LTSV - Lost & Found 10 (Patreon)

That discussion had to wait until after Doctor Padre, the royal physician Vesper summoned, had cleared Mira to remain at home. It wasn’t that Mira was incapable of answering questions, it was that Cecily wouldn’t let her. Whatever nerves had been keeping Cecily subdued in front of Vesper evaporated when their heroine had a patient to protect and Cecily refused, respectfully, to allow anyone to question Mira until the doctor arrived, not even Vesper.

Dr. Padre wasn’t best pleased, initially, that Cecily had intervened magically until Cecily listed her actions in clinical tones and explained, “I am a second year student in the National College of Negentropy. I’ve also received an advanced certification for emergency intervention.”

“Ah, well, then that’s a relief,” Dr. Padre sighed as he mopped his brow and turned his attitude on Vesper. “You are very lucky she was here to assist in that case, otherwise the patient would be feeling much worse. The greatest danger in cases like this is from a fall, but that doesn’t make the experience at all pleasant.”

Mira was in her bed, drifting on the dregs of Cecily’s magic and some powerful sedatives while they had their conversation. The bedroom door was left open so she could hear everything, but was in no position to participate.

She listened as Dr. Padre interrogated Nanny Byrde. Everything came out; Mira’s first seizure, the initial diagnosis, then her memory loss, and Dr. Desmona’s second evaluation.

“Desmona’s a solid physician and a specialist in this area,” Dr. Padre huffed, sounding reluctant about it. “I’ll be consulting with her on the spell inscription, but I don’t know that Lister fellow. I advise against including him in Lady Violet’s treatment any further.”

“He is my family’s doctor when we’re in town. He operates a private practice in the Silver District,” Vesper explained. She’d been pacing the room since a while ago and sounded like taking the family’s business elsewhere was the least of what she had planned for Dr. Lister. “Our primary physician has an office in the barracks at home and is too far away to consult. I’ll be reconsidering our agreement with Lister’s clinic.”

“Do so,” Dr. Padre said. “Your sister could have died if she followed his orders. I’m not even confident that you should allow her to be seen by your barracks doctor again either. I saw where Desmona treated part of her skull. Head injuries can still kill days, years, or even decades later. She’s alright to remain here for now. I’d rather have her in a quiet environment, especially if there's a qualified Negentropy student on hand to administer emergency aid. Given the severity of this most recent seizure, I will be encouraging an aggressive treatment plan with Desmona. If you’ll authorize it, I’d like my office to take over Lady Violet’s primary care while she’s in town.”

“Yes, of course,” Vesper paused in her restless roaming. “I have every faith in the Royal Institute —and you’re certain this is a complication of her old injury? I was given to understand by my father that she only had a mild concussion. Is there any chance that her condition is congenital?”

“No, my lady,” Dr. Padre said, shaking his head. “All traumatic brain injuries have a chance of triggering a chronic condition such as Lady Violet’s, especially when they’ve been misdiagnosed and gone untreated. Desmona was dispatched in response to your call for a reason. Even if I missed such a thing in my examination, she wouldn’t have. With both of us in agreement, there’s little to no chance that the young lady was born this way. It’s more likely that her childhood injury was more severe than you were led to believe.”

Vesper exhaled slowly, but with relief. “Then it can be treated,” she said and laid a hand over her heart. “Good, good. I will place my faith in your diagnosis then, doctor.”

“You do me too much honor,” Dr Padre said, sounding gruffly shy about it. “I have some instructions for Lady Violet’s servants and recommendations for Miss Cecily…”

Mira drifted off as he started explaining his instructions for her care and did not wake up again until it was much too late to call for anyone.

000 

The next morning was awful. All the progress Mira had made in her recuperation had evaporated in a puff of smoke and disappointment. She needed help to do everything and was plagued by a persistent weakness that only served to irritate her.

One good thing that came out of the entire affair was that there was no more talk of Cecily leaving. Vesper visited Mira the morning after to explain that she’d taken over the tab on Mira’s suite and expanded their reservation to include two more bedrooms and a study.

“I’ll be staying with you for the time being and working from the hotel,” she explained. “The only way Dr Padre would agree for you to receive care at home was if Miss Cecily or a dedicated assistant remained on hand to monitor your condition. She has agreed and I will be interviewing potential aides for you later this afternoon. I have a candidate in mind, but they may not be available.”

“Can’t Nanny or Anna do it?” Mira asked. The word ‘aide’ was bothering her, like there was something she ought to know, but she felt too sick to think about it in detail. She just wanted to sleep until she felt better.

“Anna’s duties already keep her busy,” Vesper replied as she paged through the leather folio she’d brought with her. It was full of letters and summary reports that Mira assumed had to do with her job. “Nanny will also be occupied with preparing the townhouse. The inscription will ameliorate your seizures and often prevent them, but can’t stop them all entirely. You will need a permanent aide in the future. Miss Cecily will need to return to school at the end of the break.”

Well, at least that was one thing Mira had accomplished. There would be no need for the heroine to drop out of secondary school in this route. That might affect the story in unpredictable ways. She’d get into university anyway on a recommendation, but Mira was an old person at heart and believed that an uninterrupted education was a sacred right for all children–whether she liked them or not.

