“Hey, Jenelly, are you crazy? What are you doing?”

Garcia suddenly interrupted, grabbing Jenelly by the scruff of her neck and pulling her away from Jurgen.

Jenelly, dangling from Garcia’s grip, stomped her feet and threw a tantrum.

“Sir Garcia! What do you think you’re doing! Put me down this instant!”

However, Garcia only lifted her higher while sneering.

“Even if you’re out of touch with the world from being cooped up in your tower, how could you not recognize the face of our future Duchess?”

“Eh…?! Du-Duchess?”

Jenelly’s eyes went wide as she whipped her head around to look at Vanessa. Her gaze was so intense that Vanessa felt awkward and had to avert her eyes.

“Duchess… gasp!”

As if suddenly realizing something, Jenelly covered her mouth with both hands and froze stiff.

At that moment, Garcia unceremoniously dropped her. Jenelly, who had no time to break her fall, rolled on the floor before quickly raising her head to glare at Garcia, then immediately flinched and nervously glanced at Vanessa.

She seemed somehow restless.

Just as Vanessa opened her mouth, feeling slightly frustrated—

“I’M SORRY!”

Jenelly’s booming shout filled the clinic. She crawled on all fours to Vanessa, prostrated herself, and began rambling incoherently.

“To think I hid behind the Duke while his future Duchess was right there… such a shameless act! I swear there is nothing between the Duke and me, I just thought he’d make good cover!”

She clearly wasn’t in her right mind. Were there only lunatics in House Drake?

“There’s really no need to worry about—”

“No! I’ll accept any punishment! If you tell me to bark like a dog, I’ll bark!”

Jenelly shouted her reply while still flat on the ground.

Garcia was clutching his stomach, chuckling at the situation, while Renee maintained his usual proper posture and expressionless face, only blinking.

Judging these two would be of no help, Vanessa silently appealed to Jurgen with her eyes.

Jurgen clicked his tongue softly before grabbing Jenelly by the scruff of her neck and lifting her up just as Garcia had done.

‘Is she really a kitten…?’

“That’s enough, Jenelly. You’re making Vanessa uncomfortable.”

At Jurgen’s intervention, Jenelly blinked blankly before suddenly making a tearful face. Then she was about to prostrate herself again while repeatedly apologizing to Vanessa.

“I’m sorry, madam! I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable… I’m truly sorry!”

Vanessa, who wasn’t even married yet but was already being called ‘madam,’ nodded with a bitter smile.

For every time she said it was fine, Jenelly would respond with “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” three times.

They said she was a recluse who stayed locked up in her tower doing research day and night, and she certainly seemed like quite an eccentric.

“Hey, Jenny. We don’t have time for this fooling around. Tell us how far you’ve gotten with the plague research.”

Garcia prodded Jenelly’s back with his elbow while urging her on. Jenelly opened her mouth as if suddenly remembering something, then glared at Garcia with fierce eyes.

“Sir Garcia! How many times have I told you not to call me that! Only family and my future spouse can use nicknames for me!”

“Oh my, yes yes. Great Mage Jenelly Rubein. I have committed a mortal sin by daring to use a nickname.”

Garcia’s skilled mockery showed he was no stranger to teasing Jenelly. When dealing with him, Jenelly was like a cat being toyed with by a fishing rod toy.

Vanessa forgot her earlier embarrassment with Jenelly and felt strong camaraderie with her. She felt they would get along well discussing how annoying Garcia could be.

“Garcia, that’s enough. Jenelly, so how much have you learned about this plague?”

As Jurgen mediated between the two, Garcia shrugged and fell silent while Jenelly gave him a sharp side-eye.

She took a slow, deep breath as if trying to control her anger, then carefully began answering Jurgen’s question.

“We’re still investigating what’s carrying the plague and where it started spreading from. As I reported, the first infected person was an eight-year-old child who was bitten on the heel by a wild animal while playing by the river in the outskirts six days ago. Though we can’t be certain that was the cause…”

Jenelly asked them to wait a moment, then brought a triangular flask from her messy desk. The colorless, transparent liquid inside sloshed as she gestured.

