Chapter 82

***

***

The next day, as soon as she finished disinfecting her wounds, Ellea headed somewhere with her still throbbing body.

The person she was trying to find was the one who took care of the horses for the riding competition.

Some people had already gathered in the stable. When Ellea appeared, one of them greeted her with courtesy.

“Nice to see you, Princess. I have received orders from the Marquis of Endarin.”

He was from Heris‘s family, and the other was a worker in the Imperial Palace. The person at the center was the man who took care of the horses yesterday. He had a troubled expression on his face.

“You must have come here because of yesterday’s incident.”

“Yes. But there was no real harvest.”

At those words, Ellea’s gaze turned to the man in charge of the horses, and he strongly insisted on his innocence.

“I told the two of them that there was no particular abnormality in the horses. This is not uncommon. In some cases, the horse reacts violently to some unknown external stimulus. Especially if the rider is a beginner.”

“Even so, the horse wouldn’t die.”

Ellea immediately refuted the manager’s claim. She decided to check the dead horse herself, as she thought she would no longer be able to find out through this person.

“Where is the horse’s body? I’ll have a look.”

“Yes? But the rot has already begun.”

“I told you I’d confirm it.”

At Ellea’s determination, the man led the men out of the stable and headed toward a building far away on one side.

Everyone, including Ellea, frowned at the smell of rot that leaked through the solid wooden wall as they got closer, and covered their noses and mouths with their sleeves.

When the locked wooden door was opened, a number of huge objects covered in white cloth lay on the floor.

As soon as the horse manager picked up one of them, a stench that made it difficult to breathe hit the nose.

While they were reluctant to approach, Ellea was the first to step forward. Ignoring the stinky smell, she approached and carefully inspected the condition of the horse.

Yesterday she was so distracted by the accident that she didn’t even have time to look into it. While Ellea was examining the horse, for some reason, the manager looked nervous. No one saw it because everyone was concentrating on the horse.

“There is no visible trauma.”

There were no signs of any damage caused by secretly attacking the horse. Then, it meant there was a problem inside the horse.

As she was checking the face of the horse that had undergone corruption, the man from the Marquis of Endarin spoke from behind. 

“Before the Princess came, we checked with the other caretakers of the imperial palace and we did not find anything special.”

If someone who was an expert in the field did not find anything, Ellea wouldn’t be able to find anything either.

The horse was dead, but there was no physical evidence. After looking at the cold horse’s body with earnestness, Ellea finally got up from her seat.

“I don’t see any special signs.”

When she stood up without any harvest, Ellea noticed that the horse manager was relieved, even though it was only for a brief moment.

‘He must be hiding something.’

After completing the confirmation, she was about to go back, but the man from the Marquis came up to Ellea.

“The Marquis wanted to thank the Princess for saving Lady Heris. Thank you so much.”

Ellea waved her hand as the man bowed his head to express his gratitude. Rather, Ellea felt sorry.

“I should have taken care of Heris, who rode a horse for the first time, but I have no face to see the Marquis.”

“No. Rather, the Marquis was sorry to hear that you were injured while trying to save Lady Heris.”

“I’m fine, so can you tell the Marquis not to worry?”

“Yes. And he said that he would like to invite the Princess to the residence when you have time.”

At the pleasant suggestion, Ellea immediately nodded her head.

Fortunately, contrary to her concerns, the Marquis did not seem suspicious, perhaps Heris had explained it well.

“The Marquis is also very angry about this. So, if someone’s intentions are hidden, he plans to find it.”

“Of course.”

“It’s gotten more difficult than that, as we haven’t figured out anything about it right now.”

“Well, if it’s okay with you, would you mind asking Heris if she notice anything strange while riding that day, and then send me a letter?”

Under the current circumstances, Heris’s testimony on the horse in question may be of paramount importance.

“Of course. I will deliver your message.”

The man left the Imperial Palace at the request of Ellea.

Ellea, who was left alone, moved to another place instead of her palace. It seemed that a different approach was needed to solve this riddle.

****

The place where Ellea had arrived was the library of the Imperial Palace. It was a place where all the knowledge of the world was gathered, so she could only hope that she could find even a small clue. But there was a problem.

“Oh right. I can’t use my arms and shoulders right now.”

It was impossible to extend her arms to the high place where the book was because of yesterday. She tried to stretch it out just in case, but she felt the pain right away.

So she was going to get help from the librarian, but suddenly, a hand of someone pulled out the book.

Surprised, she looked to the side and saw Terban standing there with a book in his hand. He asked, regardless of Ellea’s gaze.

“Is it this one?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Ellea nodded her head, and Terban continued to look at her while holding the book. With the eyes that needn’t anything else.

Ellea, who came to her senses late, tried to steal the book in Terban’s hand. However, Terban, noticing her intentions, did not stand still.

He immediately pulled his hand back and made the book out of Ellea’s reach.

“I’ll hold it.”

‘No, this is not important now. ‘

It was so natural that she almost let it slide.

“What is Your Majesty doing here?”

“Isn’t there only one reason to come to the library? Of course, I came to find the book I needed.” 

