Bibliophile princess vol.., p.3
Bibliophile Princess: Volume 6, page 3
I could tell Prince Irvin wanted to save his country, but I also suspected his desire to save his brother was even stronger than anything else. That was likely why he was so interested in keeping me close, knowing I had connections which could get us information from inside the royal palace. He was willing to do whatever it took to complete his objectives, no matter the cost. It was because of this that I saw little difference between his situation and the one Sauslind’s people and I found ourselves in.
“I absolutely will not allow them to do anything to harm your elder brother,” I reassured him. “Those in the palace in whom I place my greatest confidence will do whatever is necessary to ensure he is protected. I swear to you, here and now, that I will not allow anyone else to lose their lives on Sauslind’s soil any longer.”
Uncle Teddy had died protecting me, alongside some of his men in the Black Wing Knights. Others were sick with the plague; His Majesty and many of his people were teetering on the brink of life and death. People’s lives were too precious and irreplaceable. I refused to let even one more be lost while I had the power to stop it.
“Lord Irvin, please place your faith in me and those whom I trust.”
What I was offering him was little more than empty words, but I knew I had no other cards in my hand that could win over his trust. I also knew that appealing to someone’s emotions was a failing negotiation strategy. On the other hand, I meant what I said. There were people in the palace with whom I’d built a strong relationship of trust—namely, my own older brother and Earl Hayden’s daughter, Anna Hayden. I knew the two of them would do everything they could to prevent the scales from tipping enough to launch us into a full-scale conflict.
That was also precisely why I couldn’t give up. The reason I found the strength to stand again was that I knew I had people in my camp who wouldn’t bend either. I wasn’t shouldering this entire burden on my own, nor was I the only one standing up to face every issue we’d been saddled with. There were people who’d continued studying the Ashen Nightmare well after the events from sixteen years ago. It was thanks to all of their efforts over the years that we had two medicines to combat the disease: one that could offer an official diagnosis and one that could prolong the affected person’s life.
If I gave up and abandoned everything, I wouldn’t be able to save anyone. Nothing would change.
“For those who cannot accomplish something all on their own, they can find strength in those fighting for the same cause. Lord Irvin, you were kind enough to comfort me when my heart had been gravely injured. Thus, I would like to return the same sentiments you expressed to me. You needn’t shoulder everything and wear yourself out.”
As long as we shared the same objectives, we were comrades. He didn’t need to hold the weight of the world and face his problems all on his own; he could split the load with me. That was, after all, the most elementary way to achieve one’s objectives, I would argue.
Prince Irvin’s expression betrayed little as he responded to my words with silence. I could tell he was weighing what I’d said against his own thoughts. There were people in the capital we could trust to keep his brother safe, but they were my allies and not Prince Irvin’s. Even so, the only thing he could do was put his faith in me.
The silence was finally interrupted as he expelled a sigh, one so quiet it seemed to melt into the still air, but it was the length of this sigh that indicated not only resignation but exasperation.
“You’re a greedy woman,” he muttered under his breath. “You want to stop the war. You want to save the sick. You want to keep my brother from dying. You want to outrun these assassins who are after you. And all of this, you want to accomplish without relinquishing your position as crown princess.”
I wasn’t about to sacrifice something else in order to achieve my objectives. I wasn’t going to forsake anything.
There was a time, long ago, when I thought I would be satisfied as long as I had books to read. I was not that same person anymore. I could look Prince Irvin straight in the face and answer him with confidence.
“It has been said since ancient times that a woman’s greed knows no bounds. It’s only natural for her to covet beauty, extravagant accessories, status, and luxury. A woman may even desire her beloved’s head if it meant he would go to another instead of her. I must caution you not to underestimate a woman’s greed, my lord, lest you be the one who is burned by the fires you tempt.”
Queen Henrietta had taught me the basics of negotiation. One mustn’t flinch from the discussion, and if it should require bluffing to conceal one’s unease, then so be it. The first rule, however, was that one mustn’t forget to smile.
