Chapter 115: Infirmary Visit (VI).
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Noble Dormitory
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In the villainess' room, the smell of parchment and ink wafted through the air as the rushed scratching of quill could be heard. Her servants stood by her side to make sure she wasn't going overboard with her work.
In all these past weeks this is her worst mood of all.
Granted with good reason.
She came back from a near death experience, being forced to handle family affairs right after. Anyone would be in a foul mood after that, no time to even rest or process things… with her own fiance being the perpetrator and all.
Scratch, scratch, scratch.
"No… no… this is not right." The villainess mutters checking each page of the draft letter proposal to open up a business in the lower branch's family estate. Since no one was living there, one had the grand idea to sell it to at least earn some extra coins.
Her mother had that idea considering the lower branch extension is known to be "dead".
However, Lady Evelyn knows that her older cousin survives and she intends to protect the lower branch's estate and property until she can safely return.
She needed to find a way to stall for some time.
"Ah-" (Lady Evelyn) dips her quill into the ink bottle realizing it was empty she takes a big sigh, making the two maids beside her who were holding stacks of papers and organizing a few more documents flinch. "I need more ink. Can you grab me a bottle, Melody?"
Melody lowers her head and takes the empty ink bottle to throw out, "Yes milady."
Lady Evelyn takes the proposal documents in front of her and adds it in Melody's hand. "And if you don't mind- I need all these drafted proposals removed."
"Certainly." (Melody) takes the proposals and leaves off closing the door to find the nearest chimney to set fire so she could burn said documents.
The task was not quite done, Lady Evelyn was not only worried of her mother overtaking everything… she needed to make sure personally that her older cousin's home was still being properly maintained and taken care of.
Skkrt.
She takes a pre-prepared letter that was hanging around her desk and gives it to Nayeli who takes it gently. "Make sure these letters will be given to the head servants of the lower branch's mansion. We'll have to schedule a visit in a month to see how they're doing."
"Right at once, milady." (Nayeli) thought that delivering letters would be better compared to taking care of that blonde haired girl at the infirmary. "If you'll excuse me."
She stares at the letter in her hand and wonders how those two are doing, feeling a little worried but she despises that she's actually worrying about her older sister and that funny idiot that barged into her lady's life.
"Liara has her hands full for sure." (Nayeli) chuckles, feeling a little down because that girl hasn't woken up yet.
Any servant would be thankful for their master's savior.
In the servant dormitories they have heard of the tall tale of how Analissa Blanchet saved her with a really advanced light magic spell and their masters even saw her coughing up blood in the arena.
"..."
She really felt bad on how she treated her and even thought badly of her the first time they met. They barely talked, the only thing she did was stare and judge her from a distance… never even bothering to get to know her like Liara did.
Step, step, step…
Nayeli stops for a moment thinking… she was going outside the academy and into the city to deliver the letter in the nearest post office so she has some time left, right? "...I should probably buy some snacks for them."
On the way to the city however… She met a familiar elf professor on the way.
Drunk and out of shape.
…
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1 Hour Later
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With a new fresh bottle of ink by her side, Lady Evelyn has managed to draft a letter to her mother asking for more time to think about the lower branch's estate future, the excuse was the walls needed a bit more repairing, and it's just not ready to be sold.
"This… is the best lie I could come up with." (Lady Evelyn) had her hands trembling as she held her letter, her face was frozen in disappointment realizing that she really can't make a good excuse or lie to her parents. "I… can't lie properly, even in letters I suppose."
The villainess contemplates on how she could even progress
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Milady-!" (Nayeli) came back from her delivery run in the capital city looking haggard and for some reason something smells-
"Good you're just in-" The villainess could smell something pungent coming from her maid. "-time."
Her maid had vomit all over her clothes.
"[Inventorium]. This is from Professor Fraeya Abeline, milady." (Nayeli) takes the letter out of her inventory space before presenting it to the villainess. "It seems that she will not be able to meet with you due to urgent family business so she asked me to pass this."
