The capital city held large and small festivals every month, and the Sunflower Festival was held in August.
During the Sunflower Festival, there was a superstition that if you confess to someone you have a crush on, it will come true, so it was also called the lovers' festival.
Today, the day I happened to be in the capital, was the Sunflower Festival, so the streets were teeming with people.
I couldn't ride the carriage any longer, so I had no choice but to get off.
“I walked a lot in the palace, so I have to walk again.”
“So you don’t like it?”
“It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s that I’m worried about you, Perdes.”
"Me?"
“Yes. You haven’t recovered for long, so your health is still not good.”
Perdes picked it up and laughed.
“Don’t worry. It’s sturdy.”
“Even though you look strong on the outside, you are completely damaged on the inside due to poison.”
“If that’s the case, then the detoxification is complete.”
“The attending physician said it’s not ready yet.”
When I heard that Perdes was going to the capital with me, I still vividly remembered the image of my attending physician preparing a lot of antidotes and health supplements for me.
“I told you several times that I was healthy, but you still don’t believe me.”
"The doctor..."
“I know my body better than my doctor.”
Perdes spoke firmly, perhaps because he didn't want to hear me keep bringing up the doctor.
Then he looked back at Sir Aldor and Sir Eren, who were following him silently and asked.
“Do Sir Aldor and Sir Aaron think so too?”
"No."
“Yes. You look healthy.”
The first answer was Sir Aldor, and the second answer was Sir Eren.
After hearing conflicting answers, Perdes stroked his chin and muttered.
“Are you following a master who doesn’t even know your thoughts?”
“That can’t be true.”
“No. Looking at those two, I think it’s true.”
“Stop talking nonsense and go quickly. You’ll miss the train if you keep doing this.”
There was only one train a day from the capital to the Martina estate.
I pushed Perdes's back and hurried my steps, knowing that if I missed the train this time I would have to wait until tomorrow.
Thanks to that, I almost arrived at the train station on time.
“Buy flowers, brother.”
A little girl who looked about ten years old held out a sunflower to Perdes.
“If you confess with a sunflower, it will come true!”
Dang, dang-
At that moment, the large clock at the entrance to the train station chimed loudly, signaling 5 o'clock.
It also meant that the train would depart soon.
“I’m going now.”
"For a moment."
As it was not the time to look at flowers, I was about to leave when Perdes took a gold coin out of his pocket and handed it to the girl.
“Will this do?”
The girl's face brightened like the moon for a moment when she saw the gold coin.
The girl quickly took the gold coin from Perdes, hoping that he would not change his mind, and placed a sunflower in his hand before quickly disappearing.
It was so fast that I didn't even have time to catch it.
Perdes muttered as he looked at the girl's back.
“Shr looks like a rabbit.”
“That’s because you gave him something like a gold coin. If you wanted to buy sunflowers, one shilling would have been enough.”
Since 20 shillings equals 1 gold, Perdes paid 20 times as much for the sunflowers.
When I struck, Perdes shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, whatever. Just consider it a good deed for the poor kid.”
It was actually dangerous to give a large sum of money to a child like that.
Because someone who sees this scene might try to steal money from the girl.
“This type of good deed is...”
As I was about to tell him that part, Perdes put something in my hand.
It was a sunflower he just bought.
Why are you doing this to me?
“The train is about to leave.”
In a moment of confusion, Perdes grabbed my hand which wasn't holding the sunflower, and started running towards the train station.
After meeting with the nobles and returning to the palace, Daimon heard that Adele had met the Empress and went to look for her.
"Your Majesty?"
The Emperor and Empress were a married couple, but they were a couple who had married for political reasons, without love, and based solely on each other's backgrounds.
There could be no affection between those two people.
The only reason he sleeps with her is to have successors.
After giving birth to the Crown Prince, the Second Prince Chernosser, and the Second Princess, Daimon felt like he had fulfilled his role and did not look for an Empress.
The Empress did not particularly desire his love or crave his affection.
They lived as a formal couple, only looking for each other when they needed to.
In particular, there was no case in which a Daimon came to the Empress's palace first.
If he had something to say, he would call her or convey his message through a servant.
However, when Daimon came to the Empress's palace without notice, the Empress was surprised and welcomed him.
Although she was surprised, she knew why Daimon had come to see her.
It must be because Kobe Alstein poisoned Perdes.
She thought he would call her to the Emperor's Palace, but it was a bit unexpected that he came here in person.
"Come this way..."
“Okay.”
Daimon asked in a cold voice, devoid of even the slightest hint of warmth.
