18. After the Dust Settles

Corydalis’s knights had carted the apprehended earl and his accomplice off to the royal capital on the down-low. From there, they would work out a suitable punishment.

In the meantime, Mr. Fisalis and I got ready to hit the road home—for real this time.

“Hold on a second! Our carriage went home without us!”

I abruptly snapped back to reality. As part of our plan to throw the earl off his guard, we’d put a decoy rider in our family carriage and sent it home to the manor ages ago. The same went for the other two cars with our luggage and attendants, of course.

All we had now was the black steed we’d switched over to, along with the few knights who had stayed behind to escort us. We had a horse, but no wagon.

“Should we call for another one? We can find some place to rest in the meantime and—”

“I don’t know about that,” I cut Mr. Fisalis off. “Sending someone on a half day’s journey just to call for a carriage would eat up a lot of time. And we can’t very well double back to the villa and ask to stay another night.”

If we went with his suggestion, the carriage wouldn’t get here until after sundown.

I mean, how are we supposed to explain why we were sneaking around running all these secret errands?! We went out of our way to settle everything quietly just to keep the incident from going public; if we spill the beans to the Argenteias, that will have all been for nothing!

“You’re right. There’s always the option to spend the night elsewhere, but I can’t imagine there are any decent inns around here. I suppose we’ll just have to head home on horseback. I’ll sprint ahead as gently as I can, I promise.”

“I don’t think ‘sprinting gently’ is a thing! But we don’t have much of a choice—let’s just do it.”

“Well, even if I take it slow, we ought to make it to Rohze before it gets dark.”

“Good. We don’t want to be out on the road in the dead of night.”

As we happened to be carrying a très expensive necklace on us at the moment, we really needed to make it home before the sun went down.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of horseback riding, but considering how dog-tired I was, I did really want to get back to the manor as soon as physically possible. I doubted that Mr. Fisalis was planning to make a mad dash down the road, anyway.

“That reminds me... Since we didn’t get to stop anywhere on the way here, we did talk about making a side trip on the way home, didn’t we?” mentioned Mr. Fisalis. “I’m afraid that’s not in the cards at this point.”

“Probably not. Maybe next time.”

“Yes—we’ll leave that for next time! You know, that’s actually a nice thought. It’s almost like we’re making plans for our next date.”

“Oh, stop it, Cercis!”

And so, we decided to make the return trip to the royal capital on horseback.

* * *

It wasn’t as rough a ride as that one time Mr. Fisalis took me to clear up the whole “mistress” scandal, but I was still getting bounced up and down non-stop. He may have been taking it slower this time around, but we were still galloping ahead pretty fast.

“It’s been a while since we last rode a horse together,” I said, shouting loud enough to keep my voice from getting drowned out by the wind.

“It has. When was the last time...? Oh...”

Just thinking back on that incident had visibly dampened his spirits. To be fair, the whole thing had been a total mess, and he’d been pretty desperate to clear his name at the time.

But by now, we should be able to look back on it and laugh!

“Maybe going for a ride every once in a while isn’t so bad.”

“If you’re interested, I’d be happy to take you along on a jaunt whenever you want.”

“Thanks.”

Taking a carriage was a pretty pretentious means of transportation, and there was only so far you could travel on foot. Considering how many more places it would allow me to go, it was possible that horseback riding was the breath of fresh air I needed. Though if that was what I wanted, I really needed to build my tolerance for it first.

Back during the mistress fiasco, not only had we been going at insane speeds, but I’d had no idea what was going on in the first place. Now that I had a little more presence of mind for the ride, I noticed that I wasn’t enjoying the up-and-down motion of it so much... Maybe this just wasn’t for me? Or was it made worse by the fact that I was so tired?

I already thanked Mr. Fisalis for the offer, but it’d be a waste if I got motion sickness whenever we do go for that jaunt. Would I be better off learning how to ride a horse myself, perhaps? Could I get Rohtas to teach me the ropes? I’ll try asking when we get home.

“What’s wrong? If you’re tired, we could always stop for a break,” Mr. Fisalis piped up, concern evident in his voice. I must have lapsed into silence for too long.

“I’m fine. If anything, I’d prefer to get home sooner rather than later.”

I wanted to make it back to the manor so I could be free of this bouncy hell.

