Chapter – 13
“Since the Grand Duke can’t open his eyes, I’ll take a look. Could it be… someone scheming to seize the Grand Duke’s fortune?”
It was just as Sabiel tried to pull back the curtain in the dressing room. Thwack. Ireon grabbed his hand precisely. Sabiel’s eyes widened slightly at the sudden strength.
“You wouldn’t…”
“No. I can’t see,” Ireon said, roughly pushing Sabiel’s hand away.
“But even with my eyes closed, your slow movements are easy to read.”
“What are you talking about?”
Sabiel chuckled, but by now, quite a few people in the corridor had gathered, peeking inside with curiosity.
“Oh, I’m busy today, so I’ll take my leave,” Sabiel told Emily.
“A person without taste struggles to buy clothes. You’ll have to help him a lot,” he said, deriding her.
“‘Taste’ means having an eye for it,” Emily replied politely, lowering her head.
“You may have no eye for fashion, but your wealth is more than enough, so there’s no problem,” she added, subtly teasing him for squandering money while Ireon looked on.
The surrounding crowd fell silent.
“Ha… ha ha ha. Right. Right. One must earn while one can,” Sabiel laughed loudly, misinterpreting the comment as a boast about taking advantage of Ireon.
“I’ll stop by again next time,” he said.
“Please take care on your way, Your Highness,” Emily bowed politely. Sabiel gave Ireon one last glare and left the room.
“Even with exceptional talent, it must be hard to work with such people,” Ireon remarked.
“Thank you for your concern, Your Highness,” Emily replied.
As if the commotion had never happened, Emily hurriedly brought a large bundle of summer lace fabrics to Ireon.
“These laces were shipped from the guild,” she explained.
The wide, thin lace was textured with small bumps and embroidered with various patterns.
“What pattern is this?” Ireon asked.
“White lace with purple grapes and vines,” Emily explained.
“Purple, huh.”
With her red hair and blue eyes, this lace would suit Rona perfectly.
“It will look great on Rona,” Ireon said with a smile.
“Indeed. It’s perfect for Miss Rona,” Emily agreed.
“Have a summer dress made from this,” Ireon instructed.
When he paid a huge sum in gold coins rather than a promissory note, Emily was overjoyed. Soon after, rumors spread far and wide about the Grand Ducal family’s wealth, which had been little known because the previous head had never returned from the battlefield.
The carriage ride back to the Grand Ducal residence was silent. Ireon, Bernard, and Rona didn’t speak. But Bernard and Rona silently grumbled about Sabiel, their lips moving in unison.
‘Who does he think he is?’
‘Calling him “that guy” in front of the Crown Prince… well done, Miss Rona.’
‘Seriously, it’s infuriating. What has the Crown Prince done to deserve this? Apart from having an emperor for a father.’
Rona didn’t hesitate to make statements that could be considered insulting to the royal family.
‘Compared to the Grand Duke, he’s just wasting flour in the palace,’ Bernard muttered.
The housekeeper’s face looked sad, but he and Rona were perfectly in sync.
‘Back when Our Highness was unharmed, he’d just avoid people like a coward.’
‘Can you believe someone could treat a sick person like that?’
‘Thinking of the empire’s future, it was often better that the Grand Duke would inherit the throne,’ Bernard said.
As their breathing grew heavier from muttering, Ireon finally spoke.
“Enough. Be quiet,” he said.
Rona and Bernard instantly closed their mouths.
“What are you two whispering about?”
“Herbal tea,” Rona answered with a subtle glance, and Bernard nodded.
“Miss Rona said she wanted to bring tea good for Your Highness’ eyes,” he explained.
“You both think I’m a fool,” Ireon chuckled.
“Don’t waste your efforts badmouthing Sabiel. Insulting the royal family isn’t taken lightly. Don’t trouble yourself over it. I’m fine,” he said calmly, his expression softening slightly. He wasn’t angry; he was just telling them not to go against someone of higher status.
“That’s not fair!” Rona exclaimed.
Both Ireon and Bernard, despite his eyes being closed, looked at her simultaneously.
“I am your servant, Your Highness. Even just wearing clothes, I could have beaten him,” she said.
Had she not been in her undergarments, she would have dashed out to punch the Crown Prince.
