Vella leaves Lenore behind when she goes to inspect the Tower branch that once housed mages studying Barrowmere and the teleportation circle that needs repairs. Her presence has been a nice distraction lately and a way to soothe the doubts that lingered in Lenore's mind about her family deciding they didn't really want to have her back.
Instead, Vella has been steadfast in the way she interacts with Lenore, straightforward and without the hidden intentions that oozed out of every motion and word her uncle said during her years spent with him. Family, it turns out, might not be all bad.
There is, however, one thing that Lenore isn't thrilled to notice.
"Did you sleep well?" She watches Alaric carefully as she takes another bite of her lunch.
It's unusual for him to join her at this time, as he tends to have some meeting or matter that needs to be taken care of before the end of the day. By extension, that often means it should be done as early as possible, and he'll eat while working on it. She suspects that he's overworking himself with the way the circles under his eyes grow increasingly dark. However, she doesn't feel like it's her place to question his work habits when she isn't contributing all that much to the duchy.
He glances at her. "I slept well enough."
He's lying. He has to be lying, and she wants to call him out on it, but she holds her tongue. "That's good."
Since he likely feels her watching him, Alaric shifts the topic for the rest of the meal. He asks her about Vella and if they're both comfortable. He checks that Vella isn't lacking anything as a guest of Barrowmere.
Lenore realizes that this is Alaric's own clumsy way of avoiding the core topic and showing his consideration at the same time. No wonder he makes such a strong ally for the emperor when it comes to politics.
Knowing that she won't get any more comments from Alaric about his obvious lack of sleep, Lenore lets him ask her questions to keep her from asking him anything. And she answers, of course, trying to figure out what she can do to help him in the meantime.
After lunch, Alaric returns to his study. Lenore, on the other hand, has Eva take her to the physician's room, learning that he lives on the estate in case of emergencies. It makes sense, and she should've realized that herself. But having rarely seen physicians when living with her uncle, she simply thought that none were close enough to summon for minor illnesses. She's no longer surprised that the truth was that he didn't care enough to get her treatment.
Lenore has seen Wirvoth, but she doesn't know much about him. As a result, it feels strange to seek him, but as long as she's the duchess, there's no reason she can't go to him for help.
His room is near the majority of the servants' bedrooms but situated by rooms that Eva tells her are for crafting and experimenting with medicine and places that he uses to store basic tonics and ointments that might be needed at any time, as well as storage for the ingredients he uses. However, Lenore doesn't see those areas. She's taken to a room that doubles as both an office and an exam room.
The door is slightly ajar, so Eva knocks on it until she hears him say, "Come in."
Wirvoth keeps his focus on the papers in front of him. "Another kitchen accident? A salve for burns is in the room to the right. The jar has a tag on it tied with a red ribbon."
"I'm not from the kitchen," Lenore says.
Turning around, Wirvoth stumbles in his rush to stand and greet her. "My apologies, Duchess."
Lenore shakes her head with her hands held up in a placating gesture. There's no way she can be offended by the actions of somebody so dedicated to their work. Plus, he's already helped her more than once since she came to Barrowmere. "It's really alright. I just wanted to ask if you have any sort of tea or medicine that helps somebody sleep."
"Are you suffering from insomnia?"
"I'm not, but I'm worried that Alaric is pushing himself too much. He looks so tired these days."
Wirvoth nods, his arms crossed over his chest as he thinks. "A remedy is simple enough to make, but he'll want to wait until the evening to drink it. An hour or two before bed would be best."
Lenore watches Wirvoth move through the rooms, gathering herbs, then crushing and mixing them. While she doesn't know a lot about medicine, she thinks that it must be a fulfilling job. Perhaps she could've tried becoming a physician in another life to help those who were hurting.
He packages the mix in a tin when he's done and hands it to Lenore. "One spoonful an hour before bed. Make it like tea."
Lenore stops herself from bowing—not that she cares about the etiquette but because she wants to break the habit to avoid embarrassing herself or Alaric during the emperor's birthday. "Thank you."
Wirvoth gives her a half-smile before he returns to his desk. "It's my job."
She stops at the kitchen to leave the medicine with them, giving the servants there the same instructions she received from Wirvoth and emphasizing that she'll pick it up herself at the scheduled time. After all, she wants to be the one to take it to Alaric as a surprise.
There's a childlike giddiness in her heart that makes her want to skip through the hallways to her chambers, but she maintains her composure. Finally—finally—she finds a way to help Alaric. If he won't take care of his health and well-being because he's too busy making sure everybody else in the duchy is cared for, then she'll be the one to take care of him.
Starting a routine for medicine, tea, nutritional soup, or whatever else he might need that day also gives her more chances to see him.
Maybe she'll be able to untangle the knot of feelings that he makes appear in her chest.