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Chapter 56
The Mysterious Helper
“You’re still working hard today, I see.”
Startled by the hand that suddenly entered her field of vision, Isabella looked up to find Killian standing beside her, the same man she had met a few days prior. He smiled, exuding a relaxed air.
Isabella rose from her seat and offered a polite greeting.
“Please, there’s no need for such formalities when no one is watching,” he said, waving his hand dismissively and adding that she needn’t bother with such gestures from now on.
“I haven’t seen you for a while. So, you’re already immersing yourself in the history of Kyran to cultivate your qualities as the Crown Princess? The books you borrowed last time were also about the imperial family, weren’t they?”
“There are many things I’m curious about.”
“Ancient script interpretation? If it were about ancient script, I might not be able to help, but if it’s about the imperial family, I could be of assistance.”
“Assistance? What do you…”
“It just seems like a heavy burden to bear alone.”
Mysteries, ancient script—there was no reason to accept his help with any of it. He shouldn’t know about such things.
Isabella shook her head in a fluster.
“No! It’s not a burden at all.”
Her voice rose momentarily, but her priority was to dissuade Killian, even if it seemed impolite.
“You were sighing just now.”
When had he seen that?
“I’m embarrassed to say, but I yawned because I was drowsy from reading.”
“You have an interesting way of declining,” Killian remarked, his lips curling into a smile as he met her gaze directly.
“Your Grace, if I’ve offended you…”
“No need to worry. I’m not kind enough to insist on helping someone who clearly doesn’t want it. If anything, it’s refreshing to meet someone so honest for a change.”
His smile deepened into a broad grin. It was a different reaction than she had anticipated.
“Then, I shall take my leave now.”
Killian turned away without hesitation. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he paused and spoke.
“Ah, if it wouldn’t be an imposition, perhaps you could visit my estate in the north sometime?”
Isabella looked at him with surprised eyes at the unexpected invitation.
An invitation to an estate in the north. It was one of the things she had hoped for. Leonard’s friend was likely to be there. But she couldn’t readily accept.
“That’s…”
“Of course, His Highness the Crown Prince would be welcome to accompany you,” Duke Killian added, as if reading her thoughts.
“Eeek!”
Returning to the detached palace after her outing, Isabella, who was just stepping down from the carriage, stopped short at the sudden sound.
Her nanny and Jeanne, who had alighted first and were waiting, also seemed to have heard it, simultaneously looking around.
Listening carefully, a faint, delicate voice seemed to come from just beyond some bushes not far from where they stood.
A frown creased Isabella’s brow.
“Miss, let me check!” said the nanny, moving closer to Isabella in case of any unforeseen danger. Meanwhile, Jeanne stepped towards the direction of the sound.
As Jeanne approached, she slowly and carefully reached out to push aside the bushes.
“Seems like there’s noth— Oh my! Goodness…! Who are you?”
A girl, who appeared slightly younger than Jeanne, was crouching there, hugging her knees.
Isabella saw the girl clutching her ankle, tears welling in her eyes as she let out pained moans.
Jeanne hurried over to her.
“Oh dear, your ankle is quite swollen! Are you alright? Can you stand?”
“I tripped because I wasn’t watching where I was going…” the girl replied, looking as if she might burst into tears at any moment.
“Judging by your attire, you seem to be a maid working in the Imperial Palace?” observed the nanny, who had been watching alongside Isabella. Having ascertained the girl’s identity, the nanny relaxed her guard.
“Miss, why don’t you go inside first? We’ll take this maid to see a physician.”
Isabella shook her head at the nanny’s suggestion.
“No, let’s not do that. Take her to see the physician at the detached palace.”
The maid could barely walk.
Even with her small frame, it seemed difficult for Jeanne and the nanny to support her all the way to a distant physician.
“I’ll inform the head servant of the detached palace. You two take care of her and come back.”
She proposed a more practical solution and then left the spot without further ado.
Isabella met the maid again before evening, having assumed she would have been sent back by then.
“Th-thank you! Your Highness!”
“……”
Isabella, walking along the first-floor corridor with her nanny, turned her gaze towards the maid who had appeared, her ankle thickly bandaged and limping, with Jeanne by her side.
“Ah, well. I tried to send her back, but it wasn’t possible…” Jeanne began.
Isabella raised a hand, cutting off Jeanne’s lengthy explanation. She then looked at the maid, who had been bowing respectfully ever since she arrived.
“The intention to help came more from my maids, so you owe me no particular debt. You may withdraw now.”
