EBCP 20

Chapter : 20

It was finally the morning of the day I would go to see the Crown Prince.

“This should be usable right away.”

I thought as I carefully examined the fruit that had turned a deep purple.

After all the hardship it took to obtain it, I intended to use it properly.

And now was exactly that moment.

“Your Highness? Oh my goodness! What on earth is all this?”

“Hm?”

At that moment, Marchioness Cal, who had been brushing my hair, gasped in shock.

“Did you sleep too roughly? No— even so, this is far too severe. We should call a physician at once.”

The reason was the dark, reddish bruises that had crept up from my wrists all the way to my collarbone.

‘Oh, they’ve definitely gotten worse.’

What had once been faint marks had darkened with time.

‘This spot is bad enough too.’

In truth, these injuries were from the day I had struggled with Princess Lucia over the robe.

“Well? Do I look pitiful? My body is nothing but skin and bones already, and now it’s covered in bruises.”

“Y-Your Highness, that’s not—”

Judging by the marchioness’s expression, I must have looked extremely pitiful.

Though in reality, I had simply waited for them to worsen.

“Hm… I suppose the dress we prepared might not be suitable. I’ll fetch another one right away.”

“No, Madam. There isn’t much time, so I’ll wear the one we originally prepared.”

I stopped Marchioness Cal as she tried to prepare a new dress.

“But Your Highness, the sleeves on this one are lace. If you’re not careful, the bruises may show.”

“It’s fine. If I don’t roll up the sleeves, they won’t be very visible.”

She was worried the bruises might show through.

But in fact, that was exactly what I was aiming for.

‘The more visible this bruised skin is, the better.’

I was checking myself in the mirror again when—

‘Ah, right. The necklace.’

Only then did I notice the necklace around my neck.

‘Maybe I should have brought this up when I met Perzen at the temple.’

But it hadn’t really been the right atmosphere for conversation.

And honestly, I had even forgotten I was wearing it myself.

‘Anyway, it wouldn’t do me any good to irritate the Emperor today.’

I removed the necklace Perzen had given me and placed it in my jewelry box.

Had I grown used to it already?

Somehow, it felt strangely empty.

Outside the Crown Prince’s bedchamber, many people had gathered.

Imperial physicians, priests from the temple, the empresses, and their children—the princes and princesses.

And seated at the very center, pressing his fingers tightly to his brow, was the Emperor himself.

“Your Majesty.”

As I entered with the chamberlain, countless gazes poured toward me.

Whispering, probing, raking eyes— they stung.

“You’ve come, Diel.”

The Emperor looked at me with bloodshot eyes.

“At last, we’ll see whether your words were truth or falsehood.”

He clearly seemed to be in a foul mood.

The arrow incident within the imperial castle must have dealt a serious blow to his pride.

“Diel, I heard from the chief attendant that you were born with only very weak healing abilities. You left the imperial family at the age of ten, didn’t you?”

The empresses and the princes and princesses pressed close to the Emperor’s side, currying his favor.

“I understand your concern for the Crown Prince, but… I think it would be best for you to give up now.”

The woman closest to the Emperor spoke.

“You must not have received proper education after growing up without a mother. One should not recklessly involve oneself in matters beyond one’s station.”

‘Oh. Empress Mary.’

She was Empress Mary.

Behind her stood her maid, Emma, attending to her.

At headquarters, I hadn’t known every empress in detail.

‘So those potato-faced thugs were all sent by Mary too.’

After entering the palace, she was one person I made sure to remember clearly.

“The Empress is right. Your Majesty, how could we entrust the Crown Prince’s treatment to someone like that?”

The princes chimed in as well.

But the Emperor waved his hand for silence and asked me,

“So how do you intend to treat him?”

“It’s… through this fruit I brought with me.”

I deliberately let my hands tremble as I took out the pouch I had prepared.

“Young Master Lekaten suffered from a similar illness, didn’t he? At that time, he was completely cured through this fruit.”

In truth, Evan had been cured through Diel’s healing powers, so it wasn’t the same situation.

But so what? As long as the result was a full recovery.

“So may I present this fruit to His Highness?”

The room fell silent for a moment.

“Pfft!”

Then, one by one, the princes and princesses burst into laughter.

“Bwahahaha!”

In an instant, the room turned into a sea of laughter.

“Aliyan fruit? I’ve lived a long life, but this is the first time I’ve ever heard of that.”

“Diel, I heard Duke Lekaten tried every possible method to cure his son. Do you really believe he recovered thanks to something like an Aliyan fruit?”

“I guess growing up outside the palace does that. Lucia, she’s your age, but Diel really is naïve.”

The princes and princesses cackled among themselves.

“What?! Brother, are you making fun of me right now?”

“It means you’re just that smart.”

At that moment, the door opened and a man with crimson hair entered.

“Diel, was it? At least consider the situation before spouting nonsense.”

[Alester Miesellr Yekaterina, Rank B, 5th Prince]

[One of the five male leads. Agents are advised to exercise caution.]

Oh— I didn’t expect to meet the final male lead here.

Including Evan, Priest Arno, Crown Prince Theo, Lysis, and this Alester—

There were five male leads in the original story.

“Can’t you see everyone here hasn’t slept, caring for His Highness?”

Alester was exactly the kind of man his fiery red hair suggested.

Hot-tempered, yet fiercely devoted.

“Father, she’s clearly lying with some ulterior motive.”

After giving me a sharp once-over, Alester spoke to the Emperor.

“If you permit it, I’ll have her thrown out immediately.”

Meanwhile—

‘Let’s see.’

Pretending to lower my head, I rolled my eyes and scanned the tops of people’s heads.

‘The ranks I can directly manipulate here are…’

That empress is Rank B, so I’d need to fulfill conditions first. That prince won’t be much help.

Just then, someone walked out of the Crown Prince’s bedchamber.

“His Highness the Crown Prince has not yet regained consciousness.”

‘Huh?’

[Jeffrey, Rank E, Chief Imperial Physician]

It was that Jeffrey.

Though merely an extra, he was someone I recognized.

There’s always one character like that, isn’t there?

Someone essential, yet with almost no presence.

Jeffrey was exactly that kind of character in the original story— a genius doctor whose screen time barely matched that of F-rank knights.

“His breathing is becoming increasingly irregular. That is what concerns me.”

At that moment, a prince interrupted Jeffrey’s calm report.

“Jeffrey, you should shatter this naïve princess’s dream. She brought some unheard-of Aliyan fruit—”

The timing was perfect.

Now then, if I raised Jeffrey’s trust level to the maximum here…

“My goodness! Aliyan?”

Jeffrey shouted at the prince’s words.

“Did you just say Aliyan fruit? I’ve heard of it as well!”

A spark of madness flashed in his eyes as he looked at me.

“Isn’t that the Aliyan fruit known as the Eye of God?!”

Yes— the same look Marchioness Cal had earlier.