Chapter 17
17
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How much time had passed?
I came to my senses at the sound of voices nearby.
"Marquis, those small chests from earlier contained poisons, didn't they? Could the Princess have been poisoned by something?"
My mother asked anxiously, and Marquis Hestia stammered in response.
"Absolutely not, Your Highness. Those vials were all tightly sealed, and Her Highness the Princess shows no signs of poisoning whatsoever."
"Then how did she suddenly lose consciousness? She has been healthy since birth, and I had hoped that Ea would grant her even stronger Healing Power in the next generation…!"
Ah, so my mother had expected Healing Power from me.
'She wished for it from so early on, how disappointed must she have been that I was useless my whole life.'
I was heartbroken once again by this newly discovered fact.
The familiar voice of the Royal physician was heard.
"Your Highness, Marquis. Her Highness the Princess only briefly lost consciousness, and her physical signs are as peaceful as if she were asleep. She will awaken soon, so please allow her to rest peacefully…"
My mother's cold voice interjected.
"If anything happens to the Princess while I am away, I will never forgive you."
"…Yes, Your Highness."
After that, the sound of several footsteps faded away.
Only after the surroundings were completely quiet did I cautiously open my eyes.
Without making a sound, I immediately met Beatrice's eyes.
"Your Highness! Are you alright?"
At Beatrice's voice, the Royal physician, who was nearby, quickly approached, took my temperature, and examined me.
"Your Highness, do you hear me?"
—Peep-peep…
Peep-peep faintly chirped in my ear.
I looked back and forth between the Royal physician and Beatrice and slightly nodded.
The Royal physician asked again.
"Are you feeling any discomfort?"
I needed a reason for suddenly collapsing, but I couldn't think of anything.
As the Marquis had said, the poisons were all sealed.
'It wouldn't make sense for a child to recognize them.'
Having no choice, I simply shook my head, and Beatrice sobbed.
"What on earth is going on…"
The Royal physician cautiously asked from the side.
"If you are feeling well enough, shall I bring His Majesty the King?"
It was then.
A commotion arose from outside, and someone opened the door and entered.
He came rushing over, panting, and hugged me tightly.
"My baby…!"
"Daddy…"
Then, he pulled away again, touched my forehead, and turned my eyelids inside out.
The Royal physician explained.
"Have you arrived, Your Highness? Her Highness the Princess briefly lost consciousness at the banquet, but there are no other abnormalities in her physical condition."
"No other abnormalities, you say…"
My father's purple eyes, as he turned to look at the Royal physician, were icy.
"I will investigate in detail what the Princess did, who she met, and what she ate from the day before. Summon the investigators."
"Yes, Your Highness."
My father's attendant stepped back, and my mother appeared at the doorway.
"Dear, the Royal physician says the Princess needs to rest…"
"…Theresia."
Everyone around, including me, was startled by my father calling my mother by her given name.
Normally, my father treated my mother with an almost subservient attitude.
'For such a father to call my mother by her name in front of others…'
Even my mother paused in surprise, while my father muttered to himself as if talking to himself.
"She is also my daughter. I will not overlook this matter."
Instead of responding to my father, my mother came over, touched my forehead, and smiled faintly.
"It's alright, my baby. You're awake, and that's all that matters."
My father ignored my mother, as if disregarding her, and ordered the Chamberlain.
"Summon all the servants who worked the day before."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Oh dear.
Things are getting more serious than expected…
* * *
Because I collapsed during breakfast, all the schedules were disrupted.
Silvia-sensei visited me instead of holding class.
"My goodness, Your Highness… You were so healthy just yesterday, what on earth happened?"
Of course, I was also healthy yesterday, but the teacher met Rosa, not me.
"I'm fine, Sensei… I'm more worried about Daddy being too worried."
I replied sincerely, but the teacher shook her head as seriously as my father.
"I completely agree with His Majesty the King, Your Highness. You were healthy, Your Highness, and you collapsed, there's no way there's no reason."
It was only after hearing those words that I recalled the power structure of this Royal castle.
Ruelle is a Divine Kingdom, so the royal authority is absolute.
