“It seems that my benefactor was a physician from Yalon.”
“…Is that so? I didn’t know.”
Puzzled at how Julion could not know his benefactor, I looked at him with curiosity.
In response, Julion scratched his nose with a somewhat awkward expression and added an explanation.
“Well, we never had a chance to have a conversation. I was in a hurry to get out of there, so I didn’t get a chance to thank her.”
It seemed like a very urgent situation. I nodded casually and proceeded to open the medical kit.
“She’s probably from Yalon. The stitching pattern looks familiar.”
“There must have been a reason why we couldn’t find her despite continuous searching. Once the situation stabilizes, I’ll prioritize searching for that physician from Yalon.”
“Yeah, I’m curious too.”
After dipping the dry cloth in the disinfectant, I wiped it around the wound.
Julion’s body subtly twitched as the cloth touched his skin.
“Well, fortunately, it’s not the worst-case scenario where we have to stitch it up again.”
“See? I told you I’m fine.”
“If you pushed a little more, it could have completely burst. Try not to move your body too much and focus on recovery for a while.”
After finishing the disinfection, I applied a healing ointment to the wound.
Julion’s body twitched slightly from the tingling sensation.
“All done. We can probably remove the stitches in a few days. I’ll prepare anti-inflammatory medicine, so make sure to take it regularly.”
The stitches were a little risky, but otherwise, he was healing well.
This time, I took out a syringe and held Julion’s forearm.
“I’ll check if the antidote worked successfully by doing a blood test.”
Although it seemed like the detoxification was almost complete, it was still necessary to do the test just in case.
After finding a vein in Julion’s arm and disinfecting the skin, I inserted the needle.
Soon, blood filled the syringe, and Julion watched the blood collection with a fascinated expression.
‘The Empress never looks at it.’
Perhaps because Julion was accustomed to wielding a sword, he seemed unaffected even when seeing his own blood being drawn.
“Alright. Press here for a moment.”
“Okay.”
While organizing the tools, Julion pressed the cotton to where I had collected the blood, waiting patiently. However, his eyes persistently followed my every move.
“You can remove it now, I’ll be checking on other matters, so take a rest.”
“Rohiriel.”
As I tried to get up to open the door, Julion called me back. Turning back slightly, he met my gaze and said,
“Thank you. Really.”
His voice was so sincere, I could feel my heartbeat racing down to my toes.
While expressions of gratitude were something I regularly received, it felt strangely unfamiliar this time.
“Um… Just, uh, recover quickly. There’s a lot to do.”
I replied in a curt manner and flung open the door.
With a loud crash, several people were piled on top of each other.
“What is everyone doing here……?”
Ares, who was at the bottom, laughed heartily and waved his hand.
Above him, the familiar faces of knights were piled up in an orderly manner, all wearing amused expressions.
“We came to express our gratitude to her highness!”
“Me too!”
“As do I!”
“Thank you, Your Highness!”
“We’ll live thanks to you.”
As our eyes met, the knights each uttered words of thanks. Some raised their hands in salute, while others nodded respectfully.
…The problem was that they were all stacked up like a tower.
‘Why isn’t anyone pointing out the weirdness?’
While receiving their greetings with a sense of puzzlement, I heard a voice and sensed movement from behind.
“Looks like everyone’s having a good time.”
Approaching through the commotion, Julion looked at the knights with a sardonic expression.
Then, as if they had been waiting for the right signal, the knights, who had been casually sprawling, instantly stood up and assumed a proper posture, bowing at a right angle.
“Well, then, we’ll go back to work!”
“I’m glad to see you well, Your Highness!”
Amidst all this, there was still one person chuckling away.
“I believed that Her Highness would somehow manage this as well!”
Ares said, his voice filled with glee. His scarlet gaze was so full of trust that my shoulders felt unnecessarily heavy.
“I’m so glad, though; I was quite worried.”
“We were worried, too. We were afraid you’d overexert yourself again and collapse.”
Ares lowered the corners of his mouth, looking at me with a worried expression. Then, suddenly, he let out a small yelp and took a step backward.
“Before I hear a lecture, I should return to my duties.”
