Elena raised her head towards the warm spring sunshine. The gentle spring breeze made her feel drowsy. But she couldn’t afford to take a peaceful nap in her current situation.
Stub splish, stub splish.
With each powerful step, cold water splattered in all directions, and foam bubbled up between her toes. She put all of Rosaline’s requested clothes into the large laundry basket and stepped on them forcefully, washing them thoroughly.
“A good stomp brings out the dirt. Ah, if only I can do the same to the master, it might cure his dirty temper.”
While stomping heavily on Rosaline’s frequently worn yellow dress, she felt a bit refreshed.
At that moment, a palace maid carrying laundry approached Elena, her face flushed, and spoke in a hurried manner.
“Ah, Ms. Elena! You should’ve left this to us, why are you doing it yourself?”
“Ah, Rose. I find it more comfortable to do my own laundry since I used to do it even when I lived at the temple. Don’t worry about it.”
“Still…”
She had never seen a noble-born intermediate-rank priest doing laundry, but because she was from the temple, Rose seemed to trust Elena’s words.
‘I think I’ll have to find a well with fewer people around to do laundry next time.’
She couldn’t keep making excuses forever. In her current situation, where she was pretending to be a noblewoman when she wasn’t, someone might find it suspicious. Elena quickly finished rinsing the dress she had been stomping on and squeezed it tightly before putting it in the basket.
“I’ll go in first. See you later.”
Before encountering anyone else, Elena quickly left her position, carrying the considerably heavy basket, and entered the palace through the back gate. As she turned a corner, someone urgently called out to her.
“Sister! Sister Elena!”
It was the knight she had seen before, running towards her.
“His Highness the Duke… is not doing well. Please come quickly!”
With relief, the knight running ahead cleared the way for Elena to enter. Amidst the crowd that had stepped back, she saw Duke Levi sitting and leaning against a wooden pillar, attended by Ilya, who was trying desperately to calm him, and Rosaline, who stood nearby looking flustered.
“Ugh… Uh-huh, cough.”
Duke Levi, struggling to catch his breath and seemingly on the verge of passing out, gasped for air. Elena suspected that the incident she had guessed was indeed the case. This event would be the decisive factor that strained relations between Rosaline and Duke Levi throughout the novel.
The incident where Rosaline, who had learned that Duke Levi was afraid of and wary of unfamiliar adult men, especially the Emperor, unceremoniously dragged Duke Levi out of the Palace of Dawn. As fate would have it, they ran into the Emperor himself as he was secretly coming to the Palace of Dawn, which Elena had just remembered.
Elena suddenly lifted her head, wondering if the Emperor might be nearby. But all she saw were the people of the Palace of Dawn. She quickly recalled the book’s contents, where the Emperor, who witnessed Duke Levi collapsing after seeing her, had returned to his palace without doing anything.
Recalling that, Rosaline, who was standing by, trembled as she spoke in a shaky voice.
“I, um, thought that by developing a habit of coming outside, I thought he might get used to it… But I never expected that His Majesty the Emperor would appear so suddenly… No, not right in front of us, just seeing him from a distance… I didn’t know Duke Levi would react like this…”
“We don’t often encounter situations like this. It seems this happened suddenly while he was frightened in an unfamiliar space… Sister Elena, please help His Highness. Please.”
In the book, it took several days for the Duke to recover from the aftereffects, even after calling the Pope at the imperial palace temple. But recently, it seemed that those who had received healing from Elena tended to think of her before the distant Pope.
“I… I will try.”
She had only treated minor wounds and pains on the body, but she didn’t know if the power of healing would work for mental symptoms like this. Elena herself wasn’t fully confident.
Elena reached out cautiously and held the Duke’s trembling hands, whose whole body was shaking, then closed her eyes. In the presence of everyone, a momentary bright light enveloped both the Duke and Elena.
“Oh, it worked!”
“Thank goodness, really!”
As the light gradually faded, the Duke, who had been pale and in pain, fell asleep in Elena’s arms, looking much more comfortable. Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.
“Ah, Lord Rahan! Miss Elena, thank you.”
Finally feeling relief, Ilya grabbed Elena’s sleeve, tears streaming down her face.
“It’s nothing. It’s just…”
Elena, who had kneeled on the ground, covered in dirt, brushed off the soil from her priest robe as she got up from her seat, swaying for a moment.
“Oh, my!”
“Sister!”
The people who were standing nearby immediately reached out to support Elena, but she quickly straightened up and shook her hand, smiling. It seemed that she had exerted more strength than expected to heal the Duke.
Feeling a slight discomfort in her stomach, Elena pointed to the Duke, who was still lying unconscious on the ground, and said,
“Um, wouldn’t it be better to move His Highness to a more comfortable place?”
It may have been spring, but the ground in the forest was still cold. Following Elena’s suggestion, Ilya, with a renewed spirit, asked a knight to move the Duke to the bedroom. After everyone returned to the palace with relief, Rosaline began to make excuses.
