Chapter 244

At the Imperial Palace bedroom.

The quiet bedroom was filled with only the breathing sound and the strong smell of medicine.

"Why am I not getting better?!"

Yovanes screamed toward the Palace Doctor with a frown face.

His skinny fingers rattled for weeks with his flimsy lips.

"I'm not sure either. I've been using the medicine correctly---."

"You're trying to kill me--cough!"

Yovannes, who raised his voice, eventually began to cough in fits.

Every breath was painful, and if he shows a little bit of emotion, he coughed like this, making every day painful to bear.

"Uh, Your Majesty, come and take the medicine---." The Palace Doctor, who was so intimidated and wary, quickly rushed with a bottle of medicine as Yovanes began coughing.

"Ah..You.."

Yovanes, who barely swallowed a few sips of medicine, snapped and grabbed the Palace Doctor by the collar.

"Sa-save me, Your Majesty!"

The Palace closed his eyes tightly and trembled.

"Right now, make the medicine.....if you don't want to die...Cough!"

He started coughing again and saw red bloodshot in his eyes.

Eventually, after drinking another bottle of medicine the Doctor gave him, he started to breathe easily again.

"Haa..."

Looking at the back of the Doctor as if he were running out of the bedroom, Yovanes took a breath again.

There was silence again in the bedroom.

"The fair ones..."

Yovanes was isolated.

He wasn't saying that he was trapped by someone.

It's just that no one came to visit Yovanes.

Yovanes was being forgotten.

"What an ungrateful fellow."

Staring as if killing someone in his bedroom, Yovanes pulled the string by the bed roughly.

"Did you call, Your Majesty?"

The maid-in-honor of Otua suddenly disappeared one day, and the young main-in-honor, who had newly filled the spot, asked with her head down.

"Bring the Second Prince."

At Yovanes' order, the maid took a moment.

It was because now, well starting the afternoon, the Second Prince was bound to be busy working.

"...Yes, Your Majesty."

Once again, the maid politely stepped out of the bedroom.

After a while.

"Did you call, Your Majesty?"

As Perez came in and said hello, Yovanes smiled wildly.

"They said you're very busy."

Perez did not answer.

It was because he had already heard through the maid that Yovanes was very upset.

None of the people who attended Yovanes were not on Perez side.

"Do you think that power belongs to you?"

Yovanes was very sarcastic.

"With my words, you will be nothing right away."

I still have the power

"...I know."

Perez answered in a low voice.

At that appearance, Yovanes raised the corner of his mouth again and said.

"Bring a tea."

"...I will call the maid immediately."

"No, bring it out yourself."

If Perez and Yovanes are close, it's not too much of an order.

Regardless of status, making tea for someone you care about was an expression of affection and respect.

But Yovanes was now trying to humiliate him by ordering to bring him tea instead of his maid.

"Why? Can't you?"

Yovanes asked Perez, who was silent.

Perez, who looked a little insincere for a moment, replied.

"...No, it's not that. Please wait a moment."

After opening the door and getting hot water from his maid, Perez started brewing tea directly by Yovanes' bedside.

Yovanes stared at Perez's every move with the intention of scolding him right away if he made any mistakes, but in the end, there was no reason to nitpick.

It wasn't until the light green tea water was poured into a teacup with a thud, that Yovanes looked away and drank tea.

The refreshing scent of flowers stimulated his nose.

"At that time...it's the tea I drank before the conference began."

"That's right."

Yovanes was inwardly amazed.

It was because drinking tea seemed to make it a little easier to breathe.

Yovanes said to Perez, who was standing still with no tea and with his hand behind his back.

"Second Prince, come twice a day and bring this tea to me."

It was a ridiculous request.

Perez was doing all of the Emperor's work in his stead.

And now he wants the Prince to come twice a day and make tea.

But Yovanes was impudent.

If Perez refused, he intended to delay the appointment of the Crown Prince using it as an excuse.

"I'll do that."

But Perez nodded his head in a calm tone.

"I'll be back tomorrow morning. Take a rest."

When Perez greeted him and left the bedroom, Yovanes was left alone again.

But unlike before, Yovanes was smiling.

Then he pulled the string one more time to call the maid and said.

"Ask Chairman Killian, early tomorrow morning, to stop by."

I will not be forgotten like this.

Yovanes thought, squirming again.

****

(Florentia's POV)

My father and I walked out of the mansion and arrived at Lombardi square, precisely in front of the fountain.

It was a fountain that was dry because it was winter, but it was a symbol of the square, and people were crowded around it.

"Would you like to sit here for a minute?"

Father sat down by the fountain and tapped the seat next to him.

