TFM 252

 Go dig everything Tiuran!

Chapter 252

It was only a hallucination caused by the side effects of the medicine.

Repeating that to herself inwardly, she pressed hard against her eyelids, then reached toward the shelf and picked up a bottle of scented oil.

Then she poured an entire bottle of rose oil over the rippling surface of the water and sank beneath it, all the way to the tips of her hair.

How long had she stayed like that?

She felt an urgent hand pulling at her.

Thalia turned back with a startled expression.

“What is it?”

Tiuran, who had been frozen in place while gripping her arm, hurriedly let go with a flustered expression.

“I-I apologize. There was no sign of movement for a while, so I thought Your Grace had lost consciousness…”

“If you’ve confirmed I’m fine, then leave.”

Without saying anything more, the woman bowed once and moved back behind the screen.

Thalia rested her head against the edge of the bathtub and touched the place where the woman’s handprint remained.

Then she found a pair of blue eyes staring at her worriedly and gave a bitter smile.

It seemed that even in the wolf’s eyes, she did not look normal.

Khan had pressed himself close to the edge of the bathtub, not caring that his fluffy fur was getting damp, and was stretching his neck toward her.

Thalia stroked the wolf’s face with her wet hand, then slowly rose and stepped out of the bathtub.

She did not want to make Khan any more anxious than he already was.

She roughly pulled a fresh nightgown over her wet body and trudged to the bed, where she collapsed onto it.

The sheets and pillowcase grew soaked through, but she did not particularly care.

Staring blankly up at the ceiling, Thalia felt helplessness press heavily down on her body and lowered her eyelids.

At some point, she must have drifted off.

When the clattering sound made Thalia open her eyes, she saw Tiuran lighting the brazier and frowned.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah… I apologize. It seems I woke you.”

The woman answered gently, then brought the lit brazier to the bedside and added,

“It is an incense herb that helps neutralize the effects of the medicine.”

Thalia looked at the incense burner with suspicion, then glanced up at the woman’s soft-looking face.

At that wary gaze, the woman smiled bitterly and turned toward the fireplace, continuing in a calm voice.

“The detoxifying tea is ready as well. May I pour you a cup?”

Thalia was about to refuse out of habit when she felt something nudge her body and lowered her gaze.

Khan was looking up at her with anxious eyes, pressing his long front paw against her stomach.

The sight made it seem as though he were urging her to eat something.

After hesitating for a moment, Thalia muttered reluctantly.

“…Give me just a little.”

The woman immediately ladled the steaming liquid from the pot into a small porcelain bowl.

“It is tea boiled with willow bark, mint, and ginger. I added a little honey, so it should be easier to drink.”

Thalia brought the cup close to her face and smelled it briefly, then carefully took a sip.

The spiciness was a little unpleasant, but not enough to make it difficult to drink.

After sipping about half the tea, Thalia handed the cup back. The woman accepted it, drank down the remaining tea, and this time held out a bowl of porridge.

“I heard you skipped lunch as well. Even if you have no appetite, please eat a little.”

“That’s enough. Just bring me some fresh fruit.”

“I apologize, but if you eat only fruit on an empty stomach, it may upset your digestion. Even if it is only a little, you should have a proper meal.”

Thalia glared at her with an displeased expression.

Then, noticing the worry and concern in the woman’s eyes, she reluctantly accepted the bowl.

But when she saw the thick, mushy liquid filling it, her stomach turned badly, and she could not bring herself to eat.

She stirred the bowl with the spoon and examined the contents closely.

Finely ground nuts and softened grains were mixed together in a sticky mass.

After confirming that there did not seem to be anything foreign mixed in, she scooped up a little of the broth and smelled it. Then she felt a gaze quietly watching her.

“What, is there something to see? Why are you staring at me like that!”

“I apologize. It’s only…”

The woman, rarely showing signs of fluster, continued cautiously.

“I wondered whether Your Grace might be having difficulty eating…”

Thalia flinched, then let out an incredulous laugh.

“What difficulty could there be in eating? I’m simply checking whether you people put anything strange in the food.”

“…Has something like that happened to you before?”

Thalia glared fiercely at the woman.

The healer already seemed to have drawn her own conclusion, her expression filled with pity.

At that moment, an intense shame swept over her.

It felt as though the fact that she had once been considered worthless enough to receive such treatment had been exposed, and a miserable feeling surged up inside her.

She threw the bowl to the floor.

“I don’t need this garbage, so get out!”

The woman stood frozen for a moment without moving, then finally left the room.

Thalia was breathing raggedly when she saw Khan stiffened in place, as though startled by her violent behavior. Her face twisted.

Khan must have realized by now.

That she was not a good person…

That she was a ruined, wicked human being…

Even so, please don’t hate me. Not you.

As though pleading, she pulled the wolf into her arms.

---

After she stopped taking painkillers, she began suffering from severe chronic pain again.

Varkas came to understand, down to his bones, what it meant to feel as though one’s body were being roasted alive.

The fact that he could do nothing while she suffered made him feel as though he would go mad.

He kept licking her cold-sweat-soaked face and let out a low whine.

She stroked his head and gave him a faint smile.

“You’re frustrated, aren’t you? I’m sorry I haven’t been able to take you outside often lately.”

He looked at her with pained eyes.

Thalia, who had been trying to look as though she was all right, once again furrowed her brow and began tossing and turning restlessly.

Ever since they began diluting the ointment before applying it, her skin seemed to itch terribly. Because she kept scratching and pinching it, her leg had swollen bright red all over.

He kept pushing his head in to stop her whenever she tried to dig her nails into it again, but it was not enough to prevent her from tearing at the scar until it bled.

Changing methods, he went to the side door where the healer stayed on standby and barked loudly.

A short while later, Tiuran opened the door and entered.

“Your Grace. Even if your skin itches, you must not scratch it.”

The woman came to the bedside and firmly stopped her hand, then cast healing magic over the scratched area.

After that, she picked up a glass bottle from the shelf and applied peppermint oil to the reddened, burning skin.

At the cooling sensation, the itching seemed to ease somewhat, and her expression relaxed a little.

But the pain appeared to remain, for cold sweat still beaded on her forehead.

In the end, unable to bear it any longer, Thalia spoke in an anxious voice.

“I don’t think I can endure it. Call Marisen. I need to use the painkillers I was taking before.”

“Your Grace, I know it is painful, but please endure a little longer. If you continue relying on such strong painkillers…”

“How am I supposed to endure pain like this? Stop talking back and call Marisen!”

A flicker of hesitation crossed the woman’s face.

He paced restlessly beside the bed.

From what he had observed so far, she had been overusing highly toxic herbs such as poppy, belladonna, and henbane.

They were all medicinal ingredients commonly used on soldiers with severe injuries, but they came with all sorts of side effects when taken over long periods. In fact, if the dosage were misused, they were dangerous herbs that could turn into a powerful poison.

When he first learned that she had been made to overuse something no different from poisonous herbs, all he had wanted was to tear that utterly incompetent healer to pieces.

But when he saw her suffering this terribly, he found himself wanting to ease her pain even if it meant using poison.