Chapter 27
Ariel couldn’t go out for a while because she injured her ankle that day.
Her anger toward the Crown Prince grew even more as she was told to stay in bed.
“Ha! Those fishy eyes, did he just ignore my words until the end? Let’s just meet again and I won’t let go!”
Ariel endured boredom by chewing the Crown Prince like a squid in her mind.
On the third day…
“My lady, a guest has arrived.”
Ariel tilted her head at Jane’s words as she opened the door and entered.
“A guest? For me?”
Who is the person who will come to find her on earth, where she only knew a few people?
‘Hmm, is it Your Majesty by any chance?’
It was a plausible guess.
After she injured her ankle, The Emperor has been sending healthy foods and tearful letters every day for three days.
‘I heard that a distinguished guest suddenly came and said he couldn’t come to visit me, but can he now?’
Ariel’s eyes brightened even after she was lost in thought for a while.
‘Your Majesty, that person is not a person who will come empty-handed. He must have brought something new, right? Hehehe.’
“Tell them to come in right away!”
She was salivating while thinking of mountains and seas of delicacies.
“Welcome, Your… Eh?”
Ariel, who turned her head with a smile, soon put on a puzzled expression.
It was because the identity of the guest was completely unexpected.
“Hello, Ariel.”
The identity of the person sticking his head out through the crack in the door and waving his dainty hand is…
“…The second dog prince?”
It was the Second Prince, Elvir.
“Why did you come here?”
When Ariel asked dryly, Elvir pursed his lips.
“What is that reaction? I came to see you because I heard you had a leg injury.”
Then he came over and sat on Ariel’s bed.
“How is your ankle? Are you still sick?”
“Huh? No, I’m a bit better now…”
Ariel, who was looking at Elvir, wrinkled her brows.
“But you, are you empty-handed?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, you didn’t bring any piece of snack when visiting the sick!”
When Ariel shouted in anger, Elvir gave a puzzled expression.
“What are you talking about, here it is…”
Elvir waved his hands and protested. However, when he found out that his hand was empty, he let out a terrified scream.
“Oh, I forgot! There was something my mom brought for you, but I forgot!”
“What? What do you mean you forgot? What did Her Majesty the Empress gave me?”
“It’s pafia. It’s a fruit that only grows in tropical countries, but it’s so delicious!”
“Pafia?”
“Yeah! It’s so sweet that you can’t stop eating after one bite! You won’t get tired of it even if you eat it every day. The only problem is you cannot have it anytime.”
“Why can’t I?”
“They ripen quickly, so if you import a box, more than half of them will be spoiled! That’s why it’s a very difficult fruit to eat even for the Imperial family, but this time, an envoy from another country came and brought it! So Mother thought of giving some to you…”
“Wait a minute.”
Ariel interrupted Elvir.
“It’s a perishable fruit?”
“Huh? Yes! Especially on sunny days like these days… AH!”
Elvir put his mouth shut, and Ariel stared out the window with hardened eyes.
The scorching sun and the Imperial carriage, which was bathed in the sun without any shade, caught her eye.
“So you mean, you left such perishable fruit in the carriage. In that carriage.”
Ariel’s voice suddenly lowered. She was so angry that her limbs trembled just from hearing it.
Elvir’s face turned blue.
‘Oh, this is a big deal! Ariel is very serious when it comes to food…!’
Feeling threatened for his life, Elvir hurriedly made his excuses.
“This, i-its not been long enough since I left it there, maybe it will be fine! I’ll go get it right away!”
Then he dashed out of her room in a hurry and went to the carriage until he ran out of breath.
“Your Highness, why are you in such a hurry…”
“Pa-Pafia…”
“…Yes?”
“I left Pafia, pant, behind. Hurry up, pant, Pafia, bring it to me, or I’ll die…”
“Ah, it looks like you left something behind.”
The coachman obediently took out the package from the carriage even though he wondered why Elvir was in a hurry.
Forgetting his face as a Prince, Elvir sat down on the floor and unwrapped it.
The orange fruit packed in the box caught his eye.
‘Oh, I’m glad. It hasn’t spoiled yet.’
After he brushed his chest in relief…
“Second dog prince!”
A sharp voice rang out.
Elvir raised his head in amazement and saw Ariel sticking her head out the window.
“What happened to my Pafia! Surely it’s hasn’t gone bad yet right? If it does, you will go up using that tree…”
“No, it’s not bad! Really! I’ll bring it up right now!”
Spotting the large tree Ariel was pointing to, Elvir hurriedly excused himself and hurriedly returned to the room.
When he arrived in front of the building…
“Huh? What is that?”
A sparkling object near the pine forest in the distance captured his attention.
Elvir unwittingly turned and headed towards the forest.
Shortly after, Elvir arrived at the entrance and found out the identity of the object.
“…What is it, a butterfly?”
It was just an ordinary butterfly. A common butterfly that can be found anywhere in the empire.
But there was just something slightly different.
Each time the butterfly’s wings flapped, it changed to various colors, such as black, purple, and blue.
Even though all of them are not bright colors, the wings shining in the sunlight created a mysterious atmosphere.
The butterfly, fluttering and flapping its wings as if tempting him, slowly entered the forest, and Elvir followed after it with a dazed expression.