I sat in the seat pointed by my father.

"Can you see that tree over there? When spring comes, flowers bloom on that tree. And when the wind blows, the petals blow all the way here."

My father said with a big smile on his face.

"And here I met Shan for the first time."

"Mother?"

I was a little surprised and asked again.

"Yes, I was sitting here and drawing that tree full of flowers. And I met Shan."

As if he had returned to that time, father folded his eyes and smiled.

"That way....Yes, She walked looking straight at me from that road. And she stood in front of me and said 'Do you like to draw?'"

"You remember all that?"

"Well, that is the first thing your mother told me. And actually..."

My father smiled a little shyly and scratched his cheek.

"I've been in love since the first time I saw her."

"Oh, love at first sight!"

It was an anecdote that I had never heard in my previous life and this life, until now.

"I thought I should tell you this one day, Tia. How is it?"

"Good! I was also a little curious."

Because my father rarely talks about my mother.

I only heard that she died shortly after giving birth to me.

But it was something I couldn't even ask my father about without notice.

"Then, shall we go for dinner first?"

My father asked, taking the lead.

I got up quickly and walked with my father.

And where we arrived was a small, shabby restaurant.

At a glance, it was a place with an atmosphere that seemed to be a restaurant with a history.

How good the smell of the food flowing out was, my stomach growled unconsciously.

Familiarly, my father opened the old wooden door and took a seat by the window.

"Two stews, please."

When I ordered, a middle-aged woman who was serving food diligently, came with a large round bowl filled with stew and full of meat.

As I was swallowing my saliva while watching the steaming stew, a middle-aged woman who brought a basket of bread to accompany the stew asked my father.

"Huh? You look familiar."

"Haha. I used to be a regular a long time ago."

When my father smiled comfortably, the middle-aged woman clapped her hands loudly and welcomed him.

"Oh my God, yes! I thought you look familiar! You've always been with a small lady, haven't you?"

"Yes, that's right."

"I see. This is your daughter, isn't she?"

The middle-aged woman said as she looked at me.

To be honest I was a little nervous.

It was a restaurant a little far from the Lombardi mansion.

She might recognize my face.

"You look just like your mother!"

However, she was a middle-aged woman without a sign of that, and she was just happy.

"I shouldn't treat a regular visitor like this after a long time. Wait a minute!"

After saying so, the middle-aged woman, who had been busy visiting her kitchen, held a freshly baked apple pie in her hand.

"It's on me! Eat stew and dessert!"

The middle-aged woman, who left such pleasant words, left to work again busily.

"It's hectic, isn't it?"

My father looked around the noisy restaurant and asked me.

Not really.

In my previous life, I also worked hard at a restaurant like this, where the commoners gathered while working hard.

"There is always something my grandfather has to say. The citizens of Lombardi should not know the faces of the Lombardi clan."

"You're saying that you need to be so comfortable that you don't even care who you're running into?"

"Yes, indeed, the citizens of Lombardi do."

My father said so and encouraged me to try the stew.

"Wow, it's delicious!"

Even though it's a little early for dinner, I expected the food in this restaurant to be good after seeing so many people.

The hot stew was more delicious than I thought.

"It was Shan's favorite food."

My father said so as he started eating with such delight.

In the end, my father and I even emptied the apple pie we got for free and walked out of the restaurant.

"....huh?"

But the more I walked, the stranger it get.

"Where are we going now, Dad?"

"We'll be there in a little while."

And eventually, we stopped walking in an alley in a residential area where the common people lived together.

"Here we are, Tia."

My father pointed to a small house in the corner.

A pretty house with a red roof and a shallow brick wall.

A small garden that looks like spring will grow greenish when the days get warmer.

"This is the house where Shan and I lived together until we entered the mansion."

"Ah..."

I couldn't say anything for a while.

I looked at my father who was looking at the house in nostalgic, and then turned my head.

Down the street, I saw a bakery that was closing after a day of business.

'Aunt Perry'

When I was just eleven years old, it was the bakery where Laurel and I came to eat sandwiches.

And right in front of it, I saw the building where I lived in my previous life.

"Here we are."

Once again, I looked at the house where my father and mother lived.

It was a familiar house.

Because I walked through this street every day.

In my previous life, I lived without knowing that the house filled with memories of my mother and father was so close.

Then, my father said, pointing at Aunt Perry's bakery.

"The bread at that house is very delicious. Shan loved it a lot. Let's come together early in the morning next time. There's a secret menu that only regulars know!"

I couldn't say anything.

My Dad slightly patted me on the shoulder and laughed while standing still.

"Then shall we go inside?"