It had now been a week since Rowena had visited Yvonna. Now the woman was sitting on the balcony of her room sipping the hot tea that Cecille had just served. Ash was out today, so he couldn't accompany Rowena.
After feeling satisfied, Rowena walked into her room and lay her whole body on the soft bed. Cecille who saw that immediately brought the cup and saucer outside. After she finished putting the cups and saucers where they belonged, Cecille walked over to Rowena's study. Inside there was already Alicia, who was finishing the mountain of documents.
"You need help, Alicia?" Cecile asked.
The exhausted Alicia turned to Cecille and started to whine. "Of course I really need your help, Cecille. Since Rowena has so many territories, we're having a hard time managing them."
Cecile's POV
I just replied to Alicia's words with a smile and then started to help her finish all the piles of documents.
As a butler and aide to the Grand Duchess, I'm used to these kinds of things. It's all very tiring, but what I'm doing is still nothing compared to what Rowena has done for me.
Life here with Rowena is more fun than when I was at my father's residence. Despite living as a famous duke's daughter and being able to relax all day, I prefer to be the butler of the Rowena residence. At least I feel more safe and free than in my father's residence which is full of murders every day.
The night sky and the cool breeze that came in from the window accompanied us to finish the endless paperwork. Silence. Rowena's Mansion at night was indeed very quiet because all the maids had fallen asleep in their dreams in the maid's mansion. The mansion we are in now is a mansion occupied only by Rowena herself, but after Lord Ash's arrival, this mansion was occupied only by the two of them.
While we were focusing on finishing our work, suddenly we heard footsteps from outside. The two of us who already knew what that sound was immediately walked out of the study.
As expected the sound of footsteps belonged to our lord, Rowena. For some reason, after the arrival of the Edelle Royal family, Rowena's condition became very strange. After a few hours she was fast asleep, she would walk alone out of her room still asleep. Then she would speak, scream, and wail in pain and weep bitterly.
When I first saw it, to be honest both Alicia and I were shocked. Because all this time Rowena was always smiling, we never once saw her cry. So we always thought she was a very tough and strong woman and not a human like the rest of us. Seeing him wailing in pain and crying so hard it really took our breath away. Each of her roars and cries described how torturous it must have been for him.
"Do you know why Rowena is like this, Cecille? My heart is really sad to see her like this," Alicia whispered in her hoarse voice because soon she wanted to cry seeing Rowena's condition like that.
I who was standing right behind Rowena to look after her replied, "I don't know because Rowena never told me anything about her life. But yesterday I tried to ask the doctor at Squella's house about sleepwalking disease. The doctor said it's this disease caused by deep trauma. In essence every word Rowena shouted was things that had happened to her in the past."
"Your Majesty, PLEASE REMOVE MY MOTHER. YOU CAN HURT ME BUT NOT MY MOTHER. YOUR HONOR PLEASE STOP," Rowena screamed hysterically as she sobbed and knelt on the floor as if her legs couldn't stand.
Seeing this made Alicia start to cry. "I really can't stand to see Rowena like this, Cecille. How can a woman as young as her have to go through such difficult things.
"MOM, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE HERE. I'M SCARED OF ALONE. MOTHER..." Rowena shouted again.
When the two of us who were already struggling to take care of Rowena who was sleeping walked, Lord Ash came. He looked at Rowena intently.
"Rowena. Isn't it already midnight, why are you here?" asked Ash who walked over to Rowena.
Rowena just stood there with a sad look and did not answer Ash's question. Ash also turned to Alicia and I who were standing right behind Rowena.
"What happened to Rowena?"
"Sorry, Duke. Lady Rowena has had a walking sickness recently. So now-," Alicia stammered.
Ash ruffled his hair in frustration. "Good grief, her old illness has returned."
Author POV...
Ash also carried Rowena quickly before she was hurt later. While being carried Rowena was still screaming and hitting Ash on the back. "DON'T TAKE MY MOTHER AWAY FROM ME. LET ME BURY HER. DON'T THROW MY MOTHER'S BODY IN THE FOREST. I BEG OF YOU, YOUR MAJESTY."
Ash started singing to calm Rowena down. After finishing singing, Rowena went back to sleep peacefully. Seeing Rowena who had calmed down, Ash immediately put Rowena to sleep in her room. After that, he immediately came out of Rowena's room. When he came out he was immediately greeted by Cecille and Alicia. It seemed they were going to ask about what Ash did just now to make Rowena calm like that.
The three of them sat on the sofa and started talking.
"What exactly happened to Lady Rowena?" asked Alicia matter-of-factly.
"You must know, Duke Ash. From your behavior just now, I can conclude that you already know all about Lady Rowena. Therefore we request that you tell us everything," begged Cecille.
"Perhaps I can only tell you a little about Rowena. You must have known about me before, right?"
"Yes, you are a Duke of the Edelle Kingdom who was brought here to satisfy Lady Rowena's lust," replied Alicia innocently.
Ash covered his face and looked frustrated. "Good grief! She shouldn't have spoken like that at that time."
"You are the owner of the information guild which always communicates with Lady Rowena by mail, right?" said Cecile.
"Exactly. I am the owner of the information guild and often exchange messages with Rowena. Actually Rowena can be said to be my childhood friend. I've even known her since I was in the womb of our respective mothers," replied Ash smiling.
Ash only told about the torture that Yvonna did to Rowena's mother so that the woman died. But Ash is still trying to cover up Rowena's true identity as a princess from the Kingdom of Edelle. After he finished speaking, the faces of the two women sitting in front of him turned pale.
Ash took a deep breath. "The point is Rowena was a bit traumatized especially when she saw the arrival of the Edelle Royal family. That's what made her sleeping sickness recur after a long time."
"What is the relationship between Lady Rowena and the Edelle Royal family?" asked Cecille who was very sensitive to the situation.
"Sorry I can't provide more information about it. You guys just wait until Rowena is ready to tell you all," replied Ash.
"It's a good thing they're all going back to their kingdoms tomorrow so it's possible that Rowena's walking sickness will get better soon. Then I'll go back to my room first. See you later." Ash walked away from there, leaving Cecille and Alicia still in a state of shock.
"I didn't think that Rowena's life was more miserable than mine. No wonder at that time she was trying really hard to get me and my mother out of the Marquess's residence," said Alicia, who had tears in her eyes again.
"The point is we have to be better at serving him," Cecille replied.
"Yes you're right."
That night, neither Cecille nor Alicia could sleep after hearing Rowena's tragic life story. Finally they chose to continue working on the documents that were still piling up.