Nayeli was calmly standing there with puke all over her.
"You're…" (Lady Evelyn) looked up in horror and worried about what happened to her servant. She just needed to get into the postal office and head back so why is she covered in vomit? "Are you alright, Nayeli? What in the world happened?"
Nayeli frowns in disgust at how urgent everything seemed that she just rushed in immediately without changing her clothes. "My apologies if I did not manage to change into my proper clothes before coming back to meet you, milady."
The whole encounter was so random, the elf woman was swaying drunk on the side of the road- saw her walking with snacks that she bought specifically for Analissa Blachet and ate the said snacks!
She did ask if she could have some, Nayeli said no but the drunkard just grabbed and ate it!
After that she vomited the said snacks in her maid uniform!
"I stumbled upon your elven professor from the side of the road while returning back to the dormitories. It seems that she got drunk, spoke to me after recognizing that I was your maid and told me that she forgot to give this letter to you in a very urgent yet drunk voice. I had no choice but to take her warning seriously and head back as soon as I could." (Nayeli) explained, as Lady Evelyn takes the letter in her hand before giving her another awkward side glance.
The villainess never expected their elven professor to be drunk. Elven palettes are very sensitive, they could drink easily if they even take one cup of beer it would make their heads feel like it's spinning round and round.
And Professor Fraeya doesn't seem to be the type to drink, pass out and let other people take care of you.
Not to mention making a scene in public.
"I made sure to not dirty the letter, the vomit only got up to my chest and neck."
"T-Thank you for your service, Nayeli."
Nayeli curtsied before taking her leave, "I will excuse myself now. If the young lady would not mind I might not return as soon as possible because I will be taking a bath."
Lady Evelyn nods in understanding and feels really bad that she got into a hilarious yet awful accident. If she was in her shoes she would not even hold the same calm composure that Nayeli was having.
And Nayeli was well known to let her emotions slip out.
"You are permitted to take the rest of the night off. Melody will be accompanying me to the infirmary. I'll be taking some of my documents to continue working there." She dismisses her and only after hearing the door close and the smell of vomit was gone she could focus.
"Sigh…" (Lady Evelyn) takes the letter opener that was on the side of her table. "I know it's a weekend but drinking like that without a care in the world would give someone trouble."
The villainess unconsciously stopped opening the letter after a memory of her older cousin popped into her head.
"..."
Olivia Charlotte Alarie was a well known noble lady who didn't give a damn about everyone, kept things to herself, a respectable leader when she had her time to shine at the royal academy and a huge drunk.
Emphasis on the drunk because not once but a lot of times she made quite the spectacle due to the influence of alcohol.
No wonder the elven professor and her probably got along because of that.
"But what happened that she can't see me personally? I suppose that professors are not allowed to visit noble dormitories past school time." She tears off the wax and takes out the letter inside the envelope. "And she's drunk so that's another reason."
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Dearest Evelyn Alarie,
The Headmaster of the Academy requests your presence at his office on Monday morning, accompanied by Miss Blanchet, should she be well enough to attend.
Following the incident that occurred on the third day of the festival, I have proposed a formal investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the matter. If an attempt was indeed made to poison you, it is an incident that warrants our utmost attention and must not be taken lightly.
The Headmaster has agreed to meet with you early morning. You will be excused from your scheduled classes for the duration of the meeting.
According to the Crown Prince's testimony, Lady Mirelle Avalon is suspected of tampering with his wand, which may have been the source of the poison involved in the incident. However, before any conclusions are drawn, we would like to hear your account of what transpired and obtain your testimony regarding the events of that day.
Your cooperation is greatly appreciated, Lady Evelyn. We trust that you will assist us in uncovering the truth behind this unfortunate incident.
We shall await your arrival on Monday morning.
Sincerely,
Professor Fraeya Abeline
Academy Faculty
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After reading the letter, truly it would fill anyone with concern.
