The young woman helped Furina to the infirmary. As they walked, Furina felt her body growing increasingly hot, and she couldn't help but worry that her life might end just because she'd eaten something she shouldn't have.
If I kick the bucket for such a ridiculous reason, how utterly humiliating!
Clutching this anxious thought, they finally reached the infirmary and found Sigewinne busy recording something.
Seeing them, the young woman immediately called out, "Nurse Sigewinne, we have a patient here who needs help!"
"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Sigewinne put down her work and rushed over, her face etched with concern. But when she saw that the so-called patient was Furina, she nearly lost her composure.
"Ahem... So it's Miss Furina! Quick, lie down here!"
Under Sigewinne's direction, the young woman helped Furina onto the sickbed.
Furina hesitated briefly, worried that Sigewinne might detect something wrong with her condition. But when she remembered her precarious situation, she abandoned any pretense of strength.
If Sigewinne noticed anything, Furina could always find a way to bluff her way out. But if her life ended, she'd truly lose everything.
Furina watched with growing concern as Sigewinne examined her, using diagnostic tools to assess her condition.
"Miss Furina, what seems to be the matter? Are you feeling unwell?" Sigewinne asked, her gaze focused on Furina's physical assessment.
"Actually, it's like this: Lady Furina started feeling ill after eating the strangely shaped meat from today's welfare lunch," the girl explained, a hint of apology coloring her voice.
"It's all my fault," she continued. "Lady Furina wasn't planning to eat the welfare lunch today, but I thought, since it was prepared by the kitchen, it should be safe. Even though the meat looked a bit odd, it might have been specially prepared. It would have been such a waste to just throw it away. So I put the meat in a bun and persuaded Lady Furina to eat it."
"I never imagined this would happen! After eating the food, Lady Furina felt unwell all over."
"She even suspects someone deliberately poisoned the meat to target her specifically, as the Hydro Archon."
"To prevent any complications, I brought Lady Furina here. Nurse Sigewinne, please, you must cure her!"
The young woman pleaded earnestly with Sigewinne.
"Is that right, Miss Furina?" Sigewinne asked, packing away her medical instruments while flashing Furina an impossibly radiant smile.
"Exactly!" Furina replied with unwavering certainty, then turned to comfort the guilt-stricken young woman. "Emily, don't feel bad. It's not your fault—you meant well."
"If anyone's to blame, it's whoever made this bizarre food. They must have a grudge against me and poisoned it!"
"My body feels all hot now. The poison must be taking effect!"
"You're the doctor here, right? You absolutely must do everything to cure me! I am the Hydro Archon, after all!"
Upon hearing Furina's words, a vein popped on Sigewinne's forehead, yet her smile only grew sweeter.
"Rest assured, Miss Furina! I will do everything in my power to cure you!"
"You're right, Miss Furina—you are indeed ill, and quite seriously!"
"Miss Emily, I need to focus entirely on treating Miss Furina now. We can't afford any interruptions."
Understanding Sigewinne's meaning immediately, the young woman nodded.
"Alright, I'll wait outside then."
"Lady Furina, you must be a good girl and accept your treatment!"
"Of course, I know that."
Furina replied to the girl, but something about her tone struck Furina as oddly gloating.
Click!
Just then, Furina heard a strange sound beside her. Snapping out of her daze, the sight before her left her bewildered.
Sigewinne was swiftly shackling Furina's limbs to the hospital bed with chains, as if afraid she might change her mind.
An ominous feeling surged in Furina's heart. Swallowing nervously, she asked Sigewinne, "W-what are you doing?"
"Miss Furina, I'm simply giving you your treatment, of course!" Sigewinne replied with an innocent smile, snapping the last shackle into place.
"But why do you need these restraints for treatment?"
"To prevent patients from resisting the treatment, of course!"
Staring at Sigewinne's beaming face, Furina felt a sudden chill. She hastily blurted out, her voice tinged with fear, "Wait, I think I'm already feeling better! I don't need any more treatment!"
"That's not possible, Miss Furina. You mustn't neglect your health!"
"If you're sick, you must get well right away!"
Sigewinne said with a gentle smile as she shoved a funnel into Furina's mouth...
Approximately twenty minutes later, Sigewinne finally emerged from the infirmary and smiled at the young woman waiting outside.
"Miss Emily, Lady Furina's illness has been completely cured. You may take her home now."
"Thank you, Miss Sigewinne. You've worked so hard."
As the young woman watched Sigewinne's departing figure, she could sense that the doctor was in exceptionally good spirits.
Filled with anticipation, the young woman entered the infirmary and quickly spotted Furina lying motionless on the sickbed.
Approaching closer, she noticed Furina's swollen belly, her dull, lifeless eyes, and the white, unidentified liquid smeared at the corner of her mouth.
Struggling to suppress a grin, the young woman adopted a concerned expression and sat down beside the bed.
"What's wrong, Lady Furina? Are you feeling any better now?"
Hearing the girl's voice, color returned to Furina's eyes, and she clung to the girl, weeping helplessly.
"Emily, that Melusine doctor went too far!"
"Do you know what she did?"
As Furina spoke, the girl gently patted her back, offering soothing words.
"Rest assured, Lady Furina. I won't allow such things to happen in the Fortress of Meropide."
"Miss Sigewinne must take responsibility for this!"
"Mhm! Mhm!"
Moved by the girl's unwavering support, Furina nodded gratefully. However, the girl's next words left her utterly bewildered.
"I'll mention your wedding to the Duke later."
