*Rohan, I'm sorry for lying.*
Hannah had a spirited and straight-talking personality. She'd never had secret plans or conspired against others, and she hated pretending or acting pretentious. In some ways, she could be said to be Antjone's polar opposite.
Wasn't Antjone the master of situational comedy? In Hannah's opinion, Antjone had wanted to double-cross her, but it had backfired since Claudel wasn't very pleased with such things and had only felt sorry for Antjone, who'd been greatly embarrassed in front of people, so she'd had to be gentle inside.
*Damn it.*
It was unexpected that Hannah had come to meet Rohan today. Claudel was having a baby—a precious baby born after overcoming consumption's aftereffects.
But she had a long way to go to convey the news to Madame Cronach in the capital.
*I can telegraph Claudel's news.*
Madame Cronach was the owner of Salon Arvo. Although Hannah didn't hear the full story, it was Kaian who'd saved her life. She'd reached out to him and, riding on Temnes' power, had opened a salon in the capital and risen to success.
But thanks to that, she'd become completely tied to the capital. Even though she wanted to see Claudel—who was staying in the royal castle while Madame Cronach stayed in the capital's mansion—there were very few opportunities to meet.
On one occasion, the maids who'd been sent to the mansion to care for Claudel had made a big mistake, which had made Madame Cronach so delighted that she'd rushed to the mansion a month later.
That day she'd personally waited on Claudel until Hannah and Madame Marcel arrived, and it had seemed to Hannah that a smile appeared on her aunt's face—wide, very wide.
Anyway, Madame Cronach had recoiled when she'd heard that Hannah was sending her a telegram.
*"No, never. You must never send me a telegram."*
*"Why not?"*
*"The Duke of Temnes monitors the messages going out from the telegraph office."*
Hannah's eyes had widened.
*"If any information comes up that he thinks is suspicious, he makes sure to track it down."*
*"Really? At Claudel's request, I sent several telegrams to the Duke of Vermont."*
*"You can assume the Duke of Temnes watched it all."*
*"There was nothing that could be problematic."*
It had been simply a brief description of Claudel's current status.
*"After all, if you send me a message, it will definitely fall into the Duke's hands."*
*"Then what should I do?"*
*"Somehow borrow someone else's ID card. Send it to my courier instead."*
To avoid being traced by Kaian, she'd nodded and come back, but who would lend her their identity card? It was a small document you should carry with you in the first place.
Moreover, Hannah had no one close to her, and she couldn't borrow Madame Marcel's—because Madame Cronach had informed her that Kaian was reading all the telegrams sent by Madame Marcel.
So, after much thought, the solution she'd reached was Rohan. She'd naturally thought that if she went to meet him on the day he returned and went to the telegraph office with him, he'd lend her his ID card—and it was as she'd expected.
After obtaining Rohan's ID, Hannah had contacted the messenger she'd hired as instructed by Madame Cronach.
*I never thought the day would come when I'd do something like this.*
Hannah had a sincere affection for Rohan, and they were in the stage of getting to know each other and building deeper feelings. Lying to such a man and taking advantage of his good intentions pricked her heart terribly.
*But when Auntie hears this news, how happy she'll be.*
The news of Claudel's pregnancy gave her hope. Madame Cronach had said she was Claudel's mother and was worried that Claudel's marriage would be broken up.
*Once the baby is born, it will be difficult for the Lord to cast Claudel aside.*
A child with Temnes' blood would be born, and since Claudel was the baby's biological mother, he couldn't simply dissolve the marriage or cast her out, even if they had a dysfunctional relationship.
Then, wouldn't Claudel be able to meet her mother?
Hannah's encounter with Madame Cronach had left her with little hope of finding her own family. Knowing the loneliness and despair of being alone in the world, she hoped Claudel would be different from her.
Her husband, her baby, and even her mother whom she'd thought was dead—Hannah was truly happy that Claudel's family was growing.
"Hannah, I've washed everything."
The man who'd been wearing a jacket so dirty and shiny it looked like leather—which was actually lightweight linen—had shed the grime. Rohan, wearing pants and a thin, loose shirt, dried his hair with a towel.
"You waited patiently."
"What if I didn't behave? Did you think I was going to run around and play on the bed in your room alone?"
"Haha."
Rohan was delighted by what he'd imagined.
"Let's run together."
"I was just kidding."
"On the bed."
The man who smelled of soap kissed her lightly.
The reason she'd been able to stop being jealous and envious of her missing family was because Hannah also had someone like this—someone who might become family to her.
"No, I have to go back to the castle. You have to see the Lord too, right?"
"Wait a moment. Just a moment."