When Terban came out like that, she had nothing to say, but the casual look on his face somehow made her feel unfair.

She had trouble sleeping because of someone, but the person in question had a calm face as if nothing happened.

“Isn’t it impossible to be alone with a shoulder injury?”

It felt a bit absurd for some reason, so she stopped trying to steal the book and said, unlike her.

“Then can I take it as a sign of helping me?”

“Of course.”

As soon as the permission was granted, Ellea turned and pointed to the related books.

As time passed, thick books piled up in Terban’s hands. Ellea saw his expression harden as the number of books increased, but she deliberately ignored it and pretended not to know.

And Terban’s low voice was heard as if he couldn’t stand it any longer.

“It doesn’t look like you need this much.”

“Oh my, when did it become so many? Is it very heavy?”

It was obvious that Ellea was doing this on purpose, so Terban pretended to be indifferent.

“It’s not heavy. I’m just saying it’s inefficient to take all the books when you won’t read them.”

“Is that so?”

The playfulness in her voice seemed to say she didn’t believe it, so Terban held a pile of heavy books with one hand as if he was trying to show her that it was not heavy.

“No matter how strong Your Majesty is, it must be heavy if you lift it with one hand, isn’t it too much?”

“Not at all.”

Ellea thought her confidence had been defeated by Terban’s stubbornness to the end, so she pulled out a couple of books he was carrying.

“It’s not heavy now, is it? We share it.”

Having said that, she walked to the desk with a bright smile. Terban stared blankly at that smile, then hurriedly followed her.

“I say just in case, but it wasn’t heavy at all.”

“Yes Yes. I will believe you.”

He was sure that Ellea misunderstood that lifting a few books was heavy.

“Because it’s true.”

Terban pursued her and continued to insist that it was not difficult at all.

Until Ellea was tired of that persistence, she told him to stop.

“I believe you, I think this will be enough. Thank you for your help.”

After finding the necessary materials, Ellea sat down at a desk on one side of the library.

And, unexpectedly, Terban, who she thought would leave with his book, sat down across from her.

Ellea saw him sitting in front of her, stopping her hand to open the book.

“Your Majesty isn’t going?”

“You sound like you’re trying to send me away.”

“It’s not that, I don’t need any more help now.”

Even though she said that, Terban clearly heard Ellea’s desire to send him away.

But instead of answering, he picked up the book he had placed on top and opened it like Ellea did.

Ellea couldn’t hide her absurd expression and asked.

“I’m really curious, isn’t Your Majesty very busy?”

“How can you be sure I’m busy?”

“Isn’t that obvious? You’re the Emperor, and it doesn’t rain very often at this time of year, so you must have a lot of work to do.”

“The Princess knows my job as well as I do.”

“No, that…..Uh…..”

Ellea paused for a moment, then said nothing. It seemed like it was pretty basic knowledge.

“Everyone in the Empire should know that. But do you have time for this?”

“There are a lot of people working besides me, so it’s not a big problem.”

“It would be great to hear from the people working there.”

Ellea let out a small sigh, gave up and opened the first page of her book. She knew she wouldn’t be able to win this fight with him.

Since her right shoulder was seriously injured, she looked at the contents of the book with her left hand a little awkwardly.

Terban noticed the similarities between the books she had chosen. It was all about horses.

“You’re going to investigate what happened yesterday.”

“Yes. Your Majesty will know from the report, but I haven’t found any specific clues.”

To Terban’s question, Ellea, who had her eyes on the book, gave a fairly firm answer.

He, too, had just heard the report from his aide. Still, Ellea seemed unwilling to give up.

“Are you still going to dig?”

“There is certainly room for doubt, so if I look, I may find even a small clue. It was me and Heris who were there that day.”

“It wouldn’t be easy. Even the expert could not find anything.”

Terban saw the thick books piled up and thought it was close to impossible. There may not be anything Ellea was looking for in there.

In a word, it just seemed reckless. However, Ellea looked indifferent.

“It’s no big deal. As long as I know the truth of the day. Everything I said that day was true. If I were the only one injured, I wouldn’t have done this much.”

“You are full of justice.”

“Regardless of that, I am filled with a desire to let people know that the price of risking another person’s life is very heavy.”

Having said that, Ellea lowered her head and turned the book page by page again. She quickly scanned the paper full of letters, and Terban too began to read his book.

Suddenly, in the library filled with silence, only the sound of pages turning could be heard. Time passed, and as the sun set in the sky, the two went through the pile of books. 

At that moment, the voice of Terban, who was sitting on the other side, was heard.

“I think this is the most likely.”

“Did you find something?”

At Terban’s words, Ellea immediately got up from her seat and walked over to him.

Terban was surprised by Ellea’s body scent for a moment, but for Elea, something he found out was more important.

“Where?”

“This part here.”

Terban struggled to clear his voice and pointed to a page in the book. Ellea read the content quickly.

What was written in the book was very similar to the symptoms the horse had that day.

Unaware of the joy of finding the clue, Ellea placed her hand on Terban’s shoulder, who was sitting in bewilderment.

“Maybe this is it, Your Majesty.”

When Ellea turned her head towards Terban, their eyes met at a close distance.