Two weeks.
It only took two weeks for the combined force of Fortuna and Mallet to defeat Quebel. Quebelian army had put a good fight but they were overpowered by the invading armies. It didn't help that the people of Quebel welcome the Fortunan and Malletine armies as heroes sent to their land to free them from tyrant rule of Harald.
It just wasn't the lower classes that helped out but some of the lords as well. Their number were minuscule and mainly consisted of lords who's supported the old kingdom. The leader of the small group was Lord Valles, who went directly to Vergil to offer his help.
It was due to Lord Valles' help the war ended quicker. It was due to his information that Vergil and his elite force were able to infiltrate the palace, killing Harald and his sons.
Now that the war was over the people of Quebel began to celebrate the end of Harald's rule and the new rule of Vergil.
But for Janette, the end of the war didn't bring any comfort to her. She hadn't received any news from her mother and she fears the worst.
She now slept less than she normally did and stopped eating altogether as worry consuming her.
Vilho had forced her a couple of times to sleep with his magic.
Vilho, Debbie, Lady and even Dante forced her to eat though Vilho and Debbie only made her eat a small portion of food whilst the demon hunters made her eat whole meals.
The days continue on with no word from her mother.
Janette had lost hope from hearing from her mother so she began to mourn her loss.
Lady was the first to notice the signs of mourning and stay by Janette's side, helping her through her grieving process.
The month slowly pass, Janette's grief didn't wane but she managed to start eating again and sleeping a bit more.
Janette was now sitting at a table in Gure's Cellar having dinner with Dante. He had ordered them streak and potatoes with some vegetables. To Dante's surprise, Janette ate all of her meal.
The white hair man just watched as the brunette woman finished her meal whilst he had only halfway through his own.
"Wow! Someone was hungry," Dante commented.
"I guess my body making up for all the meals I missed," She replied to Dante as she eyed his vegetables.
Dante turned his plate so Janette could eat the vegetables off his plate easier.
"Well, a growing girl needs all of that energy," Dante joked.
Janette ignored him and continued to eat his food.
Whilst munching on carrot Janette took in the rest of the bar.
Everyone is in their little groups and clusters chatting away. It seemed that something had gotten the attention as they quickly talking and arguing about the topic.
"Everyone seems pumped up about something," Janette mumbled.
Dante looked around the busy room.
"Yeah…" Dante agreed. "I think some interesting news came out," He said.
"Interesting news?" Janette asked.
"I don't know. I don't keep on top of the news," Dante said which result in an eye-roll from his friend. "Morrison probably knows what's up," He said as he lends back on the chair to wave to the other man over from across the room.
"How may I help today Dante?" Morrison inquired.
"I'm curious about everyone talking. I'm might be out of the loop," Janette said.
"I guess you are," Morrison said before starting the news "The news that's on everyone is from Quebel. Vergil has announced his marriage to Harald's daughter," He explained.
Dante perked up at that news. Janette was also surprised that the news. She didn't know Harald had another daughter.
'She must have been born after me,' Janette thought. 'In the name of the gods, he going to marry someone about fourteen. He must be desperate to solidify his claim on the throne,'
"Oh, really?" Dante said. "Please tell us all about this princess?" He asked.
Morrison chuckled.
"Well, first off she no princess," Morrison started. "The daughter is a bastard. There's not a lot know about her as she disappeared about fourteen years ago. Most thought she was dead," He finished.
Janette processed the older man's words as she took a swig of her beer.
'…Disappeared about fourteen years ago…' Those words slowly sink in then she realised something.
"What? If everyone thought that she was dead, why is Vergil marrying her?" Dante asked.
"That's because she wrote a letter to her mother that ended up in Vergil's hands," Morrison explained.
Harald didn't have any other daughters. The woman that Vergil intended to marry was her.
Jeanette put her tanker little too hard on the table which alerted Dante and Morrison to her.
"Hey! Are you alright?" Dante asked.
Jeanette's face had gone pale.
"No," She confessed. "I suddenly feel sick," She lied as brought her hand to her mouth.
"Probably eat something bad," Morrison concluded.
Though Dante didn't look convinced by Morrison conclusion but kept quite.
"Let's get you home then," He said getting up to help Janette out of her seat.
Dante guided her out of the pub and down the street to the boarding house, where Janette stopped him outside the front door.
"I'll be alright now Dante," Janette told him.
