You need to digest everything before lunchtime. That way you can down a lot more food again. This was how Marsha nagged Evony while dragging her around. The castle was so large that walking its corridors was exercise enough.

After a guide around the castle, which was actually a walk in disguise, the pair returned to Evony's room to see the doctor already there.

As soon as Marsha saw the person, her arms shot into the air and she shouted. “Oh, the great doctor is here!”

“I told you, just call me ‘Doctor.’”

Evony was taken by surprise. She even forgot the habitual deep bow as she stared at the person in front of her.

That was because the doctor of this castle was a woman.

She was as tall as Benjamin, with a slim figure. She had on a grey suit with a heavy briefcase in one hand and a black cane in another. Her husky voice could be mistaken for a man’s for a moment, but her slender waist and her round shoulders definitely revealed that she was a woman.

But above all, her hair was short, as short as that of a man’s, and on her exposed neck was a chain for her watch.

The doctor, smiling with her long, slanted eyes, shared a hug with Marsha then focused her attention to Evony.

“I’m the doctor. You must be the lady, right?”

Suddenly coming to her senses, she bowed again. “Hello…”

First, the firm cane hit the floor. The doctor placed the briefcase on the floor and walked straight towards Evony. Every time she took a step, the strong heels of her boots hit the wooden floor with a resounding thud.

After approaching so close that she could feel the doctor’s breath on her, she surveyed the girl’s thin body. Her detailed gaze looked thoroughly at the girl’s small body, stooped figure, and the exposed arms and legs. Lastly, the doctor lifted her finger to feel Evony's face.

Flustered by a stranger’s touch, Evony's body shuddered. The doctor made a shushing noise and lifted Evony's face to peer into her shaking eyes.

“Miss, it’s okay. Doctor just wants to examine your current condition.”

As she nervously hunched her small shoulders even more, Marsha could not help but say something. But even with Marsha’s soothing voice, Evony could not relax.

“This is even more serious than I thought.”

The doctor reached her conclusion even without examining Evony's wounds underneath her clothes. Marsha let out a sigh and placed the doctor’s briefcase on the table.

“Marsha, please draw the curtains on the bed. And please bring us some hot water and some towels.”

“That I can do.”

“Lady, please take off your clothes and lie down.”

It was easy to do as ordered. Evony nodded and without hesitation started to take off her clothes. After quickly taking off her dress, she started to pull away her underwear.

Seeing this, Marsha, who was drawing the curtains, and the doctor, who was opening the lock on her briefcase, drew their breaths.

“You… can leave your underwear on.”

“Sorry?”

“You don’t have to be so afraid. I’m not here to scold you.”

This time Evony nodded a bit more slowly, crawled onto the bed, and stiffly lied down with her arms stuck to her body. Just touching the bed seemed a blessing. Evony watched the other two exchange glances and swallowed nervously.

“I’m assuming you wouldn’t have any medical records. You said that you were examined for infections before you came here, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then, let’s first treat your wounds and examine the rest later.”

After that, the doctor didn’t say anything for a while. Marsha, after bringing the hot water and towels, stayed to assist. The doctor also had large hands. She looked after Evony's wounds, disinfected them, and applied salve on them. At times she would ask if it hurt, but every time she did, Evony quickly shook her head.

Because there were more scars than open wounds, the treatment ended faster than expected. Even after the doctor’s hands stopped moving, she didn’t say anything for some time.

Some time had passed, and Evony was slowly debating whether she should get up when the doctor suddenly opened her mouth.

“These are questions I must ask as a doctor. Please don’t feel uncomfortable.”

There was no such thing as an uncomfortable question. Evony, lying down on the bed and moving just her eyes, looked at the woman. Around the doctor’s slanted eyes wrinkles had unfurled.

“Whenever you walk or sit down, I mean, whenever you move your body, are there places that feel awkward?”

“No.”

“Do you feel like throwing up or are you dizzy? Or is there a place where it hurts even though there isn’t a wound?”

“No.”

“When was the last time you had your period?”

