CHAPTER~22
Mother
“I will sponsor the Royal Hospital.”
“Oh, would you do that?”
“It is for the people, so I must do my part. I will personally inspect the hospital and ensure it receives sufficient support.”
“If you take the lead, nothing could be more reassuring.”
“However, Your Majesty, there is one thing I wish to request.”
“What is it?”
“I would like this sponsorship to be in the name of Glaston, not Windfield.”
“In the name of Glaston?”
“Yes. As if following my grandfather’s wishes.”
Robert V, sensing Cedric’s intent, swallowed a wry smile.
Windfield was Cedric’s independently run trading company, and Glaston was the family led by his grandfather, Carlyle.
For Cedric to fully take charge of sponsoring the Royal Hospital under the Glaston name meant enhancing Carlyle’s reputation while signaling that he himself was Glaston.
At a time when all of Herrington was focused on who would inherit the Glaston name.
The timing was cunning.
“Do as you wish regarding that. A name to be highlighted is in the heart of the one opening the purse.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“Fortunate. If you were born a noble, you would have been a notoriously skilled politician.”
“I shall take that as a compliment.”
Robert V glanced at Cedric briefly, noting the respectfulness masking the entirely unapologetic intent beneath his polite face, and asked,
“When do you plan to visit the hospital?”
“I have cleared my afternoon schedule. It will take time to expand the facilities, so I thought to inspect them while I’m there.”
“Efficient. Then why not wait a moment and go with Arthur? Also a good chance for a short walk.”
Cedric left the reception room with Robert V and headed toward the garden. He spotted Logan Leroy just as they entered the corridor.
Logan was heading with Crown Prince Arthur toward the building containing the prince’s office.
‘So the Crown Prince’s previous engagement was with the Duke of Leroy.’
Cedric’s eyes narrowed slightly at Logan but that was all.
He quickly turned his gaze back to the king. The gossip of nobles was none of his concern.
***
The noisy afternoon rounds had passed.
The nurses at the Royal Hospital finally exhaled and sat down to quietly chat at their desks.
But that too was soon cut off, and a peaceful silence settled. It was a languid afternoon.
As they grew drowsy under the warm spring sunlight, a boy entered the hospital. A newsboy selling newspapers.
Newsboys often came in to sell newspapers, so it was nothing unusual.
The nurse yawned and turned her gaze from the boy. Then, suddenly remembering something, she looked back at him.
“Hey, you there.”
The boy flinched, looked around nervously, and when he confirmed no one else was nearby, he realized the nurse had called him and stood still.
Was a customer calling him really that surprising?
The nurse gestured in puzzlement.
“Yes, you. Could I have a newspaper?”
The boy hesitated briefly, pulled his hat lower, approached, and handed over a newspaper.
The nurse paid him and looked up at him.
Under the worn hat, a small face and fresh green eyes, like young foliage, caught her attention. Unlike the tanned newsboys who stood outside all day, his impression was strikingly different.
Without realizing it, she stared at him. When their eyes met, the boy seemed embarrassed for a moment, then bowed slightly and walked away.
The nurse tilted her head, watching the boy head toward the patient rooms.
“Has there always been a boy this pretty?”
She thought she knew most of the newsboys who frequented the hospital.
‘Hmm, must be a new one.’
Whatever the case, it wasn’t something to dwell on.
She put aside her curiosity about the newsboy and opened the newspaper she had bought, eager to see the climax of her daily novel.
Then, suddenly, the entrance to the hospital became noisy.
The nurses naturally turned their eyes and stood up straight upon seeing who was at the center.
“Wow, Your Highness, the Crown Prince?”
Although sudden, it wasn’t unusual for the Crown Prince to visit the Royal Hospital.
What startled them more was the man beside him.
Cedric Glaston.
The man rumored to be the future owner of the crown entered the hospital.
***
Having gone upstairs, the newsboy, Yvonne, finally exhaled in relief. Fortunately, the nurse did not recognize her.
After a brief pause, Yvonne headed to Room 203b as instructed by the detective.
The room sizes were large, but the structure wasn’t complicated, so it was easy to find.
203b.
Inside the open door were numerous patients, guardians, and nurses moving among them.
Her mother was inside.
Thinking of that, Yvonne’s heart tightened. At the same time, the memory of the day Logan had proposed a fake princess plan came to mind.
“I’m sorry. Mother is sorry, Adel…”
Her mother, who had never shown tears despite her father’s abuse and violence, cried in front of her for the first time that day, repeatedly saying sorry.
The one she wanted to hear apologize was not her.
There was a time when she resented her mother who gave birth to her in that hell, needing someone to blame for the inescapable reality, even if only to hear an apology.
But at the moment she heard it, she realized that her mother’s heaven and hell were right there in front of her.
How must a mother feel, having to watch her daughter grow in the hell of her own choice?
With what heart must she have smiled for the child who was her whole world?
That was probably why her mother left her side. But even knowing that, Yvonne could not let her go like this.
She still needed her mother. Now that she was an adult, but a little more.
Or perhaps much longer.
After her mother disappeared, the emotions she had kept buried welled up. Yvonne forced them down and stepped into the room.
The large room was filled with more than ten patients and as many guardians. It was hard to tell if it was a market or a hospital.
Yvonne pushed through the gaps, looking for her mother.
But even reaching the farthest part of the room, she did not see anyone who looked like her mother.
‘Could it be that something happened to mother in the meantime…’
Her anxiety poured out like a needle from her pocket. Her heart sank.
Then she saw a woman huddled on the bed in the farthest corner. To be precise, brown hair sticking out from under the blanket.
“Mother…?”
Yvonne stepped closer. But when she pulled back the blanket, it was a stranger.
“Shut up!”
The woman shouted and pulled the blanket back over her head. Tears formed in Yvonne’s eyes as she stared at the heap of blankets.
It was not her mother.
Then, suddenly, a stranger’s voice interrupted.
“Don’t touch her.”
“Yeah. She has a terrible temper.”
It was the patients in the adjacent bed. They seemed to have been watching the situation earlier and spoke gently.
“Here to find your mother?”
“…Yes.”
“What’s her name?”
After telling them her mother’s appearance and name, they murmured for a moment, then let out a small exclamation.
“Ah! I think you mean the woman in that bed. She left yesterday.”
One day.
If only she had come a day earlier, she would have been there, but that was already past. Now she had to do what she could.
“Do you know where she went?”
“Since she was discharged, I assumed she went home. But judging by your visit, I guess she doesn’t live with her mother?”
Yvonne smiled in response. She tried to mask the tears still lingering in her eyes with the curve of her lips.
The women, sensing the untold story, quickly changed the subject.
“S-Still, don’t worry too much. She doesn’t talk much, so I don’t know for sure, but being discharged means she must have improved a lot, right?”
“Yes. She looked better too.”
“…Thank you, ma’am.”
Yvonne thanked the two women who worried about her and turned away.
The hope that had swelled then drained left a deep emptiness. Her steps felt heavy, as if she wanted to collapse right there.
But Yvonne grabbed the remaining thread of hope and stepped forward.
‘If what they said is true, being discharged means she’s healthier.’
So, she could find her again.
Steeling herself, she left the room. But for some reason, the corridor was noisy. Glancing that way, Yvonne froze.
‘Why is that person here…?’