“I heard that Lady Adele Leopold has found the Empress.”
She expected him to immediately question her about Kobi Alstein, but when he brought up Adele, the Empress seemed puzzled but answered obediently.
"Yes, it is."
“Why have you come here? If Lady Leopold has come all the way from her distant duchy, it must be something important.”
...It’s really weird.
Unlike the other Empresses, the Empress was also very active in politics.
So, there were nearly ten nobles who came to see her every day.
There were also quite a few nobles who came from far away for more than a week.
But Daimon never once asked the Empress what the man had come for.
She wishes he had done some background checks.
But why does Adele Leopold ask?
From the beginning, it was strange that Daimon cared about Adele's marriage.
He said in words that she was the benefactor who saved the Crown Prince, but that couldn't be true.
Because Daimon wasn't really interested in choosing a Crown Princess.
However, Adele was very nervous about her marriage and even made medicine for Perdes to take care of his health.
It was a medicine that helped her raise a child well, not just take care of her body, but that wasn't important.
The important thing was that Daimon took care of it himself.
“I came here to ask about Kobe Alstein.”
“Kobe Alstein?”
“Yes. As Your Majesty knows, he had no fear in poisoning Prince Perdes.”
“Oh, that happened.”
Daimon nodded as if he had just remembered.
The Prince who had personally prepared the medicine for her drank poison, but she had completely forgotten about it.
This wasn't a normal reaction. Something was definitely up.
“Because he pointed me out as the mastermind, Lady Leopold came to me to find out the details of the incident.”
“Well, is that what the Empress is like?”
“No way. She’s just spouting out foul language to somehow shift the blame to someone else.”
"Yes?"
As suspicious glances passed over her body, the Empress smiled even brighter to hide the truth.
“That must be the investigator’s role, so why did Young Lady come in person?”
“Shr took charge of it herself because it was her beloved fiancé’s business.”
"Ah."
The Empress did not miss the moment when Daimon's lips rose in satisfaction.
“I resolved the misunderstanding and sent her back, so you don’t have to worry.”
“Hmm, I see.”
Daimon nodded in understanding and left the Empress's Palace.
The Empress stood by the window and gazed blankly down at the carriage in which Daimon was riding.
She didn't think Daimon believed her words.
He would probably suspect something else and try to dig into it, so she had to be fully prepared on her side as well.
And she also needs to find out why Daimon is so abnormally obsessed with Adele.
Adele blindfolded the Emperor and found out what he was going to do.
The Empress stood there until the Daimon's carriage disappeared, then spoke to her maid.
“Tell my father to come to the palace immediately.”
After returning from the capital, Perdes immediately participated in morning training as if to show off his good health.
Not only that. He volunteered to participate in the afternoon training, saying that he needed to loosen up his stiff body.
The attending physician, I, and even Sir Aldor came forward to try to dissuade him, but he wouldn't listen.
Anyway, I heard he's being stubborn in strange places.
I sighed inwardly and looked towards the Knights' training grounds where Perdes was probably diligently undergoing morning training.
“Shall we go and see?”
I wondered how much Perdes, who was terribly untalented in swordsmanship, would grow.
Since I happened to have some business with the Knights, I took the documents and walked towards the Knights' training grounds.
“Put the pressure down!”
As we approached the training grounds, the loud voices of the knights could be heard.
As I went inside, I saw knights bare-chested and swinging their wooden swords diligently under the sweltering sun.
Everyone is working hard.
But where is Perdes?
As I was scanning the training grounds, I found Perdes receiving instruction from Sir Aldor in a corner of the training grounds.
“You need to raise your hands a little higher.”
Wheeze-
“This time your back was twisted.”
The posture was still a mess, but it was a huge improvement over the first time.
You're working hard, aren't you?
I saw what I wanted, so I was about to turn back and leave without bothering you.
"Miss?"
“The Lady has arrived!”
Some knights with good eyesight noticed me and called out to me happily.
Because of that, Perdes and Aldor noticed my arrival and looked in my direction.
Oh. I was just going to watch quietly and leave.
Our eyes met, but I couldn't just walk away, so I had no choice but to approach and say hello.
“Are you working hard?”
"...Yes."
Perdes answered curtly, wiping the sweat running down his chin with a towel.
“Does anything hurt anywhere?”
“I told you there isn't any.”
“Really? If it hurts even a little bit, tell me. Don’t suddenly collapse like before.”
At my words, Perdes glanced at me and spoke to Sir Aldor.
