Chapter 13
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Countess and Postpartum Care (4)
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"Really, if I just follow exactly what you say, I can go back to how I looked before getting pregnant?"
"I promise."
"...I'll trust you. Honestly, I have no other choice. There are only three weeks left until I have to appear before everyone with the baby. It really is possible, right?"
"Of course, Madam. I'll make sure you can stand tall in front of them all."
I now understood why the countess had been so anxious she couldn't even touch her food.
'After the baby is born and four weeks pass, they have to receive a blessing at the temple? Sounds like a birth registration.'
I asked around later, and they said the specific religion didn't matter much.
Even atheists could have the birth blessing ceremony, so it seemed more like a custom than anything religious.
And one more thing. Dominic might not have known, but this blessing ceremony was a massive source of stress for noblewomen.
Swelling lingered, fat hadn't fully melted away, pregnancy had altered their figures and posture, joints weakened, hair fell out in clumps, and skin lost its elasticity noticeably.
Countess Sinclair had been a leading figure in high society before her pregnancy, hosting social events herself, so these changes must have hit her even harder.
'Time is the problem.'
Three weeks.
It was a burden to solve everything in three weeks, but Dominic reassured himself that he could find a way somehow.
* * *
"You're back again!"
"Doing well?"
The moment the countess approved, he headed straight to the kitchen. The head chef greeted him warmly, even though they'd only met a few times.
"Is the Old Lord still up in the tower?"
"Seems like it. We take his meals there every day. But I heard you've taken over the Madam's menu too?"
"Word travels fast."
"You're not really after my job, right?"
"Wouldn't dream of it."
The head chef checked one more time that his position was safe before opening the ingredient storeroom.
"You always get the freshest supplies, right?"
"Of course! It's stocked with the best from our territory. Look around and ask if anything catches your eye."
"Thanks."
Once the head chef left, Dominic began seriously inspecting the ingredients and pondering the menu.
"Hmm... Let's see..."
His expression turned grave.
'To reduce swelling, cut sodium first. Boost potassium and minerals. Postpartum puffiness usually fades in a month anyway, so proper food management should show quick results. The issue is I can't skimp on nutrition...'
She'd just given birth, so her body had lost massive amounts of nutrients—especially protein and iron. With breastfeeding in the mix, eating well was crucial above all else.
But "eating well" clashed directly with the goal of regaining her pre-pregnancy weight, and Dominic's deliberation stretched on longer and longer.
"Is the Madam's issue bigger than the Old Lord's?"
Ian, who'd been quietly watching, spoke up.
"Hmm, well. In terms of severity, the Old Lord was worse—gout's a clear disease. But that's exactly why it was easier to plan his diet. A defined problem means a clear solution."
"I'm no expert on food or nutrition, but from what I see, the Madam's problem looks pretty clear too."
"The swelling?"
"Yeah. I nearly didn't recognize her."
"Swelling's an issue, but the real goal is recovering her pre-pregnancy figure. And we need to boost her appetite too... Not easy."
"Can't you tackle it one step at a time?"
"Pardon?"
"In training, I only think about the next thing ahead. Knock them down one by one, and you reach the goal. Wondering if this can't be handled the same way."
Ian's words cleared the fog in Dominic's mind like a sudden breeze.
'Right—final goal is final goal. Focus on swelling first!'
Thinking back, the countess hadn't completely hidden her postpartum changes from the lord.
She'd only started secluding herself once the swelling kicked in!
'Made a simple thing too complicated.'
Dominic thought that knight could be helpful at times, after all.
The menu direction was set.
* * *
"Good morning, Madam Monica."
"Can I really eat this, Emily?"
"Just try it for a few days. The Old Lord trusted him with meals too, so he can't be a total fraud. And you said that seaweed he supplies tastes good."
"Well..."
Monica sighed, staring at her puffy arms and legs.
They looked even worse than yesterday. Her wrists were completely invisible!
"I must have eaten too much during pregnancy."
As she grumbled and glanced at the breakfast sent from the kitchen, Emily whisked away the tablecloth.
"...This is an unusual spread."
"Yeah. Is that rice?"
The table held a neat Korean-style full-course meal.
The reason was simple.
'Gotta do it my way. School lunch style is unbeatable.'
Dominic figured sticking to what he knew would minimize mistakes over risking something new when he couldn't even calculate calories properly.
Brown rice packed with black beans led the way, followed by seaweed soup simmered overnight with perilla seeds, a warm salad of steamed assorted vegetables, a light soy-braised dish of lotus root and peanuts, grilled semi-dried fish, and radish namul lightly tossed in roasted sesame oil.