The gloomy aura of the forest wrapped around his body, but he didn’t mind.
Step, step.
He was walking as if possessed, and the butterfly stopped flapping its wings right in front of Elvir’s eyes.
As if they are looking at each other.
Elvir stretched out his hand involuntarily and carefully grabbed the butterfly.
That moment, Elvir’s lovely light green eyes were painted with dark purple.
Fortunately, his eyes soon returned to their original color, but the butterfly he held in his hand disappeared without a trace.
As if it never existed.
* * *
Meanwhile, Ariel, who had been waiting in the room for Elvir to come back, could not stand it any longer and set out to find him herself.
She ran around the building, limping, leading the leg that was not yet fully healed.
But, let alone Elvir, she couldn’t even find a strand of his hair.
“Where the hell is that little boy?”
After a while, Ariel, who was fuming, caught Elvir in the backyard through the hallway window.
“Why is that guy out there?”
Ariel, who muttered something, ran to Elvir while limping.
“Second dog prince! Where are you going? You said you would come up right away!”
Ariel screamed, but Elvir did not respond.
Normally, this is the guy who would run straight to her, so Ariel ran and grabbed Elvir’s arm.
“What! You also dare to ignore the words of this body…”
But it wasn’t long before she noticed…
“What, what is this? What’s wrong with your eyes?”
Elvir’s light green eyes, which was always clear and sparkling, were now looked empty.
Like that of a dead person.
Surprised, Ariel let go of Elvir’s hand and tugged him as he started to walk.
But it seemed like he hadn’t noticed Ariel’s existence at all.
‘What?’
She felt somehow uneasy.
It’s all because of the feeling that something bad has happened to this child.
And…
‘What is this energy?’
She felt a strange energy when she held Elvir’s arm.
Ariel, who had been staring blankly at her hand, came to her senses after a while and hurriedly chased after Elvir.
She felt like she has to check for herself what that aura really was.
However, Elvir was already nowhere to be seen, and when she asked Jane, whom she happened to meet, this answer came back.
“Your Royal Highness? didn’t he already go back to the Imperial palace a little while ago?”
“He already left?”
“Yes, I asked why he’s going back so quickly, but he didn’t answer. Did he leave without telling the lady?”
Ariel just stared at the front door while listening to Jane’s question.
She has a bad feeling about this.
* * *
As Ariel predicted, the palace was turned upside down that day.
It was because the Second Prince, who excitedly left the palace to visit Ariel, returned strange.
He lay in bed all day, staring at the ceiling, and did not answer even when someone spoke to him.
The Imperial physician, who hurriedly ran over, examined him and only said that there was nothing wrong with his body.
However, the symptoms lasted for over a week, and the Imperial family took it as an emergency.
The Empress barely woke up from sickness, but now there’s also something wrong with the Prince.
They couldn’t even figure out the cause, so they were really going crazy.
“Why is this happening?”
The Empress, who was sitting by the bedside and stroking her son’s cheek, burst into tears, and the Emperor, with a miserable look on his face, hugged the Empress.
At that time, the Chamberlain whispered something in the Emperor’s ear.
“Your Majesty, the Grand Duke came to visit.”
“Badel?”
“Yes, and Your Highness came with the Young Master and the Little Lady.”
“Hmm.”
The Emperor put on a puzzled expression for a moment as he looked at Elvir, who was staring at the ceiling with empty eyes like a madman.
And soon, the Grand Duke’s family entered the room.
“Welcome, Grand Duke. My nephew and lovely lady are also here.”
The Grand Duke, who lightly bowed after the weak response of the Emperor, asked.
“How is Your Royal Highness’ condition? Is there something that can be done?”
“As you can see, it’s still like this.”
The Emperor shook his head slightly and the Grand Duke’s face darkened in an instant.
“The condition is so bad, but the cause hasn’t been identified yet?”
“Yes, there must be some problem, but the Imperial doctor said there was nothing wrong, so we’re all feeling frustrated.”
The Grand Duke sighed and asked.
“Where are His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness Kellod?”
“The Crown Prince is acting on behalf of me, and Kellod wasn’t allowed to come near him. How shocking it must be for him to see his other half in this condition.”
“That’s true.”
The Grand Duke looked at the Emperor’s complexion.
He felt sorry looking at him, probably because he hadn’t been able to sleep for days.
And the Empress’ state wasn’t any better, so the Grand Duke cautiously proposed.
“You both look tired. We will protect His Royal Highness’ side, so please rest your eyes for a moment.”
“How can we, as parents, leave our bedridden child?”
“Your Majesty’s condition does not look very good. It hasn’t been long since she recovered.”
The Emperor then realized that the condition of the Empress was quite bad. As a result, the Emperor eventually nodded his head.
“Then, I’m sorry for the trouble but please.”
“Don’t worry and rest easy.”
The Emperor barely persuaded the Empress to leave her seat, and went out.
While the Grand Duke and Ahin escorted them out of the door, Ariel sneaked closer to Elvir.
She carefully held out her hand and gently closed her eyes for quite a long time, as if measuring something.
And when she opened her eyes again, a triumphant smile hung over her Ariel’s lips.
‘As expected, I was right!’
