Chap 4 : Who Is Sick?

"Chill, take a breath and relax." Lucia tells the maid, trying to calm her down.

The maid takes a long breath, her body trembling. The man behind Lucia approaches the maid. His gaze is sharp, and his sturdy body towers over her, making the maid lower her head.

"How could the Duchess escape your sight?" The man speaks firmly and loudly.

"I'm sorry, Sir Austin," the maid mumbles, her head still lowered, eyes shut tightly. She is clearly scared.

"This had better be the last time." His voice is a low warning, full of threat.

"Yes. I will take that in mind and be more careful."

"Hey, cut it out. Nothing happened to me, so what's the point of scolding her?" Lucia speaks, tries to calm them both down.

Then Austin turns to Lucia. With great respect, he places one hand on his chest and bent slightly.

"Your Grace, this is our duty. Please understand." His voice is deep but respectful.

"Well, if you say so. Now I'd like to go for a walk. Ahh, outside the palace," Elora wants to explore; she doesn't want to waste any more time.

"What?! Outside?!" The maid gasps, her eyes wide with surprise at her ladyship's sudden wish.

"Your Grace, did you hit your head? This is so sudden." Austin is also surprised.

"Your Grace, you finally want to go outside? You always stay in your room, and the farthest you've ever gone inside the palace was the library." The maid's voice trembles with concern over her ladyship's sudden change.

Elora understands their expressions perfectly. Ever since she looked in the mirror and realized she was no longer Elora Russel, she knew she needed to get to know this era. She had to see what is outside, because this is the time she has. When her husband returns, she will be busy trying to fall in love with him. She won't have time to go out and wander around.

"From now on, I will change. The old Lucia Fross is dead. I will become a new me. Forget the old chapter of bitterness; I'm going to build a chapter of happiness," Lucia declares, her voice filled with passion and energy. She is inspired to change all sadness into happiness.

A light of enthusiasm shines on her face. Her personal maid looks overjoyed, as if flowers are blooming on her head. It is very nice to see and hear that her ladyship had new ambitions.

"If you say so, then I'll take you out," Austin says in a calm tone.

Outside, the sounds of children and bustling people selling goods can be heard. Everyone seems to be in good shape; their lives are not like what Elora learned before.

Lucia's face never stops showing her sweet smile. Ever since she got off the carriage and saw the bustle in this town, she seems like a very excited child.

"Sir Austin, how long can her ladyship spend outside the palace?" the maid whispers.

"Until her leg breaks," his voice is calm and his face shows no expression, but his words are sharp.

"How can you say that? She is our ladyship!" The maid snaps, her eyes sharp, like a cat ready to pounce on a rat.

"Hey, Iry, control your temper." Austin ignores her, his eyes fixed on Lucia.

"Hey, did you two bring any money? I want to buy snacks!" Lucia comes close to both of them, asking them casually.

"Let's go, Your Grace. I'll buy anything you want!" The maid pushes Lucia's back, pulling her away from Austin. She manages to stick out her tongue at him.

In Austin's eyes, Lucia and Iry look very happy now, unlike before. He knows how close they were, but since moving into the Ducal Palace three months ago, Lucia had become quiet, and Iry tried her best to serve her well and lift her mood so that she would feel comfortable with her new changes.

The three of them spend their time looking around the town, walking happily. For Iry and Austin, It is a very long time since they have walked in the town and spent time outside the palace. Austin always spends his time in the training ground. He also rarely smiles, but at that moment, he feels like he wants to smile, maybe not on his face but in his heart. As for Iry, she usually can't go anywhere unless Lucia wants to.

They returned to Ducal Palace safely. As they get off the carriage, the butler stands in front, welcoming them home.

"Welcome home, Your Grace." The butler and the other maids say at the same time.

In the hands of Iry and Austin, many packages of snacks are visible. The butler is stunned. He then signals for the maids behind him to take all the packages.

"Your Grace. How was your walk?" the butler asks respectfully.

"It was good! I'm very happy. We went to every shop and tried a lot of new things. We also ate at the shop and bought a lot of snacks for everyone. Feel free to have them," Lucia tells the story cheerfully. Her cheerfulness surprises them all.

The Lucia they know is so different with Lucia now in front of them. Suddenly, the thought hits their heads that she is sick. Their faces all turn pale except Austin and Iry.

"Your Grace, please go back to your chamber and get a lot of rest. I'll handle the rest." The butler says in a calm tone, but inside he is shivering, afraid that His Grace will find out that his wife is sick. He needs to quickly call a physician to treat Her Grace before His Grace returns.

Back in her room, Lucia throws her body on the bed. She feels very tired but satisfied to have finally seen around the town. She rolls over on the bed, feeling like she is in a dream, living a life more luxurious than her life as Elora Russel. She feels comfortable here; so far, everyone around her is very kind and friendly.

"Thanks Lucia, I'll live well becoming you." She closes her eyes, trying to fall asleep for a while. But it is ruined by the noise she hears as her door is opened from outside.

"This way, please." The butler points the way to a man in his late 50s who is entering.

"What is happening here? Why have all of you come inside?" Lucia wakes up quickly, surprised by the many people rushing into her room.

"Your Grace, let me introduce Physician Josh. He will be treating you." The butler politely introduces him to Lucia.

"Whattt?! What do you mean by treating? Why call him when I'm perfectly fine?" Lucia appeares somewhat frightened, as if her secret is going to be exposed.

"I apologise, but this is for your own good. Let the physician to check on you just as a precaution." The butler isn't giving advice; his tone is a clear order.

'Well, he doesn't have a machine that can tell if I'm the real Lucia or not. And in this era, there's no machine to determine if people are cheating or not. As long as I'm careful in my actions and words, I'm safe from their suspicions.' Elora thinks to herself.

"Fine. Do as you like." Lucia has no energy left to argue with the butler.

"Allow me, then." With that, the physician does all sorts of check-ups on Lucia. With passion in his eyes, he is clearly excited to examine the Duchess.

After an hour, after all the checks are done, the result turns out to be that Lucia is healthy in both physical and mental aspects. Everyone surrounding them sighs in relief. In a blink, the room is bright with their happy faces. However, Lucia's face looks bitter. She is not satisfied, silently holding back her anger. All at once, the room goes quiet. No one made a sound when they see that Lucia is not in a good mood. They feel anxious.

"You guys... you all just wasted my time!" Lucia shouts, letting out her anger. Everyone is chased out of the room, kneeling in front of the door, crying, begging for forgiveness and feeling guilty.

"Ergh! They're all getting on my nerves! How dare they make me go through all that kind of weird check-up. Wasting time!" Lucia is furious, her nap is ruined by a stupid check-up.

She goes back to her nap with a pillow on her face because she is too lazy to close the curtain. She can't sleep in the sunlight filling up the room. Besides, the noise outside her room hurts her ear, so she uses the pillow to cover her face and ears.

The sky is almost dark; the sun is almost setting. A strong, burly man enters the room, approaching Lucia who is sound asleep. His heart is beats fast; his hands are shaking when he sees the pillow on Lucia's face, afraid that someone has killed her by suffocating her. He takes the pillow and throws it away.

"Lucia! Lucia! Wake up!" He calls her name over and over, shaking her body. But Lucia is still asleep, not moving at all. This makes his face even paler.

"Someone outside! Call the physician now!" His loud scream shakes the entire upper floor.

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