"Lady Leia, get her ready."
Lady Leia then knocked Princess's room. No response heard. She knocked and knocked. Still the Princess didn't answer. The Duke saw what happened, "Just opened it. She needs to fulfil her promise and duty." He said coldly.
Chan and Taek opened the door and Lady Leia went inside. The room was cold. It was facing west and hardly gets morning sunshine.
She screamed, "Princess Iris!!!" She found the Princess was unconscious and laying in front of the died-out fireplace covered in a blanket. Her body was cold. She was unresponsive. Her breathing was very slow and she has very weak pulses.
Hearing Lady Leia screamed, Iowrythe went in and asked, "What happened?"
"Princess was..." Lady Leia's voice trembled and she started sobbing.
"You are exaggerating." He moved closer in disbelief. But when he saw her, he started shaking her lifeless like body. The mosquitoes' bite marks were all over her face and arm. Her feet have some blister too, he bet it was from the uncomfortable shoes to walk to the hill. The bruise from Dellabella was still so apparent. It went uglier he guessed as her skin was so pale now. His heart suddenly heavy. He carried her to the bed gently. He covered her with the magic cape he wore.
"Find Doctor June. Get her some blanket and start the fire." Taek was running and got in the horse to get Doctor June. Chan was looking for servants to start fire and Lady Leia frantically searching for blanket.
Iowyrthe breath heavily. He sat down beside the bed. He never intended for her to be like this. He just wanted to vent up his anger. He never knew that she was that sick.
"First, she fell to water, Io, she can't even stop shivering in the carriage. Second, last night was freezing rain, and you cut her fire and blanket. I bet she try to warm herself laying down in blanket in front of fireplace. You are too cruel." Judah express his anger towards him in blatant truth.
"I know." He bowed his head.
Then the maids started to rush in, they gave her blankets. Iowyrthe was just staring at her. Then he realized, the sunshine never coming inside this room. In the bedside table, he found the jewel box that the old lady gave her. He looked at the drawing the children make for her. She put it beside her bed. He bet it was source of her joy. The children opened up to her so easily. Maybe she was the best potential duchess and he made her suffer. Then he saw the monster Duke drawing, "I am a monster indeed."
Doctor June then came in. She was taller than most women, have shoulder length red hair, and strong feature. She was a friend of Iowyrthe and Judah. After she graduate and formally accepted as doctor, she followed them to almost every war and expedition that Iowyrthe or Judah did. Currently, she started some sort of clinic in Callavan.
What happened?" She said. Judah then explained the situation. When she understood the situation she exclaimed, "I knew you don't like ladies. But this is too far, Io. She doesn't even meet the blonde witch yet." She referred to Eugenie.
Iowyrthe sighed. She then checked her and said, "It is a rather moderate body temperature loss. This room won't help. We have to move her to better room. This room have no sunlight coming in. Pretty dusty, it is not good for her lung. Don't tell me you didn't assign any maid to her." Everyone there shook their head. "Haaa... usual procedure of getting rid ladies. Now you carry her, very gently. Don't forget to cover her in your magic cape. It will help a lot. Follow me." She continued and went outside the room.
"We have to find the warmest room. Better if have many windows, so the air circulation is better and we can get much sunlight to warm naturally." She opened several doors. Nothing satisfied her. Until she found one door.
"That's mine." Iowyrthe said while he carried her the whole time.
"Nice then. If this room match my criteria that we can easily move her here." Iowyrthe rolled his eyes.
When she opened and entered the room, she exclaimed, "This is it! Many windows, get so much sunlight it faced the east. Clean and neat. Put her here."
Iowyrthe stopped. He seemed uncertain. Then Doctor June whispered to his ears, "If you want to treat her yourself or find another doctor, I am fine. But I will not guarantee that she will be cured." Iowyrthe took a long deep breath. He put her in his bed. Maids soon followed and covered her in blankets.
"Open all the curtain and let the sunshine in. Get the fire started. Prepare warm water in bottles. Not too hot. Warm."
The maids then do as they instructed. Doctor June then started looking at her right arm. She put some ointment and cover it with some bandages. She also took care of the blisters in her feet. She got it from the shoes she wore to the lake.
"The bruise was bad too. It's been a few days. I will check with her doctor in Vanra."
"How?" Judah asked.
"Metuselah gave me a magic stone where we can communicate everywhere. He is also one of my colleagues who I consult a lot by letter. I sent him one of the stone to communicate effectively. Now, Io, you take care of her gently. Put the warm bottles under her arm and feet. Check regularly if her body warmed."
Doctor June went to her room. Iowyrthe tried to warm her with bottles and changed the bottles once the warm subsided. He checked her body temperature, breathing and pulse once every few minutes. The maids helped him. Judah and Sir Thomas agreed to check with the citizen about the law in the afternoon. Today, all were quite busy. Iowyrthe was overthinking all that could possibly go wrong if something happened to her.
A knock on the door woke him for the deep thought. There were children from the orphanage.
"We want to send her flower, Your Highness." Eli gave him a potted Camellia. Then they run quickly. They were afraid of the Duke. It added to his overthinking.
"Go get her belonging and move it here." He asked the maids and servants.
When he saw how scarce it is. He sighed over and over. He can saw that the dressed were thin. She had no cape. The jewel was modest, accompany by only a pocket of gold. So different with the spoiled ladies he encountered in the past. He saw some herbs. Also, he found some medicines hidden. She used a blood enhancer. The bottle was almost empty. "I was saying she was weak just to hurt her and make her give up. She was indeed weak and I make her suffer."