19. Home Safe, But...
19. Home Safe, But...
When it had all begun, I hadn’t had any idea how my panicked game of tag in the palace against the Aurantian crown prince would end. It was a long ordeal. Reeeeeally long. I honestly thought I was done for!
But thanks to Mr. Fisalis riding to the rescue just in the nick of time, it was all over now. It was amazing seeing him so pissed off...and he looked so dignified sword fighting with the prince. The sight had made me realize just how dependable my husband was. I’m so lucky to have someone that treasures and protects me!
Anyhow, once the incident was finally over, the two of us left the party under the lukewarm smiles of the king and the rest of the nobility. Mr. Fisalis was carrying me like a princess after I’d twisted my ankle during the chase and couldn’t walk. And so what? I was at the point where I didn’t even care. It was well past time for me to give up.
After walking through the long palace hallways, we made it to the entrance. The Royal Guard stationed there reverently opened the doors for us. Past them, the Fisalis family carriage was waiting.
I was a bit surprised when we got inside. The seats were absolutely covered in soft cushions that definitely hadn’t been there when we arrived. When were they added? Because I’m super grateful.
After adjusting the placement of the cushions, Mr. Fisalis carefully set me down on top of them before kneeling in front of me. Oh, you’re not gonna sit? While I looked at him in confusion, he started to speak.
“Vi, how’s your ankle?” he asked, looking up at me from his position on his knees.
“Hmm, it’s throbbing, but I’m not sure.” In reality the pain was getting worse as time went on, but I knew he’d get way too worried if I told him that. I gave him a vague answer instead.
But he didn’t seem to buy it. “Excuse me for a moment,” he said, lifting the hem of my skirt a bit and pulling out my injured leg.
Wait, what are you doing?!
“Eh? Huh? Mr. Fisalis?!”
I tried to pull my leg back, flustered, but he was squeezing a part that didn’t hurt (namely, my calf—don’t grab me there!), so I couldn’t get away.
On top of all this, he wasn’t impressed that I’d called him “Mr. Fisalis.”
“Mr. Fisalis?” he repeated.
Stop trying to overpower me with your smile! I’ve been calling you “Mr. Fisalis” for so long! Switching to “Cercis” all of a sudden is far too high a hurdle for me to clear all at once!
“Cercis!”
“Yes?”
“Wait, that’s not the point!” I’d said it out of pure desperation, and he gave me a thrilled smile back... Ah, jeez, that’s not what we’re talking about! Focus on my ankle! “My leg! What are you doing?!”
“Yeah, it’s twisted and swollen, but the bone...should be fine?” Mr. Fisalis completely ignored my panic, carefully examining my leg as he moved it around.
“...Really?”
“Well, as far as I can tell. Whatever the case, the swelling is awful, so we’ll call for the doctor as soon as we get home.”
“All right. Thank you.” I hated to call a doctor to come over so late at night, but I quietly agreed to it. I was pretty sure they had one on standby at the manor already, in any case.
Once we got back home, Mr. Fisalis picked me up again and stepped out of the carriage to see all of the servants waiting for us. I’d thought the same thing a few days ago too, but seeing this really made me feel like I was home.
But tonight, the atmosphere was different. They all had dark looks on their faces, so I figured they must’ve heard about what happened at the palace. Word travels so fast!
Even the usually stone-faced Dahlia was looking at us in concern. I’m sorry for making you all needlessly worried!
“Is Madam all right?” asked Rohtas, stepping out of the line of servants.
“She twisted her ankle, but I don’t think it’s broken.”
“The doctor is waiting in the salon.”
“All right, I’ll take her in.”
After that short conversation, Mr. Fisalis followed Rohtas inside. I was right about them having a doctor at the ready!
Once he put me down on the sofa, the softness made me feel so relieved to be home that I went totally limp.
“Vi!”
“I’m just so glad to be here...”
“Lean on me.”
“Kaaay.”
I was nearly ready to flop right down on the sofa, but Mr. Fisalis held me up and lifted my injured leg onto an ottoman that he’d gotten ready. Getting a good look at it in the light, Mr. Fisalis was right—it was horribly swollen. Plus, seeing it like this made it hurt even more... It even felt like it was kind of hot.
