Chapter 39
#39
The scent of sweat, one I'd smelled sometime in the past, tickled the tip of my nose on the breeze.
The awkwardly shaped arm that wrapped around my shoulder was firm, and I felt lukewarm warmth through the thin shirt.
The sound of my heart pounding in surprise at the sudden event could be heard. Or perhaps it was the sound of the sturdy chest I was leaning against pounding.
Maybe it was both.
"Bianca, you say this isn't love, but…"
A low voice burrowed into my ear.
"Whether this feeling is love or not, I have no intention of sending you to another man."
There was an unprecedented stickiness in Ricardo's low voice, which had always been plain and cool-headed.
The honey-like, sticky voice brushed over my ear and dripped from my earlobe.
My heart pounded again at the voice.
I should have been upset that my plan was going awry.
I should have been happy to hear Ricardo say he would pleasantly call off the engagement.
But I was thrilled by his words that he couldn't let me go.
I buried my nose in his shirt, which smelled of sour sweat, felt his lukewarm body temperature, quietly listened to his heartbeat, and closed my eyes.
I wished time would stop like this.
I wished this time, without books, fate, or death, would last forever.
"Hoo…"
Even standing in front of the hospital door, I couldn't be sure if this was the right choice.
I could still turn back now. It might be safer not to see Maria's mother's face at all.
But after much deliberation, what I chose in the end was to find her.
To find out what the secret of her death was, and why Maria had misunderstood, I had to meet Maria's mother in person.
And one more thing, if possible, I hoped she wasn't dead.
In the first version of the book, there was no mention of Maria's mother at all. Her death came out after it was changed to the second version now.
Perhaps, if the contents of the book changed, Maria's mother might not die.
"There's no villainess who saves people, is there?"
Deliberately speaking lightly, I stepped into the hospital.
"Bianca! Welcome."
As if she had been waiting, or rather, she must have been waiting.
The hospital director greeted me with a bright smile.
"I was surprised to hear that you were visiting so suddenly."
"I don't know if my sudden visit has been a nuisance to your work."
The Croford Family sponsors the hospital, and the family's doctor is also a doctor at this hospital, but this was my first time visiting here.
"I didn't mean it that way. Rather, I am honored that you have come all the way here."
He was the second son of a Baron family who had not inherited the title, but he was a person who knew excellent etiquette and flattery.
"The reason for this visit is none other than a patient I entrusted to the director, trusting you."
In fact, it was because there was a doctor who was unrivaled in the treatment of lung diseases, rather than seeing the director, but the person listening now was not that doctor.
"Ah! Yes. I remember her because she was recommended by Bianca. Meggy Bellona."
In order to appeal to his accurate memory and that he was paying attention because of my recommendation, the director recited Maria's mother's name accurately.
"Yes, that's right."
In fact, all I knew about Meggy was her name and the fact that her daughter was Maria.
But I nodded with a smiling face as if I knew her well.
"Is there any progress?"
"Yes. She's getting better and better. The doctor in charge says that her lungs were probably damaged while working in the coal mine, and that it was further aggravated by excessive labor."
I had heard this story from Reintar, but I felt more confident when I received confirmation from the director.
I could definitely erase the view that Maria blamed me for the wrong medical treatment.
"Then how long will it take for her lungs to return to perfect condition?"
"It is impossible for them to return to perfect condition."
"Didn't you say there was progress?"
"That's because it is impossible for an already damaged organ to return to its previous clean state. Moreover, Meggy is already middle-aged. Recovery is bound to be slower than for young people."
The director began to explain step by step, as if he had given this explanation many times.
"It is difficult to return to a completely healthy state, but we are making her body the best it can be from its current state. Since we cannot turn back the lost time, it is important to maintain it when we are healthy."
Suddenly, I felt pity for Maria's mother in his words.
Her health was not lost.
It was willingly sacrificed for her beloved daughter.
Perhaps she gave something close to her life to raise her daughter.
That was what the love of a great mother was like. Being able to give up her life for her child.
Thinking that love was just like that, I looked at the director.
"Perhaps with a little more treatment, I think she will be able to be discharged soon. On the premise that she lives as carefully as when she was hospitalized and takes care of herself."
"Can I meet the patient? Is visitation possible?"
"Of course."
The director nodded and got up from his seat.
"It's here."
"I'll go in alone."
I stopped the director, who was about to open the door for me after guiding me himself.
"Ah, is that so?"
