Chapter 3. An Attempt at Treatment

Mutism. 

Lorenzo had suspected as much. Floriana had stopped speaking, stopped demanding things from her maids, stopped vocalising her disgust for her brother. 

She would have refused his entry and kicked him out along with verbal abuse if this were any other day. 

But now, she remained silently laying in bed. 

Lorenzo closed the door to her room after checking on her that evening. This time, she really had fallen asleep. Once again, the meal on the table was left alone. 

Lorenzo sighed and rubbed his eyes as he walked down the corridors. He pondered the physician’s words. 

Floriana had been diagnosed with mutism. It was likely a response to the kidnapping incident she had gone through. The physician surmised that it must have been a high-stress and traumatic experience, enough for her to lose the ability to speak. What was worse was that she couldn’t even tell anyone what happened as a result. 

Lorenzo hadn’t thought it was that bad. From the way Floriana was docile, calm and causing no trouble, he simply thought she was just resting and recovering on her own. He had thought her stronger than that, given her usual demeanour that she had since childhood. 

But the news wasn’t all terrible. 

— There may be a way to get her to speak again. You must encourage her subtly and gently. Forcing her to speak may make her respond negatively. 

A way to make her speak again. Lorenzo thought hard about it. How would he do that, when the very sight of him disgusted her? Usually he didn’t exactly feel an inclination to see her face often either. 

But there was no other way. He would have to try something. This couldn’t go on. 

People would inevitably notice the lack of his exuberant sister’s presence in society. Then, would he have to explain that she was kidnapped, paid for by a ransom of a thousand gold, and fell sick, unable to speak? 

It would be a tiresome ordeal. It could change the very future of the house. Lorenzo wanted to fix things quickly. 

And so, the next morning, he went to visit Floriana.

***

Lorenzo sat on a comfy chair beside Floriana’s bed. She looked at him warily, casting sideways glances. 

“…”

“You haven’t eaten yet?”

Lorenzo was resting his chin on his hand, leaning on the armrest. His dirty blonde hair was brushed briefly and he was dressed in a neat outfit. In front of him, Floriana was still in a nightdress. Her plain and modest outfit looked so similar to the rest of her nightwear that he wasn’t even sure she had gotten out of bed and changed since the last time he saw her.

His brown eyes dulled slightly. 

There was no need for Floriana to answer his previous question, as her bowl of porridge, fruits and drizzled honey lay full on the bedside table. 

Beside it, a glass of water and a small pouch of medicine and a pot of some ointment. 

‘Fever medication?’

The physician had still given her the medicine for the fever. But there was no drug that simply could get a person to speak again. The old man had mentioned that he hadn’t spoken to Floriana about her refusal to speak for the same reason he told Lorenzo to not force her to. 

So, Lorenzo kept quiet about it too. 

“Why haven’t you eaten?”

Floriana only looked away from him. Lorenzo sighed silently. 

According to the maids, Floriana hardly ate. She would take small bites occasionally, as if she only consumed enough to sustain her. 

But it was hardly enough. At this rate, she would die of starvation before anything else. 

“Is the food not to your liking?”

Shake, shake. 

“Should I tell the maids to bring you something else?”

Shake. 

“Are you not hungry?”

No, no, no. She negated every one of his questions. 

‘So are you hungry or not hungry?’

She didn’t even seem to realise her answer made no sense, or perhaps it made no difference to her either way. 

Lorenzo leaned further into his hand, almost covering his mouth as he grumbled silently at himself, watching Floriana. 

She really was mute. 

Refusing to speak not out of choice, but because she couldn’t bring herself to. 

He never thought he would see his sister as quiet as this. How was he going to get her to speak up? She only shook her head or nodded at questions he asked. 

An uncomfortable feeling gnawed at the bottom of his chest.

Silence befell the room for a moment, before a knock sounded at the door. 

A maid standing by went to open it. Promptly she returned with a rectangular, silver tray. On it were three letters. 

“An invitation for the Count, the Young Miss, and also a letter for the Young Miss.”

Lorenzo picked up the envelope with his name written in glittering cursive in it, and passed the other two to Floriana. 

He dismissed her maid with a wave and started reading. 

“An invitation… To Patricia Bellmont’s ball.”

Patricia Bellmont. That name rang a bell. 

