—
“Ugh…”
Ian forced himself to sit up, and as his throat felt rough, he let out a dry cough. I naturally poured water from the glass on the bedside table and handed it to him.
“If I take this medicine, will my red eyes return to normal? Without turning red again?”
His tone was quite mature for a six-year-old. Even though there was no one younger than him here, his manner of speech seemed natural. Considering his position as the crown prince, it wasn’t surprising that he couldn’t act like an ordinary child.
My grandfather answered him respectfully, treating him as if he were addressing someone of higher status. After all, he was the most important person here in terms of rank.
“No, this medicine is formulated to suppress your prophetic abilities. The physical pain and the change in eye color are reactions to the prophecies. Taking the medicine will reduce the frequency of these symptoms.”
“Then, does that mean I have to live in constant fear of my eyes turning red at any moment?”
The crown prince seemed more concerned about his red eyes than the pain caused by the prophecies.
My grandfather looked puzzled at his question. I also didn’t quite understand his reaction. Even though the emperor despised the prophets of the Stefan Kingdom, Ian was still his son. Would it really be such a problem?
Eye color changes could be attributed to some other illness. By now, no one would even know about the prophets of the Stefan Kingdom.
In fact, none of the people called to treat Ian had even considered a ‘divine illness.’
“Your grandmother, the Empress Dowager, was also a prophet with red eyes. So, if your eye color changes, no one would find it strange.”
“That’s the problem…”
Ian spoke in a bitter tone. It seemed that he was more worried about his father finding out about this than the outside world’s perception. In my mind, a dramatic plot unfolded.
I nodded as if I understood, but my grandfather still didn’t seem to grasp the issue.
Even though my grandfather had lived a long life, he viewed the world too innocently. He couldn’t imagine parents harming their children.
He couldn’t accept the fact that some parents didn’t love their children and even hated and abused them. Even a ten-year-old like me understood that.
Ian rubbed his temples, seemingly having a headache.
“That’s the most important thing. To preserve my life, my eyes must not turn red!”
“The change in eye color doesn’t affect your life.”
My grandfather still didn’t seem to understand. But it would have been strange for me to step in and persuade him.
Ian spoke in a world-weary tone, like an old man.
“People don’t only die from illnesses.”
Sensing the unusual tone in Ian’s voice, my grandfather cautiously asked,
“…Is this so important to you, Your Highness? It’s not advisable as a pharmacist, but it’s not impossible to change the color. However, the ingredients used are quite toxic, so the pharmacist must prepare it personally.”
Finally, the crown prince nodded with a relieved expression.
“Then, come here once a week with the medicine. If anyone asks about your visit, say you’re a perfumer bringing me fragrance.”
The attendant warned me sternly as the crown prince spoke.
“Keep your tongue in check.”
—
Now that my grandfather had passed away, I was the only one who knew how to prepare the medicine. For the past 17 years, I had been visiting the palace weekly under the pretense of delivering perfume.
Today was another day to visit the palace.
After preparing for the trip, I picked up a letter that had fallen in front of the door. The luxurious and expensive-looking envelope was from the ‘Calovanian Empire’s Perfumers Guild.’
“These people again… They sure have a lot of money…”
Originally, pharmacists also handled perfumes, so it wasn’t unusual for me to visit the palace under the guise of delivering perfume.
However, over the past 17 years, the situation had changed.
With the increasing profits from selling perfume, a professional occupation of perfumers had emerged, and the Perfumers Guild had been established, separating the roles. Since they were wealthier and had more political power than the Pharmacists Guild, they took over many rights to manufacture and sell perfumes.
They claimed that someone outside the guild making perfume threatened their livelihood.
To maintain the secret of my visits, I had been making perfume for Ian and bringing it along with the medicine, but the Perfumers Guild was very displeased with this.
They believed that the honor of making perfume for the crown prince should be theirs.
I heard they kept sending various perfumes to Ian, claiming theirs were better and requesting that he entrust them with making his perfume. But it was to no avail.
As Ian didn’t change his perfumer, they began demanding that I either join their guild or stop making perfume.
They seemed to think that if I joined the guild as a perfumer, at least their honor would be preserved.
While it would be simple to resolve this by joining the Perfumers Guild, I didn’t want to do so as a pharmacist. I was someone who made medicine to treat the sick, not a perfumer.
Moreover, I didn’t want to pay the expensive annual fee.
The guild did provide benefits like creating connections with nobles and featuring perfumers and their shops in perfume catalogs, which could boost sales, but I didn’t need any of that.
Joining the guild just to make one bottle of perfume as an alibi was overkill.
“Besides, giving a personal gift of perfume isn’t something the guild should restrict.”
It seemed they couldn’t stand the idea that the crown prince of the Calovanian Empire’s perfume was made by a pharmacist, not a perfumer. They continued to contact me with a mix of persuasion and threats.
“I don’t even need to open it to know what it says. They’re probably telling me to stop giving perfume to Ian or join their guild.”
I put the letter in my bag, intending to use it as kindling like the others.
“If they keep threatening me, maybe I should tell Steward Simmons.”
The crown prince’s steward was still healthy after 17 years and still valued the prince’s well-being above all else. If I told him that the Perfumers Guild was hindering my work, he would likely handle it efficiently.
“I can’t tell him because I’m afraid he might clean things up too thoroughly.”
As soon as I entered the room, Ian, who seemed to have been waiting impatiently, scolded me for being late despite not visiting often.
I fanned myself with a hand fan and shamelessly replied,
“I’m a busy person too. And it was hard to get here because the roads were a mess due to the rain. Rental carriages are reluctant to enter the palace.”
Today’s delay was partly due to my late departure, but also because the coachman refused to drive into the palace grounds, so I had to walk a long way from the gate to Ian’s residence.
The Calovanian Empire’s winters weren’t too harsh, but it was quite dry. However, it had rained heavily yesterday, which was unusual for winter.
Fortunately, the paths inside the palace were paved with flat stones. Otherwise, my shoes and the hem of my skirt would have been a mess from the muddy roads.
“So I told you I could send a carriage.”
I replied, appalled at the idea.
“I said no. What kind of pharmacist… I mean, what kind of perfumer gets a carriage from the palace?”
“It’s not that unusual. In the past, craftsmen favored by the royal family were treated better than most nobles. For example, a tailor favored by Queen Martian used to ride a royal carriage to work every day.”
“Queen Martian almost got beheaded by the citizens for squandering the royal finances.”
“She almost did, but in the end, the ones who tried to behead her were the ones who ended up on the guillotine. The important point of that event is the invention of the humane device, the guillotine.”
“I don’t see how a device designed to efficiently cut off heads is humane. The lesson from that history is not to waste finances on unnecessary luxuries. So why are you suggesting we follow such extravagance?”
“There’s plenty of royal finances now, so no need to worry. There’s so much that I could build a palace for you, Jane. If you agree, I’ll even create a large herb garden next to it.”
I made a face of disapproval. If I let him joke around too much, it would never end. I had to put a stop to it now. Otherwise, he’d really start construction for a palace.
—