But first she wondered why Mirelle Avalon, her distant cousin was being accused of poisoning her using the prince's wand but there is no way in the world she did that. "I see it's a letter for me to attend such a meeting. I guess with how Miss Blanchet helped revive me from a near death experience she's also required to attend."
She could feel a heavy headache coming her way and it makes her want to punch that stuck up crown prince in his face again. "That idiot just made everything a lot of trouble in the end and I'm supposed to clean all of his mess. I should've landed a few more blows. He even dragged Mirelle over this matter."
Mirelle Avalon is one of her distant cousins, two years older than her and frankly it seems for some reason she doesn't like her at all. "I need to get back. Sigh… Dealing with family even right after classes is grueling work."
Family- the whole school festival nearly brought almost her whole family together.
"...Speaking of family. [Inventorium]." She takes the letter she got from Princess Fraeya after all that chaos at the festival Lady Evelyn felt that the time to open her letter would be now.
She wanted to know, 'Why did she decide to reach out now instead of years ago? Why did she leave and fake her death? H-How does one love a girl?'
Crown Prince Dereck's words echoed in her mind.
The kind of mental illness that runs in her family… was the sort of woman loving another woman.
Over the years the people of Westania have grown tolerant, just never accepting.
"My cousin's letter for me, there's still a lot of things that Professor hasn't talked to me about. It's time I open this letter."
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Dear little Evelyn,
While writing this letter I realized that you're not the little girl I know. It's been ten years since I died… well… the truth is that I'm alive. I must apologize for the trouble I left for the main family to fix. Ever since my father had died and there was nothing left for me in Westania… I decided to elope with my lover and move to the south.
The rumors were true. I loved a woman and now we have a child together. I named her after my mother, I hope one day you'd come to visit.
I trust that you will tell no one about my current life. Out of all our family members you were the one I deemed closest.
I wanted to reach out to you years ago but the time wasn't right. I feared that you're not at the age that you would understand what decisions I have made or that you would even accept that your once respectable cousin is now with another woman.
I hope you can understand now that my love for another woman is no different from any other love.
You once told me that this kind of love is illogical and I agreed with you, telling you it would be a curse if you fell in love with someone of the same gender for your sake, how I didn't want you to follow in my footsteps but I take it all back.
One day when you love someone for who they are, their gender or their race wouldn't matter.
As long as you're happy to hold their hand as they hold yours back… if you promise in sickness in health… even once your hair grows to have white hair as long as they stay.
That is love.
If you want to visit, you are welcome in our home. I'm living in the southern kingdom, and Fraeya knows my address. She'll escort you once you're ready, she told me stories of you and I miss you truly. My apologies if I cannot be the one visiting you, the current state of Westania is not safe for people like us. I hope one day once you're queen you would build a kingdom with a better future.
I love you, little cousin and I miss you dearly.
Sincerely,
Olivia Charlotte Borbon-Alarie
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The villainess smiled reading her letter and somehow even relating to it.
She daydreams often what kind of life she would have if Analissa and her left for some plce better. "I know what love you're talking about now, cousin and I understand everything- the love that you feel deserves the right to be safe."
Lady Evelyn stands up from her chair and grabs a coat feeling even more determined to change the future for the better. "Lord Einsel told me that I can become queen without needing to be married to that nut. I've been thinking about it. Perhaps for love like ours to bloom and grow safely, things need to change."
She decided that she'll follow Lord Einsel's plan.
If there's a way to convince all the powerful houses to be in her side then so be it.
"Melody!" She calls on her maid who was cleaning the living room of the dormitory and the door opens immediately.
Clack.
Melody peeked through the door. "Yes, milady?"
Before she could say anything else, Lady Evelyn hurried past her and pushed the door open, already dressed in several extra layers of clothing. Although she still looked a little pale, her mood seemed considerably better than it had been the past few days.
"Take all of my work to the infirmary. I'll be finishing everything there." (Lady Evelyn) instructed as she made her way out, gathering her belongings along the way.
"Yes, milady." (Melody) replied, watching as her young lady collected her work materials and prepared to head to the infirmary.