Chapter 21.
Then, Calix flinched and trembled. As if he had encountered a wild beast face-to-face in the deep night mountains.
The trembling boy finally seemed to make a decision, took the fork from me, and swallowed the food in one bite.
“……!”
“How is it?”
Calix quietly wiped his mouth with a napkin, then folded it in half and placed it beside him.
Somehow, the napkin placed on the floor seemed bulkier than before, but I didn’t ask.
Right now, the evaluation of my cooking was more important.
Finally raising his head, Calix gave a faint smile and said.
“…It’s delicious.”
“Really?”
“Yes. But Rosie, suddenly my stomach feels a bit unwell.”
“Suddenly? Why?”
“If you don’t know, then what… No, actually, it’s been a bit off since I woke up this morning.”
“Shall I bring some medicine?”
“No. When my stomach is upset, I always have soup.”
Soup was the dish I had made for him the most after learning it from Vesti.
Even Calix, who usually didn’t eat well, often ate this soup.
Thanks to that, Calix had gained a bit more weight compared to when I first arrived at the Eclipsia Palace.
“I… not this one. Not this one, I really want cream of mushroom soup. Can you make it for me?”
Was it my imagination that he repeated ‘not this one’ twice?
Anyway, cream of mushroom soup was a dish I could make without much difficulty.
As I nodded, he stood up with a relieved face.
“Thank you. Call me again when the soup is ready.”
I called out to his retreating back without even turning around.
“What should I do with this dish?”
“I’ll eat it when my stomach feels better.”
“Ah, I’ll prepare it again tomorrow.”
At that, Calix, who was climbing the stairs, suddenly turned around quickly.
“Rosie, sorry, but I think I’ll still be unwell tomorrow too. Maybe the day after, and the next day too……”
“Then it will spoil……”
“It’s a shame, but share it with your close friends. It’s really a shame.”
It must be my imagination that he didn’t look regretful at all?
Speaking of close friends…
I don’t have any close friends yet… but I can probably just dispose of it, no, give it to ‘that person’ to eat.
I nodded cheerfully.
“Understood.”
After the meal, I headed to the imperial palace to get the mushrooms.
Incidentally, I was carrying the ‘Watermelon Braised Chicken’.
While looking for my target, luckily, that target revealed itself.
“Big Bro— I mean, sister!”
Bianca, who was struggling to move a box in the distance, spotted me, immediately dropped it, and came running over.
“Did you think I wouldn’t recognize you with short hair? By the way, sister, I’m sorry about the initiation ritual last time.”
She apologized with a face like a rain-soaked puppy.
“I got scolded really badly by the Head Maid. She said if I ever do anything like an initiation ritual again, she’d report me to the imperial guards—whom you love so much—and have me thrown in jail, so never do it again.”
“…Pardon?”
“She said if you go to jail, you can even try that ‘bean bread’ you’re so crazy about for protein.”
Scary.
So there was a reason why Bianca and the other maids were afraid of Vesti.
If I want to live an ordinary life in the imperial palace, I must not upset Vesti.
“So I’m not going to do initiation rituals for newbies anymore. Also, sister, you’re stronger than me now.”
“…Th, thank you?”
“Anyway, I apologized, so you’ll forgive me, right? By the way, what brings you here?”
“I came to get some mushrooms.”
“Ahh~ you came to get mushrooms~”
But in truth, she had no interest in my destination whatsoever.
Immediately after apologizing, she linked arms with me, feeling my biceps and triceps, and marveled to herself.
“Wow, your muscles seem to have grown even more. sister, what kind of exercise do you really do? Can’t you tell just me?”
I knew this would happen.
Smiling triumphantly, I casually let slip, pretending to do her a favor.
“Actually, I have one secret-not-secret trick.”
“What is it?”
“Want to hear it?”
“Of course! I’d sell my soul to a demon worse than the Head Maid to increase muscle mass.”
I think she just subtly badmouthed someone.
“That is… Ah, never mind.”
As I trailed off, the impatient Bianca urged me.
“What is it? Why did you stop?”
“If I bring this up, everyone else gets suspicious.”
“Suspicious? What could it possibly be?”
“To some, it might sound like a ridiculous method. But I’ve seen results with this method……”
I raised my eyebrows and asked.
