Surviving As A Cannon Fodder

CHAPTER 60

Before he could enter the room, I pounced on the bed like a charging tiger and covered Edward with the quilt from top to bottom.

"Good morning madam" Herbie greeted and bowed.

"Goood morning Herbie. Aren't you a little early today?" I asked, trying to act as normal as possible. 

It was definitely not usual for him to continue knocking despite my commands.

"Madam... it's half past noon" He said hesitantly while looking at me. Then his eyes darted to the covered figure next to me.

"His Grace..." He stammered pointing at Edward. He looked surprised to find his master in yet another condition today.

"He was feeling cold. So I covered him up" I came up with excuses while secretly hatching another plan.

"Ah!" Herbie exclaimed, noticing the broken glass on the floor. He seemed to have stepped on a piece of shard.

"Yeah about that... my hand slipped. Could you please clear it up before the priests arrive?" I requested Herbie with pleading eyes.

'I beg of you please leave this room' I held myself from completing the sentence.

"Madam..." 

He looked confused by the unusual position of the glass shards. More than slipped it looked like someone had thrown it towards the wall with force, fully intent on blowing it to smithereens.

"I will be right back" 

Still, Herbie put down the vessel of water and towels and went out to fetch cleaning supplies.

Though it was not under his domain, he had to clean it up himself because only a select few were allowed inside Edward's room.

"Phew... that was close" I let out a sigh.

I pulled down the quilt and looked at the state of Edward's face. It looked like a toddler had used his face as a drawing board. There were pictures of tiny birds and rabbits on each of his cheeks and a snake drawn on his forehead.

"This is not what a 39-year-old woman should be doing... sigh"

I swiped Edward's cheek with my forefinger to find what material was used for the artistic drawings.

Rubbing it between my fingers, I could identify that it was just red lipstick, probably from the stuff that came from home.

I stifled a laugh when I saw Edward's carefully drawn clown nose. It was funny to think that one of the Empire's most powerful men had lipstick drawings all over his face. Not everyone will have the privilege to see such a sight.

'Such baby-soft skin...'

What kind of face lotion does he use to achieve such a texture? Probably the expensive stuff. Maybe I should snag one for myself too.

'No! I'm getting distracted by his face again. I have to clean this up before somebody else decides to pay a visit' I reminded myself of the problem at hand.

Hovering over Edward I reached for the side table cabinet which contained half of the ripped dress. I can't use the towels Herbie brought because they were infused with cleaning magic. I'll be caught if I touch that.

I pulled open the cabinet and picked up a piece of cloth to wipe Edward's face. The cabinet also contained a few small boxes and the assassin's knife which I used to open the wine bottles yesterday.

"I must've gone insane"

To completely forget about being on the Third Eye's hit list. I must definitely be insane. I moved aside the knife and started wiping Edward's face.