“You’re here, Your Highness.”
The physicians appeared exhausted and fatigued due to their demanding work. The reduced number of physicians had resulted in an elevated workload.
Thinking that I should discuss the selection of new physicians soon, I approached the patient’s bedside.
The knight’s thigh was almost rotting away, and upon closer inspection, I realized it was a wound from a cut. As he struggled for breath in pain, I asked the physician next to him.
“What happened to him?”
“They say he collapsed on the training ground. Looking at his condition, it looks like a cut from a rusty knife.”
“It seems like it has been there for a while now. It must have been quite painful. Why did he leave it alone?”
I clicked my tongue and began the disinfection process. As I reached for the antiseptic, my vision unexpectedly blurred once more.
“Your Highness?”
The physician called me with confusion as I stood motionless with the medicine in hand. Nearby, Hemion also looked at me with a grave expression.
“No, just a moment. Let me gather my thoughts, then I’ll proceed with the disinfection.”
After taking a brief moment to catch my breath, my vision returned. Soon after, a sharp headache surged, but I endured it.
Apherium medicine.
I thought I made it well.
A wave of worry washed over me, wondering if I had made a mistake.
For now, I’ll focus on the patient in front of me. As soon as I’m done with him, I’ll have to check the medicine.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
“That’s weird…….”
I held the vial in front of me in the sunlight. The translucent blue color changed to yellow depending on the angle of the sunlight.
“I definitely made it right.”
Why is my body reacting like this? I tried several other tests, but the results were the same.
Frustrated, I poured the medicine into another reagent and mixed it.
‘Alright, let’s try to improve it a bit.’
Taking effective medicine, getting better quickly, and achieving my goal as soon as possible is good.
As I persisted in refining the medicine, days filled with busyness unfolded.
My physical condition would appear stable at times but then unexpectedly deteriorate. But there were moments when I recovered quickly, so I decided to consistently take the medicine for now.
Ares also seemed to have granted my request, as Julion didn’t bring up any particular concerns.
“Your Highness, it’s a list from Tishrit Palace.”
“Oh, the boat party?”
“Yes. They want you to go over it one last time before they confirm it, and…”
Hemion handed me a paper with a total of seventeen names. The one that stood out the most was Yeffa Cassian.
I frowned at the name. I remembered her face as she had approached me at the banquet not too long ago, wearing a smile and radiating friendliness.
Simultaneously, a fragment of the past flashed through my mind.
[Rottie is bad. Why did you talk back to brother Roxis?]
Yeffa, with an innocent expression, tilted her head as if genuinely curious.
Yeffa hadn’t felt a hint of guilt, despite being the one who revealed my nanny’s hiding place to Roxis, ultimately causing her death.
[Sister, people like us have to listen well if we want to stay out of Mother’s sight. I’m saying this for your own good.]
Just thinking about it made me clench my fist unconsciously. The paper I was holding crumpled. Then I heard Hemion’s panicked voice.
“Your Highness, do you not like the list?”
“No. What did you say just now?”
“If there’s anyone else you’d like to invite separately, you can write their names here.”
“Oh, okay.”
Only then did I carefully scan through the other names. Most were noblewomen who attended the spring banquet, but there were unexpected names mixed in.
“Count Rivolain?”
A count, not a countess or a count’s young lady, was invited. I let out a small gasp as I searched my memory for her full name.
‘Erka Rivolain. The young lady who inherited the title three years ago.’
She was known for rarely attending gatherings and staying only on their territory. It seems she attended the spring banquet last time for some reason. I don’t know if she will respond to the boat party invitation, but I wanted to meet her at least once.
‘One of Liliana’s most important ventures has its roots in the Rivolaine estate.’
Count Revalain probably wasn’t aware of it. If I can get a sense of what she is like, I can decide whether to join forces with her or take separate actions. If things went well, I might be able to break Liliana’s financial resources.
I signed my name at the bottom of the list and handed it back to Hemion.
“I think it’s fine as it is.”
“Alright”
As Hemion left and conveyed my message to the messenger outside, I carefully formulated my plans for the future.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
“It hurts. It hurts. Don’t touch me!”
With a crash, the medical tray toppled over. Bowls and utensils shattered, sending shards of glass across the carpet. The maids approached without much reaction, as if it were a common occurrence, and began to clean up the debris. Watching this, Erka sighed softly and spoke.
“Harkiel, what’s wrong with you? Even if it hurts, you should endure and get treatment to get better.”
“Treatment? You think this is treatment?” Harkiel shouted so loudly that veins popped up in his eyes.
