Chapter – 28
“Your Majesty, Her Highness the Crown Princess has arrived.”
The newly appointed head maid reported my visit in a low voice.
After a brief silence, the Empress granted permission from inside.
Through the opened door, the dimly lit room came into view.
“I greet Your Majesty, the Empress.”
“Come in.”
The Empress was sitting on the sofa, drinking tea.
Her eyes were slightly bloodshot, filled with fatigue, but compared to a few days ago, she looked much more human.
“How is the pain, Your Majesty?”
“I can endure it. Surprisingly, the pain gradually eased after removing that scented candle.”
She was talking about the candle that Blanche had tampered with.
Because of it, I had also been affected without realizing it and eventually collapsed.
“I am sorry I failed to notice it in advance.”
“No. How could it be your fault? Sit down first.”
Following the Empress’s invitation, I sat on the sofa opposite her.
A maid placed a teacup in front of me as well.
“Well then, has your body recovered a little?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Thanks to your concern.”
“That’s a relief. I was truly shocked when I heard you had collapsed.”
“I am deeply sorry. I was lacking in vigilance…”
“It wasn’t because of me that you overexerted yourself, was it?”
Fortunately, Yulion seemed not to have told the Empress the full story.
The Empress’s gaze toward me was no longer sharp.
“No. I simply did what I was supposed to do, but I neglected to take care of my body. I will be more careful from now on.”
“I am not blaming you. Rather, I wish to express my gratitude. Thanks to you, I am recovering like this.”
The Empress smiled faintly as she lifted her teacup, but the slight trembling at her fingertips could not be hidden.
‘As expected, the pain isn’t completely gone yet.’
In addition to long neglect, she had been using the Director’s faulty medicine.
It was unlikely that everything would improve easily.
“Still, I’m glad the medicine is working. Thinking about how Your Majesty continued to suffer because of Blanche’s schemes…”
“I no longer wish to think about the criminal.”
As if the smile from a moment ago had been a lie, the Empress’s voice turned cold.
A faint killing intent flickered in her lowered golden eyes.
“How dare they commit such monstrous deeds against me and then try to cut off the tail.”
It was about the Kemer Count family trying to avoid punishment by expelling Blanche from the family.
The Empress was not foolish; she could easily guess that Kemer was connected to this incident.
“I was also surprised when I heard. It’s going to become a little troublesome.”
“The Bianté Marquis House is not an easy opponent.”
Bianté was the Empress’s maternal family, so although they stayed one step away from politics, it was a noble family with a long history and tradition comparable to Kemer.
They had originally been on good terms with Kemer, but it was obvious that the relationship would soon break because of this incident.
‘Soon there will be major changes in the relationships among the nobility.’
My head already started aching thinking about what Casyan might do to exploit that gap.
“You don’t seem to be in perfect condition yet.”
Perhaps my thoughts showed on my face, as the Empress looked at me worriedly.
When I met her warm golden eyes, I was reminded of when I first met the Empress.
The wary, displeased gaze she had shown me. And her complete indifference and cold treatment.
It had not been long, yet I still had trouble adjusting to her much gentler attitude.
“I am fine. More importantly, are there any other symptoms, Your Majesty?”
This was the original purpose of my visit — I began the medical examination while holding my teacup.
The refreshing scent of apple mint lingered at the tip of my nose.
“Other symptoms, you say. There is a slight foreign sensation. And…”
The Empress hesitated mid-sentence and furrowed her brows.
“Your Majesty?”
“I think my eyesight has worsened considerably. Even though there is clearly light, it feels like it’s dark.”
As expected.
Latvian disease itself does not cause vision loss.
The problem was the Director’s medicine.
‘In the worst case, it could even lead to blindness.’
If so, all my efforts would become meaningless.
Suppressing my anxiety, I took out the pen and paper I had brought and wrote a few numbers, then handed the paper to the maid standing beside me.
“Please hold the paper where it can be seen and step a few paces back.”
Watching the maid stand a few steps away, I spoke to the Empress.
“Would you try reading the numbers written there?”
“You mean the paper in that child’s hand?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Can you see it?”
“I can see it, but…”
The Empress narrowed her eyes and tried to read the numbers on the paper.
But an answer did not come easily.
“I can see something black, but I cannot make it out.”
“…Were you originally quite sharp-sighted?”
“Yes. It was one of my prides.”
The Empress’s expression became troubled as she answered.
I gestured to the maid to come closer.
“What do you see now?”
“Seven… and three. I cannot see anything else.”
At this level, she might not even recognize my face well.
Her condition was not good.
‘But I can’t give up yet.’
I would have to make more medicine.
Perhaps her eyes were rejecting excessive stimulation due to too much treatment.
“Your Majesty, I will first make eye drops for you. Except when you are applying the medicine, it would be better to keep your eyes covered with a bandage.”