Evony couldn’t answer the last question right away. Not because it was uncomfortable but because she couldn’t remember. Flustered, she looked around for an answer . The Doctor rose from her chair and stretched out her hands. Then she grabbed Evony's ankle and gently twisted it.

Ouch!

It hurt. She felt pain in her ankles but she didn’t know she’d hurt them. She groaned as she tried to hold in the pain. Watching her, The doctor slowly nodded her head. This time she grabbed Evony's waist and rubbed her lower belly and ribs.

It hurt there as well. Evony opened her big eyes even wider as she moaned in pain. Everywhere The doctor touched, unknown pain shot through her body.

“Try getting up and sit,” the doctor ordered.

She sat up. The doctor gave her instructions to turn her head around, but she just looked to one side. So, the doctor reached out again, grabbed Evony by the chin, and gently moved her head this way and that. Her neck, shoulders, and back were in excruciating pain.

“Lady Evony.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll ask again. Did you ever throw up or feel dizzy? Did you ever have difficulty sleeping or felt a headache? Tell me, how was the cycle of your last period?”

The questions were too difficult. The doctor had a determined look on her face that demanded answers.

“I… I don’t know,” Evony stammered. “Times when it hurt… Well… I was beaten every day. So, they kind of hurt. Whenever I had to go outside, it was always dizzying, but I didn’t throw up unless it was the day we had to remove the dead bodies. I stopped having my periods as soon as I entered prison.”

Marsha’s sympathetic eyes welled up with tears once again. But the thoughtful old lady held it in. The doctor’s face did not change. With a dry expression, she nodded twice and turned to face Marsha.

“She’s suffering from severe malnutrition. And her nerves and muscles are damaged. But even worse than that, is the Lady’s mental state. It’ll take a year to fully recover,” said the doctor. After finishing her diagnosis, she pulled the blanket on Evony's body and rose to her feet.

“Marsha, I’m going to go see the grand duke. In the meantime, please apply the hot towels to the Lady’s stomach, waist, and legs, in that order. If you’re going to massage them, do so gently.”

“Yes, of course, Doctor.”

Once the appointment with the doctor was over, Evony wasn’t allowed to get out of the bed without enduring the hot towels Marsha put on her stomach. Though her heart was more uncomfortable than her body – as it felt like a sin to lie down on such a beautiful bed alone – she could not tell her that she wanted to get up after seeing Marsha’s sad expression.

* * *

What if Evony Vonieck had not murdered her fiancé and her father, but had lived a normal life? What if she married the man her father chose for her and lived obediently as his wife?

Would she have spent her days in warmth and peace like this?

Evony barely held to her flickering consciousness with these thoughts. She wondered about these what ifs every day since entering the prison. Regardless, she knew the outcome wouldn’t have been good. The Evony Vonieck back then was naïve, stubborn, and above all, foolish.

She was quite objective about herself.

The thoughts which had been wandering aimlessly in her mind slowly settled. Evony didn’t realize that hot towels and massages made one sleepy. Marsha’s hands were so warm it was torture to stay awake.

Did she doze off? Or was it just another blink? Evony despised herself for becoming so idle after just a day in this castle. She resolved to never get on their bad side, yet here she was, doing whatever she wanted.

Should she apologize? If she begged for forgiveness, the kind Marsha would forgive her.

“I, uh… Marsha?”

But when Evony raised her head, the face of the person in front of her was not Marsha. Sitting by the bedside with disheveled, black, curly hair, was Danté , who looked upon Evony with a stern face.

“Your Excellency? I was… forgive me…”

She gasped and quickly kneeled on the bed with her head bowed. She was so startled, she forgot that she was on the bed. If she knew, she would have gotten on the floor and kneeled at his feet.

This was serious. This would be the time the duke would surely shout at her. She curled her trembling fingers.

“Get up.”

“Yes. Sorry…?”

“Lie down again. Just like before.”

Danté ’s voice was awfully deep, and his choice of words were unconstrained as ever. As Evony bit her lip from the anxiety of not knowing what to do, she heard a deep sigh above her head.

A large hand drew near, and a dark shadow cast over her. This was a beating. He was surely going to beat her.