Due to the spring banquet, Erka had to come to the capital, and Harkiel had also come along.
There was only one reason: there were rumors of skilled physicians in the capital.
They planned to stay in a townhouse in the capital for a while and receive treatment. However, the treatment came with unimaginable pain. Eventually, Harkiel couldn’t take it anymore and exploded.
“Look at me with your eyes wide open. See if I’m really getting better; look properly!” Harkiel rolled up his sleeves and unbuttoned his clothes.
Erka couldn’t say anything and bit her lip as she witnessed the horrifying sight. Most of his skin had decayed and turned black. At first, it was just bruises, but now it was hard to find any healthy skin. In the past few months, pus has been flowing continuously, to the point where changing clothes every day was not enough.
Instead of turning her eyes away from her brother’s miserable appearance, Erka gritted her teeth.
“They said it would take time. Endure it and get the treatment.”
“……ha. It’s already been three years, sis. I give up.”
“Harkiel, don’t say that. If you just endure a little longer—”
“I’m the one in pain! I’m the one who wants to die!”
But Harkiel was already exhausted. They had tried every means and method, but there was no improvement.
At first, there was still hope. As a count of the Rivolain family, which was one of the top five wealthy families in the empire, they had thought that they could at least cure a simple skin disease.
Despite summoning renowned physicians, temporary improvements were inevitably followed by deteriorating conditions.
“So please, just stop now!”
Harkiel’s pink eyes, which were just like Erka’s, met her gaze as he raised his voice. In the gaze marked by earnestness and desperation, Harkiel covered his eyes with his palm and murmured softly.
“I want to stop now, please…”
Despair flowed out of Harkiel’s lips. Erka looked at her brother’s pitiful appearance for a moment before turning her back on him.
“I can’t give up. I will definitely find a cure.”
Even if everyone else in the world said it was hopeless, even if Harkiel himself gave up, she couldn’t let him go. She couldn’t give up the only family she had left. She can’t lose him. He was the only blood relative she had left after their parents died.
Had he not suddenly contracted a terrible skin disease, Harkiel would have inherited the title of Count.
“Master, an invitation has arrived from the palace.”
A maid, who had been waiting outside, delivered the news. Erka raised an eyebrow at the sound of the door slamming shut.
“An invitation from the imperial palace—what kind of invitation is it?”
“I am not aware, as I did not open it; I left it in your office.”
“The banquet has already ended, so what could it be?”
Curious, Erka went to the office where the invitation had arrived and immediately checked it. It was an invitation to a boat party sent by the Empress.
“At the Emerald Palace?” The palace was known for its beauty. She remembered her mother visiting it once when she was alive and raving about it.
Erka, who usually avoided going, hesitated before writing a reply.
“I need to spend some time in the capital anyway.”
Perhaps she will have the chance to interact with others there and receive a recommendation for a skilled physician.
After sealing the letter that stated her intention to attend and handing it to the maid, Erka unfolded another document. It was a statement indicating the amount of money she had to pay the physician.
“Hah…….”
Seeing six zeros attached to the amount, Erka felt her throat tighten. Not because it was expensive. Despite the substantial treatment fee, Harkiel endured considerable pain.
‘If only I hadn’t fallen for her tricks back then…’
In order to calm down her mind, which was about to break down, Erka thought about the cause of everything.
Liliana Cassian.
The one who had driven her only twin brother into this situation.
Before their parents’ deaths, Liliana had approached Erka when she was still a young child and quickly put on the mask of being her closest friend. Erka, naïve and unsuspecting, fell for Liliana’s mask.
She cursed herself for not believing her and told her parents about the veins of ores on Rivolain’s estate.
‘If only it had been me who went instead of Harkiel.’
Unattainable scenarios kept popping up in her mind. But Erka endured, she continued to endure.
To seek revenge against Liliana.
She attended the spring banquet, which she had no interest in because of the newly appointed Crown Princess. Rohiriel Cassian, who was rumored to be a villainess, strangely had a good reputation in the palace.
She disappeared suddenly from the banquet hall, only to reappear wearing tattered clothes and treating a fallen maid. She remembered a rumor she had heard in passing. That Rohiriel had cured the Empress, and now even the Emperor himself, from dire situations.
Cassian, who had killed countless people, was practicing medicine. It’s so ridiculous, it’s almost laughable.
‘I’m sure it’s all just a play.’
Just like Liliana. Surely, Rohiriel was also wearing a mask. If she were to attend the boat party this time, she would thoroughly strip away that detestable mask.
