whom they have contracts should apply the crest with glow-in-the-dark paint.”
That way, we’d know right away if it was a fake. The fluorescent paint unveiled at last year’s Holy Night’s Banquet was placed under the control of the royal family. Only a select few people know how to produce it. The materials used to make it are scarce as well, so it’s not a resource that can be mass-produced willy-nilly.
You’re incredible, Miss Eli. That idea of yours lent further legitimacy to the cure and red cloths we’ve made. Then again...Hersche has been placed under heightened security as a result, which had that innkeeper called Berndt screaming, “How am I supposed to keep my inn open for business?!”
Oh, on that note, Berndt’s inn has been closed for business and turned into a production facility for the cure, managed by the regional lord. If I had to guess, I’d say it’ll eventually go on to become a museum, since it is the place where the prototype for the cure that saved the Ars Continent from the plague was developed.
So as you can see, we haven’t run into any problems regarding the preventive face masks or the cure. Still...a lot of the orders for the red cloth are coming from regions without mines. People seem to think that as long as they have a mask, they won’t have to worry about getting sick. So...I imagine it’s going to take some time yet to get our people properly educated on the subject.
Anyhow, the citizens of Ralshen are more motivated than ever. If, by some chance, a fake cure or red cloth were to make the rounds, it would inevitably damage your and Gene’s reputations as the original inventors, right? The whole town—no, the whole of Ralshen—is determined not to let things come to that.
After all, Ralshen may be perceived as the source of the outbreak, but it’s also attracting attention as the birthplace of a breakthrough solution. It’s so exhilarating to be in the middle of it all, Miss Eli. It really feels like I’m witnessing history being made. I definitely made the right choice in becoming your maid.
As for the fourth thing...
~.~.~.~
Just as I was about to turn to the next page of the letter, there came a knock on the door. I shot back a soft acknowledgment, upon which the head maid, Selma, and my personal attendant, Annie, graced the room. Their eyes narrowed the moment they caught sight of me sitting up in bed.
Breaking out into a cold sweat, I gently closed the book I’d been reading along with the letter inside. “Oh, Selma, Annie...”
Selma was the veteran head maid who had served our family since my mother’s generation, and it would be no exaggeration to say she was the one running the House of Bernstein. She was a stern woman who showed occasional glimpses of motherly love through her strictness. Annie was the maid who’d served me ever since I came to the royal capital, and she often provided me with information on a wide range of topics, including gossip that would otherwise never have reached my ears.
“Milady.” Selma was the first to speak. “I trust you have not been doing work in our absence?”
I, Elianna, met their searching looks with a hasty shake of my head.
A few days ago, when I’d begun to feel rather dizzy and unsteady on my feet while working in His Highness’s office, I’d been immediately sent to see Doctor Harvey, the court physician. I’d begged everyone not to make such a fuss, but my pleas had earned me little more than menacing looks from my maidservants and Lord Alexei’s subordinates alike. Once I’d undergone an examination, I was whisked back to my father’s estate before I could get in a word edgewise. There, I’d been placed on strict bed rest. I was forbidden from any work or activity until further notice.
I was surprised by this rare display of inflexibility from my father, but I took it as a sign that I’d given him too much cause for concern. Upon arriving back home, I’d found everyone in tears. Word of my various exploits had made its way back to the estate, and on reflection, it was quite the harrowing tale indeed—from my disappearance in the middle of official business, to the gossip in the capital about how the saint was the prince’s true betrothed, to the subsequent turnabout. It wasn’t difficult to imagine how much of a fright it must have given the staff, considering no one had told them the truth of the matter. Worse yet, I’d been in the throes of the same deadly plague that had once stolen my mother from us.
I regretted focusing too much on my own problems and agreed to recuperate at home, but I couldn’t help worrying about all the responsibilities I’d abandoned and the amount of work His Highness must have back at the royal palace. He was the acting king of Sauslind, undoubtedly the most overworked man in the kingdom at the moment. The thought of his many burdens and heavy workload made it maddening to sit still.
Nevertheless, as I planted my feet on the floor, I tried to convince myself that resting my body would carry me to the next step.
After leaving to get some fresh air, I strolled around my family’s library. Wandering around the familiar area with nothing but a bathrobe pulled over my nightgown, I picked out a few tomes I wanted to either read or reread, before returning to my room. The household chef had prepared me a nutritious meal, which I ate as I immersed myself in the books.
It was almost like I’d returned to life before the engagement. But now, I knew there was far more to the world than this.
Once I’d completed my daily routine, I was ushered back to bed. In an uncharacteristic move, I made a request for something other than books. “Say...Selma. Could I step out for a bit?”
It had been three days since I’d returned home. I was eating well and getting plenty of sleep. I’d asked under the assumption that I was ready to be released, but Selma’s response was as terse as ever. She told me no.
When I wore my discouragement plain on my face, Annie stifled a laugh and said, “The weather forecaster reported that this year’s winter will be a long one, milady. It’s not the right season for a walk through the gardens. Please be patient a little while longer.”
Annie flashed me a small smile, having taken my request to go outside at face value. Selma, on the other hand, had likely discerned the true meaning of my words and refused me on those very grounds.
I wanted to get out. I, who was known as the Bibliophile Princess for my all-consuming obsession with books, wanted to leave and hurry to the side of the man who was confronting a national crisis all on his own in the royal palace. That was my honest wish.
I wanted to stand by his side and be his support. Or...no.
I simply missed him. I wanted to be with him.