Chapter 33
33
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I don't know how much Yan knows about my situation.
But Yan's words somehow sounded like another promise.
A promise to help me.
"......Grum, will you be on my side?"
"Of course."
Yan didn't joke anymore.
He just added heavily.
"Just always remember that not everyone will."
I couldn't ask who 'everyone' was because Gabriella finally knocked.
The door burst open, and Gabriella discovered the closet I had messed up.
"Oh my, Your Highness. Were you bored and rummaged through the closet? Have you given up on playing doctor?"
Ah, playing doctor.
I quickly made an excuse, having completely forgotten about it.
"Uh, uh, like the teachers in the Main Palace... I was trying to make something like a chungjingi..."
"Ah, I'll... cough! I'll help you."
Gabriella found the sewing box I had rummaged through and took out a leather cord.
Then, she quickly made a stethoscope shape by attaching a button to it.
"Wow...!"
I happily accepted the stethoscope, put it around my neck, and glanced at Yan once.
Then, I said to Gabriella.
"I, I'll definitely fix you, Gabi."
Gabriella smiled brightly, her face flushed with fever, at my sincere words.
"Please take good care of me, Doctor."
Our daily life was restored to normal.
I see my mother again, take classes, and go on greenhouse outings on my days off.
Rosa gave me a look as if I were her mortal enemy after changing the order of the classes, but she regained some composure only after my mother intervened and adjusted the difficulty of the classes.
'I don't care, though.'
My only concern right now was Gabriella.
'I won't let that nasty sister of mine make Gabriella sick again.'
But Gabriella's cough showed no signs of improvement this time.
So, whenever I was alone, I tried to think sad thoughts.
'Like when I was stabbed to death by the Empress's sword...'
'When I was trapped in the underground prison...'
'When I realized Rosa's betrayal...'
In the meantime, I realized.
'Tears really come out in such small amounts...!'
Even though I cried for a long time, the tears I collected in a small vial seemed too little and would soon evaporate naturally.
Yan hovered around me for days, nagging me with the same thing.
"Hey, it's a waste to cure a cold with your tears, you know?"
Of course, I kept making the same excuse.
"...Gabi is like a mother to me."
Yan sometimes seems to know everything, but even he doesn't seem to suspect that I'm living a second life.
Or that Gabi is in danger of losing her life.
'Well, I guess that's obvious...'
After class, I stayed behind alone and desperately tried to squeeze out tears, and Yan sighed deeply.
"Why. Is it not coming out well today?"
"Eung!"
I agreed nervously.
It seemed like I had used the same repertoire too much.
'Damn it! No tears are coming out!'
Then Yan chuckled and rushed over, grabbing my hair with his beak and pulling it.
"Ouch! Ouch, ouch!"
I waved my hands wildly, but I couldn't push away the small Yan.
Yan tormented me like that, then let go of my hair and teased me.
"Tears came out! You have to collect them quickly, what are you doing?"
"Aish!"
I was annoyed, but thanks to that, one more drop of tears was added to the vial.
Yan chirped like a song and then added.
"If you collect those tears and give them to me, it would be a really big benefit for you."
I rubbed my scalp, which was tickling because of Yan, and retorted.
"Even if you get healthier there, you'll just harass me more. You'll run away faster if I try to catch you. Isn't that right?"
My eyes seem strange because I keep crying forcibly.
It looks like a small bird is smiling and spinning around.
On the way to the evening banquet hall, I heard a strange wind sound.
I looked outside through the large window in the stairwell and rubbed my eyes.
'Huh?'
It had only been a week since my father left, but the Celestial Steeds had returned.
"Why are they here again?"
The servants were busy preparing for the Thanksgiving festival in the garden, but they all stopped in their tracks, surprised.
Beatrice also stood there holding me, staring blankly outside.
"......I don't know. His Highness couldn't possibly be back already."
Soon, the Chamberlain rushed out to greet the Celestial Steeds.
I could almost hear the fierce Celestial Steeds snorting all the way here.
"Well... we'll find out what's going on soon, right?"
I finished watching around that point and moved back to the banquet hall.