They were lovers who'd met after two months apart. They embraced each other and didn't know how to separate.
---
The doctor visited Claudel almost every day.
"Today you'll take a lavender foot bath, my Lady."
"Lavender foot bath?"
"Yes, my Lady. This lavender oil boosts the energy of a weakened body, helps blood circulation, and has a soothing effect."
The doctor placed a vial containing light green oil on the table and had the maids bring hot water in a wooden barrel.
"Add plenty of organic lavender oil here and finally sprinkle the purple petals of freshly picked lavender that the gardener picked at dawn."
The doctor talked enthusiastically like a businessman.
"The creation of a lavender foot bath that relaxes the mind and body of ladies and is also effective in preventing depression!"
Claudel ended up laughing as she looked at the cheerful doctor who seemed to have found a new calling.
Claudel had been unconscious when she'd been injured by the crocodile, so of course she had no memory of the doctors' efforts to operate or treat her. Even when he'd been treating her consumption, she'd been vomiting blood and fainting, so she'd barely thought about the doctor's hard work—until now he'd been just a doctor.
"Quickly put your feet here. It's a footbath touched by God's hand."
She hadn't thought about it before, but he wasn't ashamed to call himself a divine doctor. She realized once again how saving the life of a dying woman twice had affected his confidence.
Claudel, with Hannah's help, lifted her skirt and soaked her feet in the bath.
"Do I have to do this every day?"
"Then what should happen?"
The doctor looked at her with displeasure, as if to say, "What else should I do?"
"It was you, my Lady, who asked the Lord to keep it secret."
As Claudel sighed, the doctor pursed his mouth again.
"I would feel at ease if I reported this to my Lord right now. But somehow... after I told my Lord I'd try treatment, he asked me every day how it was going, so I had to do something."
For the first few days, she'd lain down on warm flat stones and drunk medicinal tea to relieve nausea. But that had only lasted for a day or two, and as days went by, the doctor's medical practice—suffering from Kaian's questioning—had become less effective treatment and closer to cosmetic practice.
Claudel, who sometimes enjoyed solitary walks because she wanted to organize her thoughts alone, found it quite stressful to be subjected to this every day.
"I'm tired of having to do something every day."
The doctor smiled brightly.
"Don't think about it that way—just think of it as prenatal care."
"Prenatal care?"
"Yes, my Lady. It's boring to think you're just killing time to deceive my Lord."
Claudel was hurt by the explicit expression.
"Then?"
"Look, how pretty is this footbath?"
The oil had dissolved in warm water, and the sight of purple flowers floating in the hot, steaming water was definitely a refreshing scene.
"You have to think good thoughts and expose your eyes to beautiful things."
Claudel nodded at the words spoken by the middle-aged man who seemed to have gone from doctor to businessman to counselor.
"If you feel good about being a mother, the baby feels good too."
"Is that really true?"
"That's why."
"Yes, it looks pretty here."
Seeing her relax and move her feet around in the footbath, stirring the water and admiring the flower petals, the doctor sat down with satisfaction and called Hannah.
"I'd like herbal tea, please."
"With three sugar cubes."
"Do you think this is a teahouse?"
"The tea in the castle is of higher quality than the tea shop in the village. Let's have a drink while we're here."
These days, his job was to kill time by recommending dubious treatments to Claudel and then drinking tea served by her maid.
The great Lord had even asked him to focus on Claudel's healthcare and had found another capable doctor with ten years of experience, so the doctor's work-life balance had reached its peak these days.
Those who came in with broken heads, broken arms, or sprained legs—those who'd been injured last week but were hurt again today—and even if he gave them truthful advice saying, "If you live like this, you could die next week," he'd only see them get hurt again tomorrow. Cleaning them up and leaving them smelling fresh and clean, the doctor felt truly alive taking care of the family heir's production in Claudel's room.
"Anyway, where do you find things like this?"
"Pardon?"
"Isn't that so? A middle-aged man knows a lot about prenatal care and such things."
"Hmm, no matter what I do, I'm always serious, my Lady. It's a task entrusted to me by my Lord, so I have no choice but to fulfill my mission and work hard."
"It seems like my grandmother's taste."
"Yes, whatever you think, I can't help it. I can't do nothing."
The doctor waited until Claudel's foot bath was finished and checked whether her hands and feet were cold. Then, as soon as he left Claudel's room, he went straight to Kaian's office again today.
*Knock knock.*
"Come in."
Kaian welcomed him as if he'd been waiting.
"How is it? Did she like the lavender foot bath?"
"I have to be honest, right?"
Kaian frowned at the doctor's hesitant response.
"What did Claudel say?"
"It's like my grandmother's taste."
---