Dead-End Villainess Who Makes Medicine

He was full of energy in his demeanor and voice.

 

I shuffled my feet and asked.

 

“Did you just get here?”

 

“Oh, no, I came this morning and was waiting outside.”

 

As he said this, Ares seemed to subtly avoid my gaze.

 

‘Then where have you been just now?’

 

Is there something wrong with him?

 

Maybe he was sent to keep an eye on me by Julion, who still doesn’t fully trust me, I thought.

 

“Yes. I look forward to your kind cooperation, Sir Ares.”

 

“Yes, your Highness!”

 

Without further inquiry, I left the palace.

 

Tishrit Palace, the Empress’ residence, was even larger than Garnet Palace, the Crown Princess’.

 

It boasted dimensions more than double the size and had multiple gardens, which meant quite a bit of walking was involved, particularly to get to the audience room.

 

When I arrived, I was greeted by the maid at the Tishrit Palace.

 

She had a very sharp look in her eyes, as if she had a lot of animosity towards me.

 

“Her Majesty the Empress wants you to come inside.”

 

“Inside,” she said, referring to the bedroom where the emperor lies.

 

Normally, the Emperor is supposed to be in the Imperial Palace’s Sun Palace, but since the Empress is constantly nursing him, he has long since moved his residence to the Tishrit Palace.

 

Although the Emperor is barely conscious and unable to communicate, he must still be greeted formally.

 

“Please enter.”

 

The door to the inner chamber opened on cue.

 

I froze in my tracks.

 

‘Why is the room so……?’ 

 

The entire bedroom was very dark.

 

All the windows that should be letting in sunlight were covered with blackout curtains, and only a few very dim lights were on.

 

Even when I opened the door, I couldn’t see the bed properly because there was a translucent curtain in the middle of the room.

 

“Have you arrived?”

 

I felt a sign of movement inside the curtain.

 

In accordance with proper etiquette, I lifted the hem of my dress slightly and bowed my head.

 

“Greetings to your majesties.”

 

There was a moment of silence.

 

With a rustling sound, the Empress’ voice flowed out.

 

“Come closer.”

 

The curtains were drawn at the same time.

 

A woman with red hair was looking at this side with an indifferent gaze.

 

The current Empress, Psirias Sertizan.

 

A woman who once, before the Emperor’s fall, had reigned as the pinnacle of society.

 

Now, she was taking care of the Emperor and hadn’t been out and about at all, but her beauty and unique noble aura remained.

 

“I heard there was a great uproar on your wedding day.”

 

She was talking about Hemion Martin, who got poisoned.

 

The Empress had been inside the castle at the time, so she hadn’t seen the details and had heard them later from her maids.

 

I lowered my gaze and replied.

 

“I apologize. The ceremony went off without a hitch, thanks to your Majesty’s understanding.”

 

“You created the antidote, did you not?”

 

“Yes. Fortunately, I was taught by my mother in the past.”

 

“Your mother, yes, I see.”

 

The Empress knew about my mother, as she had once been the pinnacle of social circles.

 

She was silent for a moment, then let out a languid breath.

 

“Crown Princess.”

 

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

 

“I’m going to put it bluntly.”

 

“Please speak.”

 

The Empress’s voice was tinged with annoyance.

 

For a woman who could be described as both fiery and cool, she liked skipping trivial conversations.

 

The Empress pulled a small pouch from her pocket and tossed it in my direction.

 

“You see, I don’t like the Duke of Cassian.”

 

“That’s …….”

 

“And I don’t like the rumors surrounding the princess either.”

 

“I apologize, Your Majesty.”

 

“But I will try to be as unbiased as possible now that you’re in the household.”

 

I was surprised.

 

The Duke of Cassian is at odds with the Empress’ maternal family, the Marquis of Bianthe.

 

I thought I’d be lucky if she didn’t outright dislike or dismiss me.

 

“Thank you, Your Majesty, but is this……?”

 

“It’s the Princess’ seal. It’s yours to manage the palace now that you’re the Crown Princess. It’s been pretty hard for me to manage it.”

 

Looking truly exhausted, the empress pressed her temples with her fingers.

 

She remained like that for a moment, then opened her eyes again with a sigh.

 

“Whew. Anyway, there’s a lot of work for you to do, first of all…….”

 

The Empress closed her eyes again before speaking and took a deep breath.

 

Then the Empress’ maid, who had been standing by her side, said something familiar.

 

“Your Majesty.”

 

“Mmm, yes.”

 

Accepting the small vial, the Empress immediately poured the potion inside into her eyes.

 

She blinked a few times, and then her face relaxed again.

 

However, the look in her eyes as she looked at me was somehow strange..

 

“Pardon me, Your Majesty, but are you feeling unwell?”

 

“I’ve been indecent. When you get old, you get ailments here and there.”

 

The Empress coughed, somewhat embarrassed.

 

But her comment about getting old was a bit of a stretch.

 

She had married the current Emperor at sixteen and given birth to Julion at seventeen.

 

Julion is one year older than me.

 

In other words, the Empress is now less than forty years old.

 

It was too early to talk about aging.

 

I decided to wait and see how she was doing.

 

“Your Majesty, you’re still quite young…”

 

“Taking care of patients makes me feel like my body is aging faster than my age.”

 

That’s for sure.

 

There was no focus in the Empress’ golden eyes as she looked at me.

 

Her eyes were still clear, but they had changed abruptly after the medication.

 

‘I think I should check it out.’ 

 

It was too uncomfortable to just let it go without saying anything.

 

As far as I know, there was no medicine for treating eye diseases that caused one’s gaze to become hazy like that.

 

There were only two cases where such symptoms appeared: It’s either a side effect of using the wrong medication for your body, or you’re misusing the medication.

 

I carefully opened my mouth, wondering how to phrase it.