“Should I tell you?”
“Of course! Please tell me.”
“Are you sure you can promise not to tell anyone else?”
“Absolutely!”
I led the vigorously nodding girl to a secluded spot.
Then, I handed her the Watermelon Braised Chicken and said.
“Here, this is my secret to increasing muscle mass.”
“Uh……”
Looking at the Watermelon Braised Chicken, Bianca asked with an innocent face.
“Ah, is the trick eating weird food?”
“I made this myself.”
“Ah, lately they say ‘weird food’ is short for ‘a meal that looks extremely delicious’.”
“Who says that?”
“Actually, it’s a catchphrase I’m pushing lately.”
“……”
Seeing my expression, Bianca awkwardly changed the subject.
“Wow, but this looks really tasty. Are you going to give it to me now?”
Bianca quickly opened the package and took a big bite of a chicken leg.
Then her expression turned strange, like a child tasting a lemon for the first time.
“…Sister.”
“Yes?”
“This is really your secret, right?”
“I told you it’s real.”
“It’s weird……”
“But how does it taste?”
“Wei… weird food……”
“You mean delicious, right?”
Bianca made a face like she was about to cry but finished the Watermelon Braised Chicken I made, then immediately started feeling her arm and leg muscles with a puzzled expression.
To divert her attention, I quickly pointed to the stacked herb boxes in front of Bianca.
“By the way, what are all these boxes?”
“They’re Lady Bluebell’s herb boxes. Whenever she comes to the imperial palace, she takes the leftover herbs to the Leticia Duchy. Ah, but this……”
Bianca whispered in my ear.
“It’s a secret from Duke Leticia, the royal physician and Headmaster of the Imperial Academy. Lady Bluebell asked me to keep it secret.”
I knew about Bluebell Leticia too.
She’s the only precious daughter of the Leticia Ducal family, but they say her personality is a bit eccentric.
But why is she taking herbs?
“By the way, are there always this many leftover herbs in the imperial palace?”
“Ah, these are herbs for treating Her Majesty the Empress. But since she refuses treatment, as you can see, the herbs have piled up a lot.”
“She refuses treatment?”
“Yes. Moreover, she doesn’t allow anyone into the Empress’s Palace. They say only trusted people are allowed entry.”
The more I listened, the stranger it seemed. Brookston clearly said he was striving for the Empress’s treatment.
Is Her Majesty refusing treatment despite his efforts, or… is he not making an effort at all?
I decided to investigate a bit more.
“By any chance, do you know the location of the Empress’s Palace?”
“I don’t know either. Probably even Head Maid Vesti doesn’t know. They say after His Majesty the Emperor passed away, the Empress’s personality became reclusive, and she distrusts almost everyone.”
So even Ian, a border count, and the maids don’t know the location of the Empress’s Palace.
Even if she fell into alcoholism and became reclusive, could she really hide away so thoroughly, ignoring an empire with an empty throne?
Abandoning even her young son, with whom she was famously close?
‘Now that I think about it, Windsor, Calix’s former swordsmanship instructor, said something like that.’
That the Empress cherished him so much she granted him an audience over three times a week.
And he was probably… Brookston’s spy.
‘Don’t tell me… Is it possible that Brookston is not only confining the Empress but also not providing her with treatment?’
Reaching that thought, I gasped sharply.
At first, it seemed impossible, but the more I thought about it, the more plausible it became.
Brookston wants to become Emperor. But the Imperial faction is firmly intact, and those claiming the legitimacy of succession also remain, making it difficult.
But if the Empress’s illness worsens, and the prince isolated in a remote palace grows weaker?
The Emperor had no siblings, and the Empress is a commoner from the Thebes Archipelago. Moreover, Calix hasn’t been officially designated as the Crown Prince.
In short, it meant they could be easily pushed out in the power struggle.
‘Then……’
My task became clear.
Find out the location of the Empress’s Palace and rescue her from Brookston.
So, how can I find out the location of the Empress’s Palace?
I looked at the stacked herb boxes before me. Those boxes are headed to the Leticia Duchy, and the Leticia Duchy…
As Bianca said, is the family that has served as the royal physicians for generations.
Rolling up my sleeves quickly, I approached the boxes.
“Lady Bianca, shall I help you with these?”
