The last bell rang just as Harold and Harvey arrived at Harold's chamber, both carrying Alvin.
Thankfully, the head physician, whom Harold had ordered the assistant physician to fetch, was already standing outside Harold's chamber waiting for them. So immediately Harold and Harvey went in, he followed them.
After gently placing Alvin on the bed, Harold sent Harvey out to stand outside with the ladies while he remained in the chamber with the head physician and Alvin.
Harold said nothing as he watched the head physician examine Alvin and apply special ointments to his wound.
After some time, the head physician looked at Harold.
"Apart from the poison, he seems to be lacking rest, and there is a lot of tension in his body. He is weak right now and needs to get a lot of rest for him to recover fully," the physician said, and Harold just stared blankly.
Alvin was his eyes, ears, shadow, and most trusted man. Unlike the others who had a lot of guards and servants, Alvin did basically everything for him, so he could understand why Alvin would be exhausted.
"Get him any medicine you have that would help him relax," Harold said, and the physician bowed as he said, "I will bring him some in the morning, your highness."
The exhausted man was obviously waiting for Prince Harold to dismiss him since he was done there, but the Prince seemed to be oblivious to his mood as he carried on a conversation, "I learned you attended to Williams..."
BEst
The man began to panic as he immediately said, "I... was forced to do it, your highness. I was forced to treat them all. I didn't mean to go against your orders. I'm sorry, your highness," the royal physician cried as he fell on his face, thinking that Harold was going to punish him.
"Who else did you treat?" Harold asked, momentarily distracted as he wondered if anyone else was hurt.
The poor man began to shake as he fearfully stammered out their names one by one.
Lady Benedicta.
Lord Davis.
Princess Tyra.
Lady Luciana.
Prince Ivan.
As soon as the physician mentioned the last name, he began to sob.
Harold looked down at him, frowning. This reminded him of his experience in the kitchen and how they had almost driven him crazy with their cries.
He had a lot of things on his mind at the moment to be angry at Ivan being treated. If he had been the one to cause that much damage to Ivan, he wouldn't have bothered. But if anything happened to Ivan now, it would be on Susan.
The man rose obediently, looking like a puppy that had just been scolded. On Harold's inquiry, he informed Harold about the nature of their injuries and what happened to the ones that got hurt within the palace walls. He didn't leave out how Susan had cut Ivan with a sword and threatened him to treat Luciana. Harold already knew that from the assistant physician.
The more Harold listened to him, the more impressed he was by Susan. She had saved everyone's life by sending the antidote down to Alvin. Even he had no idea what he would have done to them all if anything had happened to Alvin.
"How are Sir William and Lady Luciana?" Harold asked curiously.
Even though the physician was frightened, he could not help but pause to look at Harold closely, wondering if he had hit his head. Why was he concerned about everyone?
"I asked a question." Harold reminded him in a patient, impatient tone.
"Lady Luciana is in a terrible state..."
"Will she survive it?" Harold asked, interrupting him, and the physician shook his head.
"I... do not know, your highness," the physician said, and Harold sighed as he thought about how devastated Alicia would be if Luciana didn't survive.
"Make sure she survives. It is an order." Harold said, surprising the physician, who still felt something was wrong with his head.
He couldn't understand why Harold would care whether or not his brother's wife survived the injury inflicted on her by her own husband. But then again, seeing how she had left the palace with him, the physician decided that Harold must care about her because of his wife.
"Sir Williams?" Harold asked, and the physician shook his head.
"He will recover, but it will take some time. The poison did much harm to his body, and he didn't have the antidote or any other medicine quick enough," the physician informed him.
"I learned Princess Tyra was locked in the dungeon. Is she healthy enough now?" Harold asked with concern since his next stop after now would be the dungeon. Everything in the palace was a mess right now.
"Sir Damon released her from the dungeon already. She is not fully recovered yet. Her body is weak," he explained, and Harold sighed in relief.
Although he had tried not to show it, he had been worried about Tyra. He was glad that she was not in the dungeon. He was going to have to wait until the morning to pay her a visit and also find out about the nature of her relationship with Damian.
Damian was getting on his nerves, and there was something about him that Harold did not like. He wasn't sure what it was, but he just wasn't comfortable with him.
"You can leave," Harold said dismissively, but as the physician turned to leave, he hesitated.
Harold was about to go to Alvin's side when he noticed the man's hesitation and asked, "Is there something else?"
Usually, the man would have been running away by now.
The physician was hesitant to speak because the queen had warned him not to breathe a word of their conversation to anyone. However, a part of him wanted to tell Harold about it just in case he was being poisoned as well.