A week had passed since Westalia had brought the girls from the dye factory into Le Chantier Palace. She was sheltering them in her rooms for the time being, due to threat from the dark side of the Reyn family.
“Ow! Be gentler, Lady Westalia!”
“I’m being as gentle as I can. It’s normal for this to hurt; it’s very inflamed. Just a little more,” Westalia said.
“Ugggh...”
Westalia was personally treating each girl one by one. She wanted to bathe them, but the sores and rashes on their skin were so bad that forcing them into the bath could cause the scabs to peel off, making their condition worse. So, for the time being, Westalia had to wipe each girl’s skin down by hand with a wet towel.
“I wish I could have been treated by that cool guy with the eye patch,” the girl said.
“Don’t complain. Are you so dissatisfied with being treated by a beautiful lady?”
“You’re unfriendly and rough, and you don’t care about your patients, and you’re haughty and arrogant and—”
“So many complaints!” Westalia had no idea how one girl could find so many things to complain about. At first the girl had been reserved, but after she got comfortable, she’d begun to open up. Perhaps she hadn’t yet mastered the rules of etiquette because she was an orphan.
At first she was so impressed that I’m a candidate for empress, Westalia thought. But she supposed it was better that the girl was comfortable with her. On the other hand, the one whom the girl referred to as “the cool guy” was, of course, Paige. Westalia couldn’t take care of all five girls by herself, so Paige had been enlisted to help.
“You’re so cool! I wanna be your wife!” the girl said, addressing Paige directly.
“Thank you,” Paige said with a laugh. “But I’m sure you’ll find someone better than me.”
“Why? I want you!”
“I’ve told you before, but I’m a woman.”
“I don’t care! You’re cool! But if you don’t want to marry me, then why don’t you come be my knight?”
Westalia raised her eyebrows at the girl’s request. She pulled Paige back by the shoulders and reined in the immature girl. “I’m sorry, she’s my knight. I won’t give her to anyone.”
Paige’s eyes widened at Westalia’s possessiveness. But soon after, the corners of her mouth lifted in satisfaction, and she put her hand on Westalia’s slender arm. “Don’t worry, I have no intention of serving anyone other than you, Westalia. Sorry.”
“Laaaaaame.”
Westalia and Paige moved down the line of girls, chatting with them as they disinfected their wounds. Finally, it was Remilena’s turn.
“Okay, Remilena, I’m going to change your bandages and apply medicine to your rash. Can you give me your hands?”
“Okaaay,” Remilena said calmly as she held out her arms. They were thin and bony, and her rash, blisters, and inflammation were worse than the other girls’. Her skin was hardened and darkened from chronic inflammation. According to Remilena, she had been working in that factory the longest. She’d been one step away from being disposed of, but she’d managed to treat the affected areas of her body with items from the factory, reducing the inflammation and maintaining her usefulness. Westalia, impressed with the girl’s resourcefulness, could tell she was indeed Daniel’s daughter.
“This might hurt a little,” Westalia warned.
“It’s bound to hurt a little bit if you’re using hyoticin. But for people like us with severe skin conditions, the ingredients in hyoticin may be a little too irritating,” Remilena said.
“You’re very knowledgeable!” Westalia said. The ointment that she was using to treat her patients was a concoction of her own making. Hyoticin was known as a poisonous herb, but it had anti-inflammatory properties that relieved skin sores, itching, and pain. The girls were suffering from severe symptoms of the poisoning, so Westalia had to use a strong dosage.
“Hyoticin has a very distinctive smell. Daddy taught me about it a long time ago. I have a very keen sense of smell, even though I can’t see,” Remilena said in a laid-back manner. “But I still think you should switch to a weaker medicine, because overstimulation can tire out the skin. For example, you could extract components from zerna berries or lucerne grass. Oh, but you may not be able to get zerna berries this year. If it rains too much, there won’t be many berries. And then—”
Westalia and Paige were taken aback by the girl’s relaxed manner as she talked about medicinal leafy plants. Remilena, with her index finger on her chin, tilted her head in puzzlement at the silence between the two.
“Did I say something wrong?” Remilena asked.
“No, not at all. I was just impressed by you. You’re clearly Daniel’s daughter. I still have a lot to learn. You’re right, I’ll get you some medicine that will be a little less harsh on your skin,” Westalia said.
“Thank you. You’re very kind, Lady Westalia.”
“I’m just doing what I have to do. It’s nothing compared to what you’ve had to go through.”
Remilena smiled softly, but then she frowned with worry. “Daddy is coming here today...right?”
“I sent a letter with the fastest horse here, so he should be here as soon as he reads it.”
“I see. I hope he won’t be upset by how I look...” Remilena let out a sad sigh. She always seemed so carefree, but she was probably easily rattled when it came to her father.
In truth, Westalia wasn’t sure about letting Remilena and Daniel meet. She thought it would be best to let Remilena recuperate a little longer before her father saw her, but Paige disagreed, strongly pushing for the two to meet as soon as possible.
“He’ll have to know the truth eventually. It’s just a matter of sooner rather than later,” Westalia said.