CH 168

“Your Majesty, this is the flower that arrived from the Holy Land this morning.”

The doctor approached me with a silk cloth on his hands.

A flower of Agiodita lay on white silk with the emblem of the temple.

Although it had dried up and all of its color had disappeared, even without it, it was beautiful.

“Put it here.”

Helen came up with a wide silver tray.

The doctor carefully moved the flower onto a silver tray, and Helen handed it to me.

She already knew about my abilities, so she was calmer than others.

When my hand reached for the flower, the eyes of those present clung to my gestures. Not only my father, but the doctor and the butler alike, were all curious and suspicious of what I decided to do.

‘I can save it.’

Just before reaching the flower, I felt anxious

Perhaps due to the fact that Raymond would die if I couldn’t save this flower, I thought of the family he wouldn’t have and felt nervous.

“Your Majesty,” Helen called me in a low voice as if he saw that my fingertips were trembling.

When I looked into her eyes, the anxiety quickly disappeared.

I took a deep breath and touched the wilted flower.

‘Come back to life, please.’

The moment I desperately wished it, I felt life under my fingertips.

The fallen petals rose, the dried stem hardened again.

“Oh! As…!”

“Is it a spirit magic…?”

Exclamations were heard from the butler and the doctor, who couldn’t hide their surprise.

In the meantime, I finally removed my hand from the still-alive flower.

Agiodita was now emitting a bright glow on the silver tray.

“Hufff…”

When I saw the bright flowers, I breathed out in deep relief.

And when I looked up, I saw people with blank faces, as if they had seen a ghost.

It would be natural for them to be surprised to see a flower come to life right before their eyes.

Although it was neither witchcraft nor spirit magic. However, there was no time to explain this one by one.

“Herrington. Can you make the antidote now?”

The imperial doctor, standing with his mouth wide open, suddenly twitched and stared at me.

“Yes? Yes! Of course! I will do everything right now!”

Herrington took the flower and set to work at once.

The antidote wasn’t long in coming.

“It’s done.”

Herrington held out the vial with trembling hands.

After receiving the crystal vial, I went straight to Raymond.

At first glance, his breathing was weak and powerless, just like on his deathbed. This meant he didn’t have much time, so I hastily poured the medicine between his lips.

I handed the empty vial to Helen. An oppressive silence reigned in the bedroom.

All eyes, of course, were directed at the lying dead Raymond.

‘Wake up, Ray.’

Deep down, I called his name, holding his hands tightly.

I was worried that the damage was irreversible and the antidote wouldn’t help.

“…You have to wake up.”

‘Did you hear my fervent whisper?’

Raymond’s eyelids suddenly trembled.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty! Can you hear me?”

Seeing signs of life, the doctor bent down and checked Raymond’s condition.

His pale lips parted, and moans were now emanating from them.

“Your Majesty, if you can hear me, move your fingers.”

Raymond’s finger twitched in response to such a suggestion.

My legs could barely hold me.

“It’s done…”

When I exhaled, my legs relaxed.

Helen quickly came to my help, while the doctor was busy examining Raymond.

“Is the Emperor safe now?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. The antidote is working very well. We’ll have to wait and see how it goes, but so far, it’s good.”

“That’s a relief.”

Holding Helen’s hand tightly, I closed my eyes.

This happened because I was extremely relieved when I heard his unequivocal answer.

The waves of anxiety I had experienced while caring for him yesterday disappeared in one fell swoop.

After taking a deep breath, I slowly opened my eyes.

“Herrington, you did a great job today.”

“No. Without Your Majesty, I wouldn’t have been able to create an antidote.”

“No. I tell you, you did a great job today and saved His Majesty. Get the trick I showed you out of your head. Do you understand?”

The only people who saw my abilities were the doctor, the butler, and my father anyway.

There was no reason to hide such power, but there was nothing to push it out either.

In fact, when I was preparing the perfume, I thought that it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. It’s just plant.

However, when I learned that this way I could save someone’s life, I felt that this power was a burden.

There will always be someone who would like to use it.

“You are forbidden to talk about what you saw today until your death.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The doctor and butler soon hurried to the exit.

“Then I will prepare medicine to restore strength to His Majesty.”

“Do that.”

Shortly after the imperial doctor left the bedroom, the butler and Helen also left. As I watched Raymond gradually come back to life, I turned to my father, frozen in shock.

“Father.”

My father still looked a bit pale. My father moved his lips slowly as he looked at me.

“I didn’t expect Your Majesty to have such an ability… Why didn’t you tell me?”

“When I was young, this ability simply scared me. When I grew up, I didn’t want to attract undue interest.”

Raymond used to be the most important person in the world to me.

When I moved to the Lund Kingdom, I used this ability to my advantage.

“I see. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell Your Majesty sooner. I think His Majesty may have suffered because of my stupidity.”

“I can’t blame my father. Rather… His Majesty was hiding this from me. So don’t feel guilty. Besides, the Emperor is safe now.”

“…Yes. Now leave her Majesty with the imperial court and come with me and rest.”

Father seemed to think I was done here.

That wouldn’t be a particularly strange thought.

My father knew that Raymond and I weren’t an ordinary couple. So now that Raymond is alive, I have no reason to hang around the Emperor as if I were his real wife.

All I had to do was just keep him alive.

However I was worried about him, that he wasn’t completely stable yet.

“…No need. I’ll stay here. Father will be busy with his official duties, so come back.”

My father was amazed at my remark and took a break to build up his answer.

“Your Majesty the Empress. Has your heart changed about His Majesty?”

This is a really straightforward question.

Of course, I couldn’t hide my embarrassment now.

“That? It’s not that… But the situation right now…”

“Is that so? In my opinion, and judging by yesterday’s, everything is exactly like… Just like it was in the past.”

After all, how can I fool my father’s eyes?

I laughed softly.

“I’m not sure yet. I thought there was nothing to pull me back, that everything was over between us…”

I definitely thought so. That’s why I was able to return. But…

“But when I saw his sincerity, my heart was simply lost. But to live with His Majesty… I don’t know. Father, what do I even want from this life?”

I spoke without hiding mixed feelings.

My father looked at me and called my name in a low voice.

“Ellie.”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t want you to be the Empress. And when you filed for divorce, there was no single objection from me. Your happiness was the most important thing to me… I thought then that it would be better for you.”

“Father?”

“But now I think the Emperor has changed a lot compared to the past.”

“…Is that so?”

“While you lived across the sea, His Majesty didn’t forget you, and he scurried here and there in search. At one time I thought it was just a fleeting feeling that will eventually fade away.”

My father took a moment and continued speaking.

“He took the poison without hesitation for Carlisle’s sake. And, you see, he thought about you until the very last moment. It looks like His Majesty’s heart is not so easy to change.”

Now I didn’t know what to answer.

I felt that Raymond was different from his past self.

Not only to me, but also to Carlisle, I couldn’t see his former indifference.

‘Does my father want me to stay with Raymond?’

At that moment, my father opened his mouth with a pale smile.

“However, the choice is for the Empress. For my part, I only wish happiness to Her Majesty.”

My heart was warmed by my father’s kind words. The moment I smiled back, Helen knocked on the door and walked in.

“Your Majesty the Empress. The crown prince has arrived.”

“Carlisle?”

Reflexively, I turned to the bed.

Carlisle didn’t yet know about the situation, so it was impossible to let him in right now.

“Helen, take the Crown Prince into the living room. Father, please sit with His Majesty for a minute.”

And then I hurried out of the bedroom.