"Oh, and Lady Furina, after the baby is born, would you let me be the godmother?"
With a tender smile, the girl gently rubbed Furina's round belly.
"Emily, what nonsense are you spouting?!"
Furina pushed the girl's hand away from her stomach, her face flushed with embarrassment and annoyance.
"It's not what you think! That Melusine named Sigewinne kept pouring sweet, milky stuff into my mouth until I felt completely nauseous."
"Oh, I see... Of course I know how Lady Furina is, I was just teasing you earlier."
With that, the girl cast a regretful glance at Furina's stomach.
Seeing this, Furina snapped, her voice rising several octaves.
"Emily!"
"Alright, alright! Anyway, how are you feeling now? Is that discomfort gone?"
After regaining a sliver of composure, Furina spoke with a pained expression.
"No, that's gone now. I just feel nauseous and like I might throw up."
"That's good news! It seems the baby... I mean, Lady Furina, Miss Sigewinne has completely cured your illness!"
Faced with Furina's death glare, the girl quickly corrected herself.
"We should definitely find time to properly thank Miss Sigewinne!"
The moment Furina heard the girl suggest thanking Sigewinne, she shook her head so vigorously it looked like a rattle drum.
In the end, the girl's persistence wore Furina down. With a heavy heart, she reluctantly nodded and agreed.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Fortress of Meropide, Wriothesley stood with a grave expression, staring down at Colt, his subordinate of many years, who was pinned to the ground.
"Colt, I never imagined you were a spy lurking in my midst."
"For all these years, you've always shown me such deference. Though your work wasn't always flawless, you always completed your tasks with utmost diligence."
"If I hadn't ordered an investigation into the prisoner dormitories, I would never have discovered that you had secretly altered the records, creating the false impression that the Fortress of Meropide was already at full capacity."
"Tell me, who are you working for?"
"You've been with me long enough to know my methods. If you refuse to speak, you understand the consequences."
"But if you cooperate, I might consider a lighter punishment, given your years of service."
Colt twisted his head, struggling to breathe, and then said to Wriothesley:
"Duke, of course I'm working for you!"
"The Fortress of Meropide is already overcrowded. If we continue accepting prisoners from the surface, our established order will likely collapse!"
"I'm doing this for the good of the Fortress of Meropide!"
Hearing Colt's words, Wriothesley smiled. He then placed his foot on Colt's shoulder and slowly leaned down.
"Oh, really?"
"So, should I thank you for being so thorough in your concern for the future of the Fortress of Meropide?"
"Aren't you worrying a bit too much?"
"Or have I been too lenient, letting you forget that I'm the one in charge here?"
The pain in his shoulder twisted Colt's expression, but he stubbornly continued to speak.
"Duke Wriothesley, of course I know you're the ruler here."
"Even though I'm just an insignificant member of the Fortress of Meropide, like most people here, I deeply love this place."
"Even if I can only do a little, I'll do everything I can!"
Colt's words stirred something in the hearts of those present, and their gazes softened with sympathy.
Yet just as someone was about to plead for Colt's mercy, Wriothesley raised a hand, silencing their pleas before they could be uttered.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... such a moving speech!"
"Then explain this: I could forgive you for using falsified registers to deceive the surface dwellers, but why did you still tell me the Fortress was full when I asked you directly?"
"Because..."
"Someone gave you orders to block my order to move the Hydro Archon Furina to new accommodations."
Before Colt could even respond, Wriothesley relentlessly pressed him.
"Tell me this: neither our informants scattered throughout the Fortress of Meropide nor our surveillance system detected any unusual activity from the Mutual Aid Network's members. Yet, as the Network's President, Miss Emily somehow learned that Lady Furina was coming here."
"Who leaked this information? And who revealed the surveillance system's operational patterns to Miss Emily?"
Wriothesley removed his foot from Colt's body and knelt before him, locking eyes with him as he spoke, each word measured and deliberate.
"And I recall it was you who recommended me the person to guide the Hydro Archon Furina here, wasn't it, Colt?"
Under Wriothesley's relentless interrogation, Colt's forehead broke out in a cold sweat. He stammered anxiously, "No, Duke Wriothesley! You must believe me! I knew nothing of this matter! I'm being framed!"
"Everything I've done has been for the future of the Fortress of Meropide!"
"How pathetic, Colt. A loser should act like a loser."
Seeing Colt's wretched state, Wriothesley shook his head in disappointment, rose to his feet, and left.
"Take him away for further interrogation. We must extract the means of contact with his backer and uncover everything he's been doing behind my back all these years."
"Yes, Duke Wriothesley!"
Witnessing Wriothesley's methods today, the surrounding crowd cast even more reverent glances his way.
Soon, Wriothesley returned to his Duke's Office, his mood slightly heavy.
He hadn't expected Colt, who had always worked so diligently, to be a traitor. Wriothesley couldn't fathom how the young woman had persuaded Colt to act on her behalf.
Moreover, Colt's betrayal meant that there were likely other spies within his organization—the very reason the girl had remained undetected for so long.
If even Colt could betray him, whom could he trust in the vast Fortress of Meropide now?
Wriothesley pondered for a long while before summoning another of his diligent subordinates.
"Jeffrey, find a suitable vacant dormitory and furnish it with better living supplies. Prepare for Lady Furina to move in."
"Yes, Duke Wriothesley!"
"I will fulfill the task you've entrusted to me with all my strength!"
Jeffrey acknowledged the order and departed the Duke's Office. Watching his retreating figure, Wriothesley thought uneasily:
This time, there shouldn't be any issues, right?