“There are many rare herbs in the forests of Itidian, Your Majesty.”
Pristin quickly opened her mouth before Jerald made another decent misconception.
“It’s not an everyday opportunity, so I decided to go with Lord Bachell.”
“Do you mean just the two of you?”
“That’s the case for now, but…”
Pristin replied, her voice subdued.
“Well, the number of people could increase.”
“…”
“We might just go alone. Is that important?”
“Going alone seems a bit risky.”
Jerald had a somewhat uneasy expression.
“At least three should go together for safety, right?”
“I don’t know how to appreciate your concern, Your Majesty.”
It was Akkad who answered. Jerald looked at Akkad with a smile that was different from what he was feeling. Jerald didn’t feel very pleased with the situation now because he never said anything about how he was worried about him.
“But you don’t have to worry too much; I can protect myself and the countess.”
“Did you have a talent for fighting, Lord?”
“My father wanted to send me to the military academy.”
Akkad said with a bitter expression on his face.
“Voluntarily, to some extent.”
“Aha…”
“So you don’t have to worry too much, Your Majesty.”
“Well, nothing major will happen.”
After saying that, Pristin, unintentionally, looked at Jerald.
‘That’s what little Jerald thought fifteen years ago when he walked through the woods with Prince Arthur.’
At the thought of it, she felt numb momentarily, and Pristin was silent for a moment.
“Are you not going to treat her, Lord Bachell?”
At that time, Jerald asked him willingly, and Akkad smiled casually.
“I was about to, Your Majesty.”
At the same time, Akkad carefully knelt down before Pristin and was about to roll up the hem of her dress—
“Wait.”
Jerald interrupted him. Pristin looked back at him.
“Is there a problem, Your Majesty?”
“…No, there’s no issue.”
No matter how much patience he tried to exercise, the problem was that watching this scene was distressing. After taking a deep breath inwardly, Jerald asked.
“Can’t I do it, Lord Bachell?”
“What? What do you mean…”
“The herbal mix is made by the lord anyway.”
Jerald said calmly.
“I can at least apply it to the ankle.”
“If you do it carefully, it shouldn’t be too difficult.”
Akkad added, looking at Jerald with narrowed eyes.
“I don’t understand why Your Majesty would volunteer for such a task.”
Jerald could tell that it wasn’t a genuine inquiry, but he needed some pretext for this.
After a brief moment of contemplation, he managed to find a somewhat plausible excuse.
“I want to try it.”
“Yes?”
“I also think that learning this might be useful someday.”
Jerald casually made his statement without any particular concern.
“I’ve been interested in herbalism lately, so I’ve been talking to Countess Rosewell about it.”
“If that’s the case, you should have come to me. I could have explained it much more easily.”
Akkad responded with a peculiar smile on his face.
“You can call on me anytime, Your Majesty. It would be an even greater honor for me to share my knowledge with you.”
Akkad smiled and looked at Jerald with a slightly furrowed brow.
“So, in the future, please call on me, Your Majesty.”
“…I’ll think about it.”
Jerald forced a smile while looking at Akkad.
“For now, let’s focus on how to apply the mix to the ankle.”
“It is not difficult, Your Majesty, first…”
Akkad continued what he was doing earlier—lifting Pristin’s dress hem. Jerald’s smile cracked a little.
“After lifting the dress cloth to prevent it from coming down, carefully apply the mix with a spoon to the ankle.”
“Seems easy.”
“It may look that way, but it requires a certain technique. It might not be easy at first.”
“Countess Rosewell.”
Jerald called Pristin abruptly, and Pristin slowly turned to face him. And she was met with Jerald’s ever-so-charming gaze.
“Will you be my practice partner?”
“…”
Pristin looked at Jerald, motionless, as if her heart had stopped at a moment; and only after a while did she nod her head slowly.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
It was the same lingering gaze as usual. The faint smile on his lips wasn’t much different from what she saw when they were alone. But for some reason, her heart felt heavy all of a sudden. Pristin felt uneasy and confused.
“Let’s stop here for today, Lord Bachell.”
Jerald turned to Akkad casually and said.
“Thank you very much for the explanation.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
Akkad rose quietly from his seat and then gave a farewell to Pristin.
“I will see you again next time, Your Excellency. Please rest well.”
“Yes, Lord. Thank you.”
Only after the quiet greeting came and went did Akkad leave the room, and finally they were left alone again. Jerald sat on one knee in front of Pristin without saying a word, and then slowly rolled up the hem of Pristin’s dress, as Akkad said. And with a gentle touch, he grabbed Pristin’s bare foot. An itchy and strange sensation came up to Pristin’s toes, which was different from when Akkad grabbed it. Pristin bit her lips without realizing it.