#021.
Then, Calix flinched and trembled. As if he had encountered a wild beast face-to-face in the deep night mountains.
The trembling boy finally seemed to make a decision, took the fork from me, and swallowed the food in one bite.
“……!”
“How is it?”
Calix quietly wiped his mouth with a napkin, then folded it in half and placed it beside him.
Somehow, the napkin placed on the floor seemed bulkier than before, but I didn’t ask.
Right now, the evaluation of my cooking was more important.
Finally raising his head, Calix gave a faint smile and said.
“…It’s delicious.”
“Really?”
“Yes. But Rosie, suddenly my stomach feels a bit unwell.”
“Suddenly? Why?”
“If you don’t know, then what… No, actually, it’s been a bit off since I woke up this morning.”
“Shall I bring some medicine?”
“No. When my stomach is upset, I always have soup.”
Soup was the dish I had made for him the most after learning it from Vesti.
Even Calix, who usually didn’t eat well, often ate this soup.
Thanks to that, Calix had gained a bit more weight compared to when I first arrived at the Eclipsia Palace.
“I… not this one. Not this one, I really want cream of mushroom soup. Can you make it for me?”
Was it my imagination that he repeated ‘not this one’ twice?
Anyway, cream of mushroom soup was a dish I could make without much difficulty.
As I nodded, he stood up with a relieved face.
“Thank you. Call me again when the soup is ready.”
I called out to his retreating back without even turning around.
“What should I do with this dish?”
“I’ll eat it when my stomach feels better.”
“Ah, I’ll prepare it again tomorrow.”
At that, Calix, who was climbing the stairs, suddenly turned around quickly.
“Rosie, sorry, but I think I’ll still be unwell tomorrow too. Maybe the day after, and the next day too……”
“Then it will spoil……”
“It’s a shame, but share it with your close friends. It’s really a shame.”
It must be my imagination that he didn’t look regretful at all?
Speaking of close friends…
I don’t have any close friends yet… but I can probably just dispose of it, no, give it to ‘that person’ to eat.
I nodded cheerfully.
“Understood.”
After the meal, I headed to the imperial palace to get the mushrooms.
Incidentally, I was carrying the ‘Watermelon Braised Chicken’.
While looking for my target, luckily, that target revealed itself.
“Big Bro— I mean, sister!”
Bianca, who was struggling to move a box in the distance, spotted me, immediately dropped it, and came running over.
“Did you think I wouldn’t recognize you with short hair? By the way, sister, I’m sorry about the initiation ritual last time.”
She apologized with a face like a rain-soaked puppy.
“I got scolded really badly by the Head Maid. She said if I ever do anything like an initiation ritual again, she’d report me to the imperial guards—whom you love so much—and have me thrown in jail, so never do it again.”
“…Pardon?”
“She said if you go to jail, you can even try that ‘bean bread’ you’re so crazy about for protein.”
Scary.
So there was a reason why Bianca and the other maids were afraid of Vesti.
If I want to live an ordinary life in the imperial palace, I must not upset Vesti.
“So I’m not going to do initiation rituals for newbies anymore. Also, sister, you’re stronger than me now.”
“…Th, thank you?”
“Anyway, I apologized, so you’ll forgive me, right? By the way, what brings you here?”
“I came to get some mushrooms.”
“Ahh~ you came to get mushrooms~”
But in truth, she had no interest in my destination whatsoever.
Immediately after apologizing, she linked arms with me, feeling my biceps and triceps, and marveled to herself.
“Wow, your muscles seem to have grown even more. sister, what kind of exercise do you really do? Can’t you tell just me?”
I knew this would happen.
Smiling triumphantly, I casually let slip, pretending to do her a favor.
“Actually, I have one secret-not-secret trick.”
“What is it?”
“Want to hear it?”
“Of course! I’d sell my soul to a demon worse than the Head Maid to increase muscle mass.”
I think she just subtly badmouthed someone.
“That is… Ah, never mind.”
As I trailed off, the impatient Bianca urged me.
“What is it? Why did you stop?”
“If I bring this up, everyone else gets suspicious.”
“Suspicious? What could it possibly be?”
“To some, it might sound like a ridiculous method. But I’ve seen results with this method……”
I raised my eyebrows and asked.