“Not to mention, you’ll be starting university soon,” Vesper added and Mira remembered, all at once, why the word ‘aide’ was so important.

000

‘How could I have forgotten about him?’ Mira wondered to herself after Vesper had left her to rest. 

One of the major developments in ‘Lost Daughter 2’ was the fact that Violet acquired a minion. At first, the heroine’s faction assumed that the man who attended her during the first few confrontations of the game was Cecily’s new husband, Gawain Fenby, which threw Andrei in particular for a loop because Gawain Fenby was supposed to be one of, if not the ugliest man in the Capitol. Later, after Cecily discovered that Violet never actually got married, they learned the man was really her personal assistant, Colvin Adelram.

Mira squirmed under her blanket, fighting the rising heat in her face. Colvin represented a lot of lost time for her. She’d been convinced at one point that he had a hidden route and refused to believe otherwise until the devs themselves confirmed that there was no way to convert him into a love interest. He was devoted to Violet’s service and could not be suborned. In retrospect, perhaps it was better in the long run that he was the villainess’s unshakable ally when Mira had been reincarnated as that villainess.

Maybe it was just Mira’s personal taste, but she found Colvin more interesting than the canonical capture targets, and more mysterious. It helped that he was older than the rest of the cast, although he was not of an inappropriate age to be hanging around with Violet. Teenagers annoyed Mira on a good day.

His loyalty to Violet was absolute and, even in the Bad Endings where she died, it only happened because Colvin died first. Otherwise, he could and would rescue Violet from every possible predicament the player got her into; up to and including a scene where he swung through a window on a rope to snatch her out of the path of danger like a dashing pirate. He made for a very heroic villain because he also would not hesitate to cause trouble right back for Cecily or her romance options if he thought they were paying Violet any negative attention whatsoever.

Colvin didn’t share much of his personality or motivation with the heroine, though, so Mira didn’t know what it was that Violet did to inspire such dedication in him. Presumably, that was a third game answer, but Mira supposed that she’d soon find out.

000

Mira’s energy improved later in the afternoon and Cecily did something with her magic that improved Mira’s pain levels to the point where she was able to join her sisters for lunch and have a serious discussion about their future living arrangements.

The conversation started innocuously enough when Mira asked Vesper, “Will you be staying with us in the townhouse? Nanny showed me the floor plan and there’s an office on the first level that you could use for your work.”

Vesper lowered her fork and knife, looking surprised. “That would be very convenient, if I’m welcome,” she said after a very cautious little pause. “I would feel better about matters if I could keep a closer eye on you girls, but—are you sure?” Vesper paused again, searching for the right words. “Perhaps you don’t recall, but we’ve never been close. It’s not that we ever disliked one another, at least not on my part, but we never had the opportunity to bond as children and you have always valued your privacy.”

They must have both been kept very busy, if that was the case. “I didn’t plan to share rooms,” Mira replied tartly. “I’ll have the space and it doesn’t make sense for you to room with the Crown Princess’s. How can you leave work if you live there? I’ll ask Nanny to show you the swatch books and you can both pick out the decor for your rooms. The entire building needs to be re-papered anyway.”

“Have her send me the bill for Cecily’s room as well as my own,” Vesper relaxed a little as she made the offer. “It’s only fair.”

“That’s not necessary,” Mira said and then thought better of it. “If you do want to split expenses, would you mind hiring a ladies’ maid for her? It will be easier if the main house is reimbursing you.”

“Hm,” Vesper glanced towards their sister, who was eating very quietly and very neatly while contributing nothing to the conversation. “Yes, perhaps that is for the best. Likewise, send me her other bills for school things and such. As you said, it will be easier.”

Something about her tone suggested to Mira that Vesper was also concerned that their stepmother would refuse reimbursement if the request came from Mira, but Cecily must have read something else in their subtle exchange because her hands tightened on her utensils.

“You don’t need to hire a maid for me,” she said softly, mostly to her plate. “I’m used to cleaning for myself and I have scholarship funds I can use for my own supplies.”

‘I’m sure you are used to taking care of yourself,’ Mira thought to herself as she observed Cecily’s long shirt-sleeves and high collar. Even in the cooled interior of the hotel room, she had to be burning up. Mira wondered why she didn’t just heal herself. The game never got into it, really, but Cecily could use her magic on herself and did in emergency situations. Self-healing was considered counterproductive by most Negentropy practitioners, but it was fine for minor injuries and bruises, especially if you worked bit by bit over time. The temple priests would have cleared up her most serious injuries and Cecily could have cleared up her remaining scuffs bruises at the cost of a late afternoon nap. 

Early game Cecily wouldn’t heal her bruises either, but Mira wasn’t sure if there was another reason for that. 

“You’re a Coventry now,” Vesper said, tone brooking no objection, like she herself had not only just dropped the ‘Miss’ when she addressed Cecily that very morning. “That entails a certain standard of living. A maid and school supplies are hardly a burden. Repay us with good grades. Use your scholarship to fund the research for your graduation project.”

“Oh…” Cecily turned pink. “...yes, I understand.”

Mira was willing to bet money she didn’t, but there’d be time to work on that.