One Day, I Found the Emperor's Niece

“Ah, it’s hot.”

 

I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand and put on my straw hat. As the breeze blew, my straw-colored hair, matching my straw hat, fluttered.

 

“I’ll just pick this and finish.”

 

I picked the last herb, put it in the basket, and got up. My legs were tingling from squatting for a long time looking for herbs. As I leaned against the tree and looked down the steep mountain path, I couldn’t help but sigh.

 

“When did you go down the mountain?”

 

I went down with difficulty, dodging the branches, fallen leaves, and acorns. Although it was easier than hiking, the descent felt difficult because my legs were numb.

 

“It’s hard to make a living, whether in your past life or in the present.”

 

I woke up about three years ago in the remote village of Hayington. I entered someone else’s body without knowing why, but there was no one who would believe me or anyone who could hold me accountable. Fortunately, I had knowledge about the body’s owner, so there was no problem in living, but there was a very big problem. As the child of a poor local nobleman, I have to repay the debt on behalf of my deceased parents. Judging by the poison that fell on the bedside when I opened my eyes, it seemed like the original owner of this body had committed suicide because he could not bear to repay his debt.

 

“But why am I paying that debt instead?”

 

Before I could adapt to a world I didn’t know, I had a hard time dealing with the vicious gangs who came to demand debt. In a past life, I paid hospital bills, and now I’m paying off debt left behind by parents I don’t even know. My past life was ordinary. As a long-term hospitalized patient suffering from an unusual disease, my airway became inflamed all the time and I was always on the verge of death due to edema. Because it was a chronic disease that could not be cured, I was unable to leave the hospital and became an unwanted long-term inpatient.

 

‘I thought she was a healthy child, but I made the wrong choice.’

 

My adoptive parents described me as a failed work of art. The child you thought was healthy and bright, and who you adopted for your old age, was actually a failure. When I started getting sick, they stayed away from me, and eventually I was kicked out and left to die on the streets due to long-term non-payment of hospital bills. I stopped walking and looked closely at my body. She was a healthy adult female with light brown hair and lighter brown eyes.

 

“I wish I had been born as a rugged man.”

 

Well, what about this and that?

 

“But here, I’m not sick and I’m healthy.”

 

I smiled with satisfaction and carefully went down the mountain, leaning on the tree next to me. Hurry up, pay off your debt, save up money, and go on a trip! Let’s try some expensive shark eggs! As I descended the mountain, immersed in such happy thoughts, I suddenly found myself on flat ground. Grump. I got completely out of the mountain and came up to Podo.

 

“Lucina!”

 

When I turned my head at the sound of a call coming from somewhere, I saw Baiser running from the end of that grape, waving his hand above his head.

 

“Baiser, what’s going on?”

 

A month later, Baiser came running and snatched the basket out of my hand.

 

“Give it to me, Lucina.”

 

“I can carry…”

 

The horseman said so and easily handed over the basket.

 

“What happened?”

 

“Father sent me to help you.”

 

“The village chief?”

 

Well, then I am grateful. Baiser smiled brightly and stood next to me.

 

“Let’s go, Lucina.”

 

Baiser. He is one of the few people my age in the village and helps sell medicinal herbs by making deals with merchants. As the son of a village chief, he was well-respected and sincere, and was also a son-in-law who captured the hearts of many adults. Baiser had dark blue hair as clear as the sky and blue eyes as deep as the sea, and when the sunlight shone on him, he was as brilliant as an emerald sea. The hearts of prospective in-laws melt as they look so out of place in the countryside. But he looks a little strange today. Baiser was walking unnaturally, like a broken wooden doll.

 

“Baiser, what’s wrong? Are you sick?”

 

“Uh, huh? No.”

 

Baiser denied it with his nervous face clearly visible. Nope. When he walks, one of his limbs moves at the same time. He narrowed his eyes and looked at Baiser. Did I do something wrong? When Baiser made eye contact with me, his pupils twitched, and then he stopped tall with a determined look on his face.

 

“Baiser?”

 

Baiser swallowed dry saliva and turned his body around. He had a determined face and his eyes were brightly shining.

 

“Lucina, do you know that?”

 

“I don’t know, right? What’s going on?”

 

“This harvest festival will be even more grand than last year.”

 

Baiser covered his mouth with his fist.

 

“Great, so let’s go to this harvest festival together.”

 

“Oh my god! Isn’t that an Indel?”

 

“What?”

 

I passed by Baiser and ran like a shelter to a certain place. I covered Indel with my body and looked around, luckily the only people there were me and Baiser. I bit my upper body and looked closely at Indel.

 

“Oh my god. You’re really an ‘Indel’, right?”

 

Indel. It was a scarce herb with dried seeds, and people were anxious to get it. Because it was originally a poisonous herb, if used incorrectly, it was nothing more than poison, but if used well, it was a good herb, also called a panacea. If you put it on the auction market, it is said to be worth the annual living expenses of an average family, so you will be able to repay some of your debt. I saw Sim! I suppressed the urge to shout and smiled broadly. He carefully cleared the dirt and grass around the herb with his hands, took out a handkerchief from his pocket, and put the indel in it. You can’t mix this precious thing with other herbs. As I was carefully packing Indel, it suddenly occurred to me that I was in the middle of a conversation with Baiser. I hurriedly looked back to where Baiser was.