“What do you mean? Previously, you told me to look at the light.”
“That is correct. However, I should have carefully monitored your condition while doing so, but I failed to do that. It seems that your eyes are currently receiving more stimulation than they can handle.”
If it were a typical case of Latvian disease, simply living in a bright place without careful adjustment would have been beneficial.
The problem was that because of the Director’s interference, the Empress’s eyes were not in a normal state.
If I had not been unconscious for two days, I would have checked the Empress’s condition earlier and controlled the amount of light.
“So you’re saying I went too far.”
“I am sorry, Your Majesty. I should have explained more clearly.”
“If I do that, can my eyes truly recover?”
The Empress’s golden eyes looking at me were briefly clouded with despair.
Since she could not give up like this, I answered as brightly as possible.
“Of course. It is improving little by little. Even now, the pain has decreased a lot.”
The Empress sighed and nodded.
Then I placed the green medicine bottle I had brought onto the table.
“What is this?”
“This is the second-stage medicine. Your Majesty’s illness is complex, so several medicines must be used together.”
A strange light appeared in the Empress’s eyes as she looked at the bottle.
The color, which changed depending on the light, sometimes looked yellow, sometimes deep green, was mysterious.
“I have never seen or heard of such medicine. I am surprised that medicine can be beautiful.”
“There are actually quite a few medicines of this kind. Please take one bottle after meals. And…”
I signaled to Zenid and received my medical bag.
From the second stage onward, in addition to oral medicine, injections were also necessary.
When I opened the bag and took out the syringe and needle, the Empress’s eyes widened.
“T-That… what is that?”
Seeing her stutter uncharacteristically, it seemed she had never received an injection before.
I answered while habitually filling the syringe with medication.
“You may have heard of it. My mother often used syringes for treatment. Through this, I will directly inject medicine into Your Majesty’s body.”
I intentionally invoked my mother’s name.
It was partly true, but I mentioned her because I thought the Empress had some trust in my mother’s medical skills.
‘Of course, it seems she is also starting to trust me.’
Still, I thought mentioning my mother would make her accept it more easily.
As expected, the Empress looked flustered but accepting.
“I vaguely remember seeing it in my youth.”
“It is a very good medical instrument, but it is regrettable that imperial physicians do not use it much.”
“Yes, it is good… But if it is so good, why don’t the imperial physicians use it?”
“It originated from the Yalon Kingdom. Since it is the medicine of a fallen country, it is being rejected under the claim that it should not be used.”
“Hmm, I was not interested in that, so I did not know.”
The Empress’s golden eyes trembled as they stared at the needle.
She had endured the pain of having something like her eyes being gouged out, yet she was nervous about a small needle.
It was a little cute.
“Then I will begin the injection. I will put it in your arm, so please relax, Your Majesty.”
After tapping the syringe a few times to check the condition, I slowly inserted it into the Empress’s arm.
The Empress turned her head slightly away, unable to watch the needle entering her own body.
“It’s almost finished, Your Majesty. Your arm may feel sore, but please bear with it a little longer.”
I slowly pushed the piston to inject the medicine.
The Empress had even closed her eyes tightly.
“All done. Since you must receive an injection once a day, I will come again tomorrow. And please make sure to take the medicine after meals.”
While putting the syringe back into the bag, I finished the explanation.
Hearing that she had to be injected again tomorrow, wrinkles formed around the Empress’s eyes.
But she could not say she disliked it and answered reluctantly.
“…Understood.”
Even the Empress, called the Iron Lady, seemed troubled since it was her first time experiencing such a thing.
But she would probably get used to it after repeated treatments.
I smiled lightly and stood up.
“Then please rest. I will take my leave now. I will send the eye drops through a maid once I finish making them.”
“Yes, you should also rest well. If you need anything, feel free to tell me.”
“Thank you for your consideration, Your Majesty.”
I bowed my head and turned around.
At that moment, I met the gaze of the head maid standing at the door.
She was looking at me with a shocked expression, as if she had seen something very frightening.
‘It’s certainly unfamiliar medicine to the Empire.’
Now I understood why the people in the medical palace reacted badly when syringes were mentioned.
The Yalon Kingdom had fallen about twenty years ago.
Was this what the medical elites of the Empire, who had tried to eliminate the medicine of the Yalon Kingdom, wanted?
‘Imperial medicine is strange. Why do they not prioritize saving people?’
It was unlikely that they were all fools who tried to bury the medicine of Yalon Kingdom.
Why they tried to bury such good medical knowledge and techniques was completely incomprehensible.
“P-Please take care on your way, Your Highness.”
The head maid, realizing her own lapse, hurriedly bowed.
After leaving the Tishrit Palace, an unexpected person was waiting for me.
