The Reincarnated Princess Nurses

I made countless pleas to Misster, saying that I couldn’t help because I wasn’t a doctor, but he brushed my arguments aside and refused to be convinced. He walked in front of me, urging me to hurry as I dragged my feet up the stairs.

“Argh.” My eyes squinted against the brightness of the sunlight as I emerged above deck. I shielded them with my hands, but to little effect. The afterglow of the sunlight sparkled beneath my closed eyelids, seared into my vision. The deck was hotter than I’d expected, and I immediately regretted leaving my cloak in my cabin.

Klaus looked down worriedly from behind me. “Are you all right?” He tried to pull me inside his own cloak, but I shot that offer down.

“I’m fine.”

“Your fair skin will burn,” said Bianca, seeming concerned as she lined up next to me.

“So will yours!” She wasn’t wearing a cloak either. My warning had been laced with panic because it would be a travesty for sunburns to ravage Bianca’s snow-white skin.

“Don’t worry about me.” She smiled, entirely unconcerned.

I guess she’s got a lax attitude when it comes to herself.

Misster beckoned us, motioning with his hand. “Over here.” For some reason, he was hiding behind a pillar.

We joined him behind the cover of the pillar. I looked in the direction he was pointing and found Flora’s group.

Klaus groaned quietly. “Her again,” he muttered with disdain.

I’d prefer to stay away from her too, but she might be the one who’s ill, I thought. I examined her appearance.

Flora was reclining on a deck chair, enjoying some comforting shade from a parasol, which was held by her chamberlain. Her strawberry-blonde hair bounced gently with each swipe of the large fan in her hands. She was the picture of a celebrity on a pleasure cruise, and I didn’t see any signs of ill-health...at least, none that showed in her complexion or facial expression.

“She seems comfortable enough...” I said, tilting my head.

“Not her, silly,” Misster said. “Next to her.”

Next to her?

Misster put his hands on my cheeks and swiveled my head.

My field of vision shifted a little to the right, and...there! A maid standing a short distance away from Flora. The maid was standing up straight and wearing a dark-gray, high-necked dress. She also didn’t have a parasol to shield her from the scorching sunlight. Even this far away, I could tell that her complexion wasn’t great. Every so often, she pressed a hand against her mouth or her forehead.

“Oh, you meant the maid?” I said. “She does look pallid.”

“Right?” Misster agreed. “But she won’t listen when I tell her to take a break.”

She probably couldn’t, even if she wanted to, I thought, glancing back at her mistress, who was relaxing blissfully.

“At any rate, we need to at least hydrate her,” I said. “I’ll go back to the kitchen and—”

“Excuse me, Mia!”

“Y-Yes, Lady Flora.”

I’d been about to say, “I’ll go back to the kitchen and fetch some water,” but a certain chagrined voice cut me off.

The maid called Mia grew tense.

“You’re daydreaming,” Flora said.

“I’m... No, I’m...”

“You can’t keep still and you’re tottering. And I know I heard you yawning a minute ago.”

“My apologies... I didn’t get much sleep last night since the preparations for this journey took so long...”

“Spare me the excuses!” Flora barked.

Mia’s shoulders twitched. “Understood!”

“This is terrible...” Bianca said, frowning.

“I’d like to get her to take a break, whether she wants one or not, but she has to save face in front of that mistress of hers. What should we do, cutie-pie?” Misster addressed his question to me. His lighthearted tone stood in contrast to the bitter look on his face.

“The situation might be too dire to spend time worrying about that,” I replied.

“What do you mean, Mary?” Klaus asked.

I opened my mouth to answer but hesitated.

Anyone with the general knowledge available in modern Japan would understand: it was dangerous to be dehydrated and have no cover from the scorching sun. Add that to her poor condition due to lack of sleep, and it was a recipe for heatstroke.

But I wasn’t sure whether heatstroke was a recognized condition in this world, or how to explain it. Well actually, explaining would take more time than we had.

Sweat drenched Mia’s forehead, but despite that, her face was pale. In addition, I suspected that she felt nauseous and had a headache, which I judged from the way that she kept covering her mouth and holding her hand against her forehead. Misster’s suggestion that Mia was suffering from seasickness was plausible. However, if these symptoms were instead caused by heatstroke, then she was in danger. We needed to act, and fast.

“Big Brother.”

“What?”

“Could you bring me some water from the kitchen?” I requested, looking up at him.

Klaus’s eyes shot wide open. He said nothing for a few seconds, probably anxious about leaving my side. However, his answer wasn’t “no.” With a serious look in his eyes, he asked me, “That’s what you need?”

“Yes,” I confirmed.

“Got it.”

Though surprised by the ease with which he accepted, I added a few more items to my order. “Add a pinch of salt and sugar to the lemon water we took down earlier. Fill a bucket with water as well... And bring me some towels.”