For the second time in this conversation, Prince Irvin gaped at me. He paused briefly before bursting into laughter. This time, his mirth sounded carefree without being undercut by any other more complex emotions.
“You’re actually pretty good at haggling, aren’t ya?” He grinned, and after studying me for a moment, he also muttered, “Looks like I’ve gotten rusty, on the other hand.” Despite saying that, Prince Irvin didn’t seem all that disappointed with the outcome. He pulled back, maintaining a more respectable distance between us as he flashed his usual smile.
“Fine,” he said, sounding cocky again, albeit more conciliatory than before. “I’ll take my chances on you. You’ve got my trust for now, and I’ll put the issue with my brother aside. I’ll let you hire me as your bodyguard too and offer all the cooperation I’m able to give in the process. But ya know, I don’t come cheap.”
Oh, dear. I wonder if my allowance will be enough to cover his fee?
“And I’ll find another opportunity to take a pass at you again.”
I prefer you didn’t do that.
“My goal will be, hm... Let’s see... I’d like to make you say that you want my head for yourself.”
How splendid. I’ve been promoted from budding historical empress to female war general who leaps onto the battlefield and loudly proclaims her desire for the blood of her enemies.
I suddenly realized that I too was feeling less tense than before. Prince Irvin had likely taken it easy on me. He was perfectly capable of using other means to accomplish his objectives rather than bowing down to my haphazard attempts at negotiation. Fortunately, he’d chosen to bet on me.
“Thank you, Lord Irvin.”
Looking back, I’d been fortunate to receive his continued assistance ever since the two of us had reunited. I’d taken his good favor for granted in the process. A sharp pain shot through my chest, but in front of me, Prince Irvin spoke with the same teasing tone he always did.
“Hm, how should I have you repay me for my services?” He gave me a suggestive look, but the moment was interrupted.
“Please take your payment from the coffers of the demon lord!” stated a voice from the doorway, where the door had swung open at some point without the knob ever making a sound.
Shocked, I jerked my head around to get a peek. Lord Alan was standing there with one of his arms wrapped in bandages, and beside him was Prince Irvin’s retainer, Rei, whose head was cloaked in cloth. The door had apparently been left ajar to begin with, and the two of them had eavesdropped on our entire conversation.
I was overcome with embarrassment, while Prince Irvin cast a sigh of annoyance.
“Listening in on your masters’ private conversation, huh? You two have some real guts. Rei, Maestro.”
“Why, I never,” said Lord Alan, not sounding the least bit guilty for his actions. The maestro with honey-colored hair and emerald green eyes maintained his usual mischievous demeanor. “My master is Prince Chris, I’ll remind you. Plus, if it’s finances you’re after, then I’m your man. Although, you know...I do feel kind of relieved. At the beginning there, I was thinking I was going to have to go on a looong business trip for my own safety, but, uh...” His voice trailed off as his gaze began to wander. Under his breath, he continued, “Looks like Lord Irvin’s not even in the running, huh?”
Before Prince Irvin’s mood was completely soured, his retainer earnestly cut in to comment, nodding as he did so. “I initially thought you to be nothing more than a doll with some impressive knowledge, but your ability to make the prince dance in the palm of your hand demonstrates great promise. It does seem worth considering bringing you over to our side.”
“Aww, come on,” Lord Alan grumbled at him with a shake of the head. “Are you seriously thinking about trying to install her into a position of power in your own country? You’ve got no idea how terrifying our demon lord can be.”
“Regrettably, we have our own dictatorial black magic sorceress.”
“Much as I empathize since we have a shared plight, I still have to draw the line somewhere. Oh, but I’ve got an idea! How about we trade intel on the weaknesses of our respective tyrants?”
Rei shook his head. “Hah. That’s hardly a bargain. Your master’s weakness is all too apparent.”
“Aw, that’s not true.” As Lord Alan’s eyes traveled back to me, they were so bright and filled with amusement that they gave no indication he was feeling any pain from his injuries. “Lady Elianna isn’t a weakness. She’s the strongest trump card we’ve got. She can power him up or turn him into—an admittedly still terrifying—coward. The best part is that I can burn through all the money in his coffers without pausing to weigh the pros and cons of each financial decision and he won’t fault me for it because it involves m’lady here.”