“The cure is under development and should be completed soon. The symptoms of this plague are similar to the ‘Dilma Disease’ that was prevalent four years ago. Though this one is more severe… fortunately, it shouldn’t be fatal… probably…”

Jenelly’s voice trailed off, uncertain. Instead of asking why, Jurgen quietly watched her.

In the silence that felt like being submerged in deep water, only glances were quietly exchanged between everyone.

After a while, Jenelly let out a soft sigh and finally revealed the reason.

“There are occasional cases where the infected have lung damage severe enough to cough up blood.”

“…I remember the Dilma Disease wasn’t that severe.”

Nodding at Jurgen’s words, Jenelly continued her explanation.

“That’s right. Back then, even in severe cases, it was just high fever, and with proper fever reducers, people could recover without major issues. But this plague particularly worsens respiratory conditions. That’s why I’m focusing on that aspect while developing the cure.”

“When do you think it will be complete?”

“At earliest, two days, or up to four days if it takes longer.”

“I see… Hurry as much as you can. If there are patients with worsening respiratory conditions as you say, we might have to clear away corpses if it snows and the temperature drops.”

The atmosphere grew heavy at these grim words. Jenelly nodded vigorously with a tearful expression.

Vanessa wanted to pat her shoulder and encourage her, but not being close, she couldn’t bring herself to try.

The next task was to meet the patients quarantined in the clinic directly.

Before going there, Vanessa used divine words to bestow vitality blessings on Garcia and Renee. It was a kind of preventive measure to keep them from catching the plague.

Also, while Garcia and Renee covered their noses and mouths with cloth and wore gloves to avoid possible infection, Jurgen and Vanessa didn’t need to. After all, the chance of a ‘Blessed One’ catching disease was extremely low.

However, Jurgen insisted that Vanessa should also wear a mask and gloves.

“The fact that you can only use one divine word is proof that the divine power affecting you is minimal. The weaker the blessing, the greater the possibility of being affected by poison or disease. So just wear them without argument.”

“No. If I appear wearing those, people will think I’m a coward. My reputation is already low enough as the princess who brings misfortune, it’ll only drop lower.”

As Vanessa kept refusing and dodging, Jurgen grabbed her firmly. When he tried to force the mask on her, Vanessa bit his hand hard.

Looking down at the bite mark on his hand, Jurgen’s expression turned fierce as he threw the mask and gloves away carelessly.

‘What temper…’

Vanessa narrowed her eyes and glared at him. Jurgen glared back coldly and snapped.

“Do as you please. If you catch the plague and die, it’ll be your own stupid fault.”

“What? Stupid?”

As Vanessa retorted in disbelief, Jurgen openly ignored her and strode past.

Vanessa pointed at him accusingly while moving her lips, then narrowed her eyes fiercely and followed with quick steps.

Following behind them, Garcia whispered to Renee walking right beside him, just loud enough for her to hear.

“Already having married couples’ quarrels. Am I right?”

“……”

Renee only gave Garcia a side-eye without responding.

Soon after, in the first ward they arrived at, there were twenty-five patients in total.

Among them, the distinction between critical and non-critical patients was clear even to the n*ked eye. The patients who were doing well were laughing and chatting with the nurses or generally had bright expressions, while those severely ill had lifeless and depressed faces as if they would die soon.

When Jurgen appeared, the patients smiled brightly as if the sun had risen in the dark night, but when they saw Vanessa beside him, their expressions turned grave as if they had witnessed the grim reaper.

It seemed the fact that Vanessa had received blessing hadn’t been made known yet. So to the people of the domain, Vanessa would be closer to a ‘witch who brings misfortune.’

Though the emotional impact wasn’t great since she knew her reputation wasn’t good, it left a bitter taste. Vanessa forced a gentle smile and carefully looked around at the patients.

Then, when her eyes met those of an elderly patient who had just woken up, a scream like a wail burst from the poor old man’s mouth.

“Ahhh! Demon! It’s a demon! That woman brought the plague to this land! Oh God, help us!”

“……!”

Vanessa unconsciously took a step back as the smile gradually faded from her lips.