 

“Baiser! Sorry. By discovering Indel. Didn’t you say something earlier?”

 

Baiser, who was watching me silently, frowned and smiled. He looked like he had no choice.

 

“It’s okay. Continue.”

 

Baiser approached with his back to him and craned his head to look at Indel.

 

“By the way, this is Indel. It’s no different from any other herb, so people like me wouldn’t even recognize it.”

 

I put my handkerchief in my pocket and got up.

 

“Baiser. If it’s okay, would you like to go back first? I’ll take a closer look around here.”

 

“Ah…”

 

Baiser smoothed the back of her neck with a regretful look. How long has it been? Baiser burst out laughing as if he couldn’t do anything.

 

“Okay, instead, don’t overdo it and come back.”

 

“Yes, I will.”

 

Baiser stared at me with a slightly regretful expression and then sighed.

 

“Let’s talk when I get back.”

 

“What?”

 

“Nothing.”

 

Baiser shook her head and grinned, then she turned and walked away. He held the basket of herbs high as if he expected me to be watching.

 

“If you don’t come quickly, I will sell all of these herbs!”

 

Even though I said it wouldn’t happen, I’m being grumpy for no reason. I narrowed my eyes and smiled, and only when he turned into a dot did I turn around. I looked around with hopeful eyes, looking for any Indels that might be left behind. After digging through the weeds at the border between the grapes and the mountain for a while, I sat down exhausted.

 

“But it would be a miracle if it happened again.”

 

As I was looking around in contemplation, my eyes were fixed on one place.

 

“A kid?”

 

She was a girl of about five years old, with a gorgeous appearance, with short cherry blossom-colored hair and a lovely appearance. My eyes dilated for a moment as I stared at the child as if fascinated. At first, I thought she was resting against a tree, but when I looked closer, I saw that she had lost consciousness and was hanging down.

 

“Oh my!”

 

I quickly ran over to check on the child’s condition, and found that the child was breathing so heavily that her child’s chest was clearly visible to her naked eye. Her sweat was raining down on her and her hair was sticking to her face. I grabbed the child by the shoulders and shook her slightly.

 

“Hey, come to your senses.”

 

“Ugh…”

 

At that moment, she struggled to open her eyelids, which seemed to be stuck to her child.

 

“Are you awake?”

 

The child squinted her eyes, perhaps because of the backlighting.

 

“Damn…?”

 

The child muttered, her voice cracking. She placed her hand on her forehead and it was hot as if she had been burned.

 

“I can’t do it. If she keeps going like this, she’ll die.”

 

I put my arm under her child’s armpit and helped her up. Unable to keep her balance, she put her squirming child on her back and ran towards her house with all her might. 

 

* * *

 

“Medicines, where are the herbs?”

 

After I put her child in her bed, I threw her straw hat in her corner and wet her towel. Then she wiped her child’s face with her towel and frantically searched her house. I’m sure I had dried herbs that were good for fever relief before, but where did I put them? She was busy trying to remember, but she couldn’t remember where the herbs that were good for fever relief were located.

 

“Ah! Is it in the backyard?”

 

Druk-. 

 

I opened the living room window and looked into the backyard, but all I saw were herbs used to treat trauma that were canned the day before. What should I do with this? It seemed like the child had heat stroke. The Hayington area, famous for its high temperature and humidity, was famous for being a place where outsiders would collapse from exhaustion at least once when they visited. She was certain that the child was lying in a shadeless place without a brimmed hat. When I slowly turned my gaze to her bed, I saw that her child was breathing happily, his complexion looking better than before. I breathed a sigh of relief.

 

“It looks like he will recover even if I just leave him resting like this.”

 

“Ugh!”

 

Nope. The child suddenly jumped up and down like a fish on land and vomited under the bed. I ran and caught the vomit with both hands. She only vomited thinly, as if she hadn’t eaten anything. I caught her child’s vomit and washed her hands until she vomited up whatever was left in her stomach. Even as I was washing her hands, I looked back at the child, worried. The child was lying down looking at her ceiling and making groaning noises. She felt sad and anxious when she saw that the girl, about five years old, was unable to control herself and fell down. She was reminded of the girl she met at the hospital and the children her age who were hospitalized for long periods of time.

 

“Should I call a doctor?”

 

The thought immediately shook her head for a moment. No, no. She knew something would happen while she was visiting the doctor. It may be even more dangerous to leave her child alone.

 

“If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have sent Baiser.”

 

I sighed in regret and with mixed feelings took out a handkerchief from her pocket.

 

“I can’t.”

 

I could use Indel, which is effective enough to be called a panacea. I was planning to put it up for auction. I gently unfolded the handkerchief and stared at the Indian inside it. As I write this, I feel like tears come to my eyes. No, come to your senses! A high fever can put a child’s life at risk. After making up my mind, I washed the Indel thoroughly and steeped it several times. Because it was toxic, it had to be steeped several times before use. I sweated profusely, brewed and squeezed, brewed and squeezed. The drug that could be consumed by humans was completed by the time the room was filled with steam.

 

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Translator Note:

To celebrate Valentine’s day we will release 5 chapters of this new story. Please enjoy!!