Beatrice

Chapter 22 – Confusing Preferences

The Archduke did not show any interest in women, causing Aaron to question his master’s sexual orientation. However a,ccording to Aaron’s brother Evan, a few years ago in the war zone, Alexandro had had relations with prostitutes or the women sent to him as tributes by the countries that he had defeated. Considering this, it didn’t seem that there were any mechanical issues.

However, the types of women that he had slept with suggested that he had preferred those who could satisfy his needs, but with whom he never had to be entangled.

Perhaps he simply does not trust women. The trauma involving his mother had prevented the Archduke from depending on or building friendships with women. This made Aaron’s job impossible. How would he convince such a man to get married?

As if entirely unaware of Aaron’s troubles, the Archduke completely dedicated himself to the preparations for the combat tournament, spending only his sleeping hours in the mansion. Thinking about him made Aaron’s head throb.

This headache is killing me. Aaron took a pause from organizing the Archduke’s papers and leaned against the desk on his elbow, squeezing both of his temples.

Bath…I need the scented bath. When is that slave girl coming back?

Aaron longed for the prim little slave girl, who had been instrumental in managing his stress. The girl – whose name he knew but did not want to utter – was very quick-witted.

However, she sure was strange. She never spoke unless spoken to, her answer always limited to ‘yes, sir’ or ‘no, sir.’ The worst thing was that, after a whole month of assisting with his baths, she had never made eye contact with him. She was skittish, wary, and timid.

Well, you wouldn’t want her to be chatty during bath time.

Despite her quirks, Aaron missed her immensely.

I should reach out and ask about her.

***

“So, what’s your story?” Bored during their hike up the mountain, Trigger struck up a conversation with Chloe. It was only natural that he was curious about her – a slave studying medicine under Jorge and running around trying to cure a horse.

“I…used to be a slave at a different pharmacy, sir. I worked there all my life and have picked up some knowledge here and there, which allowed me to serve Dr. Nanapa.”

Trigger nodded as if he understood, but in fact, he was not convinced. Phew, for a slave who picked up some things here and there, Dr. Nanapa seems to really value her.

He recalled the guard at the stables, who had begged him to monitor the slave girl at all times, pointing out that they would both be dead if she ran away. The guard had wanted Trigger to keep her on a leash fashioned with a rope – Trigger had barely persuaded him that it would not be necessary.

“Heh,” the image of the guard’s face made him burst into laughter. Chloe glanced at him in curiosity but kept ascending the mountain in silence.

An hour later, when they finally arrived at the peak, Chloe began looking around in search of anchor flowers.

“Wow, I haven’t seen such a sight before.” Trigger busied himself looking down at the landscape beneath his feet, usually forbidden for commoners not permitted to enter vast mountains. Having never climbed such a mountain before, Trigger was occupied entirely with his appreciation of the view, while Chloe was absorbed in her search.

“I found them.” Having identified a patch of anchor flowers, Chloe sat down and focused on harvesting them. It was going to be such a bother to come back to Nalusuwan – finding the groom, asking him to drive her to the mountain and spending hours on the trip. She worked fast to collect as much as possible.

They returned to the training facility a bit after lunchtime. The horse appeared livelier than he had the previous day. Chloe delightedly began feeding him more herbs.

“Black horse, eat up and get better soon.” The vigorous chewing of the stallion filled her with a sense of accomplishment, rewarding her for the trips up and down the mountain. She became utterly fixated on feeding the horse.

“Chloe, are you all right?” She turned around at the sudden voice.

“Dr. Nanapa!”

“I’ve heard that they trapped you in the stables…” He pitied the state that Chloe was in. Her whole body was covered in dirt from the mountain, and her face and limbs were all scratched up.

However, her countenance was bright. Happy to see Jorge, her smiling face and sparkling eyes failed to suggest that she was being forced to live in the stables. He could not hide his sympathy for this lovely girl.

“I was worried about you.”

Chloe was moved by this but decided not to let him know. Expressing any personal feelings to Jorge, she worried, might make her dependent on him.

“Thank you, but I am doing fine. And the horse is doing better. I started him on the antidote yesterday and…” She continued updating him on the animal’s condition and her trips to Nalusuwan. From what she had seen Nalusuwan did not harbor many plants that were poisonous to humans.

Chloe wondered why the empire was so indifferent to the development of nursing and medicine. In Elpasa, this was considered valuable work, even motivating some aristocrats to study the disciplines. But this did not seem to be the case in the empire. There was no interest here in nurturing nurses and doctors.

Is that because of all the wars? Chloe was curious but was hesitant to ask Jorge as she was wary that it would lead to another endless conversation. Nevertheless, the two ended up having a long discussion.

“I’ll be back soon.” Jorge left the stables with reluctance. His worry was eased only by Chloe’s observation that she would be able to cure Howl and leave the stables soon.

Chloe chuckled at the horse’s bright, shiny eyes. Even though she pitied herself for having been locked up in the stables, she felt tremendous pride watching him gradually regain his strength. She chose to stay optimistic.

I should go to Lady Anna as soon as I get out of here. She’s got such a gentle heart; she must be worried about me.

She also had to continue organizing the medicine storage. She couldn’t wait to return to the pharmacy and take up her work again. Where did I stop? Recalling the drugs one by one, Chloe drifted off to sleep next to the horse.