Bibliophile princess vol.., p.30
Bibliophile Princess: Volume 6, page 30
Disclosing prescriptions for therapeutic drugs and providing raw materials free of charge—without that, war might have commenced long ago. I once again thought that even those with a gentle atmosphere could be scary and shouldn’t be taken as they appear.
“You are also a shrewd person, Your Highness,” Prince Reglisse remarked, sounding just as shrewd himself.
Something that would certainly stop the Maldurian army from attacking... If I hadn’t studied the abilities of people from other countries, this situation might not have been resolved peacefully. I wondered how far he could foresee the future. Prince Christopher didn’t need Sauslind’s Brain. That was the nature of a king, I thought again to myself.
“Hmph,” Prince Irvin interrupted, sounding sarcastic. “In the end, no matter how you tried to cover your tracks, you were relying on others, right?” Prince Irvin laughed, saying that the crown prince alone couldn’t receive all the credit. Then their verbal battle resumed.
“It’s normal for a member of the crowd to be jealous of the main character, so please envy me as much as you can,” Prince Christopher said immediately with a sneer.
“Well, I’m the one who spent so much time with El that the main character’s shadow faded into the background,” Prince Irvin retorted.
“What?!” the prince exclaimed.
It was only at this moment that I finally understood the significance of having Prince Reglisse sitting opposite me. His Highness and Prince Irvin were boldly arguing in front of others, so maybe they were actually good friends?
In order to proceed with the conversation with Prince Reglisse, I decided to concentrate on the division of roles, because they needed to take the cure and return home as soon as possible.
The next day, during a senior ministers council, the emergency return of the Maldurian delegation was formally decided. It happened unusually fast, but the Maldurian delegates seemed ready to go home before it even happened. It all proceeded very smoothly and naturally. Only a small number of people gathered in front of the royal castle to see them off.
On the way to the border, the same Black Wing Knights who had accompanied me on the way to the Ralshen Region were supposed to escort me, but instead, General Bakula himself showed up. I was worried about his injuries and told him he didn’t have to come, but he gave me an irritated look.
“I could fight an entire regiment from the enemy by myself!” he boasted.
When I was about to return to His Highness and Prince Reglisse, who were exchanging greetings, Prince Irvin took me to the side, near a carriage waiting in front of the royal castle where people were preparing to leave. It was quite noisy.
“To be honest, I was testing you,” Prince Irvin stated. I blinked in surprise, and he flashed me a self-deprecating smile. “I believe that my brother is the right person to be the next king of Maldura, even if he goes against my wishes. Even if he decided to fight against my motherland, which my mother protected even after her existence was erased. Even if he declared war against Sauslind.”
I also remembered that night in the blizzard. As a prince of Maldura, Prince Irvin had declared that he would not hesitate to fight if his position changed. The reason he had felt so anxious then was that he had still been uncertain.
And that was what I had thought before, when I learned about the conflict between Queen Amalia and His Majesty the King. I wondered what I would do if Prince Christopher was set on going to war, no matter how much I tried to stop him.
“However...” Prince Irvin’s voice brightened. “When someone tries to make a decision that you don’t like, you do whatever it takes to stop him. Even if you have to do it by force, like with Jean.”
I felt embarrassed when Prince Irvin laughed. The smokescreen that had stopped Jean was still in the testing stage and was a little lacking in improvements. As the old saying went, failure was the foundation of success.
He laughed again, as if reading my mind, and said, “I have a lot to learn from you. If my brother and Maldura try to head down a path I don’t want, which will lead to our dark history repeating itself, then I’ll stop him with force. I’ll carry on those feelings that my mother left behind. I will not turn the land I love into a battlefield. I’ll be like a ladybird protecting the Eidel flower.”
I couldn’t help but smile. Ever since I had met Prince Irvin at the Autumn Hunting Festival, he had helped me and encouraged me so many times. If it hadn’t been for him, perhaps I wouldn’t be here now. That thought crossed my mind, but I forced it away as I stared back into his black eyes.
