Chapter 16

Chapter 16

“What’s that?”

“You don’t know? I think it’s for medicine… It’s different from what His Majesty usually uses.”

“I’ve seen it being used at home. I think it’s used to store medicine?”

“But why does Sir Viester show that to us?”

When no one raised their hands in the midst of the chatter, Viester opened his mouth once again with a slight frown.

“I’m looking for the maid who brought this medicine container from the dispensary a few days ago. If you know anything related to this, inform me.”

Dozens of murmurs arose once again after Viester finished his words.

Now they began to talk about the correlation between the medicine, Sir Viester and His Majesty the Emperor.

“Did the maid make a mistake when she brought that medicine?”

“I don’t know that, but… Seeing Sir Viester come to find her by himself, she might have worked well, or she might have caught His Majesty’s eyes….”

“Did he come here under the order of His Majesty?”

“Kyaa! How I wish I was the owner of that medicine tube!”

One of the ladies turned red and spoke out about her imagination.

“Does no one know who that was?”

In the dispensary, Viester was told clearly that she was the maid of a concubine, but he was confused because no one raised their hands.

“I know.”

Then someone raised their hand.

Silence lingered in the air for a moment, and the person who raised her hand spoke up once again.

“I took it. It was in the morning, two days ago, right?”

The one who raised her hand was a maid named Velly, who served Cecilia, the Third Concubine.

“Okay. Come to the front.”

Velly pushed her way through the group of maids and walked forward in the direction of Viester.

Two days ago, it must have been around that time. When her words coincided with the woman in the dispensary, Viester’s suspicion decreased a little.

Except for Velly, all of the maids quietly whispered with each other.

“Is it her?”

“Why did she go to the clinic? She looks healthy.”

“I wouldn’t have given such a cheap medicine to the concubine….”

The Third Concubine, Cecilia, came from the third powerful empire, so she would have lived and spent as much as she wanted.

But they didn’t think she would have used such a cheap medicine for herself.

That means Velly has used it.

At that moment, all the maids were doubting it since they had never heard that Velly was injured as they spent all of their time together.

At that time, Asta, a maid who shared the same room with Velly, muttered quietly.

“If it was two days ago in the morning… I think she had tea with me….”

It was a dreamy break granted by their master after working nonstop for a while. That was the reason they drank tea together….

Asta muttered to herself unknowingly. She hurriedly closed her mouth. Then she looked around to see if anyone happened to hear it.

Fortunately, no one heard her mutter because they were distracted by Sir Viester and Velly.

“What are you planning to do….”

Asta bit her lips hard, worried for the fate of her friend.

***

Viester took Velly to the drawing room.

Since there were also separate drawing rooms at the concubine palace.

Velly quickly tried to think of an idea as she followed Viester from behind. He asked without waiting to arrive at the drawing room first because he felt as though he could hear the sound of her racking brain all the way here.

“So you know.”

Velly nodded at the Viester who remained calm as he asked her.

“Yes.”

“Why did you take this medicine from the dispensary?”

Viester asked while maintaining a casual gesture as he walked ahead.

Viester already remembered and looked at Velly’s appearance, eye contact, minor changes of her facial expression, hand movements, even until the shaking of her shoulder, but Velly didn’t notice that Viester was looking at her observingly.

A faint hint of concern flashed across Velly’s face which was full of freckles.

“It was… when I walked with Her Highness… I saw a dog.”

She remained silent for a while before continuing her words, and contemplating for a bit before she decided to say it was a puppy.

‘A dog… How could someone dare to call His Majesty a dog?’

Viester didn’t fully believe Velly.

“I see.”

He just answered calmly before opening the door to the drawing room.

He arrived at the drawing room and led Velly in, pulling out the chair for her to sit.

Velly sat there with an impressed look shown on her face.

After taking a seat across from her, Viester gave a faint smile to Velly.

“I would like you to tell me more about the medicine tube.”

“S-sure.”

Viester’s gentle smile made Velly’s face heated up.

Everyone surely chose the Emperor as the most handsome man in the Idelberg, but the perfect husband title was definitely owned by Sir Viester.

He has a very high position as an aide of the Emperor and a duke, not to mention, his wealth as well. Furthermore, women couldn’t help being fascinated because of his gentle appearance if he was to be compared with His Majesty’s aggressive appearance.

Velly seemed to tremble a bit when he spoke so gently to her.

After taking a short breath, Velly talked in detail about what happened two days ago.

“I was taking a night walk with Her Highness the night before. Because Her Highness said she couldn’t sleep. Although it was dark, the sound of something whimpering from a distance could still be heard by anyone, right? The tender-hearted Her Highness decided to take a look at it, and she spotted an injured dog when she sought through the bush.”

“So you said there is a puppy in the capital?”

“Yes. Its fur was black and its body was big. I’ve only heard rumors regarding His Majesty’s dog, but it was my first time seeing it.”

“What does it look like?”

“It… It had black and long fur, it was also very big. When we were unsure whether he liked people, it clung to Her Highness as soon as it saw her.

If they were talking about Louie, the Emperor’s pet dog, she was right.

Because Louie had a black and long fur, it was a noticeable feature of the dog.

“Although she hurt her foot, she was surprised and took a liking to the dog. Perhaps she felt sorry for the dog, so Her Highness came back with the medicine the next day.”