I was on the verge of freaking out a little bit when I saw how bad the injury actually looked, but my husband squeezed my hand. Probably trying to calm me down. Don’t worry, I swear I’m totally calm.
“Oh my, that looks awful. Let me see,” the doctor said, carefully taking my leg to examine it.
Mr. Fisalis and all of the servants were watching with bated breath. It was kind of (no, incredibly!) embarrassing having them all stare at my bare leg like that.
After twisting and stretching my foot this way and that with a concerned look, the doctor took a breath before returning to his usual gentle smile. “It is quite swollen, but the bone is fine. I recommend a poultice for the pain and keeping it bandaged for a while to immobilize the ankle. There’ll be no horsing around for you, Madam. You must rest in bed,” he ordered, pulling a brown bottle out of his bag and pouring the moss green salve inside onto a piece of gauze. Then, he stuck it right on my injured ankle.
“Eeek~! That’s freezing!”
“Hahahahaha. Cold, is it?” When I jumped at how unexpectedly cold it was, the doctor just laughed. “Doesn’t it feel nice, though? The menthol should kick in soon and make it even cooler. That should help with the pain.”
“Okaaaay.”
“I’ll leave this salve with Dahlia, so have your poultice and bandage changed a few times a day.”
“Okaaaay.”
“Understood.”
The doctor’s hands didn’t stop for a second as he talked, and he wrapped the poultice down nicely with the bandages. Soon, my leg was totally covered in bandages. Mummy-style☆
“This will be hard to live with for a while...”
It hurt so bad I probably wouldn’t be able to walk by myself, but getting a wheelchair seemed like it’d be blowing the whole thing out of proportion. Maybe I’ll ask Bellis to make me a cane...
While I glared at my mummified leg and sighed,
“Let’s just be glad it’s only as bad as it is... I’m so glad you’re safe, Vi...” Mr. Fisalis said, resting his head on my shoulder.
“Yeah.”
He must’ve been running around everywhere trying to find me. I really was thankful, and I tried to show just how much I was by stroking his beautiful dark brown hair. If he hadn’t saved me, and I’d been kidnapped... What would have happened to me... Aaaah!
And it was all thanks to the servants that I’d managed to buy enough time for Mr. Fisalis to come save me. I’m grateful for all the self-defense skills they’d beaten into me. So terribly grateful.
“But even if you’re safe now, I’m not going to be forgiving those two any time soon.”
Huh? That’s weird—I can feel this threatening aura radiating all around me. Mr. Fisalis probably looks super threatening right now!
I tried pulling my hand away from his hair, but he grabbed it tight. His change in demeanor made my heart pound.
“That’s quite true. We won’t be letting them off easily,” Rohtas agreed, smiling from his spot to the side of me.
Wait, Rohtas! Your face is smiling, but your eyes sure aren’t! I don’t want to see that terrifying smile of yours! And as I was sitting there worrying about the dark aura pouring off Rohtas too, they started talking with each other.
“Yes, what shall we do to them?”
“Why not set our duchy’s knights on them?”
“Our spies too.”
All of the servants started to chime in. Okay, wait just one minute—did I hear them say spies?! They were all smiling, but the rage radiating off of them was terrifying! And all of our servants are super high-specced, so destroying those two siblings is totally within the realm of possibility—but that just made it so much scarier!
I was totally panicking about the sub-zero atmosphere racing through the salon, and it seemed like I was the only one. Then, Mr. Fisalis hugged me from behind.
“Leave them to me. All of you just need to make sure to protect Viola.”
“As you wish. We’ll be waiting for good news.”
“I’m on it.”
Rohtas and the other servants nodded at Mr. Fisalis. What kind of good news were they looking for here, though?!
I saw my moment to speak up. “A-Ah, that’s right. What will I do about moving around? The doctor said to rest, but I’m not sick or anything, so being in bed seems...” I tried to soften the atmosphere by changing the subject, but...
“I’ll take care of you while I’m home, but the rest of the time you need to be in bed. Understood?”
“What?!”
“Oh, yes—if I’ll be taking care of you, I should be close at hand. Rohtas, I’ll be sleeping in the same room as Viola from now on. There’s not much that will need moving, I suppose...”
“Huh?!”
“Understood.” Rohtas, on the other hand, answered immediately.
