In the first place, Desmond II, who had 18 children, could not have been a good father.
The thrill of being reunited with my father was only a fleeting moment, and what later eroded my feelings was resentment toward Desmond II, who had made a wrong choice in his important position as Emperor.
I lowered my eyes, trying to regain my composure.
“Uh, yes. Everyone was gathered together. Sit down.”
Desmond II seemed to have a headache and rubbed his forehead, pretending to brush away two strands of bangs.
It was so natural that the Princess and the Prince, except me, did not notice.
Desmond II raised his right hand and waved it inward.
“Please bring tea, Chamberlain.”
“Father.”
The moment I've been waiting for has come. I quickly stepped forward.
“I have a specially prepared tea. Can you please allow me to serve it here?”
“Eve, you said you prepared tea?”
"Yes. My old hobby is mixing tea leaves myself. I am confident in its aroma and taste, so please make sure to serve it here.”
“Well, let's try it.”
“Thank you, Father.”
At my glance, Cedella brought the tray and started serving.
Desmond II was the first to bring the teacup to his mouth. Desmond II took a sip and looked satisfied.
“Hmm... That’s pretty good.”
“This is rooibos tea combined with lemon balm. Lemon balm is good for relieving headaches.”
“Hoo? For a headache?”
"Yes. The last time I greeted you, I saw my Father pressing your forehead often. Do you have a headache due to hard work?
That bothered me. I prepared a tea with medicinal properties, but did I do it in vain?”
"Haha! Our thirteenth daughter was thinking this way. Even so, I’ve been living with two barrels these days.”
“This is a tea that I have collected, dried, and carefully mixed by hand since last week. Oh, I’m glad you like it.”
The condescension was a lie. It was made hastily with barely available ingredients.
However, Cedella, the only witness, quietly refilled the Emperor's teacup.
“Wow, is this a lot of work? I guess I took a lot of these tea leaves and tried to live off of them for a while.”
“If it’s what Father wants, what’s the point of putting in a lot of effort? Father takes care of the Empire, and I would be very happy if I could be of help to the empire by taking care of Father's body.”
"Ha ha ha! Then please do me a favor.”
"Yes, Dad, no, Father....”
I secretly used the title informally and corrected it, pretending it was a mistake.
These techniques, which are great for appealing to his lovely daughter, were all things I learned from Rosenit in my last life.
It must have worked well, as Desmond II laughed until deep wrinkles appeared around his eyes.
“Whoa, that’s really good. I feel like my headache is going away. It’s a great tea, Eve.”
“Thank you, Father.”
The situation in which the Emperor repeatedly praised the naughty Princess greatly shook the air in the Emerald Hall.
Not to mention Brigitte, Rubens, and Icalys, who had always looked down on one, and even Rosenit, who pretended to be kind to everyone but implicitly looked down on me as being of a lower class than herself, was inwardly embarrassed.
‘Eve, what did you eat wrong? Why are you doing something you shouldn't do?'
'That stiff kid is winning Father's favor?'
'Eve seems to be following me for some reason. That's my role.'
The employees of the imperial palace also had their pupils shaken.
'Is she really the 7th Princess? Why does she do something that the 8th Princess would do?'
'What on earth happened to the 7th Princess last night...?'
'She is so skilled as if she has accumulated 10 more years of experience in the imperial palace...!'
I took a sip of my tea, pretending not to notice the atmosphere filled with shock and confusion.
Desmond II, the absolute power, said he liked my tea, so it had to be made to suit his taste.
Rubens opened his mouth to praise me in his own way.
“Keuhumhum. It's a really great tea, Father. Eve, I thought this kid was just a corner sage who only sells alchemy, but now I see that you have quite a useful talent.”
Of course, full praise was impossible.
I smiled softly and accepted it as if I had expected the words coming out of Rubens' mouth to be of that level.
“Brother Rubens, tea blending is similar to alchemy. You must carefully collect and prepare good ingredients and mix them into an accurate recipe. It can be said that alchemical talent has also influenced my hobbies.”
“It has something to do with alchemy?”
"Yes. So, would you say that the reason I can make such a good tea is because I inherited great talent from my Father?”
In fact, I thought I took after my mother, but there was nothing I could do to win points with Desmond II.
