29 - The Crown I Will Take From You
Chapter 29
“Are you saying that the Court Physician refused the Princess’s summons just to treat a paper cut?”
The Maid realized that something was wrong with her answer when she saw the Queen Dowager’s expression turn cold in an instant.
“…I deserve to die. Please forgive me.”
She quickly bowed her head in fear and begged for forgiveness.
However, the Queen Dowager’s face became even more ferocious.
“You go back to the Court Physician immediately. Don’t tell him I’m here, and tell him that the Princess’s condition is serious and urgent. If you can’t bring him, you’ll be kicked out of the palace. Do you understand?”
“Yes, yes!”
The Maid, terrified by the sharp warning, nodded and hurried back.
Watching her rush away, the Queen Dowager suppressed her rising anger.
“What kind of bizarre… How on earth is this palace running?”
Her wrinkled hands were trembling.
“Your Majesty, please calm your anger. It will harm your frail body.” Mrs. Pinatelli said.
“How dare a mere doctor with no title ignore the summons of royalty?”
Of course, the Court Physician wanted to make a good impression on the Regent Duke’s daughter rather than the unwanted Princess.
The Queen Dowager frowned.
“There must be a reason why he prioritized Lady Claudio over Princess Medeia.”
Mrs. Pinatelli pointed out in a calm voice.
The Queen Dowager also knew the way of the world, where people bowed to the strong and were cruel to the weak.
But even the lowly people who served the royal family dared to ignore Medeia.
‘If this is the case even with the King’s Seal, what if I really took the Seal from Medeia….’
The miserable future her granddaughter would face flashed before her eyes. The Queen Dowager sighed.
“It’s the end of the world, the end of the world.”
How much time had passed?
It was noisy outside the bedroom door. It seemed that the person they had been waiting for had finally arrived.
Before the Queen Dowager could fix her attire and sit properly, the bedroom door burst open.
“Damn it, I’m here. Happy now? Where’s the Princess?”
He was so dissatisfied that his footsteps were very rough. The medical bag in his hand was also very simple.
“Why all the fuss about fainting? Is it the first time the Princess has collapsed? She’s got a tough life, so she’ll get up eventually. Did you really have to drag me here now?”
From the start, he didn’t seem to have any intention of carefully examining the patient.
The Court Physician walked into the bedroom.
“She’s lying down just fine! It’s not like she’s on the verge of death! Damn it, if I get on Lady Claudio’s bad side, are you all going to take responsibility?”
He was so busy venting his anger at seeing Medeia lying down that he didn’t notice the dark shadow under the curtain.
The Court Physician, who roughly tossed his hair, put down his medical bag without sincerity.
The anger of being forcibly dragged here, leaving Claudio behind, didn’t seem to subside.
“The Lady Claudio has such a bad temper. She went crazy at me for leaving her and going to the Princess.”
The shadow moved.
And finally, he pulled back the curtain and revealed himself.
“An impression? What about the broken string because of one person-?”
The Court Physician’s mouth froze. Soon after, his eyes widened.
“Y-Your Majesty, the Queen Dowager, why….”
Why here? Why there? Why now?
None of the questions that came to mind found an answer.
‘Oh dear.’
Before that, he realized what he had been saying. His face turned pale in an instant.
“Your Majesty… Please kill me.”
The Court Physician threw away his medical bag and quickly knelt before the Queen Dowager.
“You want to die, so I should kill you.”
But the Queen Dowager’s expression was as cold as ice.
“What are you doing? Drag him away. He seems so tired of his job as a Court Physician, so grant him his wish.”
“Your Majesty! Please forgive me! I wasn’t in my right mind!”
The Court Physician bowed his head and begged with trembling legs.
The Queen Dowager glanced at him.
“Throw him out. Not only is he dismissed from his position as a doctor for disloyalty to the royal family, but as soon as he leaves the Royal Palace, he and his family will be banned from entering the capital for life. He will never be able to act like a Court Physician again.”
“Not that! Please just execute me. Queen Dowager, please, have mercy!”
“What are you doing?”
Knights came in and grabbed the Court Physician’s arms.
“Queen Dowager, Your Majesty!”