“I am not quite sure you would call that a trump card,” Rei countered.
The strength I found in Lord Alan’s emerald eyes warmed my heart. It served as a reminder that I had people with me who would supplement my weaknesses with their strengths, not out of a sense of duty but because they believed in me from the bottom of their hearts.
A nostalgic voice echoed in my head. “You are my trump card, Elianna.”
Right now, I had absolutely nothing, but I was alive and safe and capable of coming up with some way out of this. Frankly, I did feel as though I’d lost sight of His Highness’s heart. I’d lost the clue he’d entrusted to my care, and moreover, I had no idea whether whatever actions I took would serve as his “trump card” while he tried to stand against the hardships facing the realm. Regardless, I wasn’t going to forfeit. Giving up was the one thing I absolutely couldn’t do.
Filled with renewed determination, I straightened my posture, finally returning to my full height after crouching for so long. It was at that precise moment that a new voice interrupted us.
“Oh dear,” said Mabel, sounding reproachful of the imprudence I’d shown. She had apparently hurried here from Dr. Hester’s room.
Mabel had served Lord Alexei Strasser’s house in the capital as a maid descending from a family of midwives. Due to the extraordinary circumstances we found ourselves in, she was currently attending to me. She’d shown incredible resilience in her care for me throughout our terrible misadventures, and it was for that reason I found her most dependable.
It had taken Mabel only a glance around the room to deduce the situation. “It’s disgraceful for so many men to be gathered in a lady’s room like this,” she said admonishingly. Her eyes stopped on me. “Lady Eli— Pardon me. El, Dr. Hester has awoken and has asked for you. Please make your way to her bedside.” She’d corrected herself, addressing me by the name I’d been using for my disguise.
The mention of Dr. Hester felt like a knife digging into my heart. I promptly nodded. While her gaze had softened with me, it hardened the moment she turned her eyes to Prince Irvin, who had taken a seat on the floor after our charged exchange.
“You there, the man-child who I can easily guess was throwing a hissy fit to get his way, haven’t you the strength to stand? If not, I’d be happy to lend you a hand.”
Lord Alan burst into a snickering fit at Mabel’s scathing remarks. Prince Irvin, meanwhile, looked visibly annoyed, which was a rare thing for him. He even muttered under his breath, “Women sure are freakin’ terrifying.”
Chapter 2: Unbending Heart
The room I was chased away from earlier turned out to be a rather ordinary two-person accommodation. It was furnished with two beds, a tall partition screen, and a shelving unit for travelers to store their things. Since the room was tucked deep inside the inn, it lacked any windows to the outside. Silence pervaded the room, as the hour was late and most residents were already fast asleep. The only sound was the barely audible noise of the simple heat stone as it produced vapor to heat the room.
Dr. Hester was sitting up in one of the beds. She’d authored a number of books on herbs and was an herbalist herself. She was moving on in years, and her heart illness had left her with such a strikingly deathlike pallor that even someone with a complete lack of medical knowledge couldn’t help but notice.
I opened my mouth, intending to apologize for the part I’d played in her misfortune, but she interrupted me with a loud grunt. Too intimidated to try again, I froze.
“Your apologies ain’t worth even a single dora to me, girl. You think my house will magically come back if you say you’re sorry? You think the research journal my daughter and her husband left—among all the other things lost in the fire—will miraculously come back?”
All of it had been reduced to ash. Her family’s memories, their records, the culmination of years of effort, the time spent together—their very place to return home to—was gone. I had stolen everything. Admittedly, Jean was the one who started the fire, but I was the one who’d put faith in him and kept him at my side. There was also no question that I was the only reason he’d resorted to such measures.
I clenched my fists. No matter what she said, I had to at least bow my head.
She let out another, albeit smaller, grunt. “You and me, girl, we made it out safe and sound. That’s plenty.”
“Dr. Hester...”