“Lemon water with sugar and salt, a bucket of water, and towels? Okay.” Klaus went to leave, but he came to a halt and turned back around. “I’ll be quick, so you be...” His words trailed off before he finished his warning. “What am I saying... ‘Careful’ isn’t in your vocabulary.”

He gave a reserved smile and I returned it.

“Sorry,” I said. My humblest apologies for not being the easiest person to guard, but ignoring someone right in front of me who’s ill—that’s just not an option.

“Let me rephrase that,” Klaus said. “Please try to be as careful as you can.”

“I will. Thank you.”

Listening to the diminishing sound of Klaus’s footsteps, I inhaled a deep breath and braced myself.

Now then...how to break the ice? I set off walking toward Mia, followed by Bianca and Misster.

Flora shot us a suspicious look when she noticed our presence. However, her gaze grew more hostile when she realized that I was the one approaching.

“What do you want? Didn’t you get the message last time?” She glared at me, and I faltered for a moment.

Seems she isn’t fond of me at all...

“I need to speak with you about something,” I said.

She gave me the cold shoulder. “I don’t. Scram.”

After receiving a curt dismissal from Flora, I glanced over at Mia. Her face was pale, and she was hunched over, still covering her mouth. I knew that I shouldn’t make waves, but at this rate, she’d run out of time.

“Please listen to me,” I said. “We need to act with urgency.”

“You don’t know when to stop!”

I eventually managed to communicate my request over the top of Flora’s objections. “Your companion appears to be ill. Will you let me treat her?”

Flora raised one eyebrow in bafflement. “What?” She looked at me and Mia in turn. “You mean Mia? Leave her be. She just hasn’t slept well.”

“Lack of sleep might not sound that bad, but if she’s been standing in this heat without even a parasol, she could collapse. At least let me take her into the shade—”

“Can’t you hear me?! I’m telling you to leave her be!”

Flora wasn’t budging, and I was beginning to get irritated. Oh, for God’s sake! What do I have to do to make you understand?!

“You tried, cutie-pie.” After listening to Flora and me talking in circles, Misster smiled wryly and turned to face Mia. “This is only going to get worse, so let’s just grab her and take her away.”

Mia was staring at the floor, blank eyed. When she saw Misster reaching his hand out toward her, she snapped out of her daze and her head flung up. “N-No! I’m perfectly all right! Please don’t mind—”

“Me,” she would’ve finished, but her body swayed. She tumbled, and Misster caught her in his muscly arms.

“We tried to tell you!” Misster complained, scooping Mia up. “Hey, you! Out of my way!” he commanded the chamberlain, who was frozen dumbstruck to the spot. Misster took off, running away from the group.

I hurriedly followed after him. “Excuse me, coming through! Ah! Let me have that!” I borrowed a fan from the chamberlain as I passed by him.

“S-Sure,” the chamberlain sputtered.

“Where do we take her, cutie-pie?!” asked Misster.

“We’ll ask to borrow the room nearest to the entrance! Where are the...”

“Hey, miss! Over here!” Just as I was looking around for the sailors, a voice called out to me. The crew working on deck had apparently witnessed the events, and they immediately volunteered to guide us.

We descended the stairs and entered the room closest to the stairwell.

“Bianca, when my brother comes, can you send him here?” I requested, looking at her over my shoulder.

“Will do.”

Misster laid Mia gently onto the bed and then asked me for instructions. “What next?”

I took a deep breath to ease my panicked mind.

No textbooks or doctors here to guide me, just my own knowledge. Come on, Rose, remember. What’s the first thing you do when giving medical aid to someone with heatstroke?

“We should loosen her clothing and cool her body down.”

Misster took a look at Mia, paused in thought for a moment, and then said, “I’d better go then. Can you handle the rest?”

Despite his own apparent femininity, Misster was considerate in recognizing that Mia likely wouldn’t want a man to see her undressed.

“I can.”

Hearing my confirmation, Misster stood up. “I’ll leave it to you,” he said, patting me on the shoulder before exiting the room.

Bianca and Klaus entered as he left.

“We’re here, Mary!” said Bianca.

“Here’s the water,” Klaus added.

“Thank you. Wait outside, Big Brother. Will you help me, Bianca?”

“Of course I will. What do you want me to do?”

“Her legs need to be raised.”

“Got it.”

I unbuttoned her blouse and exposed her chest. After parting her bangs, I placed one damp towel on her forehead, then two more on her neck and just above her chest. I then waved the fan to cool her.

Bianca folded some sheets and rested Mia’s legs on top of them.

I hope this lowers her body temperature, at least a little...

“Now we just wait and keep an eye on her?” Bianca asked.

“Let me think...”