“Um, well…”
As the girl hesitated upon receiving the order, the nanny, who had been watching, frowned at Jeanne, signaling her to hurry up and take the girl away instead of just standing there.
“Um, Miss Maid? We should really be going now…”
At that moment, the girl, who had been rolling her eyes nervously, took a step forward.
“I can’t!”
At her somewhat loud voice, everyone’s attention focused on her.
“Ah, it’s not like that… I… I was sent by Her Highness the Crown Princess. That is, to help Her Highness the Crown Princess adapt to life in the palace… I was told to serve well… Her Highness said she had already mentioned it to you…”
The words tumbled out in a rushed, disjointed manner, but they were understandable.
Come to think of it, Isabella remembered.
‘I’ll send you a clever girl soon. She’s been serving the imperial family since she was young, so she’ll be a great help. Keep her with you until you’ve settled in, then you can send her back. If she wishes to stay under your care, that’s fine too.’
A clever girl, she had said… Isabella’s blue eyes swept over the girl frozen stiff before her.
Then, her eyes met the girl’s, who had been watching her warily ever since their first encounter.
“Gasp!”
The small head immediately bowed.
Should she laugh or not?
Looking at the young maid who vaguely reminded her of Eloa, Isabella swallowed a wry laugh internally.
Whether she was clever or not, seeing how she didn’t back down even under such an intense, penetrating gaze, it seemed she had indeed been in the palace for a long time.
“Sent by Her Highness the Crown Princess?”
“Yes…”
Isabella would have liked to send her back immediately, but she couldn’t.
Even if sent with good intentions, there was no guarantee this girl wouldn’t spread news of what happened in the detached palace.
“Nanny, inform His Highness and tell the head servant to arrange quarters for this girl.”
“Yes, understood.”
“You may stay for the time being. Let’s all get along. Your name?”
“Alicia!”
The stiffened face brightened noticeably.
She seemed to realize the tense moment had passed.
The way her expressions changed directly with her emotions, and the fact that she behaved like this despite long palace service, suggested she was either still young or naturally bright-hearted.
“Alicia? A pretty name. Since your leg is injured, stay close to Jeanne for now.”
“Thank you, Your Highness!”
Alicia, who had worn a dazed expression for a moment, bowed deeply to Isabella.
‘Her Highness the Crown Princess seems like such a good person!’
Isabella could hear Alicia whispering to Jeanne as she was helped away.
She wasn’t that good a person, but it seemed Alicia only saw the good.
Recalling how Alicia had kept raising and lowering her head as if checking Isabella’s mood, a faint smile touched Isabella’s lips.
The next day, Isabella went out with Leonard to look at potential locations for establishing the Kyran branch of the Fairy Garden.
“You want me to teach you ancient script?”
The question seemed rather abrupt, considering they were carefully examining the last of several shop spaces in a central area of the noble district.
“Yes, it’s the founding language of Kyran, so it’s a bit difficult for me.”
“Why the sudden interest in ancient script?” Leonard asked in a calm voice. His blue eyes, fixed on her, held a question.
It was a moment that required an explanation.
Isabella told him about her recent visit to Count Linton, the story she had heard, and the riddle.
Leonard’s expression grew somewhat complicated.
“I thought he had become more solemn with age. It seems I was mistaken.”
Was he talking about Count Linton? His words brought someone else to Isabella’s mind.
Meanwhile, he continued.
“Always approaching but never arriving. It’s a familiar riddle to me. My mother gave it to me when I was a child.”
He spoke calmly, but Leonard’s expression was not light when mentioning that time.
Isabella listened, inwardly guessing the reason while he spoke.
“Mother and Rony were friends. They grew up in the same estate. Later, one became Empress, and the other, a mage, formed ties with the Imperial Palace.”
When Count Linton gave her the riddle and said she could ask Leonard for help, she had vaguely suspected a connection, but she hadn’t imagined it would link to the late Empress.
Isabella’s mind was busy processing this new information and the Count’s intent.
Meanwhile, Leonard revealed the answer to the riddle.
“I did guess something similar,” Isabella said.
Upon hearing it, it seemed quite plausible.
“What did you answer?”
“Time. Of course, it wasn’t correct, so I couldn’t get the box.”
“Still, you came close. When I was a child, I couldn’t say anything to Mother.”
Leonard tugged at the corner of his mouth. A wrinkle formed on his smooth brow.
“Are you planning to go to the curios shop right now?” he asked, looking around the shop.
“…I’d like to, but we should finish what we started here first.”