Viester felt uneasy about a few things.

Firstly, she put aside what she was supposed to do which was calling a knight right away to treat Louie and chose to come back with a medicine the next day.

Secondly, she prescribed cheap medicine for Concubine Cecillia at the dispensary.

And lastly, Louie had never gotten injured.

‘Why is she lying?’

And to make it more suspicious, it was a seemingly half-right statement. Even though it sounded so poorly, how did she even know it happened two days ago, and she even told him the excuse that she took the medicine from the dispensary to treat a dog.

It was similar to the hints, so Viester decided to listen to Velly’s excuse silently.

“So she used it to treat a dog… Concubine Cecillia surely has a kind heart.”

“I know it!”

Velly clapped her hands delightedly when Viester agreed with her.

Things were going well for her.

“Perhaps, I’m not sure if I would be able to keep the promise which had been entrusted by Her Highness…!”

Berry seemed to get lost in her thoughts when she recalled something.

A few days ago, or two days ago in the morning, to be precise.

On her way back to Her Highness Cecillia after drinking tea with Asta, she was happy to run into her fellow, Ellie.

“Velly! It’s been a while since we last met! Why is it so hard for us to see each other even if we are living in the same palace?”

It had been a while since she met Ellie, but Ellie seemed reluctant to see Velly, meanwhile Velly was happy to see her.

Due to her having to serve the Third Concubine, she had gotten many unexpected profits.

Her salary was higher, even her clothes were far better. From Velly’s perspective, Ellie’s attire wasn’t different from light rags.

The maids who served the concubine were also divided based on the rank of their master.

So they were in third place and 27th place respectively.

She thought Ellie was disrespectful for calling her only by her name.

And at that time, she spotted the medicine tube in Ellie’s hand.

It was such a cheap medicine that Concubine Cecillia wouldn’t even use it for her pet dog.

Velly automatically let out a scornful laugh.

“What are you going to do with that medicine?”

“This? Her Highness asked me to get this… She said she met a dog last night. The dog got injured.”

A dog in the capital?

There was no dog other than the pet dog owned by His Majesty.

“That dog….”

“I think it’s Louie.”

Just like what she expected. Velly was at a loss for words because she was surprised.

Ellie said shyly with a smile.

“Wouldn’t His Majesty be pleased to hear that she treated Louie? I hope Her Highness and His Majesty can improve their relationship….”

Velly quickly turned her head and watched Ellie who was engulfed in happiness, as if she was the one who experienced it.

If she let this one slide, Her Highness Edith would have caught the eyes of His Majesty the Emperor before Her Highness Cecilia.

No way she would let that happen!

“You didn’t hear the news, did you?”

Velly asked in a hushed tone. Ellie tilted her head curiously.

“What?”

“You can’t talk about this to anyone else. I’m telling you because it’s for your sake.”

Velly waved her hands so that Ellie would come near her, as if she was about to tell Ellie a secret.

After Ellie came closer to Velly, she whispered in a hushed voice.

“There’s a rumor that Louie had been sent to the villa. He has been out of everyone’s sight lately.”

“Really?”

“That’s right. I’m telling this to you for your sake.”

“Then what about the puppy that had been seen by Her Highness?”

“It’s probably a different puppy. It’s not His Majesty’s dog. If there’s an injured dog in the capital… I think it’s not a good sign. It might be a hunted dog.”

“A hunted dog?”

“Hm. So don’t tell anyone that Her Highness had been treating the dog. The dog might get caught again and die.”

Ellie’s face immediately became sullen.

Guilt pricked on Velly’s heart, but then she thought the water had been spilled.

“I see….”

“Don’t be so upset. There will be another opportunity next time.”

Velly patted Ellie on the shoulder.

“Yes! Thank you for letting me know!”

“No problem. I should be more grateful toward you. For telling me.”

“Why should you feel grateful to me? We’re friends.”

“Friend… Sure. Thanks.”

“I’ll be going now.”

Ellie held the medicine tube in her hand and headed to Her Highness Edith’s living quarter. Velly was left alone while looking at Ellie, then she turned around and headed to Concubine Cecillia’s palace.

She had something to say to her master. Velly closed her lips firmly. This had to be a secret that she kept for the rest of her life.

Perhaps this opportunity would have made Cecillia the first concubine to meet His Majesty.

Velly’s steps got increasingly faster as she approached the palace.

***

That day, she had a long conversation with Her Highness Cecillia. As a result of discussion, Imperial Concubine Cecillia decided that her maid would tell others that she was the one who did it, not Royal Concubine Edith.

Concubine Edith rarely came out of her palace, so if they did this secretly, she wouldn’t know about this for the rest of her life.

Sir Viester came to the concubine’s palace district directly and things became more hectic than she thought, but luckily the news wasn’t conveyed to Concubine Edith herself.

It was Velly who had been told to tell her about the matter.

Velly reported that she had conveyed the message, but actually, she didn’t tell her anything.

Today the timing was nice because the Concubine Edith collapsed today, so she would never know about this.

“You called for me.”

After Concubine Cecillia entered the drawing room, she greeted him while putting her hand on her chest and her other hand lifted up her skirt lightly.

As the person who received the greeting, Viester bowed his head and accepted it.

“I request your presence to ask you regarding the medicine tube.”

“Yes, you can ask as much as you want.”