The garden was as splendid as it was dizzyingly fragrant.
Sepia’s eyes, looking at the roses that were so big that they seemed like they would break, turned to the bushes.
‘That’s...’
Short plants with leaves with holes were hanging here and there in the shade, next to the roses.
The surroundings were so luxurious that they didn’t catch her eye at first, but once she noticed them, they were like foreign objects that caught her eye. Above all, she knew that shabby plant.
Sepia, who was looking at the leaves with holes, opened her mouth.
“Lucy, do you know what that plant is?”
“What kind of plant are you talking about? Uh... Was there something like this here? If it bothers you, I’ll tell the gardener to pull it out.”
Sepia shook her head.
That wasn’t what she wanted.
Then Lucy crouched down and stared intently at the plant Sepia had pointed at.
“I don’t think it’s a species that used to live in Leopold. My father was a mountaineer. Thanks to that, I’ve been wandering around the mountains since I was little, and I’ve seen all kinds of plants. Maybe they were mixed in when Miss Dyling brought them in. But there are quite a few? I thought they were only found there.”
“Have you seen them anywhere else besides the garden?”
Lucy nodded at her question.
“Yes. In Marmode Village. Since it was the first time I saw it, I thought it was an alien species brought in by the wind.”
Lucy, who was not very smart and had extravagant tastes, said she pretended not to see the plant and just passed it by.
It was understandable.
To the average person, it was just a weed.
Lucy added, perhaps thinking that Sepia was interested.
“But you shouldn’t go to Marmode. The people there still firmly believe that Lady Dyling is a Saintess.”
That was the first village to receive the benefits of a Saintess, aside from the servants of the castle. It was also where Dyling was currently hiding. Just as Sepia was pondering, Lucy clapped her hands as if something had occurred to her.
“Oh, come to think of it. I think I smelled something from Miss Dyling’s hands. Like grass...??”
Lucy sniffed her freckled nose.
The monotonous words gave Sepia confidence.
‘I’m sure.’
Because it was something she had experienced in the past.
Sepia plucked a plant from under the roses.
“Where is the Duke now?”
Lucy, her eyes wide, stood up and offered to guide her.
Sepia’s steps crossed the garden.
To completely clear up the misunderstandings surrounding her one and only lover.
The entrance to the lower part of the Castle of Leopold.
If you go down these stairs, you will find the dungeon.
The knights guarding the entrance saluted.
Roxanne stopped in front of her and asked her again.
“It is not a good environment for you to go in. I haven’t tortured him yet, but it would be better to have my uncle come up.”
“No. I will go in.”
Sepia shook her head at his suggestion.
Based on the evidence Sepia had found, Rapikan Deardis was considered a criminal and would not escape punishment.
Therefore, it was right to pass judgment on the criminal in a proper place. Let him admit his situation.
Currently, the former temporary lord was accused of fraud and embezzlement, but if this was added, he could be stripped of his honorary title.
“I will guide you.”
“Please.”
Roxanne entered the entrance.
As he had said, the stairs leading to the basement were narrow and had a musty smell.
Rapikan was locked in prison and stubbornly refused to open his mouth.
Today, Sepia was determined to make the temporary lord admit his guilt himself.
After climbing the last stairs, they arrived at the basement.
There were prison cells with iron bars on both sides of the narrow passageway.
Roxanne asked the knight guarding the prison.
“What about my uncle?”
“He remains the same.”
This meant that he was still denying his guilt.
As they were about to walk away, there was a commotion.
A prisoner who had been locked in prison ran out at the sound and grabbed the bars.
“Your Excellency, you have arrived!”
Brown hair with white patterns.
Rapikan Deardis, temporary lord of Leopold and bald eagle man.
The old bird of prey appealed to Roxanne with a desperate look on his face.
“I am the brother of the Red Queen and your maternal uncle. There was some misunderstanding. Please release me and I will resolve it!”
He added to his words and went on a long lecture about how cruel it is to keep birds of prey in cages.
However, when Roxanne showed no reaction, he became impatient and changed his target this time.
“By the way, who is the lady next to you? I think it is the first time I have met her.”
Then, his cold blue eyes turned to the temporary lord.
