“You can go in the same carriage as my brother.”
“What?”
“Why are you so surprised?”
Pristin initially thought she was overreacting to the melodious voice. Stammering, she responded with a flustered tone.
“B, but how can I ride the same carriage as His Majesty?”
“Just say you lost a bet with me!”
“Even if you say that…”
“A bet is a bet, isn’t it?”
Claret pressured her with a smile. Pristin made a disgruntled sound, and after a while, she muttered in a small voice.
“It’s awkward, being in the same carriage as His Majesty.”
“No. He likes things like that.”
Claret gestured outside and the carriage stopped for a moment. Then, as if there was no more time to delay, Claret smiled broadly and spoke to Pristin.
“See you later, Pristin.”
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
“Why did the carriage stop all of a sudden?”
Jerald, who was reading the papers in the carriage, asked in a low voice; and a moment later, the door opened and an unexpected person appeared.
“…Pristin?”
“…Your Majesty.”
Pristin slipped away from Jerald’s gaze with an awkward expression on her face.
Jerald looked at Pristin with a look on his face asking why she was here.
“How…”
“That’s…”
Pristin explained hesitantly how she ended up here. After hearing the story, Jerald looked bemused, and Pristin added as if making an excuse.
“Her Highness is quite adept at card games. I thought I was good too…”
“…Come in for now, Pristin.”
To prevent the journey from being delayed further, Pristin quietly followed Jerald’s words. Initially flustered, she later smiled awkwardly. Pristin, who sat diagonally from Jerald, said with an embarrassed expression.
“I’ll try not to disturb you, Your Majesty.”
“No, no.”
Jerald said, putting down the papers he was reading.
“The timing is just right. I’ve finished all my work.”
“…Is that really not a lie?”
“It’s not a lie.”
“It seems too staged for that.”
“It’s because we get along so well.”
Jerald asked after responding playfully.
“Do you have no intention of playing cards with me?”
“I’ve already done it with Her Highness.”
“You can do it one more time.”
“I lost once, so I lost my confidence.”
“It’s okay because I’m not good at it.”
“Do you know how to play card games?”
“No?”
Jerald spoke confidently.
“So, teach me.”
“…”
Pristin blinked at an unexpected situation.
Jerald smiled and gestured.
“For now, come over and sit next to me. We’re too far apart, right?”
“You don’t have any more work to do?”
“I’m done. Everything’s finished.”
After saying that, Jerald crumpled his eyes in disappointment.
“That’s harsh. Are you telling me to work even while going to the Summer Palace?”
“But you’ll have work to do even after you arrive, won’t you?”
“Reading while the carriage is moving strains the eyes. It gives you a headache too.”
While Pristin couldn’t respond to the reasonable argument, Jerald continued.
“So why not learn to play cards? It’s unreasonable for the emperor not to know the latest trends in social circles, right?”
“…”
Pristin looked at Jerald with her brow narrowed and slowly pulled out the cards she had played with Claret earlier.
“Do you really not know anything at all?”
“Nothing.”
“Okay. First, there are a total of fifty-three cards in a deck…”
“Wait a minute, Pristin.”
Then, Jerald cut off Pristin.
“I can’t hear you well.”
“What?”
“I can’t hear you well. It’s too far.”
Jerald asked Pristin, who had widened her eyes.
“Can you come next to me and tell me?”
“…You can’t hear me well?”
“Yes.”
“It’s not even that far away.”
“I can’t hear you well.”
“…”
Pristin became a little embarrassed, but there was nothing she could do if he couldn’t hear. She sighed and said.
“Okay, I’ll…”
And just as she was about to get up, the carriage suddenly jerked. With the sudden movement, Pristin stumbled, and her eyes widened in bewilderment as she struggled to regain balance.
“Ah…!”
Pristin tried to balance herself by swinging her arms in the air, but once lost, it seemed impossible to recover. Her body tilted forward rapidly, and she reflexively closed her eyes.
“…”
And when no shock was felt, Pristin opened her eyes, she found herself staring at Jerald from a very close distance.
“Are you okay?”
Both of them seemed taken aback. Looking blankly at Jerald asking anxiously, Pristin, still in shock, didn’t move.
Only after a long time did Pristin nod slowly, and only then did Jerald, who breathed a sigh of relief, cautiously try to sit Pristin at his side.
“Oh…!”
Then Pristin let out a small scream. Surprised, Jerald asked.
“What’s wrong?”
“My ankle…”
Pristin muttered with a frown.
“I think it got twisted when I fell earlier.”
“Let me see.”
Jerald knelt down in front of Pristin, looking concerned. He grabbed her ankle and lifted the hem of her dress slightly. Despite Pristin’s internal surprise at this unexpected physical contact, she pretended to look down at the ground nonchalantly.
“Oh my gosh.”
