The Unlucky Villainess Small Fief

Chapter 24

"Duke! Duke!" Ortezca shouted as she ran towards the main hall of the mansion. She was holding a big attache case, bigger than her and was huffing. 

After doing at least three experiments, ortezca was so happy that the medicine worked. She made additional 10 bottles of it. She went out of the wine cellar, and asked a servant if the duke was in the mansion. She was a bit disappointed when  the servant told her that the duke was out, but she waited by a nearby chair just by a corridor, eyes on the window, waiting for the duke to come back. 

"Just a little more..just a little more...." ortezca kept on mumbling which made the servants around her to be creeped out by her. When she saw the carriage, she immediately sprung out of the chair and went to greet the duke. 

"Hmm? Where are you going with that big case?" Rudevich asked in annoyance. Ortezca did not mind his tone. She put the case in front of him and a file of papers handed to him.

"What is this?"

"Everything to cure the disease is written here. Can i please return now?" Ortezca beamed. Rudevich eyed her. He seemed to be reluctant in accepting her so called cure. He wanted to ask her what blunder she did but he decided to trust her. He did not say anything. He took the case and papers and went off again. 

Once everyone left the main hall leaving ortezca alone, a sharp pain cut on her stomach cut her senses, she dropped to her knees, crouched over- and puked blood.

While inside the carriage, rudevich was busy reading her handwriting, which were all squiggly in his eyes. He rubbed his eyes and seeing that no matter how hard he tried to read it, he couldn't so, he decided to let someone read it- someone who knows the handwriting of her well- her father.

"........" jeremy was on the last page of the 15 pages paper while rudevich is waiting for the worst. When he arrived in the castle, jeremy was there and so was robert. They seemed to be arguing about something and rudevich had entered the battle zone unknowingly. He then asked jeremy to come with him to the drawing room for there was something he had to discuss him with.

"...where did you get this...no.. who wrote this?" Jeremy asked. Rudevich decided to come clean.

"Your daughter."

"....she wrote this? Preposterous. That good for nothing child couldn't possibly wrote this."

"....i also want to agree with you but...she really did write it."

"....and? You believe her?"

".....i plan to. I told you that I will do what i could, i asked for her help."

"...what if these did not work?" Jeremy asked while eyeing the bottles.

".....i will bear the responsibility and give her punishment."

"....i guess there is no turning back. Alright. Let us follow what it says here. Im afraid you need to stay here for a couple of days, will that be ok?" Jeremy asked him.

"Of course." Rudevich said. 

Jeremy did not even asked anything about his daughter. What a heartless man indeed. 

Ortezca woke up on a bed. She was still wearing her bloodied clothes. She sighed. She had given the servants once again a troublesome task to do which was to clean the blood she puked on the  main hall. She sat on the bed and another sharp pain on her stomach flared. She bit her lip and slowly stood up. She changed her clothes and washed her face. She then went back to her bed. 

The symptoms that she felt is surely ulcer. She also thinks that her stomach currently has hole in it too. Nothing can even cure her given this medieval era type of medicine. Even the disease in this era is so simple. Fever because of the unhygienic habits of the people. She had already wrote every possible way to help the kingdom. But for her sickness? She cannot create an alternative endoscopy. 

"I want to go home..." ortezca mumbled. She missed everyone in her small fief. She closed her eyes to sleep.

5 days had passed. Rudevich was endlessly tired from the recuperation period of the kingdom. When the affected citizens showed improvement, rudevich, jeremy and the others assisted in giving out orders to teach the people of proper hygiene. He still had work to do but since he had not changed his clothes for the past 5 days, he decided to come home. 

When he got home, servants seemed to be like ants, as busy as ever, he was a bit confused as to what was happening and saw the doctor and the butler cain talking with each other. Judging by the expression of the doctor- it was not good. Rudevich decided to approach the two gentlemen.

"....what is going on? How is the lady?" Rudevich asked. The doctor and cain looked at each other for a moment before the doctor asked the duke "may i have a word with you, my lord?"

Once the three settled in a room, a tense atmosphere enveloped the room. Rudevich waited for the doctor to gather his bearings before he speak.

"....i visited the lady today. It counts as a second time...and who would knew that she would get worse...." the doctor rubbed his temple.

"...what are you trying to imply?" Rudevich asked.

"...the lady puked blood three days straight. She was pale and having a fever when i visited her today... i tried giving her medicine to induce her fever but she said that it would not help. Tell me  my lord....how...how could she be so calm...when i saw her eyes...they were full of conviction. It felt as if she had seen death, had been in hell. I...i want to help her..but that lonely back of her..." the doctor said as he tried not to cry. Rudevich could not make out what the doctor was saying.

"Did she confess something to you?"

"......as her doctor, i don't have any reason to tell you. You are not her family nor her lover. I left some medicine on her desk. Tell her to take it- no...i think she knows it already... if i were you my lord, take her back to her village. She is only getting worse here." The doctor said before leaving the room. Rudevich sighed and closed his eyes.