“I am Sepia Ishtar. I am the deposed Empress of the empire and the fiancée of the Duke.”
“W-what did you just say?”
Rapikan stuttered as if he had heard something he should not have heard.
However, it did not matter whether he was flustered or not.
Sepia took out a specimen of the plant she had picked in advance.
“Do you know the name of this plant?”
A unique appearance with green and yellow hues and holes in the leaves.
Rapikan blinked when he saw what Sepia was holding in her hand.
“This is the first time I’ve seen it. What an ugly leaf.”
He pretended not to care.
However, Roxanne and Sepia knew.
The fact that the bird of prey’s pupils shook for a moment.
“This is a plant called lupine.”
This plant is native to the Huron Empire, and although it is basically poisonous, it can be made into medicine if boiled in fire for a long time.
Sepia had no idea about the lupine plant until she experienced it herself.
It was when she was being trained as an Empress candidate.
Before Roxanne had even come to study abroad, the Empress of Huron had offered Sepia lupine tea, saying it was good for her health.
Sepia could not refuse the tea she had never heard of before, and that night, the pain began.
It was a burning pain that felt like her skin was on fire.
The palace doctor treated it so that there were no scars, but the pain itself was a terrible experience.
After she barely recovered, a strange rumor had already spread throughout the palace.
It was that young Sepia had picked grass herself and made tea with it.
The Empress of Huron clicked her tongue at Sepia.
She said with a tone of incredulity as if she had taken a closer look at it.
'I never thought I'd see Lupina here.'
As trade between Huron and the Beastkin Empire became active, many plants and animals from each country mixed together.
Lupina leaves were one of them, but there was a record that sales were soon discontinued.
This was because the Beastkin protested after eating the difficult-to-process leaves without properly brewing them and suffering from serious side effects.
The import of Lupina was quickly forgotten by the Beastkin.
Except for Leopold's temporary lord, Rapikan.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Rapikan tried to change the subject with a good-natured smile.
Roxanne stopped him.
"Uncle, I've already investigated the well."
Rapikan reacted strongly to a specific part.
The word 'well.'
The reason why the villager's illness did not stop even though Rapikan was locked up.
That was because the temporary lord’s servant was moving around outside and putting lupina leaves in each village’s well.
Fortunately, the water was cold, so the leaves were less soaked, and so the weak-bodied people showed symptoms similar to those of illness.
‘It must have been unavoidable since they drank it every day.’
That was why they mistakenly thought they had gotten sick two or three times.
Ironically, the symptoms of lupina leaves could be cured with the same kind of medicine.
It was a distillate made from dried loinna leaves.
The liquid would make people feel better just by smelling it, and Dyling used it to heal the residents.
“That, that... didn’t I say I didn’t know?”
Roxanne, who was watching his uncle deny it to the end, ordered the knight.
“Bring him.”
“Understood.”
A moment later, a prisoner who had been imprisoned in another prison was led by the knight’s hand.
It was a prisoner who had been caught putting leaves in the village well in the middle of the night.
Both the prisoner and the temporary lord had expressions of surprise as if they knew each other’s faces.
In the end, Rapikan had no choice but to admit his guilt.
And what followed was a beg.
“Your Excellency, that child Dyling doesn’t know anything...! She’s a poor child. I did this to get my daughter, who was so depressed, to move!”
Dyling could not endure the capital and was forced down, suffering from severe depression.
Unable to bear to see his daughter like that, Rapikan came up with a solution: to make Dyling a Saintess and deceive the people of the territory.
However, his initial intention gradually turned into material things and turned into excessive greed.
Because he was planning to spread the loops and leaves to other territories and scrape up silver coins.
Rapikan, who admitted his guilt, bowed his head and atoned.
Roxanne, who was looking down at him, indifferently judged.
“So, my uncle, you should correct this fact yourself. If you do, you can at least save your life.”
Although he would lose the honor of a nobleman and the wealth he enjoyed through his sins.
“What would you choose?”
A noble and cowardly death.
And a life of atonement.
Rapikan could only choose one of them.
A messy bedroom.
In that dark space, the new Empress was sitting alone.
Her makeup was smeared with sorrow.
