It had been a little more than two months since she promised to cure Ramilio.
Lucrezia frequented the mountains in the months leading up to her summer vacation.
Of course, she rushed to buy all the mountain gear she could afford, so now she could hike in the mountains without any problems.
In the meantime, she also received her grandmother’s journal from her agent, which she had entrusted to him.
Relying on the journal, she went to the mountains, gathered medicinal herbs, dried and chopped them, soaked them in alcohol, extracted the boiled juice, and distilled and mixed them. The time passed quickly as she went through the various processes.
‘It’s not a difficult operation, so I should be able to do it too. But, I can’t afford any mistakes.’
Lucrezia repeatedly tested the drug’s effects on her own beauty spots to make sure it was safe.
On the day of summer vacation.
“For the next month, we will put up shutters and curtains on your room windows to prevent any sunlight from entering. Is that clear?”
“Is it really necessary to go that far?”
“If you injured your eyes, we need to use stronger medicine. The light will harm you, so we will keep the room dark, even when you need to change bandages.”
Ramilio’s room was strictly blocked from light and fell into total darkness.
Everything was ready.
Lucrezia carefully operated by relying on candlelight.
Finally, she secured his eyes so that no light could enter, and wrapped a bandage around them.
“That’s all for today. How are you feeling…?”
“…. It’s throbbing.”
“If the pain is unbearable, please let me know. I will give you some painkillers.”
“I understand. That was easier than I thought it would be.”
“The hard part is yet to come. You will have to use a lot of strong medicines, and you will have to be cared for by other people, even to eat.”
Ramilio groaned.
“I see, if I can’t see, I can’t use a spoon either….”
“I will ask them to prepare something that’ll be easy for you to eat. I will also stay by your side to accompany you and provide treatment.”
When a person cannot see, they become anxious.
The anxiety he feels was familiar to Lucrezia, who also experienced it when she was a child.
Lucrezia wrapped his hands firmly in her own to reassure and encourage Ramilio.
“Whaー?!”
“I hope you will think of me as your hands and feet from today onward, and ask me to do whatever you want.”
“N-no, thank you!”
Lucrezia was taken aback by Ramilio’s strong declaration.
“I wouldn’t be able to stay healthy if I had to stay with a young woman all the time!”
Lucrezia quickly removed her hand. She had been so preoccupied with the treatment that she hadn’t thought at all about the relationship between a man and a woman. She became embarrassed afterward, thinking what a bold thing she had done.
“S-sorry, you’re right. I will have a male servant assist you as much as possible with something that requires physical contact….”
As she said it, Lucrezia thought.
‘But, I’m the one who’s going to be Ramilio-sama’s fiancée… right?’
What is the harm for a woman who will become his wife touching the skin of her sick husband while caring for him?
“But…. I hope you didn’t forget, Ramilio-sama….. that I came here with the intention of becoming your wife. So…. there is nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“No, it’s impossible, you can’t, it’s embarrassing whether you’re my wife or not!”
“And I haven’t said that I will make you my fiancée yet.”
Lucrezia was miffed when he continued.
‘Why are you so stubborn?’
“I don’t think that the marriage you have in mind is a good one, Ramilio-sama. Why are you so reluctant to make me your wife?”
“The treatment isn’t over yet, that’s all. If you were trying to kill me for my inheritance under the guise of treating me, you wouldn’t get anything without the marriage.”
Ramiro’s vigilance was more or less understandable, so Lucrezia decided to back down from the argument, her lips pouting like a petulant child.
“…. Then, I will ask you to apologize to me in a month, Ramilio-sama.”
“Why?”
“For suspecting that I was after your inheritance. I’m sure you’ll understand that it wasn’t true when the treatment is over.”
“Oh, that’s right. At that time, I will bow down and apologize.”
She took his word for it.
Lucrezia was looking forward to that time.
***
Lucrezia decided to devise a meal that could be eaten by hand so that it would be easier for Ramilio to eat.
The flattened, unfermented bread was topped with cheese, salami, macaroni, seasonal vegetables, etc. The bread was then folded in half and the edges were tightly closed together.
At first glance, the baked bread looked good enough to eat with one’s hands.
“Ramilio-sama, please say ‘ahh’….”
“N-no thanks, eat it yourself…. Ah!”
Ramilio blindly bit into the bread, causing the hot ingredients to fly out from the inside and splatter all over the place.
“I’m sorry…. but, I wish you had explained to me first how this was supposed to work.”
She realized that Ramilio wouldn’t be able to eat well unless she gave him a good description of the shapes and ingredients of the food.
The next day, Lucrezia decided to explain the food properly so as not to make the same mistake.
“Today we have white bread rolls for you, Ramilio-sama. To make it easier for you to eat, I’ve warmed the sausage, and put some chicha leaves and a few herbs in between. There is a slit in the middle, and a thick sausage is placed in the valley of the bread, so you can open your big mouth and take it in at once.”
“Sorry, but can I ask a man to be my helper after all?”
Ramilio said out of the blue while holding his head.
“W-why?”
“No, there’s nothing wrong with you. It’s just, something like this…. Anyway, it’s my fault. I’m a timid man after all, so when I think of a cute girl like you around me, I get nervous.”
“Madam, let me take over.”
Bosco, his aide, offered to her, so Lucrezia was left to watch the exchange between the two with her fingers crossed.
‘I thought I wouldn’t make a mistake today…’
“Well then, Ramilio-sama, say ‘ahh’!”
Bosco said, deliberately teasing him, and Ramilio ate the bread while quivering with humiliation.
“You… I’ll get you for this! Just you wait!”
“That’s my line, isn’t it? Do you understand how I felt when I was given all the work and even added nursing care to my duties?”
“Damn it….”
“Why go down this road when you could just shut up and let your lovely new wife do all the work?”
“S-she’s not my new wife! Not yet! Don’t talk nonsense!”
‘You two must be very close, aren’t you?’
Lucrezia, who couldn’t get in between them, felt a little lonely.