“Are you talking about me?”
Both looked back in surprise.
A neatly dressed Akkad was holding a basket full of herbs.
“Are you talking about cursing me or something?”
“Oh, no. That’s not the case.”
“We were talking about Countess Rosewell.”
Welsh added quickly.
“She’s adapting very quickly. We all think she’s a great choice, just as our head herbalist selected her.”
“Aha.”
Akkad nodded and mumbled to himself.
“So, everyone seems to have a positive evaluation of Countess Rosewell.”
“Yes. In a little more time, I’m sure she’ll be a key talent in our herbal garden.”
“As expected, I recognize talented people well.”
Akkad turned to Pristin with a proud look.
“I was right, wasn’t I, Lady Rosewell?”
Pristin was embarrassed at the sudden glance. But soon replied with an awkward smile.
“Everyone seems to have a very favorable opinion of me, and I’m grateful, but it also makes me a bit anxious.”
“Why would you be anxious? Just keep doing what you’re doing.”
“Thank you. But, speaking of which…”
“Oh, this is the herb I planted last time. I think I’ll have to wash it and juice it.”
Akkad once again looked at Pristin and asked.
“Can I ask you for your help, Countess?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Lady Welsh, bring the fatigue-relieving potion to His Majesty.”
“Yes, Head Herbalist!”
“Then I beg of you.”
After leaving a gentle closing remark, Akkad left again. Pristin was about to move to wash the herbs that Akkad had left behind, but Welsh caught her by the wrist next to her. Pristin looked back at Welsh with a puzzled expression.
“I’ll do it.”
“Shouldn’t you bring it to His Majesty, Lady Welsh?”
“Can’t you do that for me?”
“What? Me?”
“I’m afraid of His Majesty. Just the thought of standing in front of him makes me feel numb.”
“But…”
“Please, Countess. I’ll wash the herbs well. Yes?”
She could feel Welsh’s sincerity in her earnest voice. Pristin asked in a somewhat confused tone.
“Is His Majesty a scary person?”
“Hasn’t the countess met the emperor before?”
“Yes. I have.”
“And yet it never occurred to you that His Majesty is frightening?”
“I’m not quite sure…”
Pristin scratched the back of her head with a puzzled expression, and Welsh shook her head as if she couldn’t understand how that was possible.
“I’m just so scared of him. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve heard so many rumors that I’m scared, but the expressionless face and the atmosphere… I can’t approach him carelessly. I feel like I’m going to be eaten if I even get close? I feel like a rabbit standing in front of a beast.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes. Well, even the empress mother was hesitant, so it’s only natural…”
Having said that, Welsh quickly shut up when she realized that she had made a slip of the tongue.
“…I’m sorry, forget what I said. I misspoke.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, no. It’s nothing.”
Welsh’s expression quickly hardened. She earnestly begged Pristin with a serious expression.
“Just pretend you didn’t hear it. Please? I beg you.”
“…All right, I understand.”
In fact, Pristin was curious about the backstory.
‘Why was even the empress mother hesitant?’
However, Welsh’s desperate pleading, as if asking her to pretend not to have heard anything, was too intense. Unable to bring herself to ask about it, Pristin held back her curiosity.
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
‘I’m tired.’
Jerald Limburg, who had been wrestling with paperwork on his desk all day, finally adjusted his posture as the late afternoon set in. Jerald thought he needed a short break and set down his pen. He realized that if he continued to focus from here, he wouldn’t be able to produce good results. It was the time when he was about to call for a nap.
“Your Majesty.”
The voice of the chamberlain came from outside.
“The herbalist from the herbal garden came.”
That one sentence had two implications. First, the reason why the herbalist came was probably to bring his fatigue reliever. Second, the herbalist happened to be the herbalist they saw last time. In other words, it was not Pristin. Jerald intended to say that he would take a nap for now and drink the fatigue reliever later.
“It’s Countess Rosewell.”
Until he heard this. Jerald’s eyelids, which had been limping down with fatigue, rose quickly.
“Who’s here?”
“It’s Countess Rosewell.”
If he didn’t hear it wrong, the chamberlain was now saying that Pristin had come. Jerald’s heart began to beat fast. He swallowed his dry spit and opened his mouth again.
“Let her in.”
Immediately the door opened and someone came in. Jerald’s expression quickly brightened as if he were never tired.
“Pristin.”
Without a doubt, the best fatigue reliever for him was Pristin Rosewell. Pristin hesitated as she entered the emperor’s chambers with somewhat unsteady movements and opened her mouth in response to Jerald calling her name.
“I see the sun of the empire.”
“What brings you here?”
He asked in a cheerful voice.
“Are you here to see me?”
Jerald, in fact, already knew it wouldn’t be the case.
Still, wanting to continue the conversation, he asked.
“No, I came on an errand.”
As Pristin cautiously approached Jerald, she uttered the expected answer.
“It’s a remedy for fatigue. There are a lot of good herbs in it. Drinking it will relieve some of your fatigue.”
“Did you make it yourself?”
“No. I’m not quite capable of that yet.”
“That’s too bad.”
Jerald murmured, receiving a small glass bottle from Pristin.
“I thought you made it yourself.”
“…”
“Can I look forward to it someday?”
“What do you mean?”
“The fatigue reliever you make for me yourself.”
“… If I improve my skills someday, it might be possible.”
Pristin uttered the answer very businesslike. Like it meant that even if such a thing happened, personal feelings wouldn’t be brought into it.
“Then, I will take my leave.”
“Just a moment.”
Jerald grabbed Pristin in a hurry. Pristin, who wore long clothes that day and was caught by the sleeve, looked back at Jerald.
A look of desperation gazed at her.
“Don’t go.”
“…”
The voice that was akin to a pleading child seemed to weaken Pristin. She couldn’t say anything for a moment and asked.
“Do you have something you want me to do?”
“… I’m about to take a nap. Just a very short one.”
“…”
“Please stay by my side until then.”
“Order another lady-in-waiting.”
“No. It must be you.”
“Why?”
“Because you are a herbalist.”
Pristin was narrowing her brows as if she didn’t understand what he was saying.
“We need to confirm if this fatigue reliever is effective.”
“You won’t be able to see the effects in such a short time.”
“But what I need is a fatigue reliever that shows quick results.”
After that, Jerald drank all the fatigue reliever he had received from Pristin at once.
“If it’s impossible to make something like that with herbs, then I want you by my side.”
“Your Majesty…”
“I think I’ll feel a little better if you’re by my side, in terms of my physical condition.”
At the end of that, Jerald only stared at Pristin. Pristin closed her mouth and said nothing. They stayed in that state for about a minute.
“It’s an order.”
There was nothing more Pristin could do with those words. She narrowed her brows slightly and glanced at Jerald. However, Jerald, with a face that seemed to wonder why he hadn’t used the method earlier, lightly smiled and met Pristin’s gaze.
Then he whispered to her in a pleasant voice.
“Come this way, Pristin.”
Since he had gone as far as to make it an order, she couldn’t refuse. Pristin let out a quick sigh and turned her body towards him.
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
Using the excuse of taking a nap, she expected him to keep talking.
‘…Sleep well.’
However, Jerald, after adamantly insisting that she shouldn’t go, calling it an order, immediately fell into a deep sleep. His head probably didn’t even touch the pillow for more than five minutes before he dozed off.
‘He must have been really tired.’
Anyway, he was still the emperor, so Pristin didn’t leave his side. She quietly watched him sleep by the bedside, and suddenly, the conversation she overheard earlier came to mind.
‘Well, even the empress mother was hesitant, so it’s only natural…’
… Well. It wasn’t even a long time, so there was no way to know everything about the other person.
Moreover, the two of them had deceived each other about their identities. Even though Pristin didn’t know what story Welsh was talking about, it didn’t seem like a light one. But even if he didn’t tell her such a story, it wouldn’t be strange at all.
‘So it’s nothing to be upset about.’
It would be strange to feel upset. Pristin decided not to think anymore.
Having such emotions was uncomfortable and painful for her.
“Mhm…”
Then, Jerald narrowed his eyes and shifted his body slightly. As a result, his tidy appearance became slightly disheveled. Pristin stared at him for a while as he fell back into a peaceful sleep, then subconsciously reached out toward him. She then straightened his tousled hair and adjusted it neatly. Did he even feel that touch?
“Ah…”
Suddenly, Jerald grabbed Pristin’s hand as she was tidying his shirt collar. Startled, Pristin initially thought he intentionally grabbed her hand. But looking at his deeply closed eyes and peaceful breathing, it seemed more like an unconscious action.
Pristin stared at Jerald with widened eyes, taken aback by the unexpected gesture.
“…Your Majesty.”
“…”
“Are you awake?”
“…Pri.”
Then Jerald’s voice was heard.
“Pristin…”
Smiling, he uttered her name in a very small voice. Pristin’s expression stiffened, filled with confusion and bewilderment. But she couldn’t bring herself to pull her hand out of his grasp. It was because she thought it might wake him up if she did.
“Pristin…”
He called her name as if it were something incredibly precious. And in that situation, Pristin’s expression grew even darker.
She had thought before that his words of still loving her and starting again could be lies.
But if he was able to find her even in his sleep, if his actions were true to that extent, the probability of his feelings not being genuine was extremely low.
So, Jerald still loved her. Unfortunately.
“Hmm…”
As Pristin looked at Jerald with a confused mind, he started tossing and turning. However, even in doing so, Jerald tightly held onto Pristin’s hand, as if she were a cherished doll.
Pristin kept her hand in his, as is, for quite some time before cautiously pulling it away.
“…”
And at that very moment, Jerald’s eyelids slowly lifted.
