<𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑪𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒓. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚.>
Julion checked the crumpled papers again.
The day after Blanche’s crime was confirmed, a letter arrived from Count Camer.
“I never thought they would cut her off so easily.”
He was stunned when he received this letter.
Blanche was the sister of the current Count of Camer and a legitimate daughter of the previous Count.
Because he had quickly succeeded in his position, the previous Count and his wife were still alive.
That’s why Jullion thought he would do anything to save Blanche’s life, even though she had committed a great crime. If Count Camer pleaded, she might be able to avoid the death penalty.
Any parent would do anything to save their child’s life, and Julion was in a position to gain only benefits from this situation.
He planned to reveal the names of those involved in Blanche’s crimes.
But Camer had a surprise for him.
Blanche Camer was disowned.
Blanche’s expulsion from Camer meant erasing her name completely from the family tree and thoroughly discarding her.
“Ha…….”
The letter was crumpled in his hand. Julion tore the crumpled paper as if there was nothing more to see.
“Freck.”
Freck, who had been standing silently in the doorway, came closer at his call.
As Freck bowed, Julion spoke.
“Strengthen the prison’s defenses,”
“Yes, sir.”
“And…….”
Julion hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke.
“Do you know anything about the Crown Prince’s whereabouts?”
Last night, he had been angry at the patient who had just woken up.
She didn’t do anything wrong, so why did he do that?
It was not enough to express gratitude for her active support of the Empress.
He stormed out in such an ambiguous mood, he couldn’t even join her to dinner.
Now, he regretted it, but there was already water under the bridge.
“I heard she went out for a walk this morning.”
“A walk? How long has it been since she woke up?”
She hasn’t fully recovered, yet she hasn’t stopped moving around. She was a very active person.
Was it because she had been feeling frustrated all this time?
‘Or perhaps…’
A thought flashed through his mind. Julion asked again.
“Where is she now?”
“I didn’t hear the exact location. However, I heard that Her Highness visited the golden garden almost every day, so she might have gone there today as well.”
“Golden garden?”
The fact that she went there almost every day was surprising news. Although Rohiriel had only entered the palace a short while ago, it was still somewhat astonishing that she had gone to the golden garden daily.
‘The flowers here were my mother’s favorite.’
He vaguely remembers the yellow and blue flowers. And among the flowers, he could remember Rohiriel’s flowing white hair and crimson lips…
Julion shook his head in surprise at his own thoughts.
“What’s the matter, Your highness? If you’re planning to visit her highness, should I send a messenger right now?”
“No, forget it.”
He wanted to visit her, but it was still lunchtime, and Julion had a mountain of work to do. He hadn’t been able to do much work since Rohiriel collapsed.
“Fetch a paper and a pen. I will send a reply to Count Camer.”
Even though Blanche had been immediately disowned, she had been a member of Camer’s household when she committed the crime. Julion clenched the pen tightly and quickly began writing, pausing occasionally.
‘You’re all over the place.’
Rohiriel’s innocent smile kept flashing through his mind.
He silently made a promise to himself to make amends when he had the chance.
××××××××××××××××××××××
“Phew…….”
I stretched out and looked up at the sky. It was a clear day with not a cloud in sight. Just like the clear sky, my body felt refreshed.
‘If I had my way, I’d rip off a bunch of them and put them in my palace.’
Coming to the golden garden every day is a hassle. I had to take time out of my busy schedule to come.
If it weren’t for the fact that the petals wilted within a few hours and lost their medicinal properties, I would have plucked a lot of them.
Still, it was nice to see the Apherium blooming so brightly.
Since I already ate today, I was thinking of plucking off a few petals of the fully bloomed ones.
‘If only there was a way to make them last longer.’
I carefully selected a few petals that looked healthy and placed them in my pocket. They would become valuable materials for my research.
As I moved a few steps, I spotted a rare flower that I had only seen in a book. The striking red flower was surprisingly large, reaching up to my waist.
“This is… quite something.”
But I was surprised in a different way.
This flower was named Sephirithus, a rare plant known for growing larger and stronger the more it endured the trials of cold. However, the Empire generally had a mild climate. While it could get chilly in winter, it was nowhere near the harsh cold of the Northern Continent. It seemed almost impossible for Sefirithus to thrive here.
There were many other plants in the palace that had withered away because of the climate.