“I still want to kidnap you. I’m not lying,” he said, his gaze piercing. Those inviting black eyes; that unfamiliar, foreign scent; that seductive gaze that revealed the culture, customs, and lifestyle of an unknown country. He had done so much for me, yet there was nothing I could do to personally repay him. It was painful, to the point where I felt as if I were suffocating. Nevertheless, I returned his gaze and slowly shook my head.
He quietly took a deep breath, as if he had expected that response. “I wanted to take you out of high society, to the sea and the unknown countries beyond.”
Goodness. I suppressed the pain in my chest and smiled back at him. “Lord Irvin, will you jump out into that world, write a book, and tell me about it?”
Prince Irvin’s eyes went wide, then he laughed. I scored a point on him.
When I turned my gaze back to him with a smile, his typical grin was back. Then he bent down and whispered in my ear, “The look on your face when you hold back your tears is so adorable it makes me want to pin you down.”
My breath caught in my throat. Prince Irvin continued to tease me, even though the blood rose to my cheeks.
“When we rode on horseback together, I embraced you many times. Although you’re very slender, you’re still soft in all the right places...”
“L-Lord Irvin?!” I was speechless.
I then heard Lord Glen cry from behind me, “Whoa... Stop it, Chris! Don’t try to take my sword! Calm down!”
Um, Your Highness? I looked back in a hurry, and Prince Irvin laughed cheerfully in front of me. It was time to say goodbye, as Glen screamed in the background, “Don’t forget we’re in the royal palace!”
Epilogue
It was an unusual sight for Alexei’s subordinates to come and go from His Highness’s office. Reports of the situation from various places were waiting to be sorted through, including many issues that still needed to be settled and a number of new arrangements that had not yet been completed.
Originally, I was supposed to work from my own private room in the royal palace, but because His Highness had said, “Stay here,” with a smile, the court ladies who accompanied me were also coming in and out of his study.
Naturally, many of the reports to His Highness were related to illness, and I was also listed as the person in charge of handling them, so with me here, we didn’t have to deal with sorting through duplicate reports.
Prince Theodore, who was gathering evidence about Duke Odin in the port town of Kelk, would be heading straight to the Ralshen Region, which was the most worrisome area. He was going to meet Bernard, the younger brother of His Majesty the King—Theo’s uncle. I was sad that I wouldn’t be able to pay him a visit as well.
Being confronted by someone who was haunted by suspicions about their own birth... No matter the decision, I was worried about Prince Theodore, but His Highness disinterestedly expressed his opinion while handling the paperwork.
“My uncle has finally gotten off his backside to enjoy his own spring. It’s nothing for you to worry about, Eli. He’ll be going to pay a visit to Lady Rosalia too, so I’m sure he’ll be getting a piece of her mind as well.”
Lady Rosalia was Alexei’s mother and Prince Theodore’s older sister. In the end, after we heard about her condition, I had come home alone without even seeing her face. Alexei wouldn’t be able to come back to the palace for the time being due to his mother’s health and the arrangements that needed to be made in the Ralshen Region. I heard that Lilia and Mabel were also helping the sick.
I’d like to visit Ralshen again, I thought.
Just then, the prince called my name, seemingly reading my thoughts. “You won’t be going anywhere for quite some time.” His tone was so firm I knew he wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Glen, who was helping sort out the documents beside me, also agreed. “It’s because the investigation into the rest of the duke’s subordinates and the Shadows isn’t finished yet. Plus, there’s the matter of the pro-war faction. You’ll have to stay here for a while, Lady Elianna.” He then paused for a moment. “I think I’ve forgotten something...”
All of a sudden there was a commotion outside, and we heard a bright voice say, “Excuse me!” Glen must have judged that this person was not a threat, because he didn’t move as a young lady rushed into the room.
