The Fantasie of a Stepmother

Chapter 9

“My lady?”

“Ohh, thank you, Gwen,” I said. “You can go to bed now.”

“Um, my lady...?”

“Hmm?”

My head was nestled in a cushy goose-down pillow. I turned my head to see Gwen standing in the doorway, almost exactly as Roberto had done earlier.

Huh?

“What is it?”

“My lady, are you... all right?”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing,” Gwen said. “Please get some rest.”

After her polite good night, Gwen left. Alone in my toasty room, I stared at the door.

Strange. Everyone is acting strange. Why are they taking turns to ask me that? Whether I am all right should not be in question right now.

***

“Achoo!”

Dang it, I guess I caught a cold in the end.

The chill seeped into my skin despite the thick blanket layers. I was sick.

Gwen laid her hand against my neck. She clicked her tongue and said she would fetch a doctor.

“It’s clear you have a cold,” said the doctor in his unusually melodic voice. “You must eat well and rest for a few days.”

Just as the doctor recommended, I could not budge from bed for days.

While I lay in my room, Lucrecia visited a few times to wish me well. Sir Valentino came by, too, but I don’t know if anyone else dropped by.

At first, I only had a cough and a chill. Later, I suffered from a fever, where the boundary between reality and dream blurred.

If I died this way, would I wake up here in the past or back in the future that I knew?

“Are you faking sick again, Fake Mother?”

Who does this wavering voice belong to again? I’ve heard it many times.

Oh yes. Our little one, Leon. Whose fault is it that I am lying here like this? Should you talk like that?

But wait... Why is he here?

“...en... Gwen!” I called weakly.

“My lady?” Gwen appeared. “Oh dear, you must not be in here, young master.”

“Why not?” Leon argued. “I won’t do anything.”

“It will be terrible if you catch her fever,” Gwen said. “Come with me.”

To my relief, Leon left obediently instead of asking more rude questions.

I drifted in and out of consciousness, eventually lacking even the energy to respond to words spoken by my bed.

“I think she’s actually dead.”

“Shh. Be quiet.”

“Is Fake Mother going to die?” Rachel asked. “Does that mean she’ll be buried just like Father?”

“No one’s going to die. She’s just weak,” Elias replied sharply and clicked his tongue. “I’m not surprised.”

I pretended not to hear as the persistently brash Elias and gremlin Rachel whispered hateful things. I didn’t have the energy to call for a maid.

Is that a way to talk by a sick person’s bed?!

“She doesn’t look well. Are you sure it’s just a cold?”

“Her ladyship will be fine once her fever breaks. Don’t worry, young master.”

I was tormented by dreams that smeared together the present, past, and sometimes the future.

It took six days for my fever to break. Gwen stayed by my side the whole time. There were dark shadows under her eyes.

“Your fever is subsiding, my lady,” she told me. “I am so relieved.”

“I presume there has been no trouble in the meantime?”

I doubted much could have transpired in six days, but I had to ask. Gwen, who was helping me dress, froze.

“Gwen?”

“Oh. Yes, my lady,” she muttered. “You must be hungry. I will fetch your meal.”

She’s being suspicious, I thought. You can’t deceive me, Gwen.

I knew my loyal head maid very well, so I could tell that she was not speaking evasively to hide something but because there was something she wasn’t certain of.

Or am I jumping at shadows because I was sick?

***

“My lady?”

I was so preoccupied by doubts that I barely noticed leaving my room for the dining room in the west annex.

I wasn’t sure how we had gotten all the way here. Was I bewitched?

“I am glad you are feeling better.”

I shook my head to clear it.

The rails of the ornate staircase were carved to look like ivy. These, and the marble busts that flanked the landing, felt suddenly unfamiliar.

Through my daze, I caught sight of the knights, who guarded the annex entrance as always and walked between them.

Some instinct made me look back, and I caught the knights staring at me with unreadable expressions. They turned away quickly.

What’s with them? What is with this atmosphere?

It was hard to put into words what felt off, but something was certainly wrong. The atmosphere was tense… or perhaps anxious.

