Cornered Rat (11)
The inside of the palace was eerily clean and eerily quiet.
The servants all wore leather shoes that made almost no sound, and they did not speak.
The second Prince's chief attendant came out and bowed deeply to the Emperor, his mouth still tightly shut.
The Emperor nodded his head indifferently as if he was used to this kind of atmosphere.
The place the chamberlain led us to was not the reception room, but the second Prince's bedroom.
The smell of medicine was strong in the bedroom.
As the Emperor entered first, the Second Prince, who was sitting with his back against the bed, smiled brightly.
"Father, are you here?"
The emperor approached the bed and touched the second prince's forehead.
"Yeah, how are you feeling?"
"It's been a while since we had a guest, so the condition is pretty good."
"That's good. Did you eat?"
"I've been lying down for so long that I don't have an appetite..."
"But you still have to eat it."
"I'll definitely eat dinner."
The Emperor's words toward the Second Prince were surprisingly affectionate, and his touch was as careful as touching glass.
It was completely different from his attitude towards Kalit and Oslo. The second Prince was like his son...
As I was looking at that sight, a strange thought suddenly occurred to me.
'Could it be that Oslo demanded the throne by taking the Second Prince's life as a hostage?'
I may have misunderstood because I only saw the Emperor's cold side.
He's a father too.
At that moment, the second Prince, who was rubbing his cheek against the Emperor's hand like a young animal, turned his gaze to us.
"Welcome."
The moment I saw him, I was shocked.
Little was known about the Second Prince's appearance other than the fact that he was sickly, and there was good reason for that.
The second Prince, Bernard Owin Antiete, was completely white.
He had white hair that reached down to his waist, white eyes, and even his eyebrows and eyelashes were white. It seemed as if he was the only one without color.
Moreover, even though he was twenty-two years old, he looked like a teenage boy because he was short and thin. Rahon took my hand and approached me.
"I am Rahon Shancrecia, the 'Sav ior'. This is Millenia Astrod, you know her, don't you? She doesn't need to introduce herself, right?"
Second Prince Bernard was not at all offended by Rahon's informality. His white eyes, full of curiosity, turned towards me.
"You are the 'first walker'. It's nice to meet you. I'm sorry to greet you like this."
The second Prince smelled like bitter medicine.
I calmly lowered my eyes before meeting his gaze.
"No, Your Highness. Rather, we feel sorry for disturbing Your Highness's rest."
"It's been a while since you've seen me, so I'm excited. Don't worry about it."
"Thank you for welcoming me, Your Highness."
Bernard looked back and forth between me and Rahon. Rahon smirked and asked.
"What are you looking at like that?"
"I guess God chooses his guardians based on their appearance."
"What are you talking about?"
"You are both so beautiful and handsome. Do you hear this often?"
"Oh, I hear it so much it's boring."
"Ha ha ha!"
The second Prince Bernard, who smiled innocently, was truly beautiful.
His speech was kind and his expression was unadorned. Perhaps that was why I felt at ease even though we only spoke briefly. I could vaguely understand why the Emperor cherished Bernard.
"As you can probably guess, the reason we came here was to examine you."
"I expected it when Father told me that the two of you requested a visit. I heard it was useless."
"That's for me to decide. Give me your hand."
Bernard readily extended his hand. The veins were clearly visible on the back of his white, skinny hand.
Rahon held his hand and was silent for a moment. Then, light burst out from his hand.
Bernard, who had been shrugging his shoulders in surprise, opened his eyes wide.
"Huh? My body feels lighter!"
"You had a headache and a sore throat, so I treated it. You won't have insomnia for a while."
"Are my eyes red?"
"No?"
"But how did you know I had insomnia?"
"The power of the 'Savior' is to find out even if the patient doesn't say anything."
"I see. Guardians are truly amazing!"
While Bernard was exclaiming, Rahon secretly touched my hand.
"Of course, there are things you can know without using your powers. Even people who look fine on the outside are often rotten on the inside. Your father probably has severe insomnia too."
"Really?"
Bernard looked back at the Emperor with worried eyes.
"I know it's hard, but could you examine Father too?"
"That doesn't matter, but your father won't allow it."
"Why?"
"The Emperor cannot reveal his physical condition to just anyone."
Bernard, who lived his entire life in a limited space and met only a limited number of people, knew nothing about politics. He tilted his head with an expression of still not knowing and then began to pressure the Emperor.
"You can keep it a secret, can't you, Father?"
The Emperor could not coldly refuse the earnest request of a child who was simply worried about his parents.
"Yes. I'll come back later."
"Can you not receive it in front of me? I want to check if Father is in good health."
"..."
The Emperor I know is not a man who would change his decisions because of others.
But contrary to expectations, the Emperor calmly extended his hand.
"Please examine me."
Rahon blinked as if surprised. However, his surprised expression only lasted for a moment, and he naturally grabbed the Emperor's hand.
"... You have a little insomnia and a headache. It's not bad enough to take medicine, just move around. It will get better naturally."
"I will do so."
Rahon, who let go of the Emperor's hand, winked one eye at Bernard.
"You don't have to worry. Your father is healthy."
"Ha, that's really fortunate."
Even though we only had a brief conversation, Bernard quickly became tired.
We said goodbye to him, who was lying down as if he was tired and went outside.
The Emperor walked silently. Rahon opened his mouth as if he was being observant.
"The second Prince was probably born with white hair and white eyes. After that, his growth was slow and he would have suffered from frequent illnesses."
"That's why I didn't ask you to heal him. Because even power can't cure his innate constitution."
"The second Prince's condition is not natural."
The Emperor stopped walking.
"What do you mean?"
"The reason the second Prince is so weak is because he was not properly raised in the womb. Almost all of his organs are not functioning. That's why the second Prince is the only one who gets pneumonia when everyone else gets a cold."
"... The Empress was in poor health."
"Rather than that, it seems that the Empress was poisoned when she conceived the Second Prince. The Second Prince's eye and hair color may be due to that."
The Empress, who was already on the weak side, became significantly less healthy after giving birth to Kalit.
Following the advice of the palace physician that it would be difficult for her to become pregnant again, the Emperor, after careful consideration, took Beatrix as his mistress.
However, the Empress, who was said to have difficulty having children, became pregnant shortly thereafter.
Coincidentally, around the same time, Countess Beatrix also acquired Oslo, creating a strange sense of tension in the royal family.
In the end, the Empress gave birth to Bernard and died after suffering from illness for less than three years.
No matter how bad the Empress's health was, she was not in a condition to die so vainly.
Naturally, all sorts of rumors circulated.
One of the bizarre rumors was that Count Beatrix poisoned the Empress and caused her to die slowly.
But it turned out to be true.
'Kalit wasn't mistaken.'
The Empress's death was not natural.
Despite this surprising fact, the Emperor's expression did not change. He simply stood silently facing Rahon.
Rahon shrugged as if he had expected it.
"As expected, you knew."
"There was no evidence. And Beatrix is also my son's mother."
It meant that he couldn't take a mother away from his son without any evidence.
Could it be that the Emperor did not punish Count Beatrix for such human reasons?
'That can't be true.'
Oslo buried Count Beatrix's crimes in preparation for when he wouId become his successor.
I burst out laughing...
I found it funny that I was wondering if Bernard had been taken hostage by Oslo and the Emperor had no choice but to hand over the throne.
'Yeah, that was the kind of person he was.'
As we swallowed our disappointment, the Emperor stared at us with his cold silver-gray eyes.
"I have a question too."
"Go ahead."
"What were you trying to find out from my body?"
"....!"
Comments
Post a Comment