Chapter 15
Letier seriously thought about it.
So, this action right now is also an action to reduce the psychological distance between the prince and me…?
If I showed embarrassment, it seemed that the distance that I had tried to reduce would become farther away again.
Letier pretended to be nonchalant and continued asking questions.
“Can I check what products you are using right now?”
“Check that with the lady-in-waiting later.”
Dante answered, running his fingers around the ends of Letier’s golden hair.
Letier focused on the paper she was holding, trying not to mind Dante’s hand.
“Then, please explain exactly what condition your skin is in right now.”
“My skin?”
“Yeah, what it looks like when you take off the mask. If there is a wound or scar, if it is discolored, or if there is a deep… things like that.”
“If I take off the mask…”
Dante lowered his hand from ruffling Letier’s hair and fell into thought.
What should I say?
In the meantime, he used to scare those who were in charge of his treatment using terrible and gross expressions as much as possible.
But strangely, he didn’t want to say that to Letier.
“… It stings quite a bit. Even if the wind only brushes against it, it feels like it has been cut by a knife.”
Letier wrote down Dante’s words with a serious face.
“Sometimes it feels endlessly chilly. On other days, it hardens and seems to fall apart.”
He continued speaking in a low voice.
To some extent this was true.
Every time he felt the sharp gaze of the Empress, whenever Aiden looked at him, it was very stinging and cold.
When his people were dying, when His Majesty the Emperor collapsed under the woman’s touch, his face collapsed because he couldn’t stand it.
On the other hand, Letier was rolling her head at a symptom dhe had never heard of before.
Are you taking the wrong medication? If these are symptoms, I don’t think it’s simply because you applied the wrong product or ate the wrong food…
Perhaps his symptoms were really psychological.
What the prince was explaining was not an objective phenotype, but he was focusing on the sensations he felt as a patient.
“Then, the question ends here.”
Letier put down the paper she was holding on the table and picked up an encyclopedia of raw materials lying next to her.
“If I make a sample product, can you apply it on your face later when you are alone?”
“Yes.”
“Then, first of all, I will prepare a sample of a mixture of anti-inflammatory and moisturizing ingredients in an appropriate ratio. Anti-inflammatory drugs can alleviate the symptoms of stinging or chilling, and the hard and firm feeling may be caused by lack of moisture.”
“I see.”
“I’ll ask Roizen and find out about the anti-inflammatory substance that hasn’t worked for the prince. We have to leave out the things that didn’t work.”
Roizen?
Looks like Reuter has found a new name.
Letier opened an encyclopedia of raw materials and began to check each one of the outstanding raw materials.
Because it was His Highness Aiden’s book, I couldn’t scribble on it, so I had no choice but to copy each one on paper.
Dante glanced sideways at Letier as she concentrated.
Just when he had the urge to reach down and brush away the golden strands of hair that obscured her white neckline, he blurted out a random question to divert his thoughts.
“How did you get that book?”
“Ah, I went to the Imperial Palace Library and met His Highness the Crown Prince. He was holding a book I wanted to borrow, but he lent it to me when I asked for it!”
I asked to borrow it, so he lent it to you…?
Dante frowned.
Just by recalling the meeting between Letier and Aiden, the good mood that had just happened seemed to fall into the gutter in an instant.
‘Older brother!’
When I was very young, the distinctive voice that Aiden used to call me rang in my ears.
“… I hope you refrain from meeting Aiden separately for the time being.”
At Dante’s firm words, Letier took her eyes off the paper and looked up at him.
When he met her questioning gaze, Dante explained further
“You know, I’m not on good terms with him. On the day when the results of my treatment reach his ears through the princess’ mouth, it might become annoying.”
In fact, it didn’t matter whether the treatment process went into his ears or not.
I had no intention of making a conclusion that the treatment had gone well in the first place.
I just didn’t want Aiden and Letier to see each other.
Letier held her breath quietly.
‘Hah… Is this a strife and a power struggle between brothers? I almost got caught up in it, didn’t I?’
Dante noticed the naive misunderstanding creeping on Letier’s face, but chose to just ignore it.
“Yes, Prince. I’ll keep that in mind. I will try not to run into His Highness Aiden as much as possible.”
In response to Letier’s answer, which was determined, he felt his mood improve once again.