“Sir Aldor. Let’s practice swordplay together.”
During the Sunflower Festival, there was a superstition that if you confess to someone you have a crush on, it will come true, so it was also called the lovers' festival.
Today, the day I happened to be in the capital, was the Sunflower Festival, so the streets were teeming with people.
I couldn't ride the carriage any longer, so I had no choice but to get off.
“I walked a lot in the palace, so I have to walk again.”
“So you don’t like it?”
“It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s that I’m worried about you, Perdes.”
"Me?"
“Yes. You haven’t recovered for long, so your health is still not good.”
Perdes picked it up and laughed.
“Don’t worry. It’s sturdy.”
“Even though you look strong on the outside, you are completely damaged on the inside due to poison.”
“If that’s the case, then the detoxification is complete.”
“The attending physician said it’s not ready yet.”
When I heard that Perdes was going to the capital with me, I still vividly remembered the image of my attending physician preparing a lot of antidotes and health supplements for me.
“I told you several times that I was healthy, but you still don’t believe me.”
"The doctor..."
“I know my body better than my doctor.”
Perdes spoke firmly, perhaps because he didn't want to hear me keep bringing up the doctor.
Then he looked back at Sir Aldor and Sir Eren, who were following him silently and asked.
“Do Sir Aldor and Sir Aaron think so too?”
"No."
“Yes. You look healthy.”
The first answer was Sir Aldor, and the second answer was Sir Eren.
After hearing conflicting answers, Perdes stroked his chin and muttered.
“Are you following a master who doesn’t even know your thoughts?”
“That can’t be true.”
“No. Looking at those two, I think it’s true.”
“Stop talking nonsense and go quickly. You’ll miss the train if you keep doing this.”
There was only one train a day from the capital to the Martina estate.
I pushed Perdes's back and hurried my steps, knowing that if I missed the train this time I would have to wait until tomorrow.
Thanks to that, I almost arrived at the train station on time.
“Buy flowers, brother.”
A little girl who looked about ten years old held out a sunflower to Perdes.
“If you confess with a sunflower, it will come true!”
Dang, dang-
At that moment, the large clock at the entrance to the train station chimed loudly, signaling 5 o'clock.
It also meant that the train would depart soon.
“I’m going now.”
"For a moment."
As it was not the time to look at flowers, I was about to leave when Perdes took a gold coin out of his pocket and handed it to the girl.
“Will this do?”
The girl's face brightened like the moon for a moment when she saw the gold coin.
The girl quickly took the gold coin from Perdes, hoping that he would not change his mind, and placed a sunflower in his hand before quickly disappearing.
It was so fast that I didn't even have time to catch it.
Perdes muttered as he looked at the girl's back.
“Shr looks like a rabbit.”
“That’s because you gave him something like a gold coin. If you wanted to buy sunflowers, one shilling would have been enough.”
Since 20 shillings equals 1 gold, Perdes paid 20 times as much for the sunflowers.
When I struck, Perdes shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, whatever. Just consider it a good deed for the poor kid.”
It was actually dangerous to give a large sum of money to a child like that.
Because someone who sees this scene might try to steal money from the girl.
“This type of good deed is...”
As I was about to tell him that part, Perdes put something in my hand.
It was a sunflower he just bought.
Why are you doing this to me?
“The train is about to leave.”
In a moment of confusion, Perdes grabbed my hand which wasn't holding the sunflower, and started running towards the train station.
***
After meeting with the nobles and returning to the palace, Daimon heard that Adele had met the Empress and went to look for her.
"Your Majesty?"
The Emperor and Empress were a married couple, but they were a couple who had married for political reasons, without love, and based solely on each other's backgrounds.
There could be no affection between those two people.
The only reason he sleeps with her is to have successors.
After giving birth to the Crown Prince, the Second Prince Chernosser, and the Second Princess, Daimon felt like he had fulfilled his role and did not look for an Empress.
The Empress did not particularly desire his love or crave his affection.
They lived as a formal couple, only looking for each other when they needed to.
In particular, there was no case in which a Daimon came to the Empress's palace first.
If he had something to say, he would call her or convey his message through a servant.
However, when Daimon came to the Empress's palace without notice, the Empress was surprised and welcomed him.
Although she was surprised, she knew why Daimon had come to see her.
It must be because Kobe Alstein poisoned Perdes.
She thought he would call her to the Emperor's Palace, but it was a bit unexpected that he came here in person.
"Come this way..."
“Okay.”
Daimon asked in a cold voice, devoid of even the slightest hint of warmth.