Shedding tears that would not dry.
Sepia’s eyes, looking at the roses that were so big that they seemed like they would break, turned to the bushes.
‘That’s...’
Short plants with leaves with holes were hanging here and there in the shade, next to the roses.
The surroundings were so luxurious that they didn’t catch her eye at first, but once she noticed them, they were like foreign objects that caught her eye. Above all, she knew that shabby plant.
Sepia, who was looking at the leaves with holes, opened her mouth.
“Lucy, do you know what that plant is?”
“What kind of plant are you talking about? Uh... Was there something like this here? If it bothers you, I’ll tell the gardener to pull it out.”
Sepia shook her head.
That wasn’t what she wanted.
Then Lucy crouched down and stared intently at the plant Sepia had pointed at.
“I don’t think it’s a species that used to live in Leopold. My father was a mountaineer. Thanks to that, I’ve been wandering around the mountains since I was little, and I’ve seen all kinds of plants. Maybe they were mixed in when Miss Dyling brought them in. But there are quite a few? I thought they were only found there.”
“Have you seen them anywhere else besides the garden?”
Lucy nodded at her question.
“Yes. In Marmode Village. Since it was the first time I saw it, I thought it was an alien species brought in by the wind.”
Lucy, who was not very smart and had extravagant tastes, said she pretended not to see the plant and just passed it by.
It was understandable.
To the average person, it was just a weed.
Lucy added, perhaps thinking that Sepia was interested.
“But you shouldn’t go to Marmode. The people there still firmly believe that Lady Dyling is a Saintess.”
That was the first village to receive the benefits of a Saintess, aside from the servants of the castle. It was also where Dyling was currently hiding. Just as Sepia was pondering, Lucy clapped her hands as if something had occurred to her.
“Oh, come to think of it. I think I smelled something from Miss Dyling’s hands. Like grass...??”
Lucy sniffed her freckled nose.
The monotonous words gave Sepia confidence.
‘I’m sure.’
Because it was something she had experienced in the past.
Sepia plucked a plant from under the roses.
“Where is the Duke now?”
Lucy, her eyes wide, stood up and offered to guide her.
Sepia’s steps crossed the garden.
To completely clear up the misunderstandings surrounding her one and only lover.
***
The entrance to the lower part of the Castle of Leopold.
If you go down these stairs, you will find the dungeon.
The knights guarding the entrance saluted.
Roxanne stopped in front of her and asked her again.
“It is not a good environment for you to go in. I haven’t tortured him yet, but it would be better to have my uncle come up.”
“No. I will go in.”
Sepia shook her head at his suggestion.
Based on the evidence Sepia had found, Rapikan Deardis was considered a criminal and would not escape punishment.
Therefore, it was right to pass judgment on the criminal in a proper place. Let him admit his situation.
Currently, the former temporary lord was accused of fraud and embezzlement, but if this was added, he could be stripped of his honorary title.
“I will guide you.”
“Please.”
Roxanne entered the entrance.
As he had said, the stairs leading to the basement were narrow and had a musty smell.
Rapikan was locked in prison and stubbornly refused to open his mouth.
Today, Sepia was determined to make the temporary lord admit his guilt himself.
After climbing the last stairs, they arrived at the basement.
There were prison cells with iron bars on both sides of the narrow passageway.
Roxanne asked the knight guarding the prison.
“What about my uncle?”
“He remains the same.”
This meant that he was still denying his guilt.
As they were about to walk away, there was a commotion.
A prisoner who had been locked in prison ran out at the sound and grabbed the bars.
“Your Excellency, you have arrived!”
Brown hair with white patterns.
Rapikan Deardis, temporary lord of Leopold and bald eagle man.
The old bird of prey appealed to Roxanne with a desperate look on his face.
“I am the brother of the Red Queen and your maternal uncle. There was some misunderstanding. Please release me and I will resolve it!”
He added to his words and went on a long lecture about how cruel it is to keep birds of prey in cages.
However, when Roxanne showed no reaction, he became impatient and changed his target this time.
“By the way, who is the lady next to you? I think it is the first time I have met her.”
Then, his cold blue eyes turned to the temporary lord.