Perhaps the Emperor collected them all for their rarity.
‘I should talk to Julion about this. Maybe he’ll let me take care of it.’
No matter how I thought about it, letting it wither like this seemed like a tremendous waste.
As I contemplated plans to restore the Golden Garden, Zenid, who had been waiting, approached.
“Your Highness, are you all right?”
I chuckled softly at the concerned question.
“Zenid, you’ve asked that question more than ten times today already.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. But you stayed inside for quite a while, and I was getting worried…”
“Oh, well, I just needed time to think. It’s the only place I can be alone.”
“Still, Your Highness, please don’t push yourself too hard.”
“Alright, I won’t. Don’t worry.”
“So, are you going back to the palace now?”
“No, let’s head to the infirmary. I need to prepare medicine for the Empress.”
“What? My word…”
I comforted Zenid and led the way to the infirmary. While I was advised not to push myself too hard, there was still a mountain of tasks to complete.
The medicine I had made for the Empress was the first dose, meant to be taken for about three days, and the timing was perfect for the next dose.
I had already prepared the second dose, but since it was kept in the infirmary, I needed to check its condition personally and instruct the Empress on how to take it.
“For some reason, you seem to be working a lot more since you became crown princess.”
Zenid grumbled, following me behind.
I couldn’t help but agree. I thought I’d be able to spend a year relaxing and recuperating, then leave, but why are there so many sick people in the palace?
‘Come to think of it, I wonder what exactly is wrong with the Emperor.’
Once the Empress’s treatment was complete, I wanted to examine the Emperor’s condition as well.
Of course, I would need the Empress’s permission, but if I could cure her eye disease, she might readily agree.
‘I’m creating work for myself.’
Still, I can’t turn away sick people. If my mother was here, she would surely have encouraged me to do my best.
“Your Highness, slow down!”
I heard Zenid’s worried voice from behind, as my pace became faster.
I deliberately slowed my steps. And when I arrived at the palace infirmary.
“Your Highness the crown princess!”
A silhouette ran up to me, his golden hair shimmering like dust, and came to a stop in front of me. The radiant blonde hair reflected light and caused me to furrow my brow involuntarily.
“Sir Ares?”
“Are you all right?”
“Oh, yes. I’m fine.”
Ares examined every inch of my body with watery eyes.
Then he grabbed me by the shoulders and gave me an emotional look.
“I was so worried when I heard the news. You saved my life, and to think that you collapsed in a place where I couldn’t even protect you…”
While I had always considered Ares to be a rather carefree knight, it seemed like he had become even more earnest during his stay in the infirmary. I stepped back slightly from his firm grasp and asked.
“Did the rumors spread that far? I don’t think Julion would have let it happen.”
“Ah, I heard it from his highness himself, and as you say, the rumor did not spread.”
“I see… That’s a relief.”
I didn’t have a particularly close relationship with Ares, but there was something about the atmosphere.
‘Is it the side effect of the poison?’
In that case, I would need to make the antidote again. Thinking about various things, I stopped as Ares and I were about to enter the infirmary.
“But, Sir Ares, if you’re all better now, so why are you still in the infirmary?”
“I can’t believe you’re just now asking me that, your Highness!”
“No, why again…….”
“Didn’t you tell me to take the medicine regularly and recuperate a bit more?”
“Yes, I did, but didn’t I also tell you that once you’re better, you can go back to work……?”
Um, I guess I didn’t.
Ares’ crimson eyes were filled with disappointment.
“Your highness gave me strict orders not to take a single step out of the palace infirmary without your permission, which is why I’ve been stuck here all this time!”
It was starting to make sense.
Now it makes sense why Ares was acting so restless.
‘He must be frustrated.’
I sighed, feeling apologetic, and laughed while listening to Ares’ complaints. Since Julion probably wouldn’t tolerate such outbursts from his subordinates, someone had to listen.
“Haha…… I see, I’m sorry, you’re free to go now. Oh, and before you do, can I do one last test?”
With that, I checked if Ares might still be suffering from the poison’s aftereffects and then prepared the Empress’ medicine.
It had been two days since I collapsed, so if she had been taking the medicine regularly during this time, she should have improved significantly.
With a mix of hope and concern, I made my way to the Tishrit Palace this time.
Thank you for translating ghis story!