Kitanna
Chapter 141: SOMETHING TOXIC

Chapter 141: SOMETHING TOXIC

[MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: DARLING ~LEWIS FITZGERALD]

Bareea lay on her bed; she had been feeling sick for the past few days, but it didn’t get worse until this morning. Her head burned as tears welled up in her eyes. She finally sat up from her bed, scanning the room to check on her son. Little Labre was still fast asleep, his breathing steady and calm.

"Who is there?" Bareea called for the lady-in-waiting.

"Greetings, Lady Bareea," The maid appeared immediately, with her head bowed.

Bareea rubbed her temples; she felt her forehead burn seriously, and it was making her dizzy. "Get the royal physician to come and check on me quickly." Her voice sounded husky and tired.

The maid bowed and disappeared through the door, going to search for the royal physician as it looked like the concubine was very sick. Coming back now with the royal physician, the maid was stopped by a noble woman.

"Is someone not feeling fine?" Panha asked worriedly.

The maid bowed before speaking, "Lady Bareea asked me to get the royal physician to look at her."

"Bareea?" The maid and Panha turned to look at the person who had just spoken.

"Bareea asked for a physician; is anything wrong with the baby? Let’s go, be fast." Larel, who overheard their conversation as she was going to have breakfast, interjected, rushing towards the room with others following her behind.

Bareea was surprised to see the number of persons stepping inside her room. She only asked for the royal physician, but two more persons came inside the room with him. She smiled at Panha but kept an indifferent look when she locked eyes with Larel.

"Bareea, is anything wrong with Labre?" Larel asked, not minding that she was not welcomed in the room.

Bareea twitched her lips, then she said, "My son is perfectly okay. I am the one that needs the check-up." She replied, waving for the physician to come to her side.

Larel nodded her head, her mouth shaped in an O. She was happy nothing was wrong with the baby.

"Lady Bareea, you should have told me if you had any discomfort, and I was on my way to call you for prayers at the shrine," Panha said sweetly, going over to sit close to Bareea.

Bareea smiled, "I didn’t want to bother you, but I’m glad you are here now."

Larel stood still at her position. She didn’t know why their new guest was suddenly approaching Bareea, being all friendly. And the young concubine is slow when analyzing humans, which is why she is always a target.

After the royal physician was done checking Bareea’s pulse, he applied some ointment on her neck which caused a purple vein to now appear there. The physician dropped his equipment and stood properly facing the concubine.

"What is wrong with me?" Bareea asked, noticing the worried look on the physician’s face.

Looking at the scribbling he made on his medical parchment, the physician answered by saying, "Lady Bareea, you have been exposed to something very toxic which is now affecting your system." The man diagnosed.

Bareea stood up immediately, her eyes widened in shock. "I’ve been poisoned!," she shouted, moving her eyes away from the physician to look at Larel.

Larel noticed the eyes her cowife had on her. Of course, if she was poisoned in the past, everyone would suspect her because they would say she did it out of jealousy. But today, what was she poisoning Bareea for?, when she was living a happier life than her.

"It was you, right? You’re still angry that I took away your husband and gave him an heir. Was that why you rushed in here to see if I had kicked the bucket? Larel!!! I used to look up to you; you allowed jealousy to eat you up so easily." Bareea spat, cursing at Larel internally.

She turned to face the royal physician, "Get me the antidote; I will show you Larel that I’m a survivor." She affirmed.

The elderly man in charge of the royal family’s health check scratched his hair gently. The young concubine had not allowed him to finish talking, and she jumped into a conclusion. He didn’t want to embarrass her with his next statement, but he had to anyway. After all, it was not his fault that she chose to run her mouth.

"Actually, Lady Bareea, being poisoned is a different case. What I meant by being exposed to it, is that you’ve been working with something toxic or poisonous, thereby inhaling it. And it’s seeping into your blood; if you have been using any toxic chemicals, avoid it." The man stated, being mindful of his use of words because it appeared that the concubine was in a foul mood.

Bareea paused her lips, confusion marring on her forehead. "I haven’t been exposed to anything toxic; are you sure it’s not me being poisoned?" She questioned to make sure the physician was not wrong.

"I am sure, Lady Bareea, and because of it, you need to stay away from Labre for some time so it doesn’t affect his health." The royal physician completed packing his tools ready to leave the room.

Bareea looked utterly confused; she had never had any reason to get close to anything that would harm her. Her brows marred in worry, the news now sinking deep in her skull. "Does that mean I’m going to....." She trailed scared of completing the words.

Panha shook her head, "Refrain from saying such. The physician only said you have been exposed to it; that doesn’t mean you can’t stop touching or going near things that would harm your health. With time, you’ll bounce back again." She acted as a sweet comforter, standing up to console Bareea.

Labre’s mother nodded, now feeling reassured. "You are right, but who do I leave my son with?" The concubine frowned when her eyes settled on Larel. She still felt the other woman had a hand in whatever that was happening to her because she hadn’t spent time outside except going to the shrine.

"You don’t have to worry about that; I’ll take care of him until you’re fully recovered. Let’s still go to the shrine and pray." Panha suggested.

Bareea felt so happy, "I’m sorry for being a bother. Like you said, fate brought us together." She held Panha’s hands closely to her own; the feeling of having a friend satisfied her. But the concubine was unaware of the impending doom that was now knocking on her door.

Larel couldn’t take this madness anymore, she said. "Excuse me, Chief Panha, I would love to talk to Bareea alone." She said getting the two women’s attention to herself.

Panha bowed and left the room, leaving the two women to talk. Inside the room, Larel stood still at her position, with her hands akimbo.

"Bareea, why would you leave your son to a total stranger, even if you don’t trust me? You can allow the princess to look after him. I can’t allow that woman to watch over Labre." Larel remarked.

Bareea let out a small chuckle, "You can’t even hide it anymore. How much you want to steal my son away from me. You think I don’t know your plans; once I give him to the princess, you’ll go behind and run your mouth so that my son would be yours? Why don’t you bear your own child and stop hovering around...."

Wham!

The sound on Bareea’s cheek resounded in the room as the concubine held her face in shock. She didn’t expect the calm and peace-loving Larel to deliver such a harsh slap on her face.

"I’ve allowed you to run your mouth on several occasions not because I don’t know what I’m doing, but because I still want us to have a reasoning and understanding between us. For the sake of your son, but you have gone too far. This would be the last time I’ll ever worry myself for your case since you have toned your life to be foolish forever." Larel turned, leaving behind the shocked woman who hadn’t seen the slap coming as she was busy wagging her tongue.

"Just wait, Larel, when my son becomes king, you’ll be my maid." Bareea muttered, holding her cheeks where the impact was made, tightly.