-Bang! Bang!
The carriage door shook vigorously again.
“Your Highness, I think you should come out!”
Following that was the familiar voice of Ares.
With a tone mixed with panic and confusion, Julion cautiously opened the door.
“What’s going on? Why are you banging so hard on the door…”
But Julion couldn’t finish his sentence.
Curious, I also peeked my head out.
“…Good gracious.”
Dozens of people were blocking the road right up to the knights escorting the carriage.
“Doctor!”
“We heard that a doctor who gives free medical examinations was passing by!”
“Please save my mother!”
“Do you really not accept any money?”
“Hey, don’t push me!”
“You get out of the way; I was here first!”
People pushed and shoved each other, trying to get as close to the carriage as possible.
While the knights tried their best to block them, there was a limit to what they could do against ordinary citizens without drawing their swords.
“A few were casually observing nearby, and suddenly, they rushed in, causing this chaos.”
Ares scratched the back of his head with a perplexed expression.
Julion, with a stern expression, also scanned the gathered crowd.
All of them looked dirty and ragged, as if they hadn’t eaten a piece of bread. They resemble people from the impoverished areas of the lower part of the town.
“Fearless.”
Normally, blocking the carriage of a noble family results in severe punishment.
For cruel nobles, it could even lead to death.
There was no way they, the lowest of the low, didn’t know that.
Of course, for those uneducated, they might not recognize the insignia of the royal family immediately.
However, even a child could infer that someone important was riding in this carriage.
Yet they gathered like this.
“Roxis used his head a bit.”
It seemed like they had put into practice the saying, “To hide a tree, hide it in a forest.”
They somehow managed to break through the escort and approach me.
Some of them are truly sick, but most of them are here pretending to be sick, blinded by Roxis’s reward.
‘Is the reward more valuable than life, or something?’
And within this crowd, Roxis and his followers would likely be hiding among the common people.
“What are you going to do? Surely you don’t plan to examine each of them one by one.”
Julion’s gaze was fixed on me.
The golden eyes looking down at me were filled with unease.
“Can’t we examine them one by one?”
I asked, squinting my eyes, pretending not to know anything. His complexion visibly tightened.
“Are you really…?”
I chuckled softly at his gaze, which seemed like he might devour someone.
“I’m kidding, how could I? There don’t seem to be many sick people anyway.”
I know a desperate person when I see one.
Since childhood, I’ve witnessed my mother provide free medical care to the common people thousands of times.
‘Of course, I only observed my mother’s examinations.’
But thanks to her, I was exposed to the atmosphere surrounding the sick.
The eyes of the family members who care for the sick. How desperately they looked at me and my mother!
“Roxis wouldn’t know about such things.”
Simply bringing people who only look sick would not make me stop.
At the thought that crossed my mind, Julion looked at me, still concerned.
“I hope you weren’t kidding about that, so what are you going to do now?”
“Well…….”
“Are we going to drive them away forcefully? I’ll do as you wish. Just exclude the part about examining all of them.”
In Julion’s firm tone, I hesitated for a moment.
The key was to identify Roxis and his followers among them.
Watching the still-tumultuous crowd, I asked Ares.
“Ares, do you have snacks you carry around? Could you give me some?”
“What? What kind of snacks are you talking about?”
“The kind of snacks knights carry. Dried jerky, dried bread. Anything like that.”
Ares blinks in confusion at my request.
I spoke again, holding out my hand toward Ares.
“Come on.”
“No. Why are my snacks suddenly…… Here they are.”
Eventually, Ares took out a small pouch from his bosom with a dejected expression.
Upon checking its contents, there were, as expected, a few pieces of jerky and some leftover bread.
“Where on earth do you intend to use them, Your Highness?”
“Indeed, a good idea.”
Ares looked at me, his eyebrows furrowed, like a child deprived of his favorite thing.
When I tried to respond, Julion, understanding my intention, nodded in admiration.
“I’ll throw them. It might be easier to distinguish if I throw them higher and farther.”