Jerald murmured, narrowing his brow.
“I caught you immediately, but it still seems a bit swollen.”
“I’m fine, Your Majesty. It’s bearable.”
“You shouldn’t bear it. It’s swollen.”
Then, he said something that would surprise Pristin.
“Stop the carriage immediately. And send for the palace doctor.”
“What’s the matter, Your Majesty?”
“Countess Rosewell is injured.”
The word ‘injured’ somehow embarrassed Pristin. It was just a slight twist when she stumbled in the carriage. However, sensing that Jerald wouldn’t believe her even if she said she was fine, Pristin chose not to say anything more.
“I’ll go and fetch the palace doctor right away.”
Then, after a while, the palace doctor arrived. The palace doctor examined Pristin’s condition and soon spoke in a calm voice.
“If you apply herbs to reduce inflammation and swelling on the ankle, Your Majesty, she will recover quickly. It’s not something to worry too much about.”
“Well then, bring those herbs.”
“I believe the herbalist in the herbal garden would know more about it than I do.”
Jerald’s brow was slightly narrowed by that.
“Should I send a message to the herbal garden for you, Your Majesty?”
“Can’t you do it yourself?”
“It’s possible, but the herbal garden is more knowledgeable about herbs than the infirmary. If you want a more effective treatment, that might be better.”
“…”
Eventually, Jerald had no choice but to contact the herbal garden with a reluctant look on his face. And…
“Your Majesty, Lord Bachell has arrived.”
His greatest concern had come true. Akkad, the herbalist, had arrived at Jerald’s carriage. He wore an expression of nonchalance upon seeing Pristin in Jerald’s carriage.
Perhaps he had received prior notice.
Jerald couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable about it. Despite being informed, he wondered why Akkad had come. There were numerous herbalists from the herbal garden, so why did he specifically come?
Nevertheless, he had no choice. After all, when it came to knowledge about herbs, the herbal garden was the most skilled, and for Pristin’s treatment, that was what mattered. Even though he wasn’t pleased about it for various reasons.
“I hear that Countess Rosewell was injured.”
“The ankle is a little…”
Pristin somehow replied with a shy look on her face.
“It’s nothing serious.”
In fact, this was an injury that would have healed over time without any action needed. When Pristin encountered Akkad, a member of the same herbal garden, in this situation, she was frankly embarrassed.
“But if you keep going with an injured ankle, your daily life might become quite inconvenient.”
Akkad, with a calm expression, knelt down in front of Pristin and looked up at her.
“May I take a moment to examine it?”
“Oh, yes.”
When Pristin nodded, Akkad slowly lifted one knee while looking at her ankle. In the process, the hem of her dress was slightly raised, just like before. Despite the same situation as earlier, Jerald felt particularly uncomfortable this time. However, without showing any displeasure, he was trying hard to suppress his emotions, considering it was part of the treatment.
“Luckily, it’s not a serious injury. How did you get hurt?”
“Well, I was about to stand up when the carriage suddenly shook…”
“If you had fallen at that moment, you might have been more seriously injured.”
“Fortunately, His Majesty caught me.”
Pristin added as if she had forgotten.
“Thankfully.”
“…I see.”
After responding impassively, Akkad opened the herbal box he had brought and took out one of the bottles containing a mixture of various herbs. Pouring the herbal mix into a small bowl, Akkad carefully applied it to Pristin’s ankle, saying,
“Come to think of it, this is already the second time.”
When Pristin looked at him as if asking what he meant, Akkad smiled and said,
“I’m treating the countess a second time.”
“Oh, I see. Twice in your care…”
“The second time?”
At that time, Jerald, who heard Akkad, asked in a sharp voice.
“Was there a first time?”
“Oh, you didn’t know.”
Akkad responded casually.
“The first time was when I first met the countess at the library. The lady fell off a ladder then.”
“…That happened?”
Jerald looked at Pristin with a face that seemed to be hearing this for the first time, and Pristin fell silent for a moment. She nodded silently.
“I never heard that story before.”
“It was a trivial matter, so I didn’t mention it.”
“It was just a small scrape on the knee.”
Akkad spoke in a nonchalant tone.
“If it’s trivial, it was a minor wound. It wasn’t significant.”
However, for Jerald, it wasn’t so trivial. Treating the knee meant revealing, at the very least, part of the leg beneath the dress.
While it could be insignificant depending on how one accepted it, the knee held particular significance for Jerald. Moreover, if the opponent was Akkad, even more.
Jerald looked at Akkad with an expression that, while emotionless, carried a peculiar discomfort. In that moment, Akkad lifted his head with an equally subtle but challenging gaze directed at Jerald.
A subtly provocative look carried in Akkad’s eyes met Jerald’s gaze.
‘…Ha.’
Jerald instinctively sensed that Akkad intentionally brought up the story.
