Chapter 19: The pretty villainess that I like.
"Open the door for me."
The villainess ordered to which the maid followed, holding the door knob and letting her master enter her dormitory room carrying an unconscious girl inside.
Lady Evelyn minds the blonde girl's head going through the door.
The maid looked at her master who was being so careful about the whole thing. It feels like this is the first time she has ever seen her lady handle something ever so delicately.
It was such a rare scene.
Lady Evelyn looked towards her dormitory room and looked at the couch. It doesn't seem like a proper place to place a sick person in, so her bed should do.
"Miss Blanchet, we'll be going to my room." she mutters out and heads to the right side of her dorm where her room was located.
She finds her luxurious queen bed, its sheets of light purple color and there were certainly many books in her bedside table. It seems that she wasn't expecting any visitors to drop in so she wasn't able to tidy up first.
Lady Evelyn walks towards her bed leaning over, letting the girl go to have the heroine's body to lay on it but-
"Nngh... no... so soft..." (Analissa) didn't feel like the soft sheets of the bed were any better than the villainess' arms so she was really clinging onto her clothes.
Her breathing turned restless when she couldn't feel the other party's warmth.
"..." (Lady Evelyn) looks away at the girl's compliment of being soft. This girl's words were a bit bold.
She takes the heroine's hands on her own and puts them down in her chest so that she can't pull her close anymore.
The maid who was watching everything feels like this is something illegal to watch.
Do they have something of a close relationship already? Friends?
But the way milady looked so flustered...
"I must apologize but I need to go, Miss Blanchet." (Lady Evelyn) even apologized and the maid couldn't help but cover her hands over her mouth that was forming a little smile watching these two together.
Pure friendship between a commoner and a noble?!
The villainess turns to her maid who snapped out of her fantasy trance once she noticed her lady's attention was on her.
"Liara, what do I need to do to help Miss Blancher get over her cold?" (Lady Evelyn) calls out to the maid with long red hair.
Liara Fischer, one of the maid sisters who was tasked to make sure that her lady will be up to par with the academy helping her in everything she needs.
Surely in the game she was depicted as the villainess' nameless servant of no importance.
"Will you be helping me prepare, milady?" (Liara) asks, checking to see her lady's response.
Lady Evelyn nods not wanting to feel useless by doing nothing when Miss Blanchet is sick, perhaps to the point that she was willing to follow the instructions of someone beneath her rank. "I am, Liara. Tell me what I need to do to help Miss Blanchet recover."
Liara, the maid, was rather ecstatic when she heard these words. She bowed her head and gave the villainess a list of instructions she should follow. "Firstly Miss Blanchet here is still in her nightgown, a bit soaked so we'll be needing to dry her first and let her borrow some of yours."
She strides into the villainess's closet trying to find a suitable nightgown that's the petite blonde girl's size. "I would have to trouble milady to get me some towel and water, we will need to wipe her a little before continuing." (Liara)
The villainess blinked, so she'll be needing to- do that with her body- will Liara do it but- goodness gracious she needs to focus on the instructions at hand. She can think of other awkward things later!
"Wipe her- erm... where do you keep the towels, Liara?" (Lady Evelyn) asked, a little dazed.
Liara points to the bathroom where they kept all the other towels Lady Evelyn would use but I suppose the commoner girl will be the first of the exceptions.
"Over by the bathroom milady, the clean towels are the ones stored in the upper right corner of the cabinets. Do mind your head when you open them." (Liara)
"Alright." (Lady Evelyn) walks towards her bathroom and looks up at the said cabinet her maid was talking about, she reaches her hands to hold the handles and pulls it open.
There were a few white towels inside and she took two of them just in case. "I have the towels, what's next?"
"We'll need water milady. There's a small metal basin where we can fill it up and bring it over." (Liara) was browsing all through her lady's nightgowns seeing that everything might be too loose. She frowns, they'll just have to make do with what they have.
Besides, milady's nightgowns cost more than a few gold coins, seeing that it's made from the finest cotton having a really fluffy, soft and would likely absorb the sweat better than any cheap nightgown.
"Hmm..."
The villainess' eyes trailed through the bathroom and found the small metal basin that she was looking for.
She takes it and walks over to the sink.
"Inventorium." She takes a magic stone from her inventory space and just by putting a [Water Stone] in a glass case by the side of the sink where its elemental energy was being absorbed and soon there was water running through the faucet.
Lady Evelyn hurriedly puts the basin under it and starts filling it with cold water before quickly walking over to her maid who places her nightgown neatly by the bedside table.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"Liara, I have what you need." (Lady Evelyn) calls out to the red headed girl who turns her head around to see her lady who she would never have expected- would care for a sickly person.
