I wanted nothing more than to go through my forms to relieve the tension from my trip home. But Fabia and I still had an appointment with Baron Viktor this afternoon. So, I cast Cleanse on myself, dressed in my professional cloak and waited for the Baron’s carriage to arrive.

  Fabia and I arrived at Baron Viktor’s house and were immediately ushered into his wife’s bedroom. Apparently, noble husbands and wives had separate bedrooms. I had to ask myself, what was the point, really what was the point. Oh well, new world, new rules. Let it go, I thought to myself. Anyway, sleeping arrangements were not the reason for our visit. The Baroness Marika of House Vontoven looked to be a very sick woman, who was in obvious discomfort. She continuously shifted in her bed. Her arms and legs were like sticks. Her ribs showed through her sleeping robe. She must have been sick a long time.

  I asked the Baroness for consent to proceed. She agreed. I cast Diagnose. She didn’t have a disease; the Healers were lying their asses off, again. Damn them. She was cursed with a wasting curse. Unless the curse was removed, she would continue to waste away and eventually die. The end may not be painful but it would be filled with hopelessness. That might be worse than pain. No amount of standard treatment would mitigate her wasting away. Curses were the worst. They were hard to remove, meaning multiple attempts and took an inordinate amount of mana. They were the worst.

  Because of her weak condition, I cast Heaven’s Heal on her, hoping to give her body strength to withstand the removal of the curse. I then cast Cure All on her. No reason to waste time and every reason to hurry. The Baroness drew in a deep shuddering breathe as Cure All removed the curse from her flesh. The Baron, holding her hand, looked at her with great concern. I cast Diagnose again. The curse was reduced a great amount but not gone. Another casting should remove it entirely.

  However, her weakened condition was made even worse from the first Cure All, and casting it again might do permanent damage without help. So, I cast Heaven’s Heal on her again. I made Heaven’s Heal focus on her core health, ensuring she was strong enough to withstand the next Cure All. After a minute, letting her adjust to her new health, I cast Cure All again. Another shuddering breath, followed by easy deep breathing. I cast Diagnose again to verify the wasting curse was gone. It had completely disappeared, but I did notice a slight anomaly in her lower regions.

  I cast Diagnose again focusing on the anomaly. That dirty old man. Okay, he wasn’t old, but you get the point. The Baroness was pregnant. Okay, another round of Heaven’s Heal to ensure she was healthy all over. The pregnancy was strong, so no additional help needed there.

  “The Baroness is free from her malady. She will need peaceful rest, but not bed rest. She should start walking around to regain her strength. I recommend plenty of food, rest and exercise, walking, for the next few weeks. She’ll be weak for a few weeks as she regains her strength, but her muscles need to recover, and walking every day will facilitate her strength’s return. Now, Baron, if you don’t mind, I need to speak to the Baroness in private to discuss a delicate matter, then I need to talk to you afterwards.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “The Baron and I have no secrets; you can speak freely to us both.” Marika quickly said.

  “Do you have children?”

  “We have not been blessed so far, Viktor has a son from his first wife, but he doesn’t live here. It’s just the two of us.” She said and then looked lovingly into Viktor’s eyes. Viktor returned the love.

  “Then I am happy to say that you are with child, Baroness. It is a strong pregnancy and you should carry it with no issues, but you must follow the instructions I leave with the Baron to get stronger.”

  Both of them lit up at the mention of the pregnancy. The Baron leaned down and kissed his wife.

  I stayed and chatted with the Baron and his wife for a few minutes, handing out advise on eating the right foods and exercise. Common knowledge from Earth that wasn’t so common on Tellus Nova. The Baron and I left the Baroness to get some rest and moved to his office.

  “Baron, I have some troublesome news. It was not a disease but a curse. Someone put a wasting curse on your wife. The curse mimics a disease to prevent proper diagnosis. I don’t know how, who, or why. I only know that it was a fast-acting curse. You should conduct your own investigation into this matter. It is beyond my remit and expertise.” I told him.

  “That is, how did you put it, troublesome news. I don’t know of anyone that would want to harm my beloved. But I will get to the bottom of it. I thank you for all your efforts today and your discretion. What are the costs of your services?”

  I have saved two people’s lives from major damage (not counting adventurers) previously. The Earl and the Count’s son Jaster. Both were very laborious efforts and caused me to blackout. Both times I ended up with houses. This time, I did not pass out. It was still tiring, but I don’t think it warranted more property. So, what should the price be?

  “I am glad to have been helpful in removing the curse. While it was not easy, it was not the hardest lifesaving effort I have had to deal with. The hardest was the Earl ’s and he gave me Covern House for my efforts. I received the artifact Arem’s Defense from the Viscount Corville for saving and restoring his son. However, I passed out from both of those efforts, which I certainly did not do here.” I said with a smile. Doing some quick calculations in my head, I came up with a figure of 50 gold pieces. “I believe 50 gold would be reasonable. It is quite a discount from my earlier commissions, but I did not put my life in danger either. Do you find this amount acceptable?”

  The Baron was a little pale when I mentioned Covern House and Arem’s Defense but recovered when I only asked for 50 gold. That was still a large sum of money, but much less giving me a house or artifact. “Certainly, that is a reasonable cost for saving my wife’s life and I will gladly pay it. I can have my people drop it by tomorrow after the bank opens.”

  Damn, there’s a bank in Forest Glen. I didn’t know that banks even existed in Tellus.

  “That would be appreciated, Baron. Now if you don’t mind, I will take my leave, as I am tired from today’s efforts.” I said as I got up from my chair. I shook hands with the Baron and left. Fabia met me in the reception area. The Baron lent us his carriage for the trip back to Covern House. “Tomorrow, I want to set up an account with a bank. Please make an appointment for the morning, if possible.”

  “Yes, I will do that.” Fabia replied, making a note in her book.