“I heard that Lady Adele Leopold has found the Empress.”
She expected him to immediately question her about Kobi Alstein, but when he brought up Adele, the Empress seemed puzzled but answered obediently.
"Yes, it is."
“Why have you come here? If Lady Leopold has come all the way from her distant duchy, it must be something important.”
...It’s really weird.
Unlike the other Empresses, the Empress was also very active in politics.
So, there were nearly ten nobles who came to see her every day.
There were also quite a few nobles who came from far away for more than a week.
But Daimon never once asked the Empress what the man had come for.
She wishes he had done some background checks.
But why does Adele Leopold ask?
From the beginning, it was strange that Daimon cared about Adele's marriage.
He said in words that she was the benefactor who saved the Crown Prince, but that couldn't be true.
Because Daimon wasn't really interested in choosing a Crown Princess.
However, Adele was very nervous about her marriage and even made medicine for Perdes to take care of his health.
It was a medicine that helped her raise a child well, not just take care of her body, but that wasn't important.
The important thing was that Daimon took care of it himself.
“I came here to ask about Kobe Alstein.”
“Kobe Alstein?”
“Yes. As Your Majesty knows, he had no fear in poisoning Prince Perdes.”
“Oh, that happened.”
Daimon nodded as if he had just remembered.
The Prince who had personally prepared the medicine for her drank poison, but she had completely forgotten about it.
This wasn't a normal reaction. Something was definitely up.
“Because he pointed me out as the mastermind, Lady Leopold came to me to find out the details of the incident.”
“Well, is that what the Empress is like?”
“No way. She’s just spouting out foul language to somehow shift the blame to someone else.”
"Yes?"
As suspicious glances passed over her body, the Empress smiled even brighter to hide the truth.
“That must be the investigator’s role, so why did Young Lady come in person?”
“Shr took charge of it herself because it was her beloved fiancé’s business.”
"Ah."
The Empress did not miss the moment when Daimon's lips rose in satisfaction.
“I resolved the misunderstanding and sent her back, so you don’t have to worry.”
“Hmm, I see.”
Daimon nodded in understanding and left the Empress's Palace.
The Empress stood by the window and gazed blankly down at the carriage in which Daimon was riding.
She didn't think Daimon believed her words.
He would probably suspect something else and try to dig into it, so she had to be fully prepared on her side as well.
And she also needs to find out why Daimon is so abnormally obsessed with Adele.
Adele blindfolded the Emperor and found out what he was going to do.
The Empress stood there until the Daimon's carriage disappeared, then spoke to her maid.
“Tell my father to come to the palace immediately.”
***
After returning from the capital, Perdes immediately participated in morning training as if to show off his good health.
Not only that. He volunteered to participate in the afternoon training, saying that he needed to loosen up his stiff body.
The attending physician, I, and even Sir Aldor came forward to try to dissuade him, but he wouldn't listen.
Anyway, I heard he's being stubborn in strange places.
I sighed inwardly and looked towards the Knights' training grounds where Perdes was probably diligently undergoing morning training.
“Shall we go and see?”
I wondered how much Perdes, who was terribly untalented in swordsmanship, would grow.
Since I happened to have some business with the Knights, I took the documents and walked towards the Knights' training grounds.
“Put the pressure down!”
As we approached the training grounds, the loud voices of the knights could be heard.
As I went inside, I saw knights bare-chested and swinging their wooden swords diligently under the sweltering sun.
Everyone is working hard.
But where is Perdes?
As I was scanning the training grounds, I found Perdes receiving instruction from Sir Aldor in a corner of the training grounds.
“You need to raise your hands a little higher.”
Wheeze-
“This time your back was twisted.”
The posture was still a mess, but it was a huge improvement over the first time.
You're working hard, aren't you?
I saw what I wanted, so I was about to turn back and leave without bothering you.
"Miss?"
“The Lady has arrived!”
Some knights with good eyesight noticed me and called out to me happily.
Because of that, Perdes and Aldor noticed my arrival and looked in my direction.
Oh. I was just going to watch quietly and leave.
Our eyes met, but I couldn't just walk away, so I had no choice but to approach and say hello.
“Are you working hard?”
"...Yes."
Perdes answered curtly, wiping the sweat running down his chin with a towel.
“Does anything hurt anywhere?”
“I told you there isn't any.”
“Really? If it hurts even a little bit, tell me. Don’t suddenly collapse like before.”
At my words, Perdes glanced at me and spoke to Sir Aldor.
“Sir Aldor. Let’s practice swordplay together.”
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