CH 61

Amelia was taken aback by Celia’s words and warm smile, but she quickly corrected her expression.

Because the carriage with broken scaffolding was dangerous, it was returned to the Imperial Palace and replaced with the duke’s carriage. She said that she could take the Duke’s carriage back to the Imperial Palace.

“Let’s leave.”

The duke’s servant opened the carriage door. Feeling uptight, Amelia boarded the Duke’s carriage. Then Celia and her maid, Miline also entered the carriage.

The escort knights of the duke family and the escort knights of the princess surrounded their carriage, and the attendants boarded at the back.

As the carriage doors closed and they set off, Amelia looked out the window with a pale complexion. While Amelia’s maid was accompanied into the mansion by the duke’s servant.

How dangerous would it be for her to go out on an outing with the Duchess?

Amelia felt like she was being herded into a slaughterhouse.

✦ ✦ ✦

‘You said that the other time…’

She made a cheap lunch box that looked like it came from a menu, but she thought it was a great choice.

Celia directed her to take a seat in the carriage, which she did in a peaceful spot along the lake’s bank.

The servants were moving around, laying a clean cloth on the table and moving the lunch box. Amelia and Celia stayed in the carriage and talked while they were getting ready.

‘Can-Can I eat it?’

Amelia was already feeling suffocating. She didn’t think it was impolite, though, not to eat the lunch box that the Duchess had painstakingly prepared for her.

“Madam. The table has already been set.”

Through the open carriage door, the servant said. Celia told Amelia to get off the carriage first, then followed her. The parasol was propped up according to where they walked.

The picnic was only for two people, but it was large enough to accommodate another carriage. There were two more maids and three more servants in the carriage that followed them.

Amelia sat on the cloth under the parasol, observing the food spread. A grilled beef sandwich…… Her stomach churned as she saw it, but she closed her eyes and took it to her mouth.

Regardless of her mood, the food was delicious.

‘It’s no surprise that you’re nervous. Have you ever felt threatened by becoming my friend?’

Celia had noticed Amelia’s nervousness during her previous meeting.

She was aware that Amelia had problems with the ladies in the past. But Amelia seemed particularly troubled with her during the tea party a few days ago.

She only had one attitude: she looked at her (Celia) slowly and responded positively to everything.

A position in which you must be friendly with others by any means necessary.

‘I’m in a similar position, but……’

Amelia was someone she needed to get in touch with, if not today, then in the future. If at all possible, she wanted to secure her gently.

Celia stood there, obliviously watching Amelia eat each of her sandwiches.

Penina flower was sprinkled on top of the sandwich.

The chef thought the flour of Penina Flower had no taste or smell on its own, so it was a little strange, but he didn’t make a big deal out of it. Because the nobles’ taste were diverse.

As soon as the meal was finished, tea and cake were served. Amelia seemed troubled, but she didn’t refuse to eat. She felt sorry for Celia, who had prepared a delicious meal for her.

‘You don’t have to eat that much……’

According to what the goddess told her, when she eats a Penina Flower, she vomits a piece of the divine beast’s heart. In a nutshell, it meant vomiting, which was likely to cause some discomfort.

Anyway……

‘Why has there been no reaction? Is it working?’

The amber pendant that Celia had touched was found broken. Another member of the Leonis entourage read the ancient language while holding the pendant, but no reaction occurred.

That dream comes only once.

‘Didn’t what I see was a hoax?’

Celia became impatient while Amelia was concealing her anxiety.

“……There is also beautiful scenery in other parts of the area. It’ll be a short carriage ride because it’s not far.”

Amelia nodded as Celia told her to get back on the carriage. She had an uneasy feeling in her stomach, like if something was lodged within her, and decided that riding something rather than walking would be a better option.

Amelia hopped into her carriage, her skin pallid. Celia, who had followed her, sat next Amelia and observed her expression.

“You don’t look well…….Do you feel uncomfortable?”

“Ah… Yes, but it’s all right. Really.”

Celia asked Amelia if she was okay once more before setting off the carriage. The carriage barely swayed, but Amelia’s face became paler.

‘What? This……’

This had the same feeling as when Leonis went insane. It was similar to when he came from outside the tent to slaughter the beasts when she married him and was immediately taken to slay beasts.

“Heok! Ugh, The-The Carriage…..Ugghh!”

Amelia couldn’t take it any longer and puked on the floor of the carriage. Celia and Miline were not surprised by this situation because they had planned for it.

It was Amelia who was bewildered by the sudden vomiting.