“More importantly...” Her powerful gaze pierced right through me. The intensity she exuded coupled with those hardy grunts she kept making would have anyone second-guessing whether she was actually ill or not. “You should be worrying about what you’re gonna do now, rather than what you’ve already lost. So? What’s your plan? Have you got any other clues about a cure for the Ashen Nightmare? Or an idea for what the cause of it all is?”
No, I had nothing. Furya’s Jar was the only clue we had, one that His Highness had specifically entrusted to me.
I shook my head. But surely if we look, there has to be something else.
The problem was that we didn’t have the spare time to go about hunting down another clue with nothing to go on. Losing those geological survey records was a terrible blow to our progress, but there were still other avenues of inquiry we could pursue. On the other hand...we didn’t have any other clues for a cure.
I chewed on my lip.
“Um,” interrupted a quiet voice.
I glanced at the corner of the room. Lord Alan and the others had followed us, and they’d tried to give us space by standing near the wall.
“So, um,” Lord Alan went on, “Dr. Hester, you haven’t actually read Furya’s Jar, then? I realize memorizing the entire book would be impossible, but surely there was some kind of hint or something...?”
She grunted at him, and as ambiguous as such a noise was, I was still able to read the meaning behind it. Herbalism, as a field, was broken up into different specialties. Having read the books Dr. Hester had authored, I knew very well that hers wasn’t related to the prevention or treatment of epidemics.
After making the aforementioned unflattering noise with her nose, which was an attempt to dismiss Lord Alan’s amateurish suggestion, Dr. Hester snarkily quipped, “Even assuming I had carefully read each page of Furya’s Jar, what of it? You plan on taking a whip to this sick old woman to try to coax me into researching a cure for you?”
“Hmm...” Lord Alan quietly responded, with the same amount of sass, “You sure don’t look like a sick elderly woman in need of such pampering.”
Before she could bicker with him, I stared directly into her eyes and said, “There isn’t any... That is, there are no other clues about a cure. I suspect we will have to entrust that matter to the researchers in the capital. I intend to contact Earl Ralshen’s estate and head for the Urma Mines next. I am the crown prince’s betrothed, so there is still something I can do here. They certainly need all the extra hands they can get there.”
Not wanting to waste another second, I tried to apologize for the trouble I’d caused her and say my farewells, but once more she cut me off. This time, it was with an exasperated sigh.
“You’re far too naive, Elianna Bernstein.” She’d reverted back to the way she’d been when we first met—back to the man-hating witch. Once again, her tone was obstinate and hostile, full of reproach and contempt for the royal family. “What good do you think it’ll do for you to dive into a group of the afflicted? This is Ralshen, my girl. They’ll only hate you more if you waltz in there, flaunting your link to the royal family. Know what they’ll think of you? They’ll think, ‘What’s this useless aristocrat doing here, treating the sick like some kind of rare animal exhibit?’”
My already clenched fists tightened. The royal family, or rather the entire country, had abandoned Ralshen in the past, and a deep-seated mistrust for those in power had already taken root. My arrival would do little to improve that. Her words were a cruel reminder of what had already been made perfectly clear to me by the people here. Nonetheless, I gazed straight at Dr. Hester’s face, eyes full of resolve.
Her eyes met mine with cold mistrust. “You think if you parade in there, making a show of your sincerity and devotion to the people, they’ll welcome you with open arms? If so, you’re nothing but a naive idealist with your head in the clouds. If a useless noble lady like you goes there, it’ll just end with them throwing you out.”
Without a doubt, her argument was logically sound. I couldn’t even take care of myself. Outside of my status and the titles they afforded me, I had nothing. The proposal I’d made, from Dr. Hester’s perspective, was meaningless. Her response was something I’d considered myself too. I knew there was little meaning in riding in with nothing but my status and titles, with no real way of saving those suffering, but so many of them were out there waiting for help. I wanted to go to them. At the same time, I couldn’t provide them with any substantial aid. What the people really wanted was a cure. The Ashen Nightmare was a terrifying phantom, one some even called a death sentence, so what we needed was something to treat those afflicted, a way to save them from the clutches of the underworld—a remedy.