The conversation ended up going in an outrageous direction! Huh, what’s with that smooth transition to saying we’ll be pretty much sleeping together?! And Rohtas just agreed?!
...Well, whatever. We’ve slept in the same room a few times before, but since then I’ve realized my feelings for him have changed... Oh no. Will I be able to stay calm?
After the doctor’s examination was finished, our little meeting was broken up, and Mr. Fisalis princess-carried me up to the bedroom. This must’ve been what he meant by taking care of me.
No, wait. What am I gonna do about getting changed, or bathing? I’m not gonna be able to do those alone with my leg like this. Wait...he...he couldn’t be intending to do that, could he?!
Once I’d thought of that, I got super suspicious. He couldn’t be meaning to “take care” of me to that extent, could he?! I could never let him go that far!
“The bed’s all ready. And your bath—” In contrast to my flustered state, Mr. Fisalis was acting completely normal, unruffled as ever while he checked the room on arrival.
“I will take care of Madam’s bath. Now, Madam, let’s wash away everything bad that happened today,” Stellaria cut in. My savior!
“Oka~y!
“...”
Normally, I would have refused any help bathing, but I answered obediently. Mr. Fisalis, don’t glare at Stellaria like that! He did carry me inside the bathroom, but after that, he turned around and left. The door closed with a click behind him.
After my bath was finished, we called him back in and he carried me over to the bed. Wow, he’s basically my personal chauffeur now☆ Oh, and by the way, he bathed in the same room as I did. We really were sharing a room now. He was still going to be changing in his old room, though, so all his clothes stayed there.
Anyway, at that point I was beat. I’d been worried a bit earlier about whether or not I’d be okay sleeping with Mr. Fisalis, but I took it back. No matter if it was him or anyone else in the room with me, I was absolutely sure I’d fall straight to sleep. What about tomorrow? I’ll think about it then. Zzz...
Then, the next morning dawned.
Carried by Mr. Fisalis (again), we arrived in the dining hall only to see Mother and Father Fisalis waiting for us. We’d left the party before they had, after all. I don’t know what had happened at the palace after we left, but I did know that they had come home after I was already asleep.
“How is your leg?”
“Are you okay? Does it hurt?”
They ran up to us anxiously, expressions clouding as they saw my bandaged ankle. They probably heard all about it from Rohtas, but they were still fretting about it. I’m sorry!
“Yes! I’m so sorry for making you worry. The doctor said it was just a sprain, so it should heal soon with some rest.”
“I’m sure it’ll heal quickly since you’re so young, Vi!” Mother Fisalis said to try and cheer me up, gently rubbing my ankle. It felt like she could make my injury vanish all by herself.
“She’ll be on bed rest for a while, so please keep her company so she doesn’t get too bored, Mother.”
“Of course!” she replied with a wink.
But the next moment...
“Then what should I do?” Father Fisalis asked, pouting over not being chosen to keep me company.
Mr. Fisalis smirked at his father. “You’ll be coming with me to the palace for our strategy meeting, of course.”
Or at least that’s all he said about it...but he definitely got that evil look on his face again.
“Oooh~ I see! That is very important!” Father Fisalis said, smirking as well.
Both of your smiles are pitch black, you know? You’re definitely both planning something bad!
As I watched them both with a nervous look, Mr. Fisalis noticed and flashed me a beautiful smile instead of that creepy smirk. “I’ll be busy for a while, but I won’t be working the same long hours I was before. Don’t worry, Vi.”
“Ah, okay.” He said it with his usual gentle smile, so I replied casually as well, but...
From experience, nothing good comes from Mr. Fisalis being busy. The equation of “busy at work equals more military activity equals war” ran through my head. This has got to have something to do with the Aurantian royal siblings, and I’m involved...
Wait—we can’t go to war over this! I wouldn’t be able to handle it!
“You’re not...preparing for war, are you?”
“Hmm... You don’t have to worry, Vi. I’ve transferred, so I would never be sent off to the front lines again. Damn, being in the Royal Guard really has its perks, huh?”
“Oh no no no no no. You’re trying to change the subject, aren’t you?!”
Mr. Fisalis said this all with a smile, but he was absolutely dodging the question! I was about to try to hound him, but I was interrupted.
“Breakfast is served,” Rohtas announced as our breakfast plates were carried in, forcing me to drop the subject.