“Uwek, Eug…..Kough……Haa……”

“It’s all right, Princess. Please throw it all out and by that you will get comfortable.”

Amelia was embarrassed by Celia’s affirmations. She had never traveled very far in the carriage and had no idea whether she was motion sick or not.

“I-I am sorry. The carriage has become messed up like this……”

“It’s alright. You don’t have to worry about that. The food doesn’t seem that good. I will go back and scold the chef.”

“Th-That not it! The food is delicious……”

It didn’t matter that she puked on the carriage floor. The problem was that the princess couldn’t stay in the carriage since it stank of vomit.

“Stop the carriage.”

Miline gave the coachman an order as per Celia’s instructions. MIline kept a tight check on Amelia’s vomit while Celia calmed her.

All she could see was food.

The servant stationed two carriages, and the other opened one of them. Celia and the princess stepped out of the carriage.  The duke’s maids, who were riding in separate carriages, approached.

“The princess seems to be uncomfortable.”

“Princess.”

The maids came and took Amelia. Celia returned to her carriage after leaving Amelia with them for a while.

“Miline.”

“Madam. This……It seems to be.”

Miline whispered to Celia, still unsure about it. Although she was in the second carriage, she was accompanied by a servant and an escort driver from the third Empress.

Celia accepted the item Miline had given. It was a handkerchief tied around a triangular-shaped stone. It looked like an ordinary stone with a small hole in it.

“The only odd thing was this. Is this right?”

She took off the handkerchief and touched the stone, and it moved like a pulsating stone. Miline was startled and looked at Celia.

“This is the right one.”

The first thing that Amelia was fed with the Penina Flower was to check the shape of the heart of the divine beast that came out of her body.

It was thus simple to detect and retrieve.

Celia turned around and handed Miline the stone. It was now her turn to console Amelia and wrap up the picnic as if nothing had happened.

✦ ✦ ✦

The Duchess of Cardian was gracious to her until the very end. Even though the smell of vomit would have rendered a carriage unusable, there was no disruption.

Amelia was waiting for a new carriage from the Duke’s house, and her embarrassment made her want to retreat to the mouse hole.

Celia reassured her that she was fine with it, but her escort and attendant had already figured it out. Amelia wanted to dig  and put her body into the ground, seeing the servant’s forlorn gaze that she was going to die.

Of course, her eyes curtsied as she looked at Celia as if asking what it was, but it was clear that this would reach the Third Empress’ ears.

Celia didn’t do anything, but she did send a representative to the Emperor’s office to summon a high priest. It was due to apprehensions that the princess might be sick.

The high priest examined Amelia and concluded that she had just experienced a stomach ache.

Around that time, a carriage arrived from the Duke’s residence, allowing them to ride back on the carriage side by side. The Duchess of Cardian, on the other hand, exited the carriage in the middle and entered another, allowing Amelia to return directly to the palace.

The appearance of the Duchess, who repeatedly apologized, made Amelia feel more ashamed than sorry. She was upset because she only had one sandwich to eat! Although the meat was a little tough, the flavor was excellent!

On her way back, Amelia’s servants and escort knights were silent, as two of the duke’s maids and an escort knight accompanied her.

They opened their mouths after the duke’s carriage passed through the imperial palace gates and dropped Amelia off at the concubine palace entrance.

“……The Princess will be severely reprimanded for this.”

Amelia simply ignored the servant’s snide remarks.

Amelia’s maid arrived in another of her duke’s carriages, so she ignored her maids and went to her own quarters in the Concubine Palace.

She was worried about Lucy, but there was nothing she could do.

✦ ✦ ✦

“Is this the one?”

Celia returned to the Duke of Cardian’s mansion, carrying a bit of the divine beast’s heart to show Leonis. All of Leonis’ aides who were present at the time thought it was strange.

“Doesn’t it just look like a piece of plain stone?”

“Madam, show me what you showed me before! It was completely different before!”

Celia picked up the stone at Miline’s request. The little piece wriggled as if it were alive. The pulsating and moving thing caught by surprise.

“How did this happen?”

“Madam, what did you do?”

“I’m not sure either. What happens if it comes into contact with my hand?”

Rather than that, Celia had other concerns. The feeling she had before became clearer as she held the piece of the divine beast’s heart in her hand.

‘This piece of heart……It feels like when Leonis is ruled by madness.’

It was said that the curse Leonis had was given by the God of Heaven.

In retribution for the death of the divine beast, the emperor was cursed. That energy’s form, on the other hand, was comparable to that of the divine beast.

‘Perhaps……’