Respecting my intention to talk to Meggy alone, he readily withdrew his hand that had been holding the doorknob.
"Then I hope you have a good conversation."
I also smiled at the director, who bowed slightly.
And after preparing myself a little, I grabbed the door to Meggy's hospital room.
When I opened the door to the hospital room, I saw an unexpected sight.
As someone who had never been hospitalized or been to a hospital room, I had vaguely thought that the hospital room would be bleak.
Because it's a place where sick people are.
But her hospital room felt very warm and cozy.
Very bright sunlight was coming in from the window, and beyond it, green trees created a refreshing landscape.
The hospital room, which I naturally thought would smell of disinfectant, had a familiar scent that I had smelled somewhere.
And above all, there was Meggy sitting on the bed knitting. She was knitting something with red yarn, with a subtle smile on her face.
Something warm and cozy was flowing out of her as she was in the middle of the hospital room.
"You're someone I'm meeting for the first time. Well, you don't seem to be a nurse or a doctor. That's a relief. It's not time for me to take my medicine."
Putting down her knitting, Meggy looked at me and gave me a bright smile.
It was a comfortable and gentle smile.
"...Yes. I'm not a nurse or a doctor. My name is Bianca Crofort."
Considering that Meggy was a commoner, it was right to speak informally.
But she is the biological mother of Maria, the Marquess's daughter, and I want to have a good relationship with her, so I chose to use honorifics.
Besides, I'm not friends with Maria, but I wanted Meggy to see it that way, so I did it even more to look like a daughter's friend.
"Oh, Bianca!"
Now was the moment when I thought I should make my relationship with Maria a little closer by mixing in some fiction, explain a little about what I had done for Maria, and explain in detail how Meggy was able to come to this hospital.
A surprised expression appeared on Meggy's face, and then she called my name in a very welcoming voice.
"Do you know me?"
"Of course! I heard from Maria. Aren't you the savior of our mother and daughter?"
Savior…
I don't think I deserve to be called that, but it was a pretty good nuance.
"I was knitting this scarf for Bianca!"
"For me?"
"Yes! I wanted to repay Bianca's kindness even a little bit. I'm not well-off, so it's difficult to give a good gift, but I can still afford yarn."
Meggy held out the yarn in front of her towards me.
"Oh! Don't worry. My knitting skills are so good that even the Marquess's daughter wouldn't be ashamed to wear them. The daughter of Lord Anchini insisted on having me knit them. She also told Maria to buy the best yarn."
"Yes. It's soft and warm."
"Hehe, right?"
Meggy's words that she was skilled were not a lie, as the pattern engraved on the scarf was complex and delicate.
"Our Maria also loved the scarves and gloves I knitted. She said they were warm and pretty. When she was young, she didn't take off the teddy bear hat I knitted for her."
"Teddy bear hat?"
"Yes. It was a hat with teddy bear ear shapes knitted and attached on both sides. It was very cute."
Meggy smiled very softly, as if recalling Maria in those days.
"But the problem was that Maria liked that hat so much that she wouldn't take it off at all. Even when the warm spring came and she was sweating, she wouldn't take it off."
"Oh my."
"Spring is fine. Even in the summer, she was wearing short sleeves, but she still had a knitted hat on her head!"
"Oh my! So how did you get her to take it off?"
"Secretly while she was sleeping."
"Didn't she look for it when she woke up?"
"Of course, she cried and made a fuss!"
Meggy shrugged her shoulders and widened her eyes as if it had happened just yesterday.
"I told her that the winter fairy had taken it. It was originally the fairy's hat, but she lent it to Maria because she was too cold in the winter. Now that it's summer and Maria won't be cold, she took it back."
"Did she believe that?"
"Yes. Rather, she frowned and cried, saying that the winter fairy must have been very cold all this time. Our Maria was a good child."
And then Meggy's stories of Maria's childhood continued.
Meggy laughed at the story of the pure young Maria, and so did I.
The story itself was fun, but Meggy had a talent for telling stories in a fun way. She didn't hesitate to imitate funny expressions, and she burst into laughter at the funny parts.
"I'm glad that the child who suffered so much seems to have finally ended her suffering."
The last was with a bitter smile.
She was saying that Maria's suffering was finally over, but Meggy's face didn't look so bright.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Yes, go ahead."
"Why did you only reveal now that Maria is Lord Wendsbury's daughter?"
At my question, the face of Meggy, who had been smiling until now, hardened for the first time.