“I am Sepia Ishtar. I am the deposed Empress of the empire and the fiancée of the Duke.”
“W-what did you just say?”
Rapikan stuttered as if he had heard something he should not have heard.
However, it did not matter whether he was flustered or not.
Sepia took out a specimen of the plant she had picked in advance.
“Do you know the name of this plant?”
A unique appearance with green and yellow hues and holes in the leaves.
Rapikan blinked when he saw what Sepia was holding in her hand.
“This is the first time I’ve seen it. What an ugly leaf.”
He pretended not to care.
However, Roxanne and Sepia knew.
The fact that the bird of prey’s pupils shook for a moment.
“This is a plant called lupine.”
This plant is native to the Huron Empire, and although it is basically poisonous, it can be made into medicine if boiled in fire for a long time.
Sepia had no idea about the lupine plant until she experienced it herself.
It was when she was being trained as an Empress candidate.
Before Roxanne had even come to study abroad, the Empress of Huron had offered Sepia lupine tea, saying it was good for her health.
Sepia could not refuse the tea she had never heard of before, and that night, the pain began.
It was a burning pain that felt like her skin was on fire.
The palace doctor treated it so that there were no scars, but the pain itself was a terrible experience.
After she barely recovered, a strange rumor had already spread throughout the palace.
It was that young Sepia had picked grass herself and made tea with it.
The Empress of Huron clicked her tongue at Sepia.
She said with a tone of incredulity as if she had taken a closer look at it.
'I never thought I'd see Lupina here.'
As trade between Huron and the Beastkin Empire became active, many plants and animals from each country mixed together.
Lupina leaves were one of them, but there was a record that sales were soon discontinued.
This was because the Beastkin protested after eating the difficult-to-process leaves without properly brewing them and suffering from serious side effects.
The import of Lupina was quickly forgotten by the Beastkin.
Except for Leopold's temporary lord, Rapikan.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Rapikan tried to change the subject with a good-natured smile.
Roxanne stopped him.
"Uncle, I've already investigated the well."
Rapikan reacted strongly to a specific part.
The word 'well.'
The reason why the villager's illness did not stop even though Rapikan was locked up.
That was because the temporary lord’s servant was moving around outside and putting lupina leaves in each village’s well.
Fortunately, the water was cold, so the leaves were less soaked, and so the weak-bodied people showed symptoms similar to those of illness.
‘It must have been unavoidable since they drank it every day.’
That was why they mistakenly thought they had gotten sick two or three times.
Ironically, the symptoms of lupina leaves could be cured with the same kind of medicine.
It was a distillate made from dried loinna leaves.
The liquid would make people feel better just by smelling it, and Dyling used it to heal the residents.
“That, that... didn’t I say I didn’t know?”
Roxanne, who was watching his uncle deny it to the end, ordered the knight.
“Bring him.”
“Understood.”
A moment later, a prisoner who had been imprisoned in another prison was led by the knight’s hand.
It was a prisoner who had been caught putting leaves in the village well in the middle of the night.
Both the prisoner and the temporary lord had expressions of surprise as if they knew each other’s faces.
In the end, Rapikan had no choice but to admit his guilt.
And what followed was a beg.
“Your Excellency, that child Dyling doesn’t know anything...! She’s a poor child. I did this to get my daughter, who was so depressed, to move!”
Dyling could not endure the capital and was forced down, suffering from severe depression.
Unable to bear to see his daughter like that, Rapikan came up with a solution: to make Dyling a Saintess and deceive the people of the territory.
However, his initial intention gradually turned into material things and turned into excessive greed.
Because he was planning to spread the loops and leaves to other territories and scrape up silver coins.
Rapikan, who admitted his guilt, bowed his head and atoned.
Roxanne, who was looking down at him, indifferently judged.
“So, my uncle, you should correct this fact yourself. If you do, you can at least save your life.”
Although he would lose the honor of a nobleman and the wealth he enjoyed through his sins.
“What would you choose?”
A noble and cowardly death.
And a life of atonement.
Rapikan could only choose one of them.
***
A messy bedroom.
In that dark space, the new Empress was sitting alone.
Her makeup was smeared with sorrow.
Shedding tears that would not dry.
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment