FTBOTBV 111

Chapter 111

The sun hadn’t completely set yet, so the light still hurt my eyes.

I turned away from the window. The red glow of the sun setting over the mountain was shining on Geron’s pale face.

“Lord Geron, you know that medicine very well too, don’t you?”

Geron’s eyes trembled slightly.

“What do you mean by that?” Cedric asked calmly.

I didn’t answer him. I just kept my eyes on Geron. He opened his mouth but said nothing.

Yes, that reaction said everything. That was why he’d reacted so nervously earlier.

I stared at him silently until he looked away.

“May I speak to Lord Geron alone for a moment?”

Cedric nodded. The Duke and Duchess also looked uneasy but gave their permission.

“There’s a smaller study next door. You can use that,” the Duke said.

Geron frowned. “And what about my opinion, Mother?”

But the Duchess ignored him and pushed him toward the door.

Right. His opinion didn’t matter right now.

This was an important talk. They must be anxious about what we were going to discuss. I would make it quick.

“I’ll be back soon,” I said.

“Go ahead,” the Duke replied. “Please return quickly… and continue your explanation.”

“Of course.”

Cedric and I made brief eye contact. While I was gone, he would probably keep talking to the Duke and Duchess. It would be good for both sides—an honest talk that might build real understanding.

As for me, I had another task: this reckless young man beside me.

When our eyes met, Geron shook his head. The sun was gone now, and the color returned to his face. He looked a little healthier but still hesitant, his eyes full of mixed emotions.

“Should I tell them everything right here?” I whispered softly. “Then everyone will know what you’re hiding.”

He frowned and glared at me.

But glaring wouldn’t save him. This conversation was necessary—for the treatment, and because he knew something important.

Finally, he grabbed the medicine bottle from the table.

“Fine. Let’s go.”

“Good. Looks like you’re ready.”

Cedric waved with a gentle smile. “Take your time.”

Geron looked irritated by Cedric’s relaxed attitude, but Cedric only chuckled.

“Come on,” I said, stepping out quickly.

Geron grumbled but followed. The heavy door closed softly behind us.

“You walk too fast,” he muttered.

“You’re slow,” I replied.

“What?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

He clicked his tongue in annoyance, but that was all. We walked quietly through the hallway, our footsteps echoing off the floor.

This was a good chance—to help the child, and to uncover the truth I’d been suspecting.

“Lord Geron,” I began.

“What now?”

“Lord Cedric asked me to tell you he liked the brooch.”

He blinked. “What brooch?”

He looked confused for a moment, then his eyes widened in realization. “Ah! So that’s what my mother was preparing.”

“It was a beautiful brooch with a big gem,” I said casually. “The Duchess brought it herself, in a fancy box. It looked very expensive.”

He chuckled. “That’s not just any box. It’s made from Shihen wood. You don’t even know that? I thought you were supposed to be smart.”

“You seem to know a lot about it,” I said coolly.

Of course, that question alone wouldn’t reveal the truth. People’s hearts ran deep—sometimes deeper than they appeared.

As a healer, I couldn’t choose my patients. No matter what kind of people they were, if they were sick, I would treat them.

But as Violetta, just a person, I needed to know for myself—whether these people had truly tried to harm Cedric or not.

‘Judging from everything so far,’ I thought, ‘maybe Cedric was right. Maybe they really aren’t the culprits.’

I glanced at Geron. He was walking ahead with a smirk.

“You probably don’t know,” he said lightly, “but I’m the heir to this house.”

“Wow,” I said flatly.

“Not impressed, huh?”

He tended to focus on strange things. I clapped weakly a few times, urging him to continue.

“So? How do you know about the box?”

“When we send gifts to the royal family, we always use that kind of box,” he explained. “It’s symbolic—something only heirs prepare.”

I narrowed my eyes. That meant…

How did this box end up here?

He opened the bottle again and took another sip.

“Anyway,” he said, “you should thank the southwest side.”

“Why?”

“Because the box wasn’t prepared by me this time. His Majesty the Emperor said he wanted to send a gift to his son. Quite unusual, right? He personally arranged it.”

The Emperor.

So he prepared it.

‘Please, no,’ I thought bitterly.

The thick, suffocating malice that had surrounded Cedric for so long came rushing back to my mind.

The place that had finally started to feel human again had once been built out of pure hatred—and the source of it was Cedric’s own family.

I had hoped it wasn’t true.

But deep down, I had already known.

The Imperial Family had always treated Cedric coldly. If they hadn’t, he would have lived a much better life.

He was forced to live apart, cut off from them, barely surviving in an isolated land. The region of Wintergarten had countless restrictions—it was so poor that even food was hard to find.

And yet, Cedric was clearly the Emperor’s trueborn son—the legitimate heir. He had the former Empress’s black hair and the Emperor’s blue eyes.

When I saw their portraits, I had thought, He really does look just like them.

So why?

‘Everything just got even more complicated,’ I sighed inwardly.

Then Geron muttered ahead of me, his tone mocking.

“Isn’t it funny? Only our great and mighty Emperor would use a Duke as a messenger pigeon.”

Maybe he was lying—but maybe not.

At the very least, one thing was clear: Geron didn’t like the Imperial Family.

The way he said “our great Emperor” made me wince—it sounded more like “ouuur veeery greaaat Emperor.” His tone dripped with sarcasm.

I glanced around nervously, making sure no one had heard.

“Are you crazy? Do you want to die?” I hissed.

“Why? I was just complimenting him.”