Olivia Yuwens’s bedroom was filled with Flowers and floral designs. There were flowers on her bedding, on her dress, and there was even a motif of an
Anemone in the current embroidery frame she was working on right now.
“Janus practically speaks about nothing else but you whenever he visits. Bella, could you bring us two cups of tea, please?”
“Of course, madam.”
Janus was doing what? If I hadn’t found my way onto a convenient chair next to her bed, I think I would have fainted on the spot. And the maid… I only noticed her after Olivia addressed her directly. Had she also been waiting for me to open the door? Considering there was no other entrance, if she didn’t just crawl through the window, that is.
“R-really now, Ehm, what did he say?”
Unnoticed by me, Olivia’s smile grew a bit wider.
“Well, this and that. How beautiful your hair is, how the red in your eyes is even more intense than the setting sun… Oh…”
By this point, I was sweating buckets. What the heck is she talking about? Did Janus really say all that? And not just to anyone but his mom? Is he crazy? Does he have any Idea about how that sounds?
“Hehehe, I’m joking, dear. This was mostly what others have said." Oh, sigh, good... wait, mostly “…And of course I have to thank you for what you did for Averall, Joel, and Fiona. Of course, I really can’t thank you enough.”
Okay, stay calm… just… make it look as if you aren’t startled by what she is saying. Okay? Oh, who am I kidding? Even I wouldn’t buy my shoddy performance. Still, I tried to sound calm and collected… as much as possible.
“You really don’t have to thank me for what I did for Averall and Fiona; I did it so people could see that I’m useful. I didn’t really have any altruistic motives…”
“You are too modest.”
“As for what happened with Joel… I feel like we are even. Even if I had to help him against those Idiots.”
“Again, dear, don’t be too modest. Some people might take offense at that. You healed Fiona’s allergies, something considered impossible. You regrew a hand in seconds. Even the pope just manages to regrow a mere finger over months of effort, and it lacks a fingernail and can’t even move. Averall even said it is better than his old hand. And Joel… Sigh, his heart is at the right spot. Even when he steers off course, he always comes back. The last time he visited, he was deeply troubled whether you and he are truly even now or if he still had to make amends.”
Now that I heard it all laid out to me, I must admit I’m awful at staying low.
“But as much as I enjoy talking to you, I believe it is better if we get to business.”
I took a deep breath and nodded.
“Be honest with me… can you heal me?”
She tried to act composed, but a slight crack in her voice revealed her nervousness. She must have been rejected many times in the past, but hearing about what I could do must have, against her own better judgment, given her hope.
“I think I can, but I will have to examine you first. Could you give me your hand, please?”
Her hand was as thin as a skeleton’s, and many of the muscles had begun to atrophy long ago.
“Could you also tell me how your symptoms differ from others or how long it has been like this?”
“I have always been a bit weak and fainted easily, but it only got this bad after Janus was born. I would have died during childbirth if not for Master Roland. He said that my heart had been damaged and that he would only be able to mend it. But he couldn’t fully restore it. As for my symptoms, I have low blood pressure and fall asleep all the time. I faint from any kind of exercise, and I keep… I keep having memory issues.”
“!!!” Maid Bella had been calm preparing our tea during the rehearsal right until the last part.
“I’m sorry, Bella, that I haven’t told you I… I just hoped it would get away, I…” Tears were falling down Olivia’s face as she made her confession.
Now that I look at her, Bella must be just as old, if not older than Olivia; they looked more like lifetime friends than master and servant. But Bella didn’t show more than a slight jolt in her shoulders. But I could see by the way her fingers were digging into her dress that it affected her a lot.
“It must have been around the time Averall lost his hand. I accidentally called Fiona Maggy, and I couldn’t understand what she even meant with her being Fiona, and then a day later, it all came back, and I remembered.”
While Bella and Olivia had their emotional episode, I was done scanning her. Olivia’s heart has been severely damaged. The problems in her youth stemmed from a defective Heart valve. The Problems after she gave birth were most likely due to the heart valve rupturing during the birth due to tissue weakness and a high spike in blood pressure in between contractions. Her memory loss thankfully seemed to have no actual cause. In all likelihood, it came from stress and a lack of sleep. I let go of her hand, the last shimmer of green light dissipating into her body.
“I’m done.”
“What? This fast. Ehm, what do you think?”
“Can you save Madam Olivia?”
“I already did. Your heart is as good as new. The memory loss was most likely just from the stress you were enduring when Avarell lost his hand. And with enough rest and physical therapy, you will soon be able to run through your garden once again.”
After my shocking statement, one could only hear the birds sing through the slightly adjacent window.