"Don't you want me to escort you to your room?" He asked.
"No, I should be fine Dante. It's just a short walk to my room," She recurred him.
Dante was hesitated to let Janette go off by herself but her smile told him that she wanted to be left alone. So he let her go.
Dante watched as Janette passed through the fresh-hold, not leaving the front of the boarding house until a light went on in Janette's room.
Once Janette was in her room, she lite her fire using her magic. She sat on the floor in front of the fireplace with her back against her bed.
Her mind was still processing the news she heard.
Vergil, the eldest son of Legendary Dark Knight Sparda, Nelo Anglo Mallet's strongest knight and Mundus' favourite general, now King/Emperor of strongest counties in the world, future King of Quebel wanted to marry her because she carries the blood of Rose-Griffiths. And it was all her own fault.
It was because of her own letter.
'I knew I shouldn't have sent that letter!' She cursed herself. '…But… I needed to know if my mother was alive. And still don't have an answer to that!'
Panic finally started to settle.
'Oh, the gods! I bet they already tortured Oswin to find out where he sent me. They must be searching for me now,'
Janette felt the contest of her stomach rising up. She lunges forward for the bucket that she kept by the fireplace. She emptied the content of her stomach into the wooden container.
'My life…' She thought.
The life she had worked so hard to build was close to being shattered.
What should she do? Runaway and hide for rest of her life or surrendered herself to Vergil.
'No! I can't have that!'
Running for the problem wouldn't solve. And if ran away she would be breaking the oath that she made to herself and the people of Ckville. That she would protect and heal them no matter the situation.
'I'll just to fight whoever comes after me no matter what. I won't let anyone take me away from this life that I've made for myself,' Janette vowed.
The doctor knew some offensive spells that Vilho had taught her. ("There's no point in becoming a doctor if you die on the way," Vilho told her once.) And Lady had taught her a thing or two about defending one's self. Then there was also that power. The one that she inherited from her father.
Janette stared at the flames in front as she thought about that power she had inherited from that man. She reached out to the fire. The flames jumped from the hearth to the outstretched hand. Janette turned over her hand, letting the flame settle in her palm. The flame burned more brightly in her hand than when it was in the hearth. With a little twitch of her magic, Janette turned the flame blue. Janette stared at the blue in her hand for a moment before the horrible memories started to return to her. She quickly snugged out the flame before any more memories return.
Janette sighed and massage her forehead. Once the horrible memories were gone Janette started to clean the sick out of bucket then head to bed.
Once more, days start passing by. Janette kept going on with her life, always over her shoulder for Vergil's knights or soldier.
But for the moment it seemed that they hadn't found her yet.
Today the hospital was quiet. There had been no big emergency or major cases.
That week also coincided with Vilho's yearly trip to the capital to raise money for the hospital. So Janette was left in charge of the hospital during the day.
The quiet day allowed Janette to go through the paperwork that she let pile up during the week. But soon the quietness of the hospital was disturbed.
"Janette!" Debbie shouted for her.
Janette rushed from her office to see what had happened.
Laying on the floor not far from the door was a body. It was surrounded by several people, mainly city soldiers of Ckville, labourers and nurses.
The doctor moved closer to see who was on the floor.
When she was close enough to see who it was she stopped.
The person was dead. There was no mistaking it.
But what made it worst was that the person was Joe, the young city soldier who everyone trusted to get the job done.
"What happened?" Janette asked.
"We got into a fight with Lord Kay's men. Joe stepped into the fight to stop us," One of another soldier said.
Janette stepped closer to the body, kneeling down next to it. She had seen from afar that there was a bloodstain on the tunic, now she the chance to examine the wound up close.
There were two to three holes in the tunic, long and thin in nature most likely done by sword or knife. By the positions of the holes the blade penetrated the intestines, pancreas and the heart and with the amount of blood that drenched his clothes and floor Joe was dead before he got to the hospital.
"Is there anything you can do for him?" A soldier asked.
Janette was silent as thought about how to reply.
"I can't help the dead," She replied.
Gasps came from the group around, followed by cries and angry shout. Some of soldiers and labourers rushing out of the hospital.
Janette held back a cry of her of own as she shouts of the eyes of the young man.
A young man who had a brilliant smile and a lovely soul. Who always walked her home when younger and taught her all about the city that they lived in. Her first friend.
Someone who shouldn't have been taken away from this world yet.