“Quiet, if you raise your voice carelessly, I will shut your mouth forever.”
The Queen Dowager warned coldly.
Mrs. Pinatelli stuffed a white handkerchief into the Court Physician’s mouth.
“Wandbi (Queen Dowager), eugh! Zeonha. Zeuble yongseule!(Please forgive me!)”
The Queen Dowager turned away without even looking at the Court Physician being dragged away.
“Pinatelli, is Lord Hertos still not here?”
Hertos was the Queen Dowager’s personal physician, who had even received a noble title for his excellent medical skills.
“Yes, Your Majesty. He said he would pack his bags and leave immediately, so he should be arriving soon.”
The Queen Dowager cherished Hertos very much and did not allow anyone else to treat her.
Even the Duke Claudio’s family did not dare to call Hertos.
Having her cherished personal physician treat the Princess was tantamount to expressing that the Queen Dowager cherished her as her granddaughter.
Soon, Hertos, who knew the Queen Dowager’s impatient nature well, arrived at the Royal Palace in a carriage as if flying.
He skillfully examined the Princess.
In his careful touch, there was no rudeness towards the unwanted Princess of the royal family.
“How is she?”
At the Queen Dowager’s anxious question, Hertos shook his head.
“Not good. Her mind and body are as worn out as Your Majesty’s. I don’t know how she survived for five days in such a state of extreme tension and panic. These symptoms are usually seen in soldiers who have returned from the battlefield for a long time, but how could the young Princess….”
“……”
“Your Majesty. I dare to say that if this continues, it would not be surprising if the Goddess came to find the Princess.”
“Nonsense! You must return this child to her original state.”
Pale blue eyes stared at the Queen Dowager.
“Her original state? Which time are you talking about?”
Before the Princess was punished?
Or before the funeral when the Queen Dowager yelled at her young granddaughter?
Or else,
When the Late King and his wife were alive?
“……”
The Queen Dowager was silent.
Because she knew that none of them were possible.
“Grandmother!”
A long time ago, young Medeia, held in her son’s arms, smiling brightly, came to mind.
The child could have remained unchanged. I could have protected that child.
But I didn’t.
“I, am….”
The Queen Dowager staggered out.
\ \ \
The Queen Dowager ordered Hertos to take care of the Princess directly until she was completely healed, and then left.
“……”
The Queen Dowager was lost in thought and remained silent throughout.
On the way back, something suddenly caught her eye.
“What is that place?”
“Ah.”
Mrs. Pinatelli looked at where the Queen Dowager’s gaze was directed and answered.
“It is the cottage house where Duchess Claudio and Lady Claudio are staying.”
After the death of her eldest son, the Queen Dowager was so heartbroken that she kept her only remaining second son by her side to forget the sorrow of losing her child.
Along with them, her daughter-in-law and children received a lot of love from the Queen Dowager, and the people of the Duke Claudio’s family frequented the Royal Palace as if it were their own home.
The Queen Dowager even gave the Claudio mother and daughter a separate residence in the palace because the journey was too far.
That was the cottage house.
It was unprecedented in the history of Baldina for a collateral relative, not a direct royal family member, to stay in the palace.
However, thanks to the chaotic domestic and international situation and the Queen Dowager’s influence, it was glossed over.
“Ha.”
The Queen Dowager let out a hollow laugh.
The friendly and polite name of cottage house is a title that indicates that it is not a palace but a temporary residence.
However, in reality, isn’t the appearance estimated by the glittering light leaking through the window dazzling even from afar?
She turned her body and looked towards the Royal Palace.
The Royal Palace, which emitted a faint and subtle light, was shrouded in darkness and could not be seen properly.
Unlike the cottage house, where music could be heard from time to time, it had a very bleak feeling.
“It seems I’ve been holed up for too long.”
The old woman’s belated lament fell into the darkness.
\ \ \
Cuisine died.
He was punished for insulting the royal family and died in prison, and before the blood of the corpse had cooled, a cold wind blew through the palace.
“Find them all. Without exception!”
Under the Queen Dowager’s protection, Ciseo summoned and searched for those involved.
A major investigation was launched.