Maybe only someone like me, who had spent almost ten years in total on this estate, would recognize it.

I am certain that the estate has never felt like this, even after my husband died. No, it is probably just me.

As soon as I entered the dining room, Lucrecia, who had been eating with the children, jumped to her feet.

“Oh, my lady! I am so glad you are all right!”

“Thank you,” I said. “Has there been any trouble?”

“Of course not. Please sit.” Lucrecia said, warmly patting the back of my hand.

I smiled as I sat at the dining table.

Elias was engaged in a brave battle with some baked carrots. He looked up at me and muttered sarcastically, “You survived in the end after all that groaning like you were going to die at any second.”

“Elias, that is no way to talk to your mother,” Lucrecia admonished him in a graceful voice.

I squeezed my eyes shut and braced myself for impact.

Good God! O elegant countess, it would be better to avoid speaking so, if at least for the sake of a peaceful breakfast!

Despite how worried I was, Elias, instead of saying something like, “Why should that thing be our mother?” continued to battle his carrots as if he had a bitter grudge against them.

I had to check the window to see if the sun had risen in the west instead of the east today.

That arrogant little demon backed down? He isn’t one to be nice just out of consideration for my illness. It must be because his aunt is here.

As the maids brought me a plate of food, I turned my gaze to the twins who were sitting next to Elias.

Based on their shining golden locks, they appeared to have just bathed. They looked adorable as they nibbled on their cranberry salad, though I knew I should not fall for their angelic looks.

“Where is Jeremy?” I asked Lucrecia.

“He already ate,” Leon answered first.

I watched the way he flicked his big emerald eyes at me while mixing his salad with one hand. I stared because I had rarely ever seen him like this.

Rachel, beside him, also mixed her salad until she suddenly put down her fork and yelled, “I don’t want to eat this!”

Yes, of course you don’t. This doesn’t even surprise me anymore.

The twins were always complaining about their food.

Maybe they’re only like this in front of me.

“Oh dear, Rachel, you were eating so well until just now. You mustn’t complain about your food,” Lucrecia crooned.

I’m too tired to fight. I’ll just leave the kind aunt to deal with her.

Rachel ignored her. “Fake Mother, did you hear me? I don’t want to eat this.”

“Rachel!” Lucrecia barked.

Ah, is this the power of a fair aunt? The power of shared blood?

To my complete and utter surprise, Rachel said no more, but she did express her frustration by throwing her fork against her plate with a clang.

Perhaps Lucrecia sensed my admiration because she turned to look at me with a proud smile. “If you are feeling better, what do you say to going out this afternoon? We received an invitation to Madame Loive’s salon. I think you should start going out to social functions again.”

“Thank you, but I’m okay,” I said.

“If you stay at home all day, your faculties will decline,” Lucrecia entreated. “You must go out in society and share your sadness with others. You are still a girl in a way.”

She smiled. “People are already praising Madame Loive’s latest winter dress line.”

She may have been right, and it was kind of her to extend this invitation, but I still felt disinclined.

Why? It would only serve me to go with Lucrecia and make a place for myself in society. For the future.

“I don’t feel well enough yet,” I told her. “I will go with you next time.”

“All right,” she agreed. “You have to go with me next time.”

***

As soon as I finished eating, I went to the study. I had to get started if I wanted to clear through the documents from the past three days.

Alas, old habits die hard. I could only relax when work was done.

So much time had passed while I was ill. The parliament sitting date was around the corner.

I was not anxious. I already knew which of the cardinals and nobles would help or hinder me. In the past, Duke Nürnberger was the friendliest to me. If I met him again...

A problem occurred when my thoughts reached this point.

Had I taken some weird medicine?

My entire body was on edge as I walked down the beautiful staircase and through the hall.

It wasn’t my first time walking this massive estate, which crawled with servants and knights.

Why did I feel so apprehensive?

Had my illness interfered with my nerves? What was making me feel so suspicious?

Was the disquieting atmosphere because everyone had hoped I wouldn’t get out of bed?

Could that be it?!

No, get it together. It’s just nerves. That has to be it.