“Oh, that’s great. Thank you.”
The jerky and bread soared into the sky with Julion’s throw.
The gazes of the gathered people followed them upward, and they moved eagerly to catch the falling food.
“Food!”
“Bread!”
“Isn’t that jerky?”
“Get out of the way; I claimed it!”
“Ack, don’t step on it, ack!”
As if that wasn’t enough, I ripped off some of the jewelry stuck to my clothes and threw it the other way this time.
People rushed toward both the food and the jewels.
There were no exceptions, whether they pretended to be sick or were genuinely sick.
For commoners, meat, bread, and jewels were equally extravagant.
“Wow…….”
Ares, too, opened his mouth wide, expressing astonishment at the unfolding scene.
Amidst people who blindly rushed toward the food and jewels, some stood awkwardly, bewildered.
Without paying attention to the food and jewels, they looked in my direction.
Some had their faces exposed, while others were suspiciously covered in robes.
“Capture them.”
Julion’s voice dropped low, and Ares, along with the waiting knights, drew their swords simultaneously.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
Bvel recently suffered from psychosomatic gastritis.
It was because his master, Duke Zikriesen Cassian, had frequent mood swings several times a day.
In all his years of service, he had never seen such mood swings.
‘What happened on the day of the state funeral?’
It was somewhat ambiguous to call it a state funeral.
It had started and ended simultaneously with the Emperor’s resurrection, they said.
However, that incident changed the Duke.
“Butler, the master wants to see you!”
At the servant’s urgent call, Bvel gulped down the soup he’d been eating.
It was his first meal of the day.
Although he felt regret for not being able to finish the remaining soup, Bvel hurriedly walked.
Arriving at his office in no time, he knocked politely.
“Come in.”
With the Duke’s permission, Bvel cautiously opened the door.
Inside, the Duke sat in his chair with his ussuql expression.
“You called, my lord.”
Bowing to show respect, Bvel’s words were met with the Duke’s dry voice.
“Roxis is in trouble.”
A few days ago, he received a report that Roxis was recuperating at Dathion Mountain after falling victim to Rohiriel’s scheme.
It seemed to be related to that incident.
As Bvel pondered how to respond, a small pouch was suddenly thrown at his feet.
“He’ll likely recklessly go after Rohiriel again, so send this.”
“This is…….”
“I can’t make a cure for him, but it might help save his life.”
“Yes, understood.”
Bvel picked up the pouch and tucked it into his pocket.
Then, a small vial was placed on the table.
“This too.”
It contained a peculiar liquid shimmering in purple.
Bvel approached the table, making sure to avoid eye contact with the Duke, and picked up the potion vial.
“Consume the pills; use the potion.”
Stepping back, the Duke uttered incomprehensible words, likely indicating the use of the potion. However, it was impossible to tell from such short words.
Bvel waited for further explanation, but it never came.
“Deliver this message to Roxis.”
“Yes, master.”
Though uncertain if Roxis would understand, Bvel knew his role well.
Not thinking, not asserting, just following instructions.
“That’s enough. You may leave.”
Bvel deeply bowed and left the study.
As he descended the stairs outside, a maid awaited him.
“Butler!”
A maid personally seeking the Butler was unusual within the Duke’s residence, so Bvel was ready to address the matter.
However, upon observing the maid’s demeanor, he hesitated.
While her attire was the standard maid uniform, there was a red ribbon tied to her and even a blue string on her forearm.
‘Is she one of the apothecary’s assistants?’
The apothecary was brought in by the Duke one day.
She never left the tower within the Duke’s residence, but the potions she crafted were all excellent, making her a topic of interest for everyone.
Furthermore, since the Duke had assigned several maids specifically to attend to her, it fueled even more discussions.
The maid attending the apothecary gained the privilege of directly speaking to the Butler.
“What’s going on?”
Bvel asked in a voice that showed he wasn’t keen on dealing with unnecessary troubles.
The maid hesitated, glancing around cautiously, before speaking in a hushed tone.