Chapter 46
“Arellin.”
“Huh?”
Pession’s gaze was more intimidating today.
With a twinkle in his eye, Pession held out something suspicious.
“Drink this.”
A brown, glowing, unidentifiable liquid.
She instinctively rejected it.
“What is this?”
“Oh, just drink it.”
“What is it?”
“Something good to drink!”
No, it doesn’t look good at all!
She raised her eyebrows in suspicion, but she was powerless to stop Pession’s insistence.
“Here, drink it.”
“Ugh!”
“It’s going in!”
Drink!
She gulped it down, and Pession clapped his hands in approval.
“Well done, Arellin.”
“Yuck. It tastes weird.”
It reminded her of the red ginseng extract her mum used to force-feed her. She said she needed to get in shape before the competition.
“So what is this?”
“A supplement!”
“A supplement?”
“Yes. It’s very precious. My father used to drink it.”
“…?”
What did I hear?
“Your father?”
“Yes.”
Pession was a Crown Prince.
And Pession’s father?
“Crazy!”
She swore, and then she was stunned. Stealing an elixir that belonged to the Emperor, a spy? Could it be that he actually hates her?
“What do you think?! Are you feeling better?”
“How would I know?”
“Don’t you feel like you just got stronger, or like you can breathe easier, or something?”
“If one glass of this makes such a dramatic difference, isn’t it an elixir, not a supplement?”
“!”
Pession’s eyes widened as if he had realized something.
No way.
It can’t be, can it?
“An elixir would be good!”
“Like what!”
It was then. Suddenly, confused sounds began to emanate from beyond the mansion.
“What is that?
A moment of doubt.
Bam!
“Aaakh!”
With a scream, her door suddenly opened.
“Isn’t that broken?
As she stared at the creaking door, a knight in full regalia of the Royal Guard locked eyes with her.
“I apologize, My Lady. I apologize for my rudeness.”
“Eh, Lord Heint!”
The Crown Prince pretended to know, but was caught.
The pretence.
“Eh?”
Pession, suddenly caught and struggling, and Graham, slapping his forehead as if realizing something.
“?”
She shook her head in confusion.
“Then follow me, Your Highness.”
“Eh?!”
“Until next time, My Lady.”
With a stiff bow, the knights disappeared like the wind. She just blinked, dumbfounded.
What was going on?
***
The Emperor’s palace.
“Pession.”
Pession was immediately dragged in front of Emperor Edward.
Emperor Edward glared at the young Crown Prince.
“You did this?!”
He flinched.
Emperor Edward’s sulk deepened at the sight of Pession visibly distracted.
How dare he steal the elixir from the Emperor.
The culprit was none other than Crown Prince Pession!
“This brat, touching his father’s medicine because he has nothing to touch? Is that what I taught you?”
No one would have thought that a young Crown Prince, free to roam anywhere in the palace, would target such a bitter and tasteless medicine.
“If you’re going to play a prank, you’ve got to play it right!”
“I wasn’t kidding!”
Pession protested.
“If you weren’t playing, what! Do you mean you drank the elixir?”
“No, I didn’t, but my friend drink it!”
It didn’t matter whose mouth the expensive and precious elixir ended up in.
Emperor Edward was half-heartedly glad that the elixir hadn’t been thrown away by the Crown Prince’s prank.
“Then give me some excuse.”
“Well, actually…”
Pession began, frowning. The long-winded explanation was poorly organized, but Emperor Edward could understand it well enough.
“So.”
A one-line summary.
“I took it to feed my sick friend.”
“Yes.”
“Heh.”
Emperor Edward smirked.
If he’d taken it for himself, or out of curiosity, or for a prank, he’d have chastised him.
For these reasons, he wasn’t angry.
‘He took it because he thought it would make his sick friend healthier!’
My son.
‘Why are you so nice?’
Goodness was not the Crown Prince’s virtue, but it was enough to move a father who loved his son.
Emperor Edward was at a loss for an answer.
“Well, I suppose I can forgive you for once if your intentions were so good.”