“Chris! Why didn’t you come pick me up when things were settled? I was in big trouble because the duke’s lackeys said, ‘We’re going to exchange you for the duke!’”
Goodness! My eyes widened at the sight of her. Her hat, which had hidden her hair, was all torn up, and her clothes were all disheveled as if she had been running around. She seemed to have a close relationship with His Highness too. Could this be the beginning of a new battle for me?
“Oh!” Glen clapped his hands, remembering what he’d forgotten. Meanwhile, His Highness’s adorable face was twitching.
As soon as the young lady saw me, she cried “Lady Elianna!” and came running over with a bright expression on her face. “I’m so glad you’re safe! I thought you’d be fine, but sometimes Prince Chris can be a real dolt. This battle was really too much, even if I was in charge of it...” she grumbled.
I couldn’t help but blink at her. I wondered if her rough way of speaking was in vogue lately among young women.
She clasped her hands to her chest, looking shocked. “What? I only just left your side for a moment, but you forgot me?!”
I’d heard about a very popular scam overseas where someone would pretend to be someone’s relative to get money out of them. Was this one of those scams?
The young lady in front of me looked very sad and murmured, “It’s me, Alan...”
“What?!” I immediately rose to my feet and studied the figure in front of me again. Alan? No matter how I looked at him, all I could see was a cute young lady.
“This outfit...”
“Ha ha... It’s okay. This is proof that my disguise was perfect. Not only did Chris forget about me, but my friends did too! But it’s okay. I did my best. I did my best.”
I felt very sorry for Lord Alan, who was comforting himself by saying that over and over again. When we’d said goodbye after he told me that His Highness had a plan, so many things had happened that I just forgot. No—that was just making excuses.
His Highness continued to sort through the paperwork with an exasperated look on his face. “I sent five Black Wing Knights with you.”
“They were arrested along with me! You’re so cruel, Chris! I’m going to be seeking hazard pay for this!” Lord Alan declared.
His Highness simply replied that he couldn’t move even a single dora from the extra budget, but Lord Alan would not give up, saying that he would even accept it as a loan and that the interest would be eleven percent. He began to cause quite the spectacle, shouting, “Is His Highness so busy that he has become an immoral loan shark?!”
I could feel that life in Sauslind was returning to normal.
The sun was just beginning to set. We still had a lot of work to do, but His Highness told us to take a break, and everyone did so. They all left the office so that we could have some time alone together. We sat side by side as usual, with endless things to talk about.
When I’d heard that Lord Alan had been acting as a decoy for me, I’d felt even more sorry for him. On the day that I met His Highness again at the temple, he had deliberately gone out at dusk to meet Lord Alan, who was staying in a nearby town. Because the duke’s minions had seen them there, the duke had thought he was on the cusp of victory.
His Highness explained, “I certainly couldn’t put a woman in danger.”
I felt I owed Lord Alan even more of an apology than before.
“That day,” he continued, “I actually didn’t think I would be able to see you. I didn’t know where the duke’s minions were hiding, but I just had to see you with my own eyes to make sure you were safe.” He looked at me with a sweet smile. “And by coincidence, I saw you walking toward me. I thought it was fate, Eli. We’re connected by a very strong bond.”
When His Highness took my hand and gently kissed me, my heart skipped a beat. He smiled, then changed the subject back to business matters.
“I received a report from Alex. It seems the Strasser family’s maid, Mabel, has decided to use this incident as an opportunity to become a full-fledged doctor. When we consider the future, I don’t want Dr. Harvey being the one giving your examinations. It might be a good idea to bring her on as the palace’s female doctor.”
Mabel’s going to become a doctor! I thought about my experiences with her on the way to and in the Ralshen Region. I wanted to tell him about every event that had happened.
“Gene Arman, the girl who made the cure... The report said she was the great-granddaughter of Furness Alkemyl, who wrote the Furya’s Jar research journal.”
