The interior of the castle is a lot like the other fancy schmucks Esstrey has known, overly decorated and pushing the banner in the face of all visitors. Apparently things get cluttered rather quickly when great-great-great grandpa's lost tooth just had to be added to the collection of item's passed down in the family, and these kinds of things are so much easier to add than to remove. Of course, the interior decorators probably lament the tragic addition of poor dental hygiene, and decide to prevent the castle from being turned into a museum by adding more banners. In Russia, there is a great emphasis on respecting your elders, but the history books really don't do the pride of a bunch of old codgers' justice. Watching the sheer amount of 'valuable heirlooms' being hidden in plain sight by adding more banners to the entrance area as a whole really reinforces Esstrey's opinion that the whole feudal system was built on pandering to the useless sensibilities of a few undeserving tubs of lard.

On the other claw, the carpet does feel very nice under her tail.

There are some moving decorations as well, minor nobles who considering the matching emblems with the banners are vassals of the duchess. They seemed to be very worried, considering the rate of their beating hearts, but the relief is visible upon their faces when they see the duchess. That relief quickly morphs into a short look of terror when they notice that the shadow behind the duchess is actually a massive mermaid, and they shortly shift back to worry, before finally calming their rampant emotions.

"Lady Malencia! We are so glad to see you have returned successfully with the wi- the doctor! I trust that she will heal the young master?" The man is sweating bullets, yet the reason for his panic very much isn't centered around Esstrey.

"Yes baron Hatzeir, I am confident we will make progress, the good doctor has shown extraordinary solutions to medical problems that will certainly be of aid to the healer team. Lady Esstrey, up the stairs 3rd door on your left is the patient, I will catch up in a moment." Esstrey makes her way to the stairs, and notices an odd trio standing at the base of the stairs, snickering to each other.

One of them is a man wearing a red robe with yellow lightning on it, another is a woman who seems to be wearing a dress made out of black ribbons, and the last one looks like a cemetery attendant in a suit, smells like one too. They notice Esstrey make eye contact, and collectively turn to face her.

"She hasn't got a clue, does she?" The robed man points at the duchess as he directs the question at Esstrey, who simply smiles back.

"Do you?" The question actually catches the robed man off-guard, if Esstrey has learned anything from whack jobs It's that you have to outdo them to get favorable results.

"I like her already." The woman with ribbons for clothes comments, and the trio have switches to a stance which clearly indicates they are waiting for Esstrey to make a move without further comment.

Esstrey obliges... by crushing the wooden stairs as she ascends them. The stairs were most likely an oversight on the part of the duchess, and she could theoretically scale them without leaving a trail, but if she did that she wouldn't properly show her dissatisfaction with the area not being wheelchair accessible. The duchess looks on impassively and with a slight disapproving look, while her vassals look horrified at the mermaid wrecking one side of the stairs rather thoroughly in her ascent.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"I hope you know what you are doing mi'lady... the doctor doesn't look like the gentle type." The baron only gets a quick side-glance from the duchess, and a toothy grin from Esstrey.

Esstrey goes through the hallway and enters the room in question, it isn't an exceptionally large room for a noble, but it certainly isn't lacking in the decoration department with the various medieval weapons scattered about. A large group of healers surrounds a sickly boy on the bed, so enraptured in their task that only an old butler watching notices Esstrey enter. The man gives Esstrey a quick glance, before gesturing her toward the boy.

"What's his medical record?" Esstrey decides not to waste any time, considering the boy looks like he's one foot in the grave already.

"Sixteen, male, Faerunian Human. Has only gotten sick thrice in his life, once a cold, once the flu, and once [Tetanus]. No mental health issues, no allergies and has only been treated for [Tetanus]. Currently suspected to have a rather hefty curse." One of the healers responds to Esstrey with practiced ease.

Esstrey shoves some of the healers out of the way, while brining her claw up to the kid's forehead to pretend to take his temperature, with her other claw she quickly draws a drop of blood for a preliminary analysis. She does some more useless actions to keep the healers distracted, who are now slowly beginning to realize that a giant mermaid is checking up on their patient. Esstrey might not be a doctor, but she has dabbled in keeping people alive, both magically and mundane. Some basic biology lessons begin to cement themselves into her mind, even if it's only the raw information. She can't even remember if it was held at a school or not.

The results she got from the drop of blood are... bad. The blood cells are showing severe degradation, and the symptoms he has line up with quite a large assortment of diseases. There are also traces of multiple aggressive organisms of different kinds attacking the blood cells.

Considering all this from just looking at the patient and a drop of blood, it's probably harder to count the diseases he doesn't have than counting the ones he does. As Esstrey is pondering how to go about it, Eliana enters.

"Well, 'doctor', how does it look?" Eliana's tone is somewhere in between insulting exhausted and hopeful, an impressive combination no doubt achieved through rigorous tea parties where she was forced to smile out of courtesy to people she would rather have thrown down an oubliette.

"Frankly, I'm pretty sure I have seen people that were run over by high-speed traffic in a better condition. His organs are absolutely fucked, and most of your population probably can't even count high enough to count all the diseases the kid has. It's a testament to your resources that he stayed alive for as long as he did, but I estimate that the current path will mean his demise within the week without any change." Esstrey begins looking around the room for various resources, and also gets a little handsy with the now very nervous healers.

"And you believe you can cure my son?" Eliana ignores the antics of the giant mermaid rather expertly, the life of her son is worth more than the pride of some healers and a stairway.

"Yes, but I'll need some stuff. Equipment to make potions, a lot of water, Sofia here as my assistant... and a few people who don't mind being in a coma for a while." The healers all look at the mermaid with their mouths agape, especially at the last request. Is she going to sacrifice the lifespan of others? Some kind of deal with the devil? The elderly steward merely watches with passive indifference, and the duchess actually looks... relieved?

"I won't stand by as you commit heretical rituals fiend!" One of the healers speaks up, and almost immediately regrets it as the room looks at her.

"You are right, you won't. Lady Eliana, I will also need you to get all these people to take a hike. If someone barges in here off visiting hours, I will kill them." Esstrey says it with the same professionalism as a doctor would talk about a surgery, and she means it too. Her blood magic isn't something she wants to be revealed, lacking knowledge about it saved her life once already, after all.