'Smells good, but...'
Her usual breakfast was strong black tea mixed with warm milk, sweetened heavily with honey and cream, plus a few dessert pieces and dried fruits.
To her, this meal looked overwhelmingly portioned. And the namul, rice, soup, and dried fish weren't her typical fare, making it feel foreign enough to hesitate.
"He insisted you drink this after every meal. From now on, one cup after each meal and before bed."
"What's this?"
"Pumpkin infusion, I think..."
"Pumpkin boiled down? What's that mean?"
"No idea..."
"Let's just eat. We'll know once we try."
Slurp—.
"Hm?"
Monica Sinclair, the countess, took a spoonful and felt the seasoning was somehow off.
"Emily, has fasting messed up my taste buds? It seems a bit bland."
"He said he made it lightly seasoned on purpose."
"On purpose?"
"Yes. Helps the swelling go down faster."
"Well, then..."
The meal lasted about twenty minutes.
It wasn't perfectly seasoned, but after days without proper food, a long, satisfied sigh escaped Monica's lips.
"Feels like my body's warming up a bit. Full stomach's making me sleepy... Maybe a quick nap?"
"Ah... well..."
"What? Can't I?"
"He said to take a light walk for at least thirty minutes after eating."
The maid fidgeted as she spoke.
"...Fine, we said we'd follow his instructions."
A vein faintly pulsed on her forehead, but breaking the promise on day one wasn't an option, so she dragged her reluctant feet.
She didn't want the castle staff seeing her like this, so she circled the drawing room and bedroom endlessly.
'I'm doing exactly as told—if this doesn't work, that guy's done for!'
After her longest walk in months, sweat broke out, her face flushed, and fatigue settled in, breeding resentment toward Dominic.
"Thirty minutes up, Madam Monica."
"Huff, huff. Was my stamina always this bad?"
"It's been ages since you moved that much. I have water ready. Wash up first."
"Yeah. Let's do that."
"Um..."
"What now?"
Irritation bubbled up automatically.
"Long baths aren't good... No more than ten minutes soaking."
"Grr... No choice, then."
The countess regretted summoning that guy.
* * *
"Whoa! This is too spicy!"
"If it's spicy, don't eat it. It's mine—why's everyone grabbing forks?!"
"Make it less spicy next time, Village Chief."
"Argh, I said it's my snack!"
At that moment in the kitchen, workers were devouring Dominic's tteokbokki nonstop, while he desperately fought to save even a bite.
After handling meals for the lord's family and castle staff, with the kitchen finally quiet, Dominic whipped up tteokbokki again.
'Second time's a breeze after the first.'
He'd been craving the tteokbokki he'd left behind uneaten before being summoned, tossing and turning all night, only for it to get snatched away.
"But thanks to us, you learned something important. Can't even share a snack?"
"That's that, this is this... Fine! Mood of the moment. I'm earning a gold coin a week now—can't be stingy. Heh."
These were the folks who'd helped when he briefed the countess's maid on the diet and precautions.
[A bath after walking should be fine, right? She loves bathing so much.]
[Yes. Good for recovery.]
[Phew, great! She'd have been furious if that was off-limits too.]
Then a kitchen maid chimed in.
[Gotta prepare plenty of hot water, then. Two full tubs like usual?]
[Yeah, set it up that way.]
[Hold on! Why two tubs?]
[Madam Monica takes long baths. Water cools midway, so we swap...]
[No way!]
A light half-bath aided recovery and metabolism, helping with swelling, but excess was worse than none.
She'd lost a lot of blood from birth—low blood pressure would be dangerous. Forcing heat and sweat wasn't good for swelling either.
"Lucky break. Learned a key fact by chance."
"Surviving keeps the luck coming. Knight, if bad stuff piles up, think 'I've been living wrong' and reflect."
"Tch!"
Ian had picked a fight verbally but couldn't win with words, as usual.
* * *
Meanwhile, the countess finished her bath three times faster than usual and felt oddly lighter.
"Shall I give you a massage, Miss?"
"I said it hurts."
"You still need it..."
"...Village Chief's orders again?"
She hadn't skipped massages entirely since the swelling started.
But pain outweighed relief, so she'd stopped. Enduring it now? For someone used to luxury, it felt like torture.
"Eek! ...Ugh..."
But how much time passed?
The endless pain began to ebb, replaced by a refreshing coolness spreading through her body.
Then her eyelids grew heavy.