Don’t Concern Yourself With That Book

After returning to my palace that night, I agreed to the suggestion of moving to the best room there. And that was the bedroom that used to belong to Auresia.

Rebecca told me this was only natural considering how the owner of the palace had already changed.

Along with the maids, we organised Auresia’s room until it was ready to use till late evening. Ordering the maids around, Rebecca and I watched as the maids worked. Watching the maids move around heavy loads, I felt like a horrible boss supervising her workers as they slaved away at a coal mine. It was a bitter feeling. But I had no choice

Rebecca’s commands were directed at the maids, not me.

“Move. I’ll carry this.”

“Wow, as expected, Thebe! You’re so reliable. You can easily lift a cow!”

“Come on, even the Princess has her wits together. Move.”

And one of the maids was standing out, ‘Thebe’, the garden maid. She was young, had a good head on her shoulders and was doing the work of 3 maids. It felt as if I was watching Superman in real life.

Looking at Thebe exerting power that seemed to exceed what her body could handle, Hannah whispered with her mouth agape.

“Princess, this is Thebe, the one I told you about last time. A friend whose maternal grandfather was a templar.”

“A templar of strength?”

Was Granius also a templar of strength?

‘He had the power to break down a door easily.’

Well, he did look like someone who was a templar of strength.

Thanks to Thebe’s help, we managed to finish organising the room in just a day. Organising this room also included erasing the traces of the person who had lived in the room for a long time. So, there were quite a few items left. Among them was a number of jewels.

‘Why did Auresia leave behind such precious items?’

Even Rebecca looked as if she was wondering why. Auresia seemed to have left this room with only a few of her belongings.

‘She must have thought that the Emperor would provide her with better things.’

Lastly, we tidied the closet by removing all the clothes and moving them elsewhere. Rebecca then jumped up.

“Hold on, could you bring that here?”

Hannah took a step towards her nervously as she held out a dress. Rebecca touched the dress before examining it carefully and mumbling to herself.

“What’s wrong, Rebecca?”

“This dress is a luxury good, mistress.

A luxury good? Like Prada, Gucci or Chanel? For a moment, names which I thought I had already forgotten from my previous life popped up in my head.

‘Well, right. I don’t think we are thinking about the same kind of luxury goods.’

It was a traditional dress of the Empire, the ‘Ionian Chiton’.

“It’s formal attire, used for banquets.”

It was very soft to the touch because it was made of what looked to be high quality silk that was slightly translucent. The chest looked cooling with a low hanging collar. Most noticeably, the layer of cloth was embroidered with a colourful flower pattern but with one look I could see that it was not very detailed. But when I looked closely, I could feel that the tailor made each stitch with his sweat and tears.

“Princess, I think there was a necklace too. Oh my…”

“It’s made of white gold.”

As Hannah mentioned, the necklace really brought out the beauty of both as it hung over the dress.

The chains were made out of white gold and a ruby was embedded in the thin platinum penchant. The ruby made the work that had seemed a little boring at first, bloom like a colourful flower.

“It’s the work of an artisan who had died a long time ago. It’s impossible to sell this for money.”

“Wow…”

I was not so confident in my sense, but I definitely knew that this dress and necklace looked better than anything I owned. Whenever I saw famous paintings, since I did not know much about art, all I thought was, ‘Oh that’s a nice painting’ even when I kept looking at it. That was exactly how I felt about this dress too.

‘Auresia is even more amazing seeing how she’s willing to leave these dresses behind.’

Well, as expected of Auresia. She was an extraordinary person.

“It’s better to leave these behind but it’s up to you.”

I nodded my head.

Most of Auresia’s clothes that were arranged in front of me were not suitable for me because they were all ‘Stolla’, clothes meant for married women or extremely worn out. However, I thought it would be alright for a girl my age to wear this outfit at least.

Rebecca observed me closely and said.

“It looks new. Like it has never been worn before.”

Indeed. The chain of the necklace looked brand new. But that only made me more and more suspicious.

Meanwhile, we finished organizing the room. Before I noticed, the sky had already darkened and it was evening.

“It’s time to take your medication, mistress.”

The more knowledge Rebecca had, the more I received. I already had a place in society designated for me, a corner to occupy. Though I did not know what the Duke of Avent’a current political position was like.

“… How’s your arm?”

“Well, so-so.”

I had only found out recently that whenever Rebecca looked at my wounds, she would gaze upon them gently.