While fanning Mia, I considered what I should do. What if she doesn’t regain consciousness? I’d feel awful stripping an unmarried girl naked, but I figured that we’d better cool down her armpits and thighs. We don’t have any ice though, so it won’t have much effect... What I wouldn’t give to have Lutz here.

The instant I thought of his name, I remembered the amulet that he’d given me. I touched the outside of the pouch that hung from my waist.

“Mary!” Bianca called my name as I was running my fingers along the hard object through the fabric of the pouch.

I followed Bianca’s gaze and turned my eyes toward Mia. “Huh?”

Her long eyelashes quivered, signaling that she was waking up. As her forehead scrunched up, a murmur escaped her lips. “Ugh...” As we watched, her eyes slowly opened.

“Mia!” I cried.

Her eyeballs swiveled back and forth as if seeking the owner of the voice that’d called to her. She looked first at the ceiling, then at Bianca, and finally at me, before blinking several times. Her eyes looked less vacant and slightly more vibrant than before.

“Where...am I?” she asked feebly.

I felt sorry for her when I heard her terribly croaky voice, but at any rate, she appeared to be lucid.

I exhaled a long sigh of relief. “This is the cabin closest to the stairs.”

She began to say something. “What? I—”

I held my hand up, gesturing for her to stop. “We’ll talk later. You need to have some water first. Can you sit up?”

She nodded.

I helped her upright, then poured water into a glass. With Bianca’s assistance, Mia took a sip of the water. Her eyes widened a little. She sat motionless for a few seconds and then tipped the glass back, drinking the water in large gulps.

“Not so fast...” I watched her nervously, worried that she might choke.

The glass might’ve only been half-full, but it was still a lot of water. She guzzled it down in an instant. When she held the glass toward me for a refill, I obliged.

When Mia had finally drunk half of the water that Klaus had brought, she finally appeared to be satisfied. She exhaled heavily.

“This is delicious...”

So she really was on the verge of dehydration.

“I’m glad you like it,” I said, smiling at her.

Mia’s eyes flitted between me and the glass. “What is this? It tastes so good.”

At that point, I remembered that the drink wasn’t just ordinary water. “It’s lemon water with a pinch of salt and sugar added.” Those few ingredients were enough to serve up a quick and easy energy drink. Just what the doctor ordered for heatstroke. Super simple to make, and yet, surprisingly tasty.

“You can get this taste from just that? Wow. It’s so good.” Mia repeated these words of praise to herself while staring at the glass in her hands.

I smiled at her. “I’m glad you’ve perked up a bit.”

Her head bounced up. “That’s right, why am I... Did I...collapse?”

“You did,” Bianca answered. “You lost consciousness in the middle of our conversation.”

Upon hearing that, Mia blanched. Perhaps subconsciously, her fingers gripped the bedsheets with such force that her knuckles turned white. “Oh no, Lady Flora will—” Mia tried to jump to her feet, but she hadn’t fully recovered. “Argh!” she cried as she teetered.

“Careful!” Bianca exclaimed, propping her up on the bed. Mia only escaped falling thanks to Bianca’s quick reaction.

That was close, I thought. My heart was in my mouth. “No sudden movements,” I said, trying to calm her down, but she wouldn’t listen.

“I can’t just decide to rest...not without Lady Flora’s permission.”

Bianca frowned with evident exasperation. “Her permission? You collapsed. That’s not your fault!”

Bianca’s argument was sensible, but Mia wouldn’t be able to accept that logic. If she could have, then she would’ve asked for help before she collapsed.

My brows furrowed while watching Mia’s reaction, which shed light on her working conditions. I vented my frustration in a sigh and massaged my forehead with my fingers. “Mia, if you go back to work as you are now, you’ll just collapse again.”

“But—”

“And collapsing again would defeat the entire purpose of going back. So you’re better off taking a little bit of time to rest and recuperate.” I looked into her eyes and asked, “Am I wrong?”

Mia’s head dropped like a scolded child, and she mumbled, “No.”

After Mia deflated, Bianca and I glanced at each other and exchanged wan smiles.

“Right. So take a bit of time to rest yourself up.” I grabbed the glass from her hands and instructed her to lie back down on the bed.

She obediently did what I asked.

I lifted the duvet up to her shoulders and gave it a few pats. Her body must’ve been craving sleep since, before long, she began to doze off. Her eyelids started to fall, but they stopped as if she’d thought of something, then opened once more.

I noticed that her wandering gaze was directed at me, so I leaned my head a smidge to one side, encouraging her to speak.

Her lips moved, slowly forming the words, “Thank you for saving me.”

My eyes widened in astonishment, but Mia didn’t seem to notice and promptly fell asleep, having apparently said all that she wanted to. Her breathing entered the gentle rhythm of slumber.

I placed a damp cloth on her forehead and whispered, “You’re welcome.”