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Chapter 37
“Elena, why are you here?”
“Well, Lady Polly keeps pestering, asking for the door to be opened.
But they say it’s because of Amelia?
She wants to mess with her, so how could I not open it?”
Zeiss tightened his lips as he looked down at Elena.
He didn’t get angry at Elena.
To be precise, he couldn’t get angry.
When he thought of his younger sister who had always been sick and crying as a child, he couldn’t bring himself to be mad.
“Who knows about this?”
“Hmm?
My maid and the butler… Why?
It’s not really a secret, so probably anyone knows.”
At her words, Zeiss stepped closer, calling her gently.
“Wh-what?”
“You really seem sick.”
Elena felt a sense of dread and began to back away.
Whenever he called her like that with such an expression, it always meant something was about to follow.
At Zeiss’s small nod, the butler and maid nearby began to inch closer to Elena.
“No, I’m not sick.”
“Even if you’re not, go inside.
It’s better if the Crown Prince doesn’t see you.”
“Why?
What does the Crown Prince have to do with it?
He hates Amelia anyway.”
“Quiet, no more talking.
I’m doing this because I care for you.”
Zeiss was sincere.
He still didn’t know why Vincent had suddenly changed his attitude, but if he found out Elena had been involved in what happened to Amelia, it wouldn’t be good for her.
Even though the Royce family supported the Emperor and Zeiss was Vincent’s friend, if Vincent truly got angry, he would be hard to deal with.
“Come on, all I did was open the door.
I didn’t torment her myself, so why are you acting like this, huh?
Brother—no, let go of me! Hey!”
Screaming at the top of her lungs, Elena was dragged back inside the room.
She would be let out tomorrow, but for now, it was better not to let her be seen.
At least until Amelia safely woke up.
Zeiss glanced again toward the inside of the room.
He was curious about Vincent’s expression, but somehow the atmosphere made it hard to step in.
So why does this feel so serious? It’s just Amelia.
He had heard somewhere that Amelia had changed a little.
And when he briefly saw her last night, he did think, strangely, that she looked graceful and beautiful.
Of course, Amelia’s face had always been pretty, but until then he had never once truly thought of her as beautiful.
Yet now, maybe because of her change in attitude, he kept finding his eyes drawn to her.
That was why he had asked her for a dance as usual while she was alone.
Right, and then Vincent suddenly came up and took her away. That was strange too.
Back then, Vincent had been quite far from Amelia.
Could it be that Vincent, too, was seeing her differently because of her change?
“No way, it’s that Vincent, the Crown Prince.”
As everyone knew, Vincent had always despised Amelia.
No matter what she looked like or how she acted, he seemed like someone who would never change.
“Hmmm.”
Just as Zeiss was wondering how to enter without being awkward, a very welcome lady came up the stairs.
“Doctor Ressa, why are you so late?”
Ressa was the current physician of the Royce family.
Originally, it had been her master, but after his death, she naturally took over.
“I came as soon as I was called.
Where should I go?”
“This way, please!”
Now with a reason to enter the room where Vincent and Amelia were, Zeiss knocked firmly on the already slightly open door.
Vincent looked up to see who it was and quickly stood.
Upon seeing him, Ressa lifted her skirts in greeting.
“I greet the Crown Prince of the Empire…”
“Skip the greetings.
See to this person first.”
“Yes? Understood.”
Vincent stepped aside as Ressa approached the bed where Amelia lay.
She opened her medical bag and took out the necessary tools for examination, many of which were magical instruments.
She checked Amelia’s temperature, then used a stethoscope to listen to her breathing and heartbeat.
Zeiss stood beside Vincent.
Though he looked like he had much to say, for now, he kept quiet.
After some time examining, Ressa set down the stethoscope and stood.
“How is she?”
“Hmm, it’s nothing serious.
Has the lady been under stress lately?
Perhaps with many things weighing on her mind?”
“Hmm, I’m not sure.”
Had she?
She never showed it outwardly, so he couldn’t tell.
And in truth, he hadn’t spent enough time close to her to know.
But thinking logically, since she had recently moved into the Crown Prince’s palace, maybe that had been stressful.
Though it had looked as if she was enjoying herself, perhaps it wasn’t so.
The more he experienced, the more Vincent realised how little he knew about Amelia.
“For now, she has severe gastritis, and her oesophagus seems irritated.
She also has a fever, and her breathing suggests she caught a cold on top of it.
She doesn’t seem to have much stamina in general.
I’ll prescribe some medicine.
If she takes it and rests well for a few days, she’ll recover.”
With that, Ressa left, apparently to prepare the medicine.
It was a relief that it was something she could recover from with rest and medicine.
Wait, a relief?
Vincent frowned at the thought that had slipped out.
Wasn’t he being strange?
He was supposed to be planning to kill Amelia eventually, yet here he was relieved she wasn’t seriously ill.
What kind of contradiction was this?
Feeling unsettled, Vincent turned to leave.
But when he looked back, he found it hard to move his feet away from Amelia lying there.
If he kept standing there watching her, he felt he would only become a stranger.
Unable to do anything else, Vincent chose to step out onto the terrace connected to the room.
Seeing Vincent leave, Zeiss quickly followed him.
It was already past noon.
From this terrace, the hedge maze could be seen at a glance.
Looking from here, it didn’t seem like such a difficult path.
Zeiss slowly approached Vincent, who was quietly gazing down at the garden.
“Your Highness.”
“……”
Vincent didn’t reply, but Zeiss, used to this, kept talking.
“I’m really curious, you see.
Logically it doesn’t make sense, but my instincts keep telling me something.”
“What?”
Vincent asked curtly.
Zeiss curled his lips in a half-smile.
“Could it be… do you actually like her?”
“…What?”
Vincent’s response was oddly delayed.
And he didn’t immediately deny it.
That made Zeiss ask with more certainty.
“She is your fiancée, so it’s not that strange.
Even if it’s Amelia, she seems a bit different now.
So, how do you feel?
Do you think you’ve started to like her?”
“……”
Vincent wasn’t someone who often revealed his feelings.
But with Zeiss, he usually did talk more freely.
That was why Zeiss dared to ask.
But now, Vincent’s face gradually twisted at the question.
“What on earth are you talking about?”
“Huh? So it’s not true?”
“Zeiss, you’re asking nonsense.”
“Well, but… You seemed genuinely worried.
You even rushed to her the fastest in the maze.”
“That’s because—”
Vincent’s voice grew louder.
“If she got hurt there, she would have whined endlessly, so I prevented it.”
“Eh, but still… You even flew when you went.
That pair of shoes is so rare they only make a few in a year.”
“Do you think a Crown Prince’s wealth is a joke?
I can get another pair easily.”
His excuse was unlike him, and it only made Zeiss more convinced.
Vincent disliked the look on his face.
He needed something final to put an end to this.
“If I truly liked a woman like that, I would be insane.
An insane man cannot
inherit the throne.
So I’d sooner give up my position as Crown Prince.”
In truth, those words were closer to something Vincent was saying to himself.
But even as he spoke, there was an uncomfortable unease.
Vincent pressed his lips shut stubbornly and lowered his gaze.