“In that case...want me to kick the speed up a notch?”

“Ugh... That’s the ultimate ‘would you rather’ question right there!”

We opted to pick up the pace a little, not stopping even once on our way home.

* * *

We managed to make it to Rohze before sundown, but it was dark out by the time we reached the manor itself.

“Welcome home!” our entire staff of servants greeted us, as per usual. Though I was pretty accustomed to the warm welcome by now, today it came as a huge relief. It made me think, Oh man! We really are home!

Stellaria and Drosera had arrived one step ahead of us, having ridden home as our decoys.

“Thanks. We made it.”

“Maaan, is it good to be back!”

Mr. Fisalis gave the servants a debonair greeting, while I wore my weariness on my sleeve. He dismounted first, then offered a hand to help me down next. Grateful for the assist, I held on tight as I got down from the saddle, but I soon found myself overcome by a sudden dizzy spell and nearly collapsed to the ground.

“Vi?! Are you all right?!”

Mr. Fisalis caught me in his arms, and the servants rushed over to my side.

Hmm... Has a combination of the fatigue and the motion sickness worn me down?

“Yeah. I think it’s just the exhaustion catching up to me.”

“In fairness, we have been through quite a lot. Dahlia, ready our room for us!”

“Yes, sir.”

I watched Dahlia and a handful of other maids disappear back into the manor at Mr. Fisalis’s command. Boy, had I ever missed that ultra-comfy bed of ours!

After I’d been gently tucked away in the sheets, I had to contend with overwhelming dizziness and nausea; bedridden and groggy as I was, I ended up skipping out on dinner. I wasn’t about to go anywhere—nor did I feel up to eating, for that matter—so I told Mr. Fisalis to go ahead and have supper all on his lonesome.

“You don’t look so good, Madam. How are you feeling?” Mimosa asked, concerned. Somehow even Daisy managed to look ill at ease in her mother’s arms. Oh dear. Are you worried for me too, Daisy?

“I’m not used to riding horses, so I think spending hours bouncing up and down like that made me queasy... Not to mention I’ve been under a lot of stress, what with everything that happened back at the villa. I figure it’s all catching up to me now.”

Looking back on it, I hadn’t been doing too hot back at the villa either.

“You did just spend seven days staying in somebody else’s home. No wonder you’re tired.”

“That full-blown socializing marathon was nothing to sneeze at... And if all the partying wasn’t enough, we had to deal with a burglary on top of that. That’s just adding insult to injury!”

“Everything’s been worked out now, at least. You’re free to take as much time as you need to recover.”

“I will, thanks. It’s time to hole up in the mansion for the next long while.”

Even looking at my emotional support Daisy isn’t helping to stave off the nausea and wooziness, so I’m starting to worry I’ve come down with something serious... Ugh, just the thought of it is making me break out into a cold sweat.

“Would you care to eat at least a little something, Madam?”

Just as my poor health was sending me into a negative spiral, Stellaria came in with some food on a tray. Based on the steam rising from the white bowl, I took a guess that it was oatmeal.

“Cartham was worried you’d never recover if you don’t eat anything at all, so he made a bowl of oatmeal for—”

The closer Stellaria came, the stronger the fragrance of the milk grew...which was bad news! Normally the sweet aroma would have brought a smile to my face, but now wasn’t the time!

“Bleeeeh!”

Just a whiff of that milk had pushed my nausea levels to max capacity! I threw my hands over my mouth on reflex and buried my head under the blanket. I feel so gross! I think I’m gonna puke! I very much didn’t want to spill my guts all over the bed, however, so I did everything in my power to hold it down.

“Madam?!”

“What’s wrong?!”

“Someone call for a doctor!”

“Go get Master Fisalis! Rohtas and Dahlia too!”

My sudden turn for the worse threw the maids into a panic.

I somehow managed to squeeze out: “Sorry... I just feel...suuuper sick...”

“It’s all right, Madam. Just keep still,” Mimosa assured me, finding my back underneath the covers and gently stroking it.

After that, I just listened to the footsteps of the maids scurrying this way and that from underneath my blanket, fighting down my nausea all the while.

* * *

Throwing up didn’t make me feel any better, and the dizziness never went away. All I could do was wait for the doctor to arrive, Mimosa continuing to pat me on the back in the meantime.