“Wow.”
Pession, who had thought he was going to be handed over to Sir Pacello for season two of Discipline, was thrilled.
“Father!”
“Yes, yes. By sick friend, do you mean the daughter of the Archduke of Halbern?”
“Huh? How would you know?”
“Hoo-hoo-hoo. There’s nothing in this country that this body doesn’t know.”
“Wow!”
“Did you think in the first place that there was anybody in this land you didn’t know, after all the fuss you’ve been making?”
“Ah.”
He was too busy chasing Arellin to notice. Realizing the truth, Pession blushed with embarrassment.
“Rumors have already spread throughout the palace that you are in love with the lady from Halbern.”
“Father, It’s not like that.”
“Then you don’t like her?”
“No!”
The sight of Pession, flushed up to his ears and shaking his head, gave the Emperor Edward a new thrill.
‘When did my son get so big?’
Already big enough to like someone. Edward’s heart sank.
“Is she that good?”
Instead of answering, Pession hung his head low. By the way he looked embarrassed, Emperor Edward seemed to have heard the answer.
‘They say it’s that good.’
Emperor Edward’s mouth watered.
‘The Young Lady of Halbern, of all people.’
‘Perhaps that’s why they’re so quiet.’
The Emperor had no idea what the imperial aristocracy was thinking as they watched the Crown Prince make his way to Halbern Manor every day.
‘A Young Lady who will soon die anyway.’
Even if she were to be made Crown Princess, she would not live long.
The Duke of Halbern will not be able to restrain her, but rather turn her into an enemy, so it’s best to hold your breath and wait and see.
Well, even if she does live to adulthood, she won’t be able to bear children.
“Pession.”
“Yes.”
“My son.”
Emperor Edward locked eyes with his son, who looked so much like him. He had inherited Pession’s dazzling silver hair and red eyes.
With such a striking resemblance, even their personalities must be similar. And, of course, they would love only one person to death.
‘Perhaps that’s what worries her.’
But Emperor Edward disagreed with the Empress Ageni.
‘The Young Lady of Halbern has not yet died, nor has her condition deteriorated. Is it not possible?’
A miracle could happen.
The father wanted to support his son.
“Do you want to help her get well?”
Pession was embarrassed that he’d revealed his secret.
“Because it’s good for her to be healthy.”
“It’s good to be healthy.”
“Yes.”
“And the Crown Prince?”
Pession blushed red and bowed his head. Emperor Edward chuckled.
“Don’t fret, my son.”
Emperor Edward advised.
“Your achievements have not come overnight, and neither has your health.”
A gentle hand stroked Pession’s hair.
“Take things one day at a time. Rushing into things gets you in trouble.”
“That’s…”
“And I’ll help you with the medicine.”
“Father!”
Pession was moved.
“You shall go with the imperial physician to Halbern Manor.”
“Father is the best!”
***
“So.”
Her physician, the imperial physician, and Crown Prince Pession all stare at the strange liquid in front of her, smiling and proud.
“You want me to drink this?”
It’s green, gooey, and bursting with unidentifiable bubbles. It looks like something that would kill her if she drank it.
“Arellin, I’ve got something special for you!”
For what?
The imperial physician explained with pride.
“This elixir is a combination of Serendani’s 30-year-old roots, the leaves of the Foren Sprout, which can only be harvested from the Gassa Tree Forest, and the rare Demon Green Room Tears…”
What’s it for.
“Focused to protect the young lady’s energy, support her kidneys, and digestive function…”
Her doctor tried to explain something, but it fell on deaf ears.
She guess that means it’s a really expensive drug.
“Are you going to take it?”
“Ha…”
Why this ordeal for me.
“I worked so hard to make it, I was made to sleep by my father, and I brought it all the way to the imperial palace, will you drink it?!”
“Drink it.”
She couldn’t stand the atmosphere that made her feel like she’d be in trouble if she didn’t drink it.
She took and thought she was going to vomit.
“Ew.”
What the hell did he give me?
