I turned my face as she swiped the hoop out of my grip, and Bella rushed to my bathroom. Presumably for some cold towels, lest I commit the grave sin of having puffy eyes in public.
“How did you manage this, my lady?” Rina asked, peering down at me. “It’s as if you got completely distracted and stopped paying any attention at all to what you were doing.”
“I, er…” I sat up, scratching my cheek. “That’s a painfully accurate conclusion you’ve arrived at, Rina.”
“What distracted you this much?”
Oh, nothing much. Just the memory of Kalon kissing me over and over again on the terrace last night.
I blushed, immediately turning away from her. “That’s not important. Can it be fixed?”
“This isn’t like you. You’re acting very suspicious.”
“I—I’m due on my period.”
“No, you’re not. That’s not for another week,” Bella said, carrying in a small bowl of water and face towels.
Way to rat me out, Bella.
“It doesn’t matter why I couldn’t focus—”
“Please lie down, my lady.” Bella pushed me onto my back and unceremoniously pressed an ice-cold towel to my eyes. “Five minutes.”
“—But I’ve spent days on this. I’ve barely slept.”
“That’s because you forgot about it until His Highness mentioned it.”
I’m going to fire her.
I wasn’t, but the thought made me feel momentarily better.
Rina sighed—at least I think it was Rina, given that she was next to speak. “I can probably undo much of the mess you’ve gotten yourself into, but the final thing depends greatly on what it looks like under this bumbling knot.”
I raised the towel and peeked out at her. “Really?”
She smiled. “Really. I’ll do my best.”
“Leave the towel alone, my lady!” Bella tapped my fingers, making me drop the wet towel.
“Sorry, sorry.” I linked my hands over my stomach. “Can you get Rina the embroidery kit?”
“Of course. Here you are, Dame Rina. Right, my lady—”
“Hold on, where’s Annie? It’s awfully quiet in here.”
“Is this what you consider quiet?” Rina muttered.
That was rude.
Bella patted my cheeks with another cold towel. “I was just about to explain that. Annie was taken ill with a fever during the night. The Head Maid had a doctor sent over, and when I checked on her before coming over here, her fever had gone down. He’s advised she rest for at least today.”
“Hmm.” I kicked my feet. “Didn’t that happen a couple of days after we arrived in Stein, too?”
“Some people are extra sensitive to mana, and overexposure results in a cold-like illness that can appear anywhere from twelve hours to days later,” Rina said from somewhere over by the window. “It could be that travelling through the magic circles is too much for Annie, especially if she’s not had much to do with magic until now.”
“That’s a problem, since we’re here and not in Stein. Is there not a remedy for it anywhere? It’ll be two weeks of travelling on the road otherwise.”
“The mages will likely have a temporary solution to reduce her exposure to the mana for the journey back, but they’ll probably advise that she doesn’t travel by them again unless it’s an emergency.”
