CH 47

Arentine let out a short sigh.

“Yeah, if you are, that’s fine.”

After Arentine went back, Diane, who had been waiting in the room next to her, came back into her room.

“Has His Highness the Crown Prince finished his business?”

“Yes, he was just talking to me.”

Diane made sure once again that Arentine was gone, then she cringed inside.

“Miss Diane, are you afraid of my brother?”

“Oh, no, it’s not like that.”

Diane lowered her head and grabbed the hem of her skirt.

“It’s just that I’m ashamed to look like this.”

Diane said that and pulled out a picture of her dress again. She was in an atmosphere where the person concerned didn’t want to talk anymore, so she didn’t ask too deeply. But at the same time, she felt sad. To think that such a cute young lady liked Arentine. She must be like that because she didn’t have eyes for men.

“Then let’s finish the dress like this.”

The finished sketch became an intricate, unrecognizable painting, with the decorative designs Diane had picked out over the flimsy dress she had drawn. Still, the people who make the dress would recognize it. She put down the paper on which the dress was drawn and proposed to Diane.

“Since you helped me a lot, would you like to drink tea and eat dessert together today?”

Fortunately, Diane replied with a smile as if her energy had been restored.

“Yes, I like it.”

* * *

After welcoming the guests and completing one embroidery, it was already evening. She put down the embroidery frame and was arranging the threads that she had taken out into the box again according to color. A familiar voice was heard from behind the door.

“Princess, I brought tea.”

It was Lana, the handmaid in question. Hearing that voice, the hand that had been fiddling with the embroidery thread stopped for a moment.

“Yes, bring it.”

The door opened and Lana, her brown hair in a bun, came carrying a tray of teacups. The ladies-in-waiting had their own timetable. Each lady-in-waiting took turns serving her meals or tea. During that time, Lana has brought her food on more than four occasions. But she had never had drug in her food.

She didn’t know if she’s looking for an opportunity or if she hadn’t received the medicine yet. 

She hadn’t searched Lana’s room yet. Just in case she got scared and abandoned her plans. But today the atmosphere was a little different. Lana was in her usual form, but there was a slight tension in her pale face. Lana put a cup of hot black tea on the table next to her. She pretended to choose the embroidery thread and ignored her gaze.

“It is cold. I want to take a dip in warm water. Could you tell them to prepare the bath water?”

“Yes, Princess.”

Without question, Lana put down the teacup and went outside. As soon as Lana got out, she rolled up her sleeves and pulled out the slender bracelet on her wrist. It was the crystal bracelet borrowed from Terrence.

It was able to test for drugs in food. When she asked how it was possible to react only to medicine when it wasn’t poison, Terrence explained it. When making medicine, they put a few specific ingredients in, and this crystal was said to react to it. She picked a crystal from the bracelet and dipped it into the teacup. The snow-white crystal gradually turned to light green.

Knock, knock.

A knock was heard again.

“Princess, this is Chloe.”

“Okay, come in.”

Chloe, the lady-in-waiting sent by the Grand Duke, opened the door and cautiously entered. 

Chloe had been monitoring Lana’s actions the whole time. Perhaps because she was so quiet in her behavior, she seemed to do a pretty good job as a watcher. Her mouth seems heavy too. Indeed, she’s not an ordinary maid, so it’s natural.

She turned to the teacup in front of her and said.

“Princess, just before, Lana…”

“Huh. I know.”

Presumably Chloe watched Lana put her pills in and came along to report.

“Go back and act like you normally do. Because I’m going to be sick from now on.”

* * *

Daily life in the princess’s palace was very monotonous. During snowfall, the princess was confined to the palace, which made it even more boring. Lana shouted at the maids who brought cold ice water.

“What are you messing around with? Can’t you bring it faster?”

“I’m sorry.”

The maids watched Lana and gruntedly moved her bucket full of cold water inside. Even if they worked together in the imperial palace, a maid and a personal maid were completely different. Most of the ladies-in-waiting were selected from aristocrats or wealthy commoners with culture, but the maids were all from poor commoners. As much as they came from different backgrounds, the work they did was completely different. Handmaids do simple tasks such as running errands or helping the owner dress up, but maids do all kinds of dirty work, such as cleaning and washing clothes.

