"Lidi collapsed. Bring the court physician immediately!"

When the emergency telepathic communication from His Highness came, in a hurry I summoned the court physician exclusive to royalty.
The court physician is a man over 60 with grizzled hair. He"s the most skilled physician in this country.
When he heard the story from His Highness, he concluded that Princess Consort"s condition was caused by fatigue and stress.

"Please let her sleep at ease. The fever will go down before long"

With gentle eyes the court physician informed His Highness who wouldn"t leave Princess Consort"s side no matter what.
He too understood how much Princess Consort means for His Highness by his att.i.tude as he anxiously walked about during the examination.
Leaving behind some advice and various medicine, he withdrew.

"I"ll nurse Lidi"

Although the topic of taking Princess Consort back to her parent"s home came up, due to His Highness"s firm opposition the proposal ultimately wasn"t adopted.
Lord Alexei, who backed down with an amazed expression, said, still with the same expression.

"Can you really nurse. You haven"t been ill once"
"No matter. I don"t intend to leave Lidi in anybody else"s care"

As His Highness decisively said full of dignity, saying "Yes yes, indeed. Do it properly" Lord Alexei shrugged his shoulders and left.
Who was left was Princess Consort sleeping on the bed and His Highness. With me, there was a total of three people.
I mustn"t get in the way. With that thought, I tried withdrawing.

"Clara"
"Yes"

I was called to a halt by His Highness sporting an extremely serious face.
Seeing that expression I bowed my head and took the position to listen to an order. He might instruct me to do something important.
―――― Right, for example to contact His Majesty.

But, the words that reached my ears as I bowed even further went beyond my expectations.

"… Um, see. How should I nurse her?"
"… Your Highness?"
"No, although I spoke proudly to Alex, as a matter of fact I don"t know what I should do…"

Where did High Highness, who just a while ago made a declaration full of dignity, go.
His Highness, who asked me so while anxiously stealing glances at Princess Consort, seems like a completely different person.
Or rather, I"ve never seen His Highness like this.
His Highness, who"s famous even in other countries as flawless, is at a loss because he doesn"t know how to nurse his fiancée.
His Highness looked a little vexed, still he chose to ask for instructions over doing strange things. I thought it was just like him to make that choice.

"Certainly, Your Highness. I will cooperate"
"Thank you, I"m saved"

It was so heartwarming to see His Highness"s relief that while I still bowed, the corners of my mouth rose.
I never would have imagined I would witness such His Highness"s figure.
When he"s with Princess Consort, His Highness"s humanity comes out more and more.
I wonder if His Highness knows it"s become a popular topic between soldiers that recently His Highness has become easy to talk to.
Everybody is saying. That it"s thanks to Princess Consort. I think so too.
When I raised my head, I saw His Highness motionlessly gazing at the sleeping Princess Consort.
Seeing that, I decided.

"Your Highness. Shall we begin at once"

For His Highness"s sake too, I had no intention of holding back.

At the time I had undertaken the task I thought it to be simple, but contrary to my expectations the guidance was a surprisingly rough pa.s.sage.

"Your Highness, it makes no sense to put on several comforters"

I objectively pointed out the truth.
His Highness tilted his head at my words.

"Is that so? But, actually Lidi is s.h.i.+vering…"
"Please first recognize that Princess Consort has been buried in comforters"
"Aah!? Lidi!"

Seeing Princess Consort"s state as she groaned, His Highness hurriedly tore off the comforters.
But perhaps due to his impatience, he tore off all of them and this time Princess Consort"s body curled up from cold.

"Your Highness. Please calm down. What is your intention in removing everything"
"… It was unintended. Sorry"

I taught dispirited His Highness how to use the right number of comforters and blankets.
His Highness nodded many times, and did as instructed.
… How should I put it, my head hurts.

The one who gladly nodded to His Highness asking to teach him nursing was of course me.
But with His Highness doing overly absurd things my headache doesn"t stop.
I wondered what to do at the time he produced a spring onion to wrap around Princess Consort"s neck saying he"d read about it in the literature.

"T, that"s what you use for a cold. Besides, there"s no need to wrap it around directly!"
"Aah, I see"

When I instructed him to prepare water that"s as cold as possible to cool Princess Consort"s forehead as she suffered from high fever, it ended with him freezing water with magic.

"It"s better when it"s cold, right?"

Of all people, I was rendered speechless for an instant.
Hurriedly I came back to my senses and spoke.

"… Please think about the purpose. Like this, towels cannot be wetted"
"I see, you use it to wet towels. Indeed… Then, should I do this"
"That"s right"

As long as he"s taught, he"ll understand. That aspect is just like His Highness.
Once he hears something, he understands and never makes the mistake again.
As a student he"s beyond excellent. But…
I can"t keep up with the events taking place in front of me.
Once again I pointed out to His Highness.

"Your Highness, you are wringing the towel too much. Isn"t it practically dry"
"Nn? Aah, is it necessary to leave in suitable moisture…"

Mmhm, I nodded His Highness. Of course, this time he didn"t fail.
But, I felt like giving up when looking happy about doing well His Highness began stacking towels on Princess Consort"s forehead.

"Your Highness. There"s no need to stack several towels. What"s important is to check the towel"s temperature and replace it often"
"Because it gets lukewarm right away. I understand"

Anyway, it feels like every single thing is like this.
Whenever he does for the first time, he strangely misunderstand something.
I"m slowly getting tired, but seeing how earnest His Highness is, it"s hard to tell him that I"ll do it instead so he should just obediently watch.
I patiently trained him from A to Z.

"Sorry. Somehow me and illnesses don"t go together, so I"m unfamiliar with this aspect…"

After finis.h.i.+ng with everything, perhaps aware of his shortcoming, he honestly apologized.
But, of course there"s no need for my Lord, His Highness, to apologize.

Since I understand His Highness"s feelings of wanting to take care of his beloved by himself, I"m not reluctant to cooperate. Saying No I shook my head.

"Do not mention it. I believe Princess Consort will be delighted"

When I said it from the bottom of my heart, His Highness bashfully smiled.
If I can see such gentle expression from His Highness, I don"t mind making as many efforts as it takes.

"I just don"t want to leave it to others. Clara, I"m fine now. From now on I"ll do it alone. I"m sorry, but could I leave it to you at least when I"m at work"
"Naturally"

I"ve already taught what needed to be taught.
Even without me around there"s nothing to worry about.
His Highness who has mastered everything this time will nurse Princess Consort perfectly.
All that"s left is to withdraw as to not disturb him.
Bowing I left the room.
The moment I closed the door, I saw His Highness go down on his knees on Princess Consort"s side and hold her hand.
I could tell that scene naturally brought a smile to my face.

"Please wake up soon"

Muttering in my mind, I quietly closed the door.