Mone’s Wound

“I see. Then perhaps this may have been my fault. I took too long to come back.”

Laughing as though amused, Shitoen’s shoulders shook, and she set the water pitcher down near the edge of the writing desk.

“That’s not true, Lady Shitoen. The one at fault is this prince.”

“Don’t point at people!”

When I smacked her hand away with a sharp slap, Roze puffed up dramatically and sank her teeth into the apple in her hand. With a crisp crunch, its distinctive sweet-tart fragrance drifted through the room.

“Roze-chan, you need to eat some bread and sausage too.”

“Okaaay.”

Hey, your attitude’s completely different from before.

Sitting there with a sulky look, legs crossed and cheek propped on her hand atop her knee, Roze gave a smug little laugh, and it annoyed the hell out of me. Brat.

Just as I was thinking of saying something back, I heard the bed creak.

All of us turned to look that way.

It was Mone. She had pushed herself upright.

Her long hair was tied together and draped over her left shoulder, but her bangs were stuck to her forehead with sweat. She was wearing something like a long shirt with buttons, but it clung to her from the sweat, making the lines of her body perfectly clear. How should I put it… Yeah. There was no way I could let the men see her like this. She was the whole package—full chest, narrow waist, curvy hips.

But more than that, she looked miserable.

Her fever was high, and it must have hurt too. She covered her face with her left palm and stayed still.

Well, yeah, of course. She acted fairly normal right after getting hurt, but… that wound was bad.

“Did we wake you by being too noisy?”

Shitoen approached, and it looked like she casually touched Mone’s neck to check her temperature.

“No, um… I need to use the toilet.”

Speaking hesitantly, she slowly lowered her feet to the floor. Then she tried to stand, but her balance gave way in a wobble.

Shitoen hurriedly supported her, but Mone practically sagged against her entirely.

“Sister!”

Roze tossed aside the apple and rushed over to Mone, wrapping her arms around her waist as if clinging to her.

“The toilet? I’ll carry you there.”

Even though I stood up and called out, Mone shot me a fierce glare.

“That won’t be necessary. It would be far too presumptuous for me to have a prince do such a thing for me…”

No, with that expression, you look more like you want to say, “That would be disgusting.”

“Then let’s just make our way to the toilet like this. Roze-chan, help me.”

“Okaaay.”

And with that, the three of them started walking, practically in a three-legged-race formation.

It was nerve-racking just watching them!

I kept thinking they were going to fall over backward at any moment, but somehow, in a delicate balance, the three of them made their way out of the room.

I thought about following them to help support her, but Mone’s piercing stare kept stirring up my dark past… Ah, right… That winter, someone looked at me with eyes like that and called me “smelly”…

Besides, the toilet was right nearby.

Figuring I could rush over if anything happened, I decided to wait in the room.

The moment I plopped back down into the chair with a heave-ho, the footsteps that should have been fading away came rushing back.

“This is bad! Prince-sama! The basin!!”

“Huhhh?!”

For the moment, I handed the brass basin, still full of water, to the Roze who came charging in.

W-What? What happened? Childbirth? No way.

As I pointlessly stood up and sat down over and over again, Roze came back carrying Mone.

“Huh? Where’s Shitoen?”

“Sister threw up in the toilet… She’s cleaning it up now… I said I’d do it, but…”

Roze answered dejectedly. Mone was no longer merely pale—her face had no color left at all.

“I’ll go help too…”

I thought about going to assist, but Roze was struggling just to lay Mone down.

Whether she complained or screamed, getting her safely back into bed came first.

“Let’s get you lying down first. I’m going to touch you.”

I moved closer and spoke to Mone. This time, she no longer seemed to have the energy even to protest. I nudged Roze aside and scooped Mone up in both arms. Then I laid her down on the bed.

“How is she? Does she still feel like she might throw up?”

By the time I had pulled the quilt back over her, Shitoen had returned.

“Are you okay? I was going to come help with that…”

“It’s already done. Besides, if it was something infectious, I’m more used to handling it.”

Shitoen smiled brightly. Looking more closely, I noticed she had removed her apron.

She then walked over to her leather bag and sprinkled the liquid from a bottle onto her hands. The strong smell of alcohol made it clear that it was for disinfection.

“Now then, let’s take a look at the state of the wound.”

As Shitoen approached, Roze and I stepped back.

Mone no longer even seemed to have the strength to lift her eyelids, and just lay there limp on her back.

Shitoen rolled up the right sleeve of her shirt and began removing the bandage.

“Lady Shitoen is amazing. Even with changing her clothes.”

“Changing her clothes?”

Stretching up on tiptoe, Roze whispered into my ear.

“When Sister was brought in here, she was still half-conscious again. We were trying to change her into those sleeping clothes, but I couldn’t manage it at all… Then Lady Shitoen laid Sister on the bed and rolled her from side to side while taking her clothes off and dressing her. Do you have a disabled family member or something?”

“No…”

I couldn’t exactly say, “Apparently she was a doctor in her previous life.”

“Hmm… I think she’ll probably be fine, but let’s keep watching her a bit longer. This is hard, isn’t it? Let’s get through this. I’ll stay by your side.”

With concern softening her eyes, Shitoen placed a hand on Mone’s forehead.

I glanced at the wound, and it did not seem to have been stitched.

Maybe because it had been tightly compressed, the bleeding had stopped. There was no sign of pus either. The wound was swollen and red, but it did not look like the skin had tightened strangely. It would probably leave a scar, but the skin likely would not heal in a warped way.

Even I had seen all sorts of lacerations during frontier guard duty, but… I was impressed by how skillful Shitoen was.

“Now then, Roze-chan. Mone-san should be all right for a while like this… so let’s go ahead and eat first.”

Shitoen gently urged Roze on.

Roze fidgeted anxiously for a while, but perhaps she realized Mone had fallen asleep, because she gave a small nod and returned with Shitoen to the writing desk.

“Prince Saryu. I will remain in this room as I am… so please, do go and get some rest first.”

Shitoen bowed her head politely.

“Just don’t overdo it. If you need help with any heavy lifting, call for me again.”

That was all I said…

And I had no choice but to leave.