9 — Just a Little Dizzy In the Bath

I’d passed out from sitting in the bath for too long as I let my mind wander. When I came to, someone had laid in my bed.

Ummmm.

How did I get here?

I was definitely unconscious until a second ago, so I couldn’t possibly have walked here myself. I guess someone must have carried me. Hmm, yep... zero memory. What happened to me?

There was a cool, damp towel on my forehead. It felt nice against my flushed skin, so I reflexively tried to touch it, but when I raised my hand, I felt something else raise with it.

What’s this?

“Oh! You’re awake!”

While I stared blankly at my hand, Mr. Fisalis in turn was staring at me with a worried look in his eyes. The heavy weight on my hand was Mr. Fisalis’ own hand, clasped firmly around it. When I was lifting my hand, I was also lifting his. That must be the cause of all the weight. In other words, he’d captured my poor hand in another one of his death grips.

...Wait, what’s Mr. Fisalis doing here!?

Upon that realization, my mind cleared shockingly fast. I swear I even silently screamed—that’s how startled I was.

Mr. Fisalis!? But he went back to his own room, right? I even escorted him there, too... right? So why the heck is he here in my room!?

I descended into full-blown panic as the fog lifted from my mind. When I looked around, I saw Dahlia, Stellaria (still standing in for Mimosa), Rohtas, the Fisalis family doctor, and several other maids where I would have expected to see just Dahlia and Mimosa.

Goodness, the population density in here seems to have gro— Ahem. I mean, what’s with this audience? Is this an emergency!? ...Calm down. Try to remember what happened.

I was relaxing in the bath. I think I was going over everything that happened during the day, and realized that the knights who were covered in injuries were the same ones who had hit on me, got really upset, felt too hot, got dizzy, and then passed out. So... of course I was naked, too!

That snapped me the rest of the way out of my fog, and I quickly took stock of what was going on under the duvet thrown over me... Phew! It looked like someone had put me in my nightgown.

It was probably Dahlia and Stellaria who got me dressed (more like... I sure hope it was them!), but I can ask later. Everything’s good for now.

“Ummm, what happened to me?” I asked Mr. Fisalis timidly.

“You passed out in the bathroom. Dahlia found you, fortunately, but if she hadn’t, you could have easily drowned. Were you not feeling well?” he asked with a somewhat frightened expression, his usual smile nowhere to be seen.

Uh, um, ah ha! I-I don’t think I would have drowned, but I doubt that’s going to make anyone feel any less worried!

“I’m very sorry! And no, I wasn’t feeling sick or anything...” There was nothing I could do except apologize, but I wished I could just disappear instead.

I’m never gonna live this down.

“Regardless, you gave me quite a scare! From now on, how about you have a maid with you while you’re bathing?”

“I’m fine by myself! I’ll make sure I never, ever pass out in there again! I mean, I can’t just foist more work on the poor maids! Ah ha ha ha!”

Please at least let me bathe by myself! I’m not some fancy-pants noble who needs a servant to wash them! That would be like torture to me! You really get a kick out of embarrassing me, don’t you? There, I said it—even if it is off the record!

He’s getting way overprotective. I just got a little dizzy in the bath!

“No—if something were to happen to you...” Mr. Fisalis continued to object.

“Now, now, Master Fisalis. The duchess simply became dizzy from the bath because she was exhausted. Dahlia even said that she was not unconscious for very long, so I don’t believe there’s any need for that degree of concern,” the doctor said gently with a calm smile, attempting to dissuade Mr. Fisalis.

Thanks for the support, doctor! I’m glad to hear I wasn’t out of it for very long.

I actually didn’t have any symptoms other than a touch of dizziness, and over the course of Stellaria replacing the damp towel and the maids fanning and fawning over me, I had quickly recovered from overheating.

“Drink this,” Stellaria told me as she handed me a cold, cloudy white concoction. Mr. Fisalis lifted me up so I could lean against a pillow and take the cup from her. Looking at it, I assumed it was an herbal infusion, but Stellaria explained (with a cute smile, no less), “This is Cartham’s special rehydration formula. It’s made with lemon, molasses, and a pinch of salt. It feels wonderful on your throat when it’s dry. I woke him up to make some for you!”

Oh, so you woke up poor Cartham. Send him my apologies.

When I took a sip of the medicine, it felt like my body immediately sucked it up like a sponge—shlurrrp! I imagined it like water soaking into dry sand.