“Yes, Miss Rona would have definitely won if she weren’t half-dressed,” Bernard added.
What is this, housekeeper? That’s a weak statement. Didn’t you want to throw a punch yourself? Still, Rona was satisfied to see Ireon’s expression soften.
Soon, the carriage arrived at the Grand Ducal residence. It was raining steadily, just like yesterday.
“I’ll get an umbrella,” Bernard offered.
“Rona got wet yesterday. Let her wait here,” Ireon said.
“Yes, Your Highness,” Bernard replied and ran toward the Grand Ducal residence with the umbrella. As Bernard disappeared, Ireon’s expression darkened as if a fire had gone out.
“Ireon, are you alright?” Rona asked.
“I’m fine,” he said, leaning toward her. His forehead lightly touched her shoulder.
“It’s slippery because of the rain,” he said.
“Yes, it is.”
“This isn’t me leaning… I just slipped,” he added quietly.
Then, Ireon began to quietly sob. His shoulders, usually as firm as a fortress and as high as a mountain, trembled faintly. Rona’s shoulder grew wet from his tears.
Ireon barely ate dinner and went to bed early. Rona, having finished her duties, sighed as she closed his bedroom door.
“Crown Prince?” she muttered.
Who looks like that? Flustered in undergarments, trying to pull open the curtain… and yet he’s the empire’s heir. Rona thought of how unlucky this was and envisioned the empire’s future.
“Sabiel… he’ll probably be the secondary male lead,” she mused.
And Karina, who had fled the heroine’s role, was in marriage talks with him.
“To think he’s such a scoundrel,” she fumed, already plotting revenge on Sabiel. Rona planned to save money, open a respectable store in the capital, gather wealth, buy a title or be adopted into a noble family, and eventually confront the Crown Prince, throwing money in his face with a dramatic: “Don’t show up in front of my child ever again!”
“Ireon, just wait. I’ll make you see again. I promise.”
Rona resolved to do her best—but a strange unease crept over her. She felt as though she had forgotten something very important.
“Ah! I’m crazy. I’m crazy.”
She remembered the herbs in the garden. It was pure luck they had survived. Usually, the gardener would pull out any unknown weeds. But the elderly gardener, now too weak, had left the garden in the care of his wife, Niel. The main garden was tended carefully, but the rear garden was half-abandoned.
“This is ___ herb,” Niel had said.
“___ herb?”
“Maybe… this could help you. Really lucky. This flower only blooms in dry weather; it wilts in the rain.”
Rona panicked. She had checked the herb every night. But yesterday, Ireon had taken her to the bath; today, she had forgotten because of the Crown Prince incident. Tears welled up. What if Ireon couldn’t open his eyes because of her carelessness?
‘He’s struggling so much…’
Rona collapsed over the patch of herb in the garden. A few petals had already fallen. The plant, faintly glowing, looked like it would wilt completely any moment. She instinctively knew if the light disappeared, the herb’s effect would vanish. She grabbed it, still glowing faintly even after being pulled from the soil, and collected the fallen petals. She ran through the rain toward the kitchen.
“Pot!”
She found a small pot used for heating milk and tried to boil water—but the kitchen was cold and empty; the cook had gone home.
“What do I do? What do I do?”
She had to stay calm. She thought of Ireon’s bedroom and the fireplace, where a fire had been kept burning because of the cold and rain. She ran there with the pot and herbs.
“…Rona?” Ireon murmured, waking up.
Rona, too anxious to answer, held the pot over the fireplace, waiting for the water to heat. The petals still glimmered faintly. She threw the herbs in, including the fallen petals, and set the pot back over the fire. But she was at a loss.
‘Why did I even overthink this?’
The water began bubbling, then—bang! Something exploded lightly, almost making her drop the pot.
“What… is this?”
The herbs seemed to have dissolved entirely. The liquid was now thick and black. It smelled pungent and spicy, making her sneeze.
‘Can I even drink this?’
Just as Rona panicked, Ireon appeared behind her.
“What are you doing here?”
“I was making herbal tea…” she said, embarrassed.
Tears welled in her eyes.
“Don’t drink it, Ireon! It’s ruined!”
But Ireon, holding her hand over the cup, smelled it and then, without hesitation, drank it.