It was one of Floriana’s closest friends. 

The Bellmonts were a family similar to their own. Floriana and Patricia got along finely. She was the friend Floriana would go out with the most. 

‘Were they together that day…?’

If Floriana had been dining out, there was a good chance she was. The likely scenario was that Floriana and Patricia had finished socialising and parted ways before Floriana— …

Lorenzo gave a silent sigh, his brows unconsciously knitting before he controlled his expression. 

Patricia Bellmont’s ball. She was likely only inviting him out of courtesy, and hoping that he wouldn’t show up with Floriana, or not even show up at all. 

Well, Lorenzo wasn’t fond of her either. In fact, he disliked most of Floriana’s friends. They were terrible influences on her. 

But still…

‘What if she feels like saying something if she’s with a friend?’

Lorenzo deliberated for a moment. 

“Flora, about Patricia Bellmont’s ball. Do you want to go…?”

Lorenzo looked up at Floriana, and his words trailed off upon seeing her. 

She was reading something, but the invitation to Bellmont’s ball was unopened in her lap. She was reading the other letter that had come for her.  

She suddenly turned to him and grabbed his sleeve. 

“Floriana…?”

Her eyes were damp, brows furrowed and lips pursed. Lorenzo blinked in shock. 

What was wrong? Why did she look like that?

Then, she let go of his sleeve and pointed at him. And then, she pointed at the letter she was reading. Specifically at a single line. 

Lorenzo’s eyes jumped to the bottom of the page almost by habit. And he read the name of the sender. 

It was a letter from Elodie. Floriana’s maid. 

He skimmed the contents of the letter around where Floriana was pointing with her index finger. 

It was a typical greeting, an inquiry of health, and an extensive apology about what happened ‘that day’… 

And where Floriana pointed, it wrote;

…I’m sorry, my lady, but I have left the manor. I am not someone worthy of serving you. 

Then Floriana clutched at Lorenzo’s full sleeve again and pointed at him, and back at the page. Her reddish-brown eyes were glinting, filled with anticipation. Somewhere in her expression there was a hint of disappointment. 

Lorenzo’s lips parted and closed for a moment. 

Then after a moment of thought he spoke. 

“Are you asking me if I did that?”

Floriana hesitated. 

“If I got rid of your maid?”

She nodded. 

‘So she thought I kicked out her maid because she let her get taken?’

Floriana clutched her brother’s sleeve tighter, urging him to answer.

“I didn’t. She left on her own.”

She still didn’t let go. Lorenzo looked at her in the eyes, his gaze unwavering. 

“I’m telling the truth.”

Only then did the grip on his shirt slowly release. Even though he told her truth, Floriana didn’t seem much more spirited. The outcome was the same. Her maid was still gone. 

Lorenzo thought about Elodie. She had been Floriana’s maid since she was young. Of all the maids assigned to Floriana, she seemed to like Elodie the most. And Elodie seemed to like Floriana too, listening to her every request. Maybe that was why. 

Floriana had a downcast look on her face as she read the letter again. 

At that moment, Lorenzo had a thought. The physician’s advice echoed in his mind. 

‘A change of scenery might be good for her mental wellbeing….’

Floriana had been holed up in her room for over a week now. The physician urged Lorenzo to try and get her out. 

‘Maybe I could use this?’

“Flora.”

Floriana looked up at him through damp lashes. 

“If I bring back your maid, will you go to Bellmont’s ball with me?”

Floriana’s eyes widened. They were filled with both hope and despair. With disappointment. She hung her head low, clutching her blanket. 

‘She doesn’t want to go to Patricia’s ball?’

Lorenzo couldn’t understand. He would have expected her to jump at the chance to go to her best friend - not that she ever sought permission in the first place. 

But seeing her like this, his chest twisted with confusion. 

Was it because she had gone through that experience, she couldn’t face her friends? Because she couldn’t speak…?

Lorenzo hesitated for a second. 

He needed to get his sister out of this room somehow, even if it wasn’t Patricia’s ball. 

“Then…”

Floriana cautiously looked up at him. Was she afraid he would give up on her maid, or insist on taking her to the ball?

“How about taking a stroll with me?”

“…?”

“If you go on a walk with me tomorrow morning, I’ll bring back your maid.”