“Don’t be like that; you can get some more rest…….”
“I’ll always be nearby, so if you need anything, please call me anytime!”
With those words, Ares swiftly disappeared.
I wondered if it was okay to work right away like that, but before I could say more, he was already gone.
‘Come to think of it, I wonder if Hemion is alright?’
The face of Hemion, who had been groaning alone from the poison in the carriage, crossed my mind.
‘I’m sure Zenid gave her the antidote, so I’m sure she’s recovered, but…’
“Well then, Julion, you really need to rest now; I’ll be back later.”
Still, I decided to go over to where Hemion was to examine her face-to-face.
If it weren’t for the familiar face rushing towards me from the end of the hall.
“Your Highness!”
Curly brown hair. Olive-green eyes sparkle with a smile. Hemion was running towards me from afar.
Even if her body had recovered, running like that immediately might still be too much, but Hemion was indeed fiery by nature.
“Hemion, there’s no need to run like that.”
I said this as I watched her catch her breath. However, Hemion, with a face full of injustice, pouted her lips and replied.
“I’ve been lying down for days, and my whole body was stiff and sore! You don’t know how frustrating it was not being able to move. Now, I finally feel alive!”
She was such a tomboy who loved to be active. Her lively demeanor made me chuckle, but the urgent voice of a maid at the entrance caught our attention.
“Her Majesty, the Empress is here!”
Before she could finish, the Empress walked through the entrance.
She had gone to deliver an imperial message to the Duke of Cassian’s residence, but had already returned.
‘Did she come straight here without stopping at the Tishrit Palace?’
I greeted the Empress with a nod, smiling at her sooner-than-expected return.
“I greet Her Majesty the Empress.”
“Yes, I heard the news on the way here. Has everyone recovered?”
The Empress’s gentle gaze slowly shifted from me to Julion. In her golden eyes, there was a sense of relief for her son, who had risen again.
“I’m glad, Julion. I heard she’s been working day and night to prepare medicine for you.”
“Day and night… indeed.”
As Julion echoed the Empress’s words, his gaze towards me carried a subtle complexity.
Feeling a hint of inquiry in his eyes, I turned away and asked the Empress.
“More importantly, Your Majesty, how was your visit to Duke Cassian’s residence?”
“I managed somehow. As you suspected, there was an apothecary at the Duke’s residence.”
“I see……. Did you see them yourself?”
In response to my question, the Empress paused for a moment and furrowed her brow.
Then she nodded her head slightly.
“She was wearing a robe, but if you consider that seeing, then yes.”
“She was wearing a robe in front of the Empress?”
“Yes. She’s an apothecary from another country, so I didn’t force her. She was from the nomadic tribe, Tangblaham, from the southern regions.”
“Tangblaham……?”
It was a tribe I had never heard of before.
Although they seemed to be a small and obscure ethnic group, I couldn’t imagine the Duke using such people as an apothecary in his castle.
“Even so, in front of the Empress of the Empire… Quite disrespectful for an apothecary.”
“She claimed she was reluctant to remove her robe due to a large scar on her face. I was highly suspicious, but…”
The Empress gestured towards the knights who followed her.
“So, I had everything in the apothecary’s room brought here.”
One of the knights carried a sack filled with something on his shoulder.
At the Empress’s command, he set the sack down on the floor with a thud.
“I can’t recognize what it is, but I think you might.”
Saying so, the Empress raised her hand to her waist, wearing a satisfied smile. She seemed vaguely pleased with herself.
“So my mother has brought you a lot of work now…”
But Julion’s voice was the opposite of the Empress’. He sounded concerned that I would be doing a lot of work.
As if alarmed by Julion’s words, the Empress’s expression darkened.
I hurriedly approached the pouch, quickly checking its contents, and said,
“You’ve done well to bring this, Your Majesty. It will be of great use.”
“Julion was right. It seems I’ve been too eager and brought too much work.”
“No, we can take our time to go through it. This is very important information.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes. Each apothecary may have unique methods of preparing medicines. There might be traces of their individual habits or styles.”
Discovering those traces could provide more certainty about their identities.
The apothecary’s background, personality, inclinations, knowledge, and so much more.
