I rolled up my sleeve to emphasize my point. Mami"s skin and the rest of the people in this country"s were three shades lighter than mine. My ethnicity blessed me with brown skin although mine was still considered fair by Filipino standards."I also can speak two other languages," I said.
"You think you can fool us?" Mami looked at me with narrowed eyes. Her sneer coupled with her safflower tainted lips and blackened teeth made her look a teeny tiny bit scary.
"Since you don"t believe me, then I might as well prove it to you," I spoke in English. "Why do you look so surprised? You really thought I was bluffing?"
She gaped at me, not knowing what to say. I suddenly had a lightbulb moment. I closed my eyes then slowly opened them. Without breaking eye contact with her, I spoke in my mother tongue, "Tingnan natin kung di ka pa maniwala. Hindi lang wikang Inggles at Hapon ang kaya kong bigkasin[1].
"W-what are you saying?" she looked at me with wide eyes.
I ran a finger to her cheek. "O, bakit takot na takot ka[2]?" I felt her shudder under my touch. "Hindi naman kita inaano[3], ah?"
"Are you cursing me?" she looked very afraid. "Are you chanting a spell?"
I laughed. "What do you think did I just say, Lady Mami?" I spoke in j.a.panese again.
"If something happens to me, you"ll be to blame!" she glared at me, her hands balled into fists on her sides. "We have several witnesses! They all saw what you did!"
I raised my brows, feigning innocence at her words. "I didn"t even do anything!" I looked behind me, "Right?" my servants as well as Ayaka"s all nodded in agreement.
"You"re all in this together!" she gritted her teeth, she was so angry she staggered. Her servants hurried to steady her.
"Lady Mami, you must be tired. Why don"t you return to your quarters?" I tried to take her hand but she stared daggers at me. "I"ll take care of Lady Ayaka while you rest."
"This is not the end of this!" she held on to her head maid"s arm for support. "I"ll make sure the shogun knows of this when he gets back, you witch!"
My mouth twitched but I didn"t say anything. When the last of her servants left the room, I hurriedly went to Ayaka"s bedroom to check on her.
The twins examined her while I anxiously waited on the side. "How is she?"
"Her fever is too high, my lady," Tsubaki said. "The concoction we brewed for her won"t work if her temperature is this high."
"Has any of you called the palace"s physician?" Ryuko-san asked Ayaka"s head maid, Miyuki.
The girl nodded her head. "We have but unfortunately she is currently in her hometown visiting her family."
"Does the shogun know this?" Ryuko-san asked.
"Yes, she was granted permission by Lord Kaname."
"What about the rest? Surely she"s not the only person knowledgeable in medicine in the palace?" I asked.
"They brought some medicines for Lady Ayaka earlier but when I told them that she is pregnant, they took back the medicine and said that there"s nothing they can do. The medicines they initially offered shouldn"t be taken by pregnant women as it may cause miscarriage. They just advised us to wipe her body with a damp cloth until the fever subsides."
"Nanami, Tsubaki, what should we do?" I asked as I wiped Ayaka"s sweaty forehead with the damp cloth.
"My lady, please forgive us. Our expertise lie in toxicology, we have very little knowledge in caring for a sick pregnant woman." Nanami said, her eyes burned with helplessness.
I thought for a moment then remembered what I brought my bag. "Megumi, hand me my medicine pouch," I said. I placed its contents one by one on the low table beside Ayaka"s futon. I prayed that there"s a paracetamol inside. When I saw two familiar orange tablets, I kissed them. "Thank G.o.d there"s still some left!"
"What is that, Lady Hinata?" Miyuki asked as she and the rest of the maids gathered around to look at the tablets.
"These are tablets of paracetamol. It helps treat body pain and lower body temperature. Go get me some water. We must feed one of these to Ayaka."
Miyuki and Nanami helped Ayaka into a sitting position while I opened her mouth and fed her the tablet. Ryuko-san then a.s.sisted me in making her drink the water to wash it down. Despite her stupor, Ayaka still managed to subconsciously drink the water to take the medicine.
I ordered the maids to change Ayaka"s robe as she was sweating profusely. A few minutes after taking it, the medicine started to work its magic. Ayaka"s forehead wasn"t knitted into a frown due to muscle pain anymore and her temperature had started to lower.
I decided to make her a light version of arroz caldo by making it soupy instead of thick like a congee. By eight in the evening, I woke her up to make her eat dinner.
"Delicious," Ayaka said as she gulped down the last spoonful of the thin porridge. "Mitsuki, did you watch while Lady Hinata made this? I want to eat this everyday."
Mitsuki shook her head apologetically. Ayaka was about to reprimand her but I patted her hand. "She was too worried about you to watch. No need to scold her, I"ll give her the recipe later so she can make it for you anytime you want."
"Thank you, Lady Hinata," Mitsuki bowed gratefully.
Ayaka smiled at me then yawned. "You should go back to rest," I told her before giving the remaining tablet to Mitsuki. "Give this to her in another hour. Make sure she takes it, okay?"
The maid nodded, a determined look on her face.
"Ryuko-san, please write down the recipe for the chicken and rice congee for Mitsuki." The other maids in the room hastily gave her writing tools.
"Rest well, Lady Ayaka." I smiled at the pet.i.te woman who was already snoring softly on the futon.
~~~
I was wearing my wrist watch underneath the left sleeve of my kimono. A quick check and I learned that it was already half past nine when I went back to my room.
It was an a.n.a.log watch with glow-in-the-dark hands and numbers. On the left side of the number three was a small window-like portion indicating the date. It"s been ten days since Kaname"s trip to Kai. On the seventh night he was gone, I was extremely b.u.mmed that he wasn"t able to settle things in a week. It was during bed time, when all the candles were snuffed out and only the buzzing of crickets could be heard that I missed him the most.
I wish I dreamt of him again but after that wet dream days ago, I haven"t been able to meet him in dreamland once more no matter how much I thought of him before falling asleep.
"Kaname, come home," I whispered as I hugged his pillow. "I miss you so much."
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[1] Let"s see if you still won"t believe me. English and j.a.panese aren"t the only languages I know.
[2] Why are you so scared?
[3] I"m not even doing anything