Dante smiled quietly so that Letier wouldn’t notice.
“If you don’t want to explain anything further, I’ll wrap up today. I will make a sample formulation within this week and deliver it to Roizen.”
She said while organizing the encyclopedia and papers that Letier had brought with her.
“Okay. Oh, maybe.”
At Dante’s words, Letier turned her head and looked at him.
“Do you plan to go to the commercial district again soon?”
“Hmm… Not for a while, I just came back yesterday with a bunch of new ingredients.”
“Alright, I’ll leave you to it.”
Letier stood up from her seat, holding an encyclopedia of raw materials, a book on human toxicology, and a piece of paper on which she had written various things.
She bowed her head to the prince and walked out of the drawing room.
When I closed the drawing room door behind my back, I saw Roizen standing with his back against the wall in the distance.
Letier moved her steps towards it, retracing the conversation from a while ago.
‘Do you plan to go to the commercial district again soon?’
‘Soon…?
Did I ever tell the prince that I had been to the commercial district?
*****
Arriving at the laboratory, Letier began preparing formulations for the prince.
After leaving the drawing room, I asked Roizen about the treatment so far, and I was about to find all the information about the products Prince Dante used by visiting the maid.
Looking at the paper she meticulously wrote, she separated the ingredients that should be included in the formulation and those that should not.
“It doesn’t seem to have much effect… I’ll have to try this this time.”
Letier’s lab table began to fill with the raw materials she had picked out.
At that moment, the door to the laboratory burst open and Lucy entered at a rapid pace.
She was holding a tray full of delicious food.
“Princess!”
“Lucy.”
“Are you hungry? How was your meeting today? Did you see the prince’s face this time?”
Lucy asked all at once as she set down the plates of food on one side of the lab table.
Lucy tore a large round loaf of bread, soaked it in the steaming soup, and held it out to Letier.
Letier opened her mouth to accept the bread and mumbled.
“No, I haven’t seen his face today.”
“Really? Then how do you treat him…?”
“Instead, I heard a description of the symptoms. Based on that, I want to make some formulations.”
Lucy looked around at the scraps of paper and raw materials that were piled up on the lab table.
“Hmm… Does the prince say that his skin stings a lot?”
It had already been three years since she had worked by Letier’s side.
It seemed that Lucy had reached a point where she could tell what kind of effect it had by simply looking at the raw materials.
“Lucy! After all, you’re my capable secretary.”
“Hehe…. Compared to you, it’s nothing.”
In response to Letier’s praise, Lucy raised a corner of her mouth.
She handed the juice from the cup to Letier and rolled her eyes to see if there was anything she could do to help.
“Princess, do you want me to put some hot water on it? Or do you want me to wash the beaker or something?”
“No, I prepared everything. Now I just have to mix the ingredients together.”
Letier gulped down the juice Lucy had given her, then got up and started making formulations.
*****
The next morning, Letier held out a glass bottle to Reuter, who came looking for her.
“Please pass this on to the prince. Based on the symptoms he mentioned yesterday, I made a cream formulation. After applying it on his face for two or three days, you should see if it works.”
“Oh, you’re pretty fast, aren’t you?”
Reuter spit out as he picked up the bottle and looked around.
“However, I think you will have to deliver this cream yourself. There was a message asking to bring the princess today as well.”
Today?
Letier tilted her head in wonder.
I don’t have anything to talk about today other than handing over the formula…?
“The prince says he has something else to say?”
“I don’t know about that.”
Letier was forced to leave the room and follow Reuter.
I thought it wouldn’t take too long since I just had to deliver the cream and tell him how to use it.
After the meeting, go back to the lab and continue experimenting with new product development.
Letier followed Reuter and began organizing the experiments she had to do today in her head.
I did a surfactant test until yesterday, so I think I’ll do an oil compatibility test today.
“Hmm?”
Letier, who had followed Reuter in silence for a long time, regained her senses at the unfamiliar appearance.
She stopped abruptly.
The structure of the Imperial palace was complicated like a maze, so it was impossible to memorize it at once, but it was clear that this road was not the one they normally walked.
“Princess?”
Reuter, who was going ahead, stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked back at her.
Letier slowly opened her mouth.
“… This is not the way to the drawing room, is it?”