Mr. Fisalis had been plenty exhausted himself, yet he’d cut his dinner short to come nestle up next to me. “I hope it’s nothing worse than fatigue... I didn’t hear anything about a bug going around the villa, but you never know.”

“It’s just motion sickness. It has to be.”

“I knew you weren’t good with horses, so I ought to have called for that carriage from the start. I really should have been more considerate... I’m sorry, Vi.”

Mr. Fisalis seemed to be feeling awful about his poor judgment call, but I was the one who had agreed to it. I had no one but myself to blame, so I hoped he wasn’t going to beat himself up too hard about it.

Not long after that, Rohtas led the usual doctor to our room. Once the men had been kicked out and only the maids remained behind, he began his check-up.

“I apologize for the wait. How are you feeling?”

The old doctor’s ever-friendly smile both put my heart at ease and made me feel a little less queasy.

He asked me all the usual questions: when I’d started to feel sick, what symptoms I was experiencing, how I’d been feeling yesterday, and so on. He took his interrogation nice and slow so as not to overwhelm me in my less-than-peak condition. But c’mon—was it really necessary to ask me when my last monthly was?

After staring long and hard at the notes he’d taken, he suddenly broke into a smile and announced, “You’re in the family way. What you’re experiencing right now is morning sickness.”

“Huh? I’m in the family’s way? Wow... So I’m finally getting thrown out of the manor...?”

I was hit with an enormous wave of gloom and nausea.

I can’t believe it... I’m just in the way...

Hearing it spelled out for me certainly came as a shock.

And here I thought things were going really well with Mr. Fisalis these days. Just when did he decide he didn’t need me anymore?

I just sat there in a daze, unable to process what was happening until Dahlia picked up on what I was thinking and cut in to correct my misunderstanding. “He said you’re in the family way, Madam! He means you’re having a baby!”

Bwuh? A baby? That’s what he meant by “the family way”?!

“Huuuuh?! Talk about a misleading turn of phrase!”

“Did you finally catch up with what’s happening?”

“Oh, Madam, you silly goose!”

The doctor and the servants around me all had a hearty laugh.

Now that they knew I wasn’t seriously ill and I’d made a goof to boot, the maids were practically in stitches. Jeez, you guys! Can you blame me?! “In the way” would make more sense in my circumstances!

Mr. Fisalis, who had been waiting outside, was invited back into the room, and the doctor once again explained the cause of my “symptoms.”

“What? Viola is pregnant?”

“Indeed she is. Congratulations.”

“And...you’re sure about that?”

“I’m almost positive. Just to be on the safe side, we’ll have the midwife—my wife, that is—come take a look at her tomorrow.”

“A...All right.”

Mr. Fisalis was struggling to process this, if the way he kept glancing back and forth between me and the doctor was any indication. The words “I don’t believe it” were written all over his gorgeous face! Not that I had room to talk—I was feeling so out of it that the reality had yet to fully sink in for me either.

“How far along is she?”

“Let’s see now... Though I can’t say for certain just yet, I’d estimate she’s in the second month of her pregnancy. This is when her morning sickness will be at its peak, so she should take care not to—”

“AHHHHH!”

“Huh? Cercis?!”

“Duke Fisalis?”

“Master Fisalis? What’s wrong?!”

Boy, did he give everyone a scare when he started screaming like a madman right in the middle of the doctor’s explanation! What’s gotten into him all of a sudden?!

Everyone’s eyes traveled over to Mr. Fisalis, who seemed to be having a miniature meltdown in his corner.

“We rode home on a horse today! Was all that bouncing up and down bad for her body? Will she be okay?” he demanded, nearly jumping down the poor doctor’s throat.

Oh, so that’s why he started freaking out.

He had a point—I had spent almost half a day getting jerked around on horseback. Though we hadn’t been going all that fast, it was still a whole different beast compared to getting jostled around inside a carriage.

Wha—oh no! He’s right! Was that bad for the baby?! Suddenly feeling a whole lot more worried myself, I cast a glance the doctor’s way.

“Ah... Since she’s still in the early stages, I don’t think it should be an issue. Now, that’s not a free pass to overdo it in the future, mind you.”

“Thank God!” the two of us cried out in sheer relief.