Liara sighs heavily before looking at her lady who looked so impatient.
"What's next? What is left to do or should I get something else?" (Lady Evelyn) seemed so enthusiastic to help but her maid shakes her head, fearing that if she comes closer her lady might catch the fever.
"Milady, you need not to do the next step in case you catch her cold so please let me do it. I will be wiping her body and then drying her a bit before putting her on your nightgown." (Liara) explained but that seemed to not have worked.
It was obvious how the villainess' shoulder slumped and her gaze looked at the sick girl softly who coughs.
"Cough... ugh..." (Analissa) was still on her fever dream of being in a hospital being connected through tubes and being checked by nurses every few hours to see if she's okay.
Just like back home, it was truly nostalgic.
The villainess truly knew nothing on how to take care of another who was sick in bed. Whenever she would get sick, it would always have been a nanny who would take care of her, giving bitter medicine and some warm soup.
The smile of that elderly woman she would never forget, her parents were often absent to the point as a child she could not recall what they truly looked like not until... the punishment box.
"..."
The villainess shakes her head, even if she wanted to help some more her maid is most likely right. She has no idea how she would be able to properly help Miss Blanchet.
Knowing what to do is different from actually knowing how to do it.
"Can I... at least watch over her? What if she needs someone to hold her hand and such, I believe it would lessen the pain." the villainess unexpectedly offered and another time- Liara, bites her lip and almost held her heart in surprise.
"Guh!" (Liara) let out a weird sound.
Milady- how come we have never seen this soft, cute, and shy side of you this often?!
The maid most likely thought watching Lady Evelyn's worried expression.
Truly, this commoner is special somehow!
"C-Certainly milady! Before holding her hand however let me wipe it first, and when you're going to bed yourself- please make sure to wash your hands at all times." (Liara) reminded the villainess who smiled faintly by taking a wooden chair and placing it right beside her bed before turning a serious look when her maid began to move, putting the clean towel into the water basin.
Drip... drip... drip...
Liara takes out the wet towel and squeezes some of the water out of it. Once she is done, she places it over the top of the hot forehead of the heroine.
The villainess... was really watching her closely just in case she would learn something new.
"Wouldn't it be better if there was more water? So it'll last longer?" (Lady Evelyn) innocently asked, despite being a water magic caster she was clueless on these things.
The maid patiently smiled, understanding of her intention, she took the other towel and dipped it into the water basin and gave it to the curious girl.
"Milady, hold this for me." (Liara) offers the wet towel, some of the water still dripping down.
Lady Evelyn who no longer looked so scary, she was like a crow watching curiously as she took the wet towel into her hands. The villainess' face frowned, feeling the weight of it.
"It's... heavy." she tells Liara who smiles and takes the towel back.
"Yes, this is why we need to squeeze it milady. Too much water can certainly make a mess and too uncomfortable if it's placed in your head." (Liara) explains and squeezes the second towel letting the excess water drop into the basin.
Drip... drip... drip...
"Now I'll go ahead and wipe her arms, legs, and neck. We won't be needing to take anything off underneath seeing that she's fairly clean. Once she is a bit well and able to move that is when she is allowed to take a shower." (Liara) explains holding Analissa's arm gently and wiping her with the wet towel on all the parts she mentioned before.
"And don't forget that it will be needed to check on the wet towel on her forehead every few minutes. If it's turned a bit warm, we can flip it around and place it back on her head." she continues, for some reason happy that milady was learning something that she can use if someone important gets sick again.
"When do you think she'll be well?" (Lady Evelyn) asks, trying not to make the tone of her voice worried.
"It is quite uncertain, it depends on how strong the person's body is but not to worry. Melody should be back in a few with the medicine and Nayeli should be back with the soup you have ordered from before." (Liara) replies while continuing to wipe down the heroine's body.
Melody Fischer and Nayeli Fischer, both being the younger sister of Liara Fischer.
In order to give you some visual prospects, Melody Fischer was the maid with green hair and long bangs that you would think she can't see under all that hair. You would also remember her as the girl where our heroine Analissa made her head panic in a frenzy just by being too close.
Nayeli Fischer is the one with dark blue hair, and just the youngest sister out of them complaining that their lady would not be happy if they were late.
The three of them came in a set to serve the Alarie noble woman, sending half of their pay back home to their family who owns a small fishing business.
They have three more little siblings back home so they set out into the capital city to find a job and help, luckily it seems they were in luck.
"Now that's over I will go ahead and-" (Liara) was about to reach for the nightgown by the bedside table but it seems her lady was paying close attention, her hands were already offering the said nightgown to Liara.