“If someone had informed me that His Highness’ condition was so severe, I wouldn’t have done this. Ilya was with us, why didn’t you stop me…”
Instead of sincerely apologizing, Rosaline, who blamed others, looked at Elena intently. In reality, Rosaline is very different from the description in the book. While her striking golden hair, fair skin, and perfectly pretty face matched the description in the book, her personality was completely different.
In the book, Rosaline was someone who remained steadfast and courteous even in difficult situations, and, above all, kind to everyone. As a reader, Elena liked that side of Rosaline.
But the Rosaline that Elena met would belittle someone due to their lower status and push the blame for her mistakes. The beautiful smiles\ that left all the male protagonists mesmerized seemed like a well-crafted mask. They were masks to hide her twisted inner thoughts.
“They must have trusted Lady Francis’ judgment.”
Elena said coldly. Perhaps later, a vengeful Rosaline would start sending her on hard errands, and she would pound the pavement and wonder why she’d done it. Still, she couldn’t just stand by when a child had collapsed because of her.
“What did you say?”
“Ilya as well as His Highness, the Duke, believed in Rosaline’s judgment and followed it, didn’t they? You asked why they didn’t stop you just now.”
As expected. Elena’s words left a lingering confusion on Rosaline’s face.
“So, does that mean it was my fault?”
“Not necessarily.”
Rosaline bit her lower lip.
‘Insolent bitch.’
As Rosaline stared at Elena, who was kneeling before her, Elena bowed deeply and left first. She felt Rosaline’s sharp gaze piercing her back, and she was already starting to regret her actions.
I’m in for trouble because of my impudence.
In fact, her falling into the novel was also due to her impudence. If she had just left the cat alone wherever it was sitting, she would have been living peacefully until now.
For a moment, Elena’s thought of the laundry basket she had neglected when she hurriedly left came to mind, and she began to walk quickly with a sigh.
“Summon His Holiness the Pope immediately.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Upon receiving Emperor Vakran I’s command, a knight started running south towards the palace temple.
It was an unexpected turn of events. After hearing that Tito had come out to the garden with the tutor, he impulsively headed towards the Palace of Dawn. As always, he intended to silently observe from a distance.
But before reaching the Palace of Dawn, he encountered Tito walking from a far-off distance in the woods. Terrified by the realization that the person standing on the opposite side was Emperor Vakran I, Tito remained frozen in place and began to have a seizure.
Quickly getting out of Tito’s sight and concealing himself among the trees, Emperor Vakran I waited for the Pope while observing the situation.
Tito’s nursemaid sent one of the knights towards the direction of the Palace of Dawn, and soon after, a single priest came running. Although her face wasn’t visible from a distance, her small and thin figure stood out, almost looking like a young child.
Approaching Tito and seemingly assessing his condition, the official emitted a bright light. It was strikingly similar to the light Emperor Vakran had seen when the Pope came to heal him during sword training after sustaining injuries.
“Does that priest also possess the power of healing?”
It was amazing. Emperor Vakran I, well aware of the significant role that rare ability played in the current Pope’s rise to power, narrowed his eyes to get a closer look at the woman with long silver hair. When the woman staggered for a moment, her long silver hair swayed along.
“Um, wouldn’t it be better to move His Highness to a more comfortable place?”
She had quite an enchanting voice. Following the priest’s suggestion, Tito was carried to the Palace of Dawn, and in the forest, only the woman with silver hair remained.
“If someone had informed me that His Highness’ condition was so severe, I wouldn’t have done this. Ilya was with us, why didn’t you stop me…”
It was a lame excuse. While not properly understanding Tito’s condition, she simply attributed it to a child’s fear and forcefully intervened, shifting the blame onto Tito’s nursemaid.
When Emperor Vakran I’s thick eyebrows furrowed silently, another courteous voice was heard.
“They must have trusted Lady Francis’ judgment.”
“What did you say?”
Although her remark was sharp, the voice of the silver-haired official remained calm.
“You asked why they didn’t stop you just now.”
With that, the silver-haired woman left. Vakran I paced back toward the center of the palace, calling out to one of his servants. The servant, bowing deeply, not daring to look up at the emperor’s face, came to his side.
“There is no need for His Holiness the Pope to hurry, please inform him.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Fortunately, thanks to the silver-haired priest, the situation did not escalated further, but Emperor Vakran I’s expression was dark. Even if unintentional, it was quite bitter for him to witness Tito being driven to such a state because of his own actions.
“I’ll send someone to the Palace of Dawn to find out how His Highness Duke Levi is doing.”
One of his lieutenants stepped to the side. Vakran I nodded heavily.
As a result of his impulsive action of wanting to catch a glimpse of Tito’s face from afar, Tito ended up suffering. It was unnecessary. He should not have come without any prior notice. He blamed himself.
“I’m going to the training ground.”
Emperor Vakran I eventually clenched a sword in his hand and headed towards the training ground.
* * *