“Yes,” I said, and told him about Lady Gene. Even I, who had dabbled in specialized knowledge, knew that she possessed an amazing talent.
“I would like her to meet Nigel and the people of the Palace Pharmacy. If she shares her knowledge with them, I’m sure many new medicines will be developed.”
Then that might bring a ray of hope to people who were currently suffering from other diseases.
“But...” I trailed off. I could easily imagine that her grandmother, Dr. Hester, would not like it. Would she entrust another one of her relatives to the royal palace again after losing her son? Besides, I didn’t think Lady Gene would comply with the request if it meant leaving Dr. Hester, who was suffering from heart disease.
His Highness pondered over this for a moment. “That’s right. What if you became the sponsor? I can make that recommendation.”
“Me?” I asked with surprise, and he nodded.
“If someone from the Bernstein family would take over, I think Dr. Hester would be relieved.”
His Highness said that the rest should be decided by the two of them.
“And about Jean...”
Even though we said we were taking a break, we were still talking about business. I sat up straight in my chair and waited for word of Jean’s punishment, but His Highness gave a wry chuckle. “He will be removed from the Shadows. It seems he has chosen you as his mistress, so he can no longer be used as a Shadow of the royal family. As long as your father agrees, he should be hired back into the Bernstein family.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. Glen had told me a bit about what had happened afterward with the exchange between Orphen and Jean. He’d told me not to worry, that it was nothing more than a fight between a parent and a child.
“Eli...” His Highness said suddenly. “Did Irvin seduce you?”
“What?!” I exclaimed, tensing up.
He had a smile on his face, but his eyes weren’t smiling as he leaned over next to me. “I don’t mind if he helped you with things in my place. He did save you, didn’t he? That’s different from trying to seduce you, though.”
“No, um...” I pulled away from him and backed into the sofa’s armrest. At that point, His Highness grabbed the edge of the armrest and trapped me where I sat.
“Eli,” he said. His voice was gentle, but I could tell he meant business. “How did he seduce you? Don’t tell me he did things to you that only I’m allowed to do?”
Your Highness, you are downright terrifying! I was driven into a corner, and my thoughts spun rapidly. I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“Well, what about you and Lady Pharmia?!”
“What?” This time it was His Highness’s turn to tense up.
I stared back at him firmly. “I understand that the people of Duke Odin’s faction spread rumors to solidify Lady Pharmia’s position, but, as Prince Reglisse said, what we understand and what actually happened is another matter.”
I kept staring at him, and he seemed to flinch a little. I thought that was suspicious, but when I continued glaring at him, he finally said, “Fine,” and relaxed. He raised his hands in a gesture of peace.
“I know nothing happened between you and him, so I want you to believe that nothing happened between me and Lady Pharmia as well.”
Those rumors made me boiling angry, and His Highness seemed filled with malice for Prince Irvin, but I didn’t know how serious he was about it. At any rate, I let out a little sigh to suppress my feelings. And now was the time to ask him what I was worried about.
“What will happen to Lady Pharmia?”
“Well...” His Highness nodded, choosing his words very carefully. “She had nothing to do with the duke’s crimes, but society will hold her accountable for her father’s actions, regardless. I received a confidential inquiry from the head priestess. She wants Lady Pharmia sent to a temple far away from the capital so she can be kept in their custody.”
When my eyes went wild, His Highness gave me a wry smile.
“Therese has repeatedly requested to meet with her. ‘Please let me visit as her friend,’ she said. However, such meetings cannot be allowed.”
I let out a sigh, trying to suppress the pain in my heart. It was highly likely that Lady Pharmia would lose her rank as a noble, but Lady Therese would never abandon her. Even if I wasn’t at that same point myself yet in regards to Lady Pharmia, perhaps I would be someday.
I once again held in my heart what I’d thought at that time, words that someone in the Pharmacy Lab had said. “This is the only medicine that can be prescribed to the human heart: the medicine of time.”