“Should I tell you?”
“Of course! Please tell me.”
“Are you sure you can promise not to tell anyone else?”
“Absolutely!”
I led the vigorously nodding girl to a secluded spot.
Then, I handed her the Watermelon Braised Chicken and said.
“Here, this is my secret to increasing muscle mass.”
“Uh……”
Looking at the Watermelon Braised Chicken, Bianca asked with an innocent face.
“Ah, is the trick eating weird food?”
“I made this myself.”
“Ah, lately they say ‘weird food’ is short for ‘a meal that looks extremely delicious’.”
“Who says that?”
“Actually, it’s a catchphrase I’m pushing lately.”
“……”
Seeing my expression, Bianca awkwardly changed the subject.
“Wow, but this looks really tasty. Are you going to give it to me now?”
Bianca quickly opened the package and took a big bite of a chicken leg.
Then her expression turned strange, like a child tasting a lemon for the first time.
“…Sister.”
“Yes?”
“This is really your secret, right?”
“I told you it’s real.”
“It’s weird……”
“But how does it taste?”
“Wei… weird food……”
“You mean delicious, right?”
Bianca made a face like she was about to cry but finished the Watermelon Braised Chicken I made, then immediately started feeling her arm and leg muscles with a puzzled expression.
To divert her attention, I quickly pointed to the stacked herb boxes in front of Bianca.
“By the way, what are all these boxes?”
“They’re Lady Bluebell’s herb boxes. Whenever she comes to the imperial palace, she takes the leftover herbs to the Leticia Duchy. Ah, but this……”
Bianca whispered in my ear.
“It’s a secret from Duke Leticia, the royal physician and Headmaster of the Imperial Academy. Lady Bluebell asked me to keep it secret.”
I knew about Bluebell Leticia too.
She’s the only precious daughter of the Leticia Ducal family, but they say her personality is a bit eccentric.
But why is she taking herbs?
“By the way, are there always this many leftover herbs in the imperial palace?”
“Ah, these are herbs for treating Her Majesty the Empress. But since she refuses treatment, as you can see, the herbs have piled up a lot.”
“She refuses treatment?”
“Yes. Moreover, she doesn’t allow anyone into the Empress’s Palace. They say only trusted people are allowed entry.”
The more I listened, the stranger it seemed. Brookston clearly said he was striving for the Empress’s treatment.
Is Her Majesty refusing treatment despite his efforts, or… is he not making an effort at all?
I decided to investigate a bit more.
“By any chance, do you know the location of the Empress’s Palace?”
“I don’t know either. Probably even Head Maid Vesti doesn’t know. They say after His Majesty the Emperor passed away, the Empress’s personality became reclusive, and she distrusts almost everyone.”
So even Ian, a border count, and the maids don’t know the location of the Empress’s Palace.
Even if she fell into alcoholism and became reclusive, could she really hide away so thoroughly, ignoring an empire with an empty throne?
Abandoning even her young son, with whom she was famously close?
‘Now that I think about it, Windsor, Calix’s former swordsmanship instructor, said something like that.’
That the Empress cherished him so much she granted him an audience over three times a week.
And he was probably… Brookston’s spy.
‘Don’t tell me… Is it possible that Brookston is not only confining the Empress but also not providing her with treatment?’
Reaching that thought, I gasped sharply.
At first, it seemed impossible, but the more I thought about it, the more plausible it became.
Brookston wants to become Emperor. But the Imperial faction is firmly intact, and those claiming the legitimacy of succession also remain, making it difficult.
But if the Empress’s illness worsens, and the prince isolated in a remote palace grows weaker?
The Emperor had no siblings, and the Empress is a commoner from the Thebes Archipelago. Moreover, Calix hasn’t been officially designated as the Crown Prince.
In short, it meant they could be easily pushed out in the power struggle.
‘Then……’
My task became clear.
Find out the location of the Empress’s Palace and rescue her from Brookston.
So, how can I find out the location of the Empress’s Palace?
I looked at the stacked herb boxes before me. Those boxes are headed to the Leticia Duchy, and the Leticia Duchy…
As Bianca said, is the family that has served as the royal physicians for generations.
Rolling up my sleeves quickly, I approached the boxes.
” Bianca, shall I help you with these?”
