Apparently, I'm the Infamous Earl's Legendary Bride

Book 1: A Girl in Another World - Chapter 3

Quinn

Inside our lovely delipidated cottage, Maria made me climb back on the bed and propped me up with pillows behind me and a blanket on top. I sighed because there was no use going against Maria.

"Now, I'm going to make us lunch," she said and toddled off to the other side and started her cooking endeavor.

Liam pulled a chair, put it near the bed, and sat down. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

Wonderful now that my broken ribs and other wounds were all healed, and the pain was gone.

I said, "Getting there."

Liam leaned forward and ruffled my hair.

Oh, wow, but it felt strange to be on the receiving end of that endearing action, considering I was two years older than him. Then again, I was Quinn Fairchild now, an eighteen-year-old pipsqueak with barely enough meat on her bones.

"Your face is all but completely healed," Liam said, a smile on his lips. "I'm glad."

"And still damn beautiful like always," Maria commented from the other side of the room. "I was so worried you'd get scars."

Scars? Like I'd worried about some damn scars on my face.

Beautiful? Why did Maria use the adjective beautiful when referring to my face? Was I, or rather Quinn, beautiful? I didn't know because I had yet to see what this new me looked like. As for me as Quinn Chen, I was considered quite a beauty, apparently, because of my mixed blood.

It didn't take Maria long to finish making lunch, and now, here I was, staring at my bowl of runny soup and bread in a brown color that was as hard as a damn rock. I found tearing the bread into pieces and dipping it into the soup softened the texture a little, but it was still hard to swallow.

Ah, damn, but I'd do anything for soft white bread, be it in the form of French toast, sandwiches, or filled rolls. In fact, I'd do anything for the damn soup to have some sort of taste to it.

Bland.

So. Damn. Bland.

I chewed on the piece of bread and instantly felt the ache in my gums and tasted the saltiness of blood. Not to mention the loose teeth.

Ah, scurvy. Obviously, Vitamin C was severely lacking in Quinn's diet. I glanced at Liam and Maria. They chewed like they had a sore tooth, and I bet they could taste their own blood mixed with the bread, too. I wondered if fresh fruits and vegetables were not part of a diet in this world? The soup did contain some vegetables. I could count a few peas and bits of chopped carrots and onions floating about in the soup.

Right, finding fruits and vegetables with high Vitamin C content in this world would be my first objective. As for the mineral iron? With the typical pale complexion, which was prominent in this family, it was certainly iron deficiency.

Though neither Elizabeth nor Liam or Maria had never complained of fatigue, I bet they felt it most of the time and I was also willing to bet they thought it was normal.

From Quinn's memory, most in this town, especially the poor, looked as pale and as lifeless as these three people, so I could only assume that lacking vitamins and minerals essential for healthy body functions was typical in this world due to poor diet. One could get iron from eating red meat, but that was expensive and usually only served to nobility and the wealthy, which explained why those pigs living in that manor were so full of energy—leftover energy they used to beat the life out of Quinn.

It looked like I'd have to come up with something before everyone in this family's health got any worse. It would be great if I could create pills or supplements like the ones back at home.