"Is this what you need?" the dark-purple girl asked, holding the nightgown in her hands.
"Thank you, milady. That is indeed what I need." (Liara) takes the gown from her hands and observes the blonde girl sleeping soundly with a few groans often. "I apologize for what I'm about to do."
The maid takes the soaked nightgown and pulls it up from the heroine's body revealing her in... white underwear.
The villainess, despite knowing they were both women and it was of no need for her to feel shy, she just couldn't help but look away quickly to the other direction.
"Ahem." the maid coughs, swiftly putting the new nightgown on not minding the really cute white underwear she has.
No wonder rumors of Miss Analissa Blanchet being a man magnet were true, if they saw her body all weak and defenseless like this- some would turn rabid and not hesitate to pounce.
.-.-.-.-.
Once it was all done the both of these two could breathe in peace, truly it was not easy. Lady Evelyn was not really doing much work but she felt so tired, perhaps it was from carrying the blonde girl from the commoner's dorm to the noble's dorm.
"Liara, your service to me is something I will never take for granted as well as your sisters." The villainess compliments her maids who couldn't help but puff her chest slightly, pride overflowing.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
It appears one of the sisters has returned. "I will get that, milady." (Liara) curtsies before walking through the door leaving the villainess and the heroine alone for a moment.
The villainess bites her lip remembering something that Liara mentioned before.
"Feel if the towel on the forehead is warm... flip it, if it is warm." (Lady Evelyn) stands up from her seat and takes the towel confirming that it was indeed warm.
She flips it over to the other cool side and places it back to the blonde girl's forehead.
"?!"
"Am I... still at the hospital?"
The heroine's hand grabbed the wrist of the villainess, the hold was weak and Lady Evelyn tried her best not to feel surprised by her sudden movements.
Wait a moment, the villainess blinks at the unknown word.
"The hospital... What is that place, Miss Blanchet?" she asks the drowsy Analissa who replies with a hoarse voice.
"A place... where I'm... stuck... to get well." (Analissa) didn't look too happy remembering the hospital, it was a nostalgic place that she was in most of her childhood.
Lady Evelyn looked at her room and thought of the word she just said.
A place she's stuck- to get well- technically she is in a hospital then. "Yes you are in a hospital. My room to be exact."
"Your... room..." (Analissa) with a half closed lid looks around, barely making anything out but she was sure this was not the hospital. The bed felt too homey and there was even a cotton blanket covering her body.
"Your room... is lovely... nothing like the hospital." she giggles in her feverish state seeing some books at the bedside table.
"I... like it."
Lady Evelyn swallowed the lump in her throat and realized... her feverish state was too honest. "This is the first time you've been into my room, you've only been into my private study." she converses with the girl who drowsily tries to remember.
"Who... are you again..." (Analissa) asks, squinting her eyes, trying to make out the kind figure who was taking their time talking to her while she feels like throwing up.
"For now it's supposed to be Duchess Evelyn Alarie, but at the academy I'm Lady Evelyn Alarie." |The villainess explains feeling a light feeling whenever she talked with the aloof blonde girl who would doodle cute drawings in class.
Evelyn Alarie?
Where has she heard that name before?
Ding!
It must be from that game she was obsessing before she got into the actual game!
"Ohhh... you're the pretty villainess... that I like." (Analissa) told the girl in front of her casually that she liked her, the favorite character she would always cheer her on when she has some screen time on the game.
Lady Evelyn covered her mouth for a moment looking around to see if her maids had come back and heard any of this.
She has gotten used to being called despicable things that villainess doesn't even bother her- but still it was really out of the blue!
A sick Analissa Blanchet is too dangerous to be left alive!
"W-What?" the villainess asks herself, why would a commoner to whom she has only met about three weeks prior would suddenly say things like these?
Not only that- but didn't she say at the beginning that she'll be her savior?
"I know it would be rather rude of me to ask and take advantage of your situation. Weirdly you're honest while you're sick but I need to know. Why do you like-" she was about to ask the whole thing but not before the sound of her maids talking made her stop.
"Milady. The soup has arrived, Melody has also brought your egg project from Miss Blanchet's room all safe and unharmed and the medicine for Miss Blanchet...?" (Liara) tilts her head looking at the angry looking lady she has and a giggling sick girl at the bed.
"..." (Lady Evelyn) was speechless of how impeccable the timing was.
"Well then, thank you. I will visit again later when I have some fresh air in my study." she excused herself standing up from her chair, looking back one more time to see the drowsy face of the blonde girl.
Knowing that no one else was around she rubs the sides of her temples and curses to herself as she opens one of the windows to let some air in.
"I'm such a mess."