No parent would dislike a child's good qualities that are praised for being like him or her.
Desmond II smiles happily.
The headache seemed to be completely gone now.
"Ha ha ha! Yes, Eve. Your alchemy skills are great. To even have an advanced alchemist degree at that age! It’s like looking at the baggage from my youth.”
It was the highest level, not the upper level, but that wasn't important right now.
I moved my eyes and looked at Brigitte.
While she was quietly savoring the tea, I saw her eyebrow twitch.
I quickly humbled myself.
“That’s too much praise. How can I, who am only the thirteenth Princess, be compared to the Emperor of the empire? I am so embarrassed to receive such excessive praise in front of my third sister, who is outstanding in all fields. If this continues, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to see Betty again, so please stop talking to me, Father.”
“Haha, you too. To be ashamed. It seems like this is the only way Betty is paying attention because she’s scared.”
Desmond II said it jokingly, but he knew the truth. I suppressed the urge to reply, 'That's it, that's it!'
It was an excellent choice to raise Brigitte appropriately.
As mentioned, if Brigitte remained silent in this situation, she would become a petty older sister who was jealous of her younger sister who was being praised.
“Eve, I’m also glad to have a smart younger sister.”
Brigitte did not end her turn by punctuating the song with empty words.
It was not pleasant for me to win Desmond II's favor on my own, so I had to break the flow.
Brigitte spoke to Desmond II in a very friendly tone.
“Father, I’m so worried that you’re suffering from a headache. The tea leaves that Eve brought are good, but since my Father's health depends on it, we can't just rely on folk remedies. Why don’t you call a doctor quickly and get checked out?"
“Betty, do you think I didn’t call the doctor? I have been calling him several times for the past 15 days to get prescribed medication, but there is no improvement.”
“Then how about changing direction to magic therapy? I happen to have a gem that has therapeutic effects. It is a magic stone infused with healing magic by a skilled doctor. If you sleep with it by your bedside at night, your headache will definitely go away."
“Ah, magic gemstone. That damn magic stone... !”
What caused Desmond II to suffer from headaches was the problem of the decline in mining volume from the magic stone mine.
We were happily sharing family memories for a while, but we were faced with an annoying national issue again.
There was no way Desmond II was in a good mood. Brigitte also regretted it too late.
“I feel like my headache is coming back after hearing about the magic gemstone. I don’t even want to listen to the Magic Stone’s words right now, Betty.”
“...Yes, Father.”
Brigitte's filial piety failed.
Thanks to this, the discussion regarding the magic that caused me to fall out of favor with Desmond II in my last life was stopped.
“Father.”
Now it's Rosenit's turn.
As if Desmond II was a little intimidated by the stern tone he gave Brigitte, Rosenit cautiously called Desmond II.
A pitiful sight of the white rose of the empire.
Desmond II's expression softened a bit at the sight of her lovely appearance.
“Rosie, why are you doing this? If you have something to say, say it.”
“Father. Sorry, but I don't have the same talent as you, so I don't think I can make something to cure your headache..."
“Rosie, it’s okay. Why do you care about such things?”
“Still, my thoughts about Father are second to none. I want to let you know that this is not the case.”
“That guy too.”
No matter what Desmond II said, Rosenit seemed so pretty.
It would have been appropriate to end it here, but Rosenit did not do that.
“So, I will give you a gift filled with my heart.”
"Huh?"
From this point on, Rosenit’s tone changed.
The voice she had pretended to be upset in was gone, and she spoke confidently.
“I’ll go to the garden later and pick a bunch of lavender, which Father likes. If you receive a bouquet of flowers filled with my love, your headache will go away. Father said it last time. There is no elixir as great as my love.”
I almost wanted to learn from Rosenit's confidence in ignoring both alchemy and medicine.
In most cases, Rosenit's cuteness worked well, but there was no way it would work if you said that love is a special medicine in front of someone who had been suffering from terrible headaches for two weeks.
Moreover, elixir is a legendary item revered in the field of potion alchemy.
It was an item.
Rosenit said something that Desmond II only said in private when he was in a good mood.
Because it was revealed openly in front of his other children, the reputation of the Emperor, who was by name the highest authority on alchemy, was lost.
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