The reason why the Celestial Steeds returned was soon revealed.
It was because the Chamberlain came to the banquet hall and handed over a large box.
'They sent Celestial Steeds to send a gift?'
It was such an uncharacteristic thing for my father to do that everyone in the banquet hall laughed.
"Shall we open it here, Your Highness?"
Beatrice asked with sparkling eyes, but I immediately shook my head.
"I want to see it in my room."
We quickly finished our meal and returned to our room.
Beatrice opened the box and burst out laughing.
"Your Highness! Look at this!"
"What is it?"
Inside the box were two indoor cloaks decorated with fancy lace, one of which was incredibly small.
"Um...?"
As I tilted my head, Beatrice said, holding her stomach.
"I never dreamed that Grand Duke was such a funny person. Goodness, this is for Yan, isn't it?"
Yan...?
Yan, who was nearby, flew over and started chirping loudly.
―Beeeeep!
"Yan, His Highness sent you a gift too. Aren't you happy?"
If that cry sounds like he's really happy, there's something wrong with Beatrice's ears.
'Yan is really angry...'
Regardless, Beatrice held the cloak up to Yan.
"The color suits you very well, Your Highness. Doesn't it?"
"Uh... it does."
Yan was disgusted and flew far away, but the milky white lace honestly suited his red feathers.
Beatrice's eyes widened at my ambiguous answer.
"You don't like it, Your Highness? It's so pretty? The lace from Nigel is the best on the continent!"
"No, I like it."
I like mine, of course.
But...
'Judging by his voice, Yan seems to be male.'
I felt a little sorry to put on a cloak with a design that was a miniature of women's clothing.
'He's a bird, so what.'
But Yan was clearly angry.
Beatrice put down Yan's cloak, which had run away, and this time picked up mine and draped it over my shoulders.
"It's so pretty, Your Highness. Be sure to wear it and show it to Grand Duke when he returns."
"Ung. Arasso."
Beatrice took out a small box and an envelope from the box that contained the cloak.
"Wow, it looks like a letter. Would you like to read it yourself?"
She took out the letter and unfolded it for me, so I had no choice but to read it.
"Love...ing, Aga."
"Oh my goodness, you can really read? When did your writing skills improve this much?"
I ignored Beatrice's fuss and continued to focus on the letter.
"The day... I left, it rained... in autumn..."
"Heavens... I thought the Princess I serve was just an angel, but she was actually a genius..."
I sighed deeply and stopped reading.
"It's too hard, Tris. Can't Tris read it for me?"
"Of course, Your Highness!"
It's much easier to read it myself, but Beatrice's praise was too much of a burden.
In the end, she started reading the letter for me.
"My beloved Aga. It rained in autumn on the day I left, so I think the weather must be getting chilly by now. Your father is very curious to know if our daughter is doing well without getting sick again."
My father's letter, which started kindly, was quite long.
He didn't think I would read it myself, so he wrote in great detail about the craft industry in Nigel.
Lace crafts and glass crafts.
'Glass crafts...?'
Come to think of it, something came to mind, so I looked at the small box still left in the box.
It was a very luxurious item with the surface decorated entirely with mother-of-pearl.
'No way, is that it?'
Beatrice stopped reading a few times and gave additional explanations, but she continued to read the letter.
"...Also. As soon as I arrived in Nigel, I discussed it with the priests, but I couldn't find out much about Yan. I think I'll have to take some time to visit the Temple of the Sun separately."
At that point, Beatrice asked.
"It seems that His Highness was trying to find out something about Yan?"
"Ah..."
It was obvious to anyone that Yan resembled the picture in the book, and my father knew very well that Beatrice would read this letter before I did.
So I didn't bother to hide it and explained.
"Father said that Yan looks like Shamash's bird in the book. He wanted to know more about it."
"That's what happened...! I didn't know."
While Beatrice continued to read the letter, I secretly opened the mother-of-pearl box.
Inside, it was filled with soft cotton, and in the middle of the fluffy cotton was a bracelet made of beads.
'Gasp, it really is that?'
