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Although I stepped up and made a big impact, I ended up doing a great job in an unexpected place.
“Can I do it like this?”
“Yes. Please drop me off here.”
As I swung Lævateinn, the big tents on the cart started to lie down in the open space.
“Miss, here too!”
Meryl, who came here to help me, took command of the scene. Louise and I worked hard to help carry the luggage.
“Our lady is the best.”
“Yes. Of course.”
Louise shook his head at the sight of me, whose nose soared to the sky. I managed to deal with the things that arrived, but I couldn’t help it because I didn’t have enough workers.
“It’s difficult to keep it like this.”
There are no more support staff, but patients continue to pour in. Suddenly, our family’s retainers were already taking care of patients for over ten hours without even being able to shift shifts.
In anticipation of this situation, I have asked for help here and there, but there has been no news yet. And Princess Lotte, who was supposed to be at the forefront of this matter, I was furious to hear that she was not in charge.
Of course, I know that she is not the kind of person who would do something like this, but the situation is still quite precarious.
Even if I give them medication to make them calm down, the patients frequently have seizures, and it takes at least four or five people to make them calm down without risking infection.
To put it bluntly, there is no answer even when Lady Clara, not Clara, comes, so all I can do is grab at straws and pray that someone will come running to help.
“Miss!”
“What’s going on?”
Merryl came to me making a fuss at the same time I was thinking about going to see her.
“A guest has arrived from the Lily Palace.”
They have finally come. As I approached the entrance, there were people wearing black robes standing in a line.
As I approached, the woman standing in front took off her hood from her head.
“Morrigan.”
“It’s been a while since I last saw you, Miss Ciel.”
Morrigan greeted me with her motherly smile. She is someone we would never have greeted under normal circumstances, but she is also the person we need more than anyone else right now.
“Thank you for coming here.”
“Since this is what Miss Ciel said, I should come willingly.”
Since when have we been such close friends? It seemed like she was going to be very condescending later, but for now, the situation was the way it was, so I let Morrigan and the others in without saying much.
“The situation is not good.”
“This number of people is not enough.”
Everyone needs help right now. There were many shortcomings, whether in materials or staff, and even if the five guilds applied, the nobles did not step forward, so as time went by, the limitations appeared.
If Princess Lotte or influential nobles had just come forward sooner, things would have been much easier. I bawled my eyes out and sobbed as loudly as I could.
“His Highness Stan is still very worried.”
It was something like that. I somehow wondered why the princess had sent her confidant when she was not the kind of person who would step up for something like this. Morrigan handed me a letter from Stan.
[I hate myself so much for not being able to go help you. I’m sorry, Ciel.]
When I read the letter full of self-reproach, I felt sad. Because Stan likes me, he probably wants to run away right now, but the circumstances around him probably don’t allow it.
“That’s what it was.”
“Okay then, shall we get to work now?”
First, I showed Morrigan the medicine my sister had made.
“She’s calming the patients with this medicine.”
The general outline of the situation was conveyed. From the cause of infection to temporarily putting patients in a state of suspended animation. Morrigan examined the potion that my sister had made and even tasted it and nodded.
“That’s great work.”
“Is it okay?”
“Let’s add some nutritional supplements to this. If you get stuck doing housework, your stamina will go down, and it will take a long time to recover.”
For most people, Morrigan is not this kind of person, but she is an exception for me. Because she’s the one who wants me to marry Stan the most. Morrigan helped me with things I didn’t even ask for, showing me how kind she was.
“Lady Clara, let me take charge of this place for a while. So please try to get some rest.”
“But…”
Even my older sister looked tired because she had dark circles under her eyes. She must have been surprised to be called from the Crown Prince’s palace so quickly, but after they gave her a few hints, she quickly understood what was going on and even made a medicine.
“It would be difficult if Lady Clara collapsed now.”
My sister, who didn’t listen even when everyone tried to tell her to rest, finally nodded after Morrigan came. The only ones who are still full of energy are me, Louise, and Regina. Since we were still here, my sister couldn’t easily leave the scene.
“Go and get some rest, sister. If anything happens, I’ll go wake you up.”
“Huh. Ciel needs to rest quickly too.”
Now that Morrigan, whose skills are comparable to my sister’s, has arrived, taking care of the patients has become somewhat easier. I sighed with relief when she realised that I could finally take a break, but then I heard a rumble coming from the opposite direction.
“Miss Ciel. It’s a big problem.”
“What’s the matter?”
“Patients, additional patients have been brought in…….”
The servant of our house, who came to shift late, made a fuss. Farmers with torches were approaching the tent as they ran after leaving the scene to Morigan.
“What’s happening?”
“It’s important. Right now, these people are making a big deal about wanting to leave.
“What?”
It was said that the farmland around here is taking a break from farming due to winter. We were allowed to use it for higher-ups, but the people who were farming here, probably because they heard something, came with torches and threatened our family servants.
“Miss Ciel, you are in danger.”
“What, is that kid in charge here?”