“…”
“…”
And as Jerald applied the herbs, no words were exchanged between the two. Pristin, with a sidelong glance, called out to Jerald.
“Your Majesty.”
“What?”
“Are you okay?”
At that, Jerald looked up at Pristin. The words seemed to pierce through her as Jerald’s eyes scrutinized her, and she felt her heart beat faster than before.
“What’s the matter?”
“No, it’s just…”
Pristin hesitated for a moment before continuing.
“You seem to be in a strange mood.”
“No way.”
Jerald replied nonchalantly.
“I’m perfectly fine, Pristin.”
“But…”
For some reason, it felt like a lie, and Pristin couldn’t hide her unease.
“Because you look bad every time I face Lord Bachell.”
“…Can I be honest?”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“Honestly, it’s not pleasant.”
Jerald gave a really honest answer.
“It’s not very good. You’re spending too much time with Lord Bachell.”
Pristin was about to say that they were even closer at the Imperial Herbal Garden than they were at Itidian, but she quickly abandoned the thought, realizing it wouldn’t be helpful in the current situation.
And she responded by pretending to be nonchalant.
“It’s just a coincidence, Your Majesty.”
“If something happens three times, it’s destiny, not a coincidence. No, that’s not it.”
As if correcting a slip of the tongue, Jerald quickly amended his words.
“Someone intentionally orchestrated these meetings, that’s what I think.”
“Are you suggesting that Lord Bachell deliberately wants to meet with me, Your Majesty?”
“He has some ulterior motive.”
“Your Majesty.”
Pristin called Jerald quietly. Jerald stared at Pristin.
“No matter how hard you kick the ball into a tightly closed door, the door will not open.”
“What does that mean?”
“Even if Lord Bachell has such feelings for me, I won’t accept his heart.”
“…”
“Well, that’s what it means.”
“Then what about me?”
Jerald asked, staring straight at Pristin.
“Is that door closed to me, too? Still?”
“…”
“I thought I had been knocking on that door for quite a while, and by now, maybe it had opened a little.”
To be honest, the lock on the tightly closed door was defective from the beginning. Pristin couldn’t blame him entirely and had cherished his love until the end. It was already creaking between the tightly closed doors from the beginning.
“Am I still an unforgivable sinner in your eyes?”
“That’s…”
“Your Majesty.”
At that moment, a voice from outside interrupted, and the serious atmosphere seemed to dissipate. However, Jerald’s gaze was still fixed on Pristin. Only Pristin seemed unsettled.
Jerald opened his mouth with his eyes on Pristin.
While keeping his eyes on Pristin, Jerald spoke.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s time for your medicine.”
“Let’s postpone it for a moment.”
“Your Majesty, you must take it at the scheduled time. May I come in for a moment?”
“…I’m done. I’ll come out.”
After Jerald took a short breath, he stood up from his seat. Now, Pristin looked up at Jerald. Before leaving Pristin’s room, Jerald slowly bowed.
Pristin couldn’t move and stiffened.
“I’m not stopping you, Pristin. I’m a persistent person.”
“…”
“I’ll keep knocking until that door opens.”
With those words, Jerald left Pristin’s room, and Pristin felt her heart continue to beat rapidly. Even after he left, her heart didn’t show any signs of calming down for a long time. Eventually, Pristin muttered after a considerable amount of time had passed.
“…What should I do?”
It seemed like that door had already been opened. With trembling hands, Pristin touched her flushed cheeks.
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
A few days later, Pristin’s ankle fully recovered. After hurting her ankle, she was able to return to the same condition as before she was hurt because she remained in the room.
“Your Majesty, Countess Rosewell is here.”
And after the ankle had healed, the first thing Pristin did was find Jerald. Jerald asked, looking a little surprised.
“Countess Rosewell?”
It was quite unusual for her to find him first. But for a moment, he quickly looked into the mirror, arranged his clothes, and then brought Pristin inside.
Then, after a while, Pristin approached Jerald cautiously and bent down in front of him.
“The great sun of Limburg, I greet His Majesty.”
“Pristin.”
Jerald asked Pristin with his eyes mixed with surprise and a tremor.
“What’s going on? Is your ankle all better?”
“Yes, thanks to Your Majesty.”
“I’m glad you’re all better. How come you’re here…”
“I remembered what I promised you before I came here.”
Pristin asked, looking straight into Jerald’s eyes.
“Tomorrow at lunch, do you have time?”
