“Ew! I told you I hate that medicine! It tastes horrible!” the princess’s angry shout resounded.
Claus had just arrived on the scene, wide-eyed. A man in his fifties was standing in front of Meltia with a troubled look on his face. Meanwhile, the girl was pointedly looking the other way.
“Your Highness, this isn’t medicine. It’s a nourishment tonic...”
“Whatever! It’s all the same to me! I won’t drink anything nasty! Now go away!” Meltia demanded, making a shooing gesture at the man. That was when she noticed Claus. Her face brightened instantly. “Lord Claus!” Then she once again grimaced and glared at the older man. “See?! It’s time for my studies now, so get out of here! Goodbye!”
“B-But...!” The man tried to insist, but the maids chased him off. The women were clearly Meltia’s allies. “Your Highneeess!!!” the man cried weakly as the maids dragged him off.
“Who was that, Lady Tia?” asked Claus.
“Oh, that was the court physician, Dr. Jaquilla. He’s always nagging me and giving me this awful-tasting medicine.”
Court physician, huh?
Dr. Jaquilla had silver-gray hair and a thick beard. He wore a black vest and glasses, so he certainly looked the part of a doctor.
“But how can you get better if you don’t take your medicine?” Claus asked Meltia.
“I’ll be fine. Even if I don’t take it, I don’t get fevers anymore. Anyway, will you tell me more about yourself today, Lord Claus?” the girl asked, entwining her arm around his.
“No,” Claus said nonchalantly. “I’m here to tutor you.”
“You’re no fun,” she complained. “Then how about this? If I answer all your questions correctly, you’ll answer one of my questions. If you don’t accept these terms, then I won’t study. And I might feel dizzy!”
Claus turned his face away from her with an exasperated sigh.
“Fine. Let’s go with that. But only if you get everything correct.”
“Yay! I’ll do my best!”
Once Claus was done tutoring Meltia, he walked around the palace in search of a certain person. Eventually, he found said person seated in a gazebo in the palace garden. Claus put on a smile and approached.
“Greetings,” he said, startling the man. “I’m sorry you had such a difficult time earlier. And I apologize for the late introduction, but my name’s Claus Guivarch. I am Her Highness Princess Meltia’s tutor.”
“O-Oh, right. You’re the rumored Count Guivarch, then? I’m the court physician, Auguste Jaquilla.”
Indeed, the person Claus had been looking for was Dr. Jaquilla, who had been so viciously rejected by the princess earlier that day.
This man should know about Princess Meltia’s illness in detail.
Although Claus wasn’t able to meet with Jeanette, they still exchanged letters regularly. In one of them, Jeanette had mentioned that she wanted to find out more about what Meltia was suffering from.
“May I join you?” Claus inquired with a pleasant smile.
Jaquilla nodded gladly.
“Of course. But what could you possibly want from a senile old fool like me?”
“I felt a sense of kinship with you after witnessing that earlier scene,” Claus explained. “I don’t usually say this out loud, but the truth is, I’m also at the mercy of Her Highness’s selfishness every single day.” This was an undeniable fact.
“Oh...” Jaquilla nodded, surmising something from Claus’s words. “You must be having a hard time too. Even I have heard of it. They say that although you’re already engaged, you’re being kept at the palace against your will?”
“Yes, that’s true.” Claus smiled uncomfortably. He knew that this expression, filled with such sorrow and anguish, would stir the sympathy of any person, regardless of age or gender.
“Good grief... Her Highness is a troublesome person.”
“But what about you, Dr. Jaquilla? Have you informed Their Majesties that the princess won’t take her medicine?”
“Well, they both have a soft spot for Her Highness, so— Oh! Please don’t tell anyone I said that.” The doctor glanced around nervously to make sure nobody else had heard him. “If His Majesty hears me speaking like that, he’s bound to get angry with me.”
Claus pounced at the opportunity.
“Then how about we speak in my room?”
“In your room?” Jaquilla parroted dubiously.
I thought he might react like that.
Claus once more put on his troubled smile.
“My apologies for such a brazen request. It’s just that it’s already been over a month since I’ve been detained here. I haven’t been able to see my friends or my fiancée, and everyone around me is utterly loyal to Her Highness. Just now, I felt that I could finally have a genuine conversation with someone, and I spoke thoughtlessly.”
“No, no. There’s no need to apologize.” As Claus had expected, Jaquilla quickly reassured him. He seemed to be a man of good, honest character. “I can’t blame you for feeling that way... Honestly, if I had to deal with Her Highness every day without being able to go home, I think I’d want to drop everything and run for it.”
“You too, Dr. Jaquilla? I feel the exact same way,” Claus replied with a laugh. He meant what he said.
The physician chuckled as well.
“Well, I suppose we can chat for a bit. I’m already done with most of my work for the day.”
“I do have some wine that my fiancée sent me. Would you be interested in having a drink with me?” Claus proposed. “It’s Château d’Orgaux, aged fifteen years.”
“Ohhh, that sounds great! D’Orgaux is the queen of red wine, after all!” Jaquilla exclaimed, smiling broadly.
Most of the people in this country were fond of wine, so Jeanette had sent the bottle to Claus for emergencies. The mention of it had an instant effect on the doctor, who looked visibly more relaxed.
“Then let’s go before Her Highness detains us,” Claus said with a grin, and then led Dr. Jaquilla to his room.
✦ ✦ ✦
A few days had passed.
“Sara, it’s finally time,” Jeanette said earnestly while reading Claus’s letter.
“It is?” Sara asked.
“Yes. Lord Claus has managed to question the princess’s doctor!”
“Then let’s begin the preparations at once!”
“Indeed. Go ahead!” Jeanette requested.
With that, Sara promptly left the room.
In these past few days, Jeanette, Sara, and Kyuriakris had been working on a plan to rescue Claus. They’d gathered intelligence, kept up correspondence with Claus, and made preparations. Now, Claus had finally managed to get some information out of the court physician. Most of it had been in line with Jeanette’s expectations.
In that case, what I arranged should prove useful... she thought while gazing at the large pile of items nearby. I’d better inform Lord Kyuriakris too! Now’s the time for step one of the rescue mission!
Jeanette nodded to herself and began penning a letter to the prince.