Lana lingered near her bath in a nervous mood. She took her anger out on her maids out of some uneasiness. She had just taken the medicine in the princess’s cup as ordered by the Empress. Originally, she was going to check if the princess was drinking her tea in her room. 

This was because the princess suddenly asked to prepare her bath water, so she was kicked out without confirming that she was drinking tea.

‘Is it okay?’

Since she didn’t know the outcome, she felt uneasy. Lana roughly supervised her maids heating the bath water before she came out. She passed through the corridor again and entered her break room where the princess was. The princess was still sitting in front of her embroidery frame, absentmindedly choosing her thread.

“Princess, the bath water is ready.”

“Okay, I’ll be there soon.”

Lana’s eyes quickly scanned the table. Fortunately, the princess’ teacup was clean and empty.

The princess left her embroidery frame and headed for her bath.

Lana wiped her quickly empty teacup with a handkerchief. She then put her teacup on a tray and she came out. Before anyone could see, she came downstairs and washed the teacup and rinsed the handkerchief as well. After the princess washed her body in her bathtub, she seemed to be changing into her pajamas with the help of another lady-in-waiting.

It was late in the evening and it was time for night.

The princess’s palace, where darkness fell, was silent. All the maids who were not on duty were in the mood to finish their work and go to rest, but Lana was anxiously wasting her time running errands downstairs. A few hours after that, another lady-in-waiting was running hurriedly from the end of her hallway.

“What happened?”

“Yes, the princess must be ill.”

The lady-in-waiting answered briefly as if it was a nuisance and walked by, but Lana let out a sigh of relief the moment she heard that. Joy and relief filled her heart that had been trembling with her anxiety.

Lana went upstairs with her heart pounding. The maids of honor were hanging out near the princess’ bedroom. She heard a voice from inside telling them to call a doctor.

“What’s the matter?”

A maid passing by heard the commotion and approached.

“The princess is very ill. She suddenly feels dizzy and her head hurts, she collapses.”

“Suddenly? Was she fine a while ago?”

After a while, the doctor came running. The sight of the back of the doctor entering her bedroom washed away the joy in her heart and filled her faint uneasiness with it. Wouldn’t he be able to find out that she was drugged? Wouldn’t that be a drug that leaves evidence? 

However, the doctor said that it seemed to be due to her fatigue and tension, and prescribed medicine to calm her down and went back. After the princess managed to swallow the pills, she lay back on her bed. But she couldn’t sleep until dawn and complained of her headaches. She was good until there. But the problem was then.

‘Did the effect of the medicine last this long?’

The princess lay on her back, saying that her head hurt the next day and the day after that. But she didn’t call a doctor. The ladies-in-waiting gathered downstairs and whispered quietly. When the princess said she was sick, she seemed worried that the wedding would be postponed. It seemed that she was not calling a doctor even though she was still ill.

“She told me to bring something like herbal tea this morning to help her get a headache solution.”

“Well, if she is still sick like that, how can she get better just by eating something like that? She should call a doctor.”

Everyone whispered anxiously. By that time, Lana’s insecurities had intensified.

‘I wonder if something like this will happen?’

The person who gave her the medicine did not tell her what it was. She just said it wouldn’t be a big deal. She thought it might be a drug causing some bad effects, but she didn’t know that it would last this long. The problem was that the foolish princess was sick, but she didn’t even call a doctor and was struggling. The person who gave her medicine must have thought that the princess would call her doctor and get cured… 

‘If I don’t call a doctor like this, won’t she die like that?’

It was a completely different matter between the princess being sick and the princess dying suddenly. If it was the former, she would just get sick and move on, but she might do something like an autopsy if the princess died suddenly. Then it would be revealed that she had taken strange drugs, and an investigation would surely be launched. With her anxiety at its peak, Lana waited for the promised time