But my mother married a man who is the ruler of a Duchy and a High Priest, didn't she?
'So the power structure also took on a slightly different aspect than before…'
In other words, the problem was my father's ambiguous position.
My father had clearly sworn allegiance to my mother and dedicated his country.
However, before he was Grand Duke Nigel, he was the High Priest of Baha.
'The divine right is sometimes parallel to the royal authority.'
Despite his sudden marriage, most of Nigel's nobles were absolutely loyal to my father.
This was because a ruler who was both a Grand Duke and a High Priest was rare even in Nigel.
'So much so that there are nobles who move their residences every two weeks following my father.'
Meanwhile, within Ruelle, several families with particularly deep faith subtly followed my father.
'For example, the Pavel family, Silvia-sensei's family, was like that.'
Perhaps that was why the teacher spoke in a tone as firm as when saying the sky was blue.
"His Majesty the King is one who serves the Sky God. He cannot help but know everything in the world as if it were in the palm of his hand."
…My father didn't even know he had two daughters for 15 years?
Of course, I was going to let him know a little sooner this time, but it's too early now.
'There's still so much to prepare…!'
But I couldn't say that, so I just sighed.
"But I'm really fine…"
—Peep-peep…
Next to the smiling Silvia-sensei, Peep-peep chirped as if understanding my frustrated heart.
I stroked Peep-peep and sighed once more.
* * *
After Silvia-sensei left, Beatrice, who had briefly left her post, returned.
"Your Highness, you weren't looking for me, were you? His Majesty the King ordered me to meet with the investigator first."
"Ung, investigator?"
I asked back, pretending not to know as much as possible for a four-year-old, and Beatrice explained kindly.
"It's someone who finds out why Your Highness collapsed. He asked me in detail about the breakfast menu as well. But the food that Your Highness ate was also eaten by His Majesty the King and the nobles… What on earth is going on?"
As she said that, she suddenly added as if she had remembered something.
"Ah, Chelsea-nim, who was the attending maid yesterday, has also arrived."
"Ah, Chelsea came?"
I called Rosa's maid's name with an indifferent face, and subtly suppressed my pounding heart.
Beatrice calmly explained without even dreaming of knowing such a thing about me.
"Yes. It's the first time I've actually met her. Since Your Highness collapsed in the morning, Chelsea-nim's investigation will be longer than mine."
Even though whatever Rosa did all day has nothing to do with me.
Suppressing a sigh, I lay in bed for a while, and my mother came to visit.
"Beatrice, would you excuse us for a moment?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
Only after we were alone did my mother speak in a small voice.
"Chelsea wants to meet you, but I refused, citing rest as the reason, my baby. It may be difficult to understand, but this is a difficult situation for us."
As for me, I understood it so well that it was difficult.
My mother continued to speak.
"The problem is that Chelsea… testified that the Princess was upset because she wanted to get her cat back. Of course, since you are still young, no one would find it strange if your minds changed in a day or two. But it would be difficult for you to raise different animals."
I reflexively turned my head to look at Peep-peep.
'Don't raise him?'
Just thinking about it made my nose tingle and my eyes well up with tears.
"But he's sick…"
"Beatrice said he's much better."
My mother was smiling, but the curve of her lips looked firm.
"My baby. You cannot save all the animals in the garden, all the people in the kingdom. It will be painful, but you will gradually learn that fact."
When I uttered the request I had been holding back, a drop of tears that had been welling up in my eyes fell.
"Then Mommy, if you heal him…"
That won't do.
I used my four-year-old age as a weapon to say the words I had been hesitating to say all along, knowing I would be rejected.
My mother's lips tightened slightly.
"Lilin, my little jewel."
I liked it when my name, which only a few people knew when I was young, was called.
'But that name coming from my mother's lips is never a good sign…'
As expected, my mother rejected my request outright.
"The King cannot use Divinity for a wounded bird in the garden. It might have been different if my abilities were unlimited. But the power that Ea has granted me is less than that."
Just because my appearance had returned to that of a four-year-old didn't mean I could stir up my mother's wounds as if I had really become a child.
I quietly held my mother's hand.
"…I know. Sorry."