“Oh, it tastes good.” It had a very strange flavor, sour and salty but also faintly sweet, but it felt so good and soothing to my dry throat that I gulped down the rest in a hurry.

That really hit the spot, I thought with a sigh. I can taste the love that Cartham and his family put into it.

When the doctor eventually gave his diagnosis of “just fine,” the relief in the room was palpable.

Ugh, I feel so ashamed, though.

It didn’t feel like anything was wrong with my body, either. I didn’t know how long I had been unconscious for, but it was late into the night.

Mr. Fisalis and the servants must be tired after working all day; there’s no excuse for me to keep them up any later.

“I’m sorry for making you all worry at this hour. And you as well, Mr. Fisalis, especially when you must be very worn out from today. I’m fine now, so you all can go back to bed.”

I had hoped that that would satisfy everyone and they would leave, but:

“What are you saying!? She might be fine now, but what would happen if she were to take a sudden turn for the worse later tonight!? I’m still quite worried, so I’ll stay with her tonight, but I also want several maids stationed in this room,” Mr. Fisalis told me, glancing at Dahlia.

“Two of you, stay here,” he ordered the maids. “Dahlia, I think you’ve done enough for tonight. You’ll catch a cold if you stay in those wet clothes. We can’t have you absent for too long—Viola needs you. And thank you for saving her, too,” he added to Dahlia.

I didn’t notice it until now, but Dahlia’s uniform—mainly the sleeves and her apron—are dark and wet. That’s all my fault toooo.

“Th-Thank you, Master!” Dahlia blinked in surprise for a split second before schooling her features and nodding.

Zoning out for a second, I thought to myself, He’s right—if Dahlia got sick, I’d be the one who suffered the most. No, the whole manor would be suffering. I agree, she should go and take care of herself right away, but the way you said it so bluntly right in front of her was... not great, Mr. Fisalis. You didn’t so much as bat an eye when you said it, either, so you didn’t leave any room for objection. But if I make a fuss now, that’ll just keep the servants from their rest even longer. That means I need to hear him out so I don’t cause further trouble for everyone. Yeah, I’ll do this for them. ...Mimosa’s not here, though, so I guess the fish figurine won’t be making an appearance tonight.

Flustered, or maybe still a little confused, I nodded in agreement with Mr. Fisalis’ comment.

“Stellaria, you may go to bed too, since you only just arrived today. These two will attend to Madam for the night,” Rohtas said, motioning with his head to the two maids behind him. The two maids, both of them already hard at work, were members of the Spa Squad; they shot me subtle matching grins and a pair of thumbs-up. You know, I suddenly feel like I’m going to be okay even without the fish!

Rohtas and the others left the maids with us before turning in, and soon my room returned to its usual calm state. Accepting that I had zero say in the matter, I surrendered half the bed to Mr. Fisalis.

I’ll just balance here on the edge... but know that I’m only giving up most of my bed to you because I don’t want to bother you when you’re tired.

“I’m sorry for scaring you and making you worry. I hope you’ll sleep well, even though it might be difficult since this isn’t your own room,” I bid Mr. Fisalis good night as I held up the duvet for him.

“I’ll be staying up to take care of you in case your condition worsens while you’re asleep,” he indicated from where he was sitting on the bed.

“But aren’t you tired from today, too?”

“I’m used to sleep deprivation, so staying up all night isn’t going to hurt me.”

Hmm, this is a problem. Now I’m not going to be able to sleep, either! What do I do now?

“There, there, Madam! There’s no need to worry about that when you’re unwell! Please, go to sleep!”

“Oh, your towel’s no longer cold! Here, I’ll change it!”

“Fiiine.”

The maids rushed over to begin their care and somehow, to my astonishment, they managed to lull me to sleep. And furthermore:

“You must be tired, too, Master, so please feel free to sleep as well. Ah, you still have not had your bath yet. My humble apologies. I’ll prepare one for you in this bathroom. Please don’t fret about Madam—we will make sure she is properly looked after!”

“Yes, until morning!”

Mr. Fisalis said nothing in reply to the cheekily grinning maids.

Yeah, I’ve got nothing to worry about!

And so, I fell asleep, my mind completely at ease, beneath their splendid smiles. And Mr. Fisalis? Well, he just quietly made his way into the bathroom.