A drunkard scoffed at me while holding a torch. Judging by the slovenly behavior of the people who followed him, it seems that these people had been wandering around outside of the capital city.
“What is your business?”
“Well. This area was originally in our charge, but since you arbitrarily took care of sick people, you have to pay the price. Have you ever heard of seat tax?”
When I looked at the hands of the people holding the torches, I saw that they were even holding tools. As most of the soldiers who were supposed to maintain security in the capital were deployed to the demon beast defence line, even strange creatures began to run amok.
“How much are you asking for?”
“I think we should talk about that with your parents.”
“Miss!”
Perhaps those thugs instinctively recognised their targets, and they knew at a glance that I was making money. Before the maid standing behind me could stop him, the drunk man threw the bottle of alcohol on the floor and grabbed my wrist.
“Let go of me!”
“Uh-huh. You are being a whiney brat. Even though you’re still young, don’t you think you’re pretty fair?”
“You guys are doing this because you know who this person is!”
The maids around me ran for my life, but it wasn’t enough. A rotten smell emanated from the mouth of the laughing, drunken man.
“This is my final warning. Just shut your mouth and quietly go away. Otherwise, you know something terrible will happen.”
“‘Otherwise, I know something terrible will happen.’ Oh, I am scared.”
Instead of heeding my warning, he imitated me in a comical way and even laughed at me, so the brakes on my rationality were lost. There is no choice. Now that things have come to this, I have no choice but to show my true self.
It was at that time.
“You guys, can’t you get out of here!”
A group of soldiers rushed in and surrounded them. The drunkard, startled by the dignified shout, let go of my wrist, and I took advantage of the opportunity to escape.
“Miss, are you okay!”
The handprint became visible because the person holding my wrist tightly pressed down on it. I turned to look at the soldiers and then I asked the people if everything was all right. When I looked closely, I could see that the soldiers were not imperial soldiers but rather private soldiers from noble families.
“Greetings to Miss Ciel.”
It turned out that they were soldiers who belonged to the family of Duke Valentine.
“Why didn’t you give us an order earlier. We are ashamed of you if you come forward yourself.”
If I had known all of you were here, I would have called you a long time ago. Well-trained soldiers captured those who had started a fight earlier.
“Oh my gosh, please save me just this once.”
“We didn’t know anything.”
“How dare, you fool behave like this!”
Those scoundrels seemed to have misunderstood that I was, at best, the daughter of a lowly nobleman. When the thugs heard that I was the youngest daughter of the Duke of Valentine, who was so beloved that the emperor himself celebrated her birthday, they fell face down on the floor with her face turning white.
“Oh my, please at least save my life.”
Huh. I told them to kick them out immediately. If you let people like that live, they will do bad things to anyone, at any time, and it is better to let them become crow’s meal than to let them live.
That is not a slip of the tongue, it’s more of an inherent habit. I am not a good person enough to save the life of a wild cat that wanders around looking for those who are weaker than itself.
While the scum was being driven out to dangerous areas and pleading for their lives, the maids of each noble family were busy taking care of the mountain of laundry and chores that had piled up.
After roughly directing them, I asked who was who. It turned out that the red-haired woman who seemed to be the leader among them was the wife of the Marquis of Norton, who had seemed so hateful to me last time.
“How did you find out about this place?”
“The Duchess asked me to do this by herself.”
I sneaked out while she was sleeping, and I’m curious as to when she wrote letters to other nobles like this.
Aside from that, my mother is not the kind of person who is likely to approach other people for favours. It was incredibly upsetting to find out that my mother had even personally requested that she do it for me.
As I clenched my fists to hold back my tears, Marchioness Norton introduced someone.
The only woman who was not from a noble family came to me and bowed. She was a woman in her thirties who looked like I had seen her before. She willingly bowed down to me, who was less than half her age.
“Thank you for helping my sister last time.”
“If it’s your younger sister… No way.”
When Viscountess Paris Jeanne raised her head again, her face looked very similar to Greta’s. She is said to have been unable to attend the party with her brother because her family had no ties to the imperial palace.
“I heard from Marchioness Greta. She will help in any way she can.”
“Thank you.”
Viscountess Paris Jeanne rolled up her sleeves and got ready to work in order to repay the favour of having her sister protected.
She may come from a family of viscounts, but she is a noble wife, and when someone of that calibre began lending a hand in person, it sped up the pace at which other people helped as well. The Marchioness of Norton, who was dressed in a dress and an apron, stood as well and gave me a shoulder pat.
“The Duchess is worried. Ciel, please return to the mansion now.”
“But!”
“Now leave this to the adults.”
I remembered my dad’s words. There is no need to become an adult too early. It seems that the adults also felt a little embarrassed about this situation in which Nana and Clara ended up stepping forward while everyone else was sitting idle.
The maids took me to the mansion. It looked like they wouldn’t need our help anymore, so I grabbed the neck of Brother Louise, who was helping me carry the luggage in the corner.
“Come here.”
“W-what!”