Like someone staring at an abandoned stray cat along the street. They would consider the cat cute but only after thinking through many concerns and worries would they decide to bring the cat into their house.

She sometimes could not hide her complicated expression. She would deliberate whether or not she could trust me at times. Seeing such an expression, I knew, although she did not trust me yet, she was close.

‘Maybe then I’ll find out why she became my lady-in-waiting.’

I smirked at the red-haired lady. Actually, I wanted her to tell me in person.

“… What are you writing?”

“A letter to my brother, the 4th Prince. It’s a little hard to write with my right hand.”

“… So my mistress was left-handed.”

“Yeah.”

I was dying of discomfort. Pretending to cry, I waved my hands around.

“It’s because I’ll hurt my writing hand for god’s sake. The quill and its thin tip demands me to use it with the most delicate of movements. It’ll be too much for my bandaged arm to handle.”

“… If you need a scribe, would you like me to assist you?”

Rebecca asked as she stared at my handwriting that looked like an abstract painting.

“Is it strange?”

It seemed as if my handwriting did not meet the standards of my lady in-waiting because she rarely offered her rest time to help me.

No, it’s okay. I’ll just get better at it.”

Rebecca handed me my tea and medication. She knew I was not too happy with eating it so she carefully watched from behind to make sure I took my sleeping pills as well as my medication before returning.

‘Urgh, that was hard.’

Once again, I was going to try to visit Amor today.

I had lessons in the day so Rebecca stuck to my side for half a day. Then Fleon visited before leaving after having a meal.

I had no choice but to visit Amor only at night. But at night, I would fall asleep because I had been purposefully drugged. I had not been able to see Amor since the night before I hurt my arm a few days ago.

I had not heard a word from Amor either.

‘… Amor seems angry.’

I had asked Amor for his help with the garden but I did not mention that the hounds would appear. I had thought he would get angry at me or would not agree with my plans and I would only get into trouble if I told him. If I knew anything about his sensitive and feisty personality… The answer was right in front of my eyes. And now that I had put off meeting him for a few days…

“… Brother, do you hear me? I really couldn’t help it.”

I talked to the tree standing outside my window but the tree remained silent. I gripped the necklace wound around my wrist that Amor had given me.

I thought he had been angry with me because he did not even write to me.

“How frustrating.”

The strong sleeping pill pulled me into slumber.

… It would be hard for us to talk if I did not meet up with him.

… Just when I started feeling apologetic, slumber washed over me.

***

“Urgh, it’s cold…”

After taking some sleeping pills, I thought I would have slept soundly but I woke up again in the middle of the night. When I scanned my surroundings, all I saw was the dark night.

“Urgh, didn’t Hannah close it…?”

The door leading to the balcony was left wide open. When I lifted myself off the bed, I frowned at how I was unusually dizzy.

“Was I fed the wrong medicine…”

The discomfort I was feeling was too great for it to be due to the small injury on my arm alone. Of course no one would agree with me on the fact that I had only been slightly injured but I really was. Other than the excessive bleeding, I could move my arm better now.

“P-p-p-please take note, the 8th Branch. I can heal your wound right away but your immunity will drop as well. So I am going to treat you with some medication as well.”

The templar dressed in yellow trembled as he spoke against a white background. (1) He must have been a little out of wits after being dragged over by Fleon.

I could feel a slight throb in my left arm as if the anesthesia was wearing off. I slowly pulled back the covers as I looked over at the balcony.

Was it around 3am?

I could see the stars and pale moon twinkling through the window.

“Should I close it? It’s cold.”

I leaned my body towards the ground as I got ready to get off the bed until it felt like I was being pulled from behind.

“… Vines?”

Just as my eyes were getting used to the dark, green plants caught my eye. And they were not just at one place. On the bed, next to my pillows, under the bed, on its side, on the carpet, next to the table, atop the table and right outside the window. And one of the branches was in bloom.

“Flowers.”

I lowered my head as I felt something tickle my feet. The vine with blooming flowers flew into my room. Flowers began blooming on the vines, bringing life to all the branches. In just a blink of an eye, an amazingly beautiful garden came alive in front of me. I stared at the assortment of plants and flowers for a moment and blinked at the sight slowly.

Next to the pillar on the balcony, what seemed to be the hem of a white piece of cloth fluttered in the wind.

“Do you see me now?”

Amor was staring at me as he leaned against the window as flowery, musky and mellow scents were brought into the room by the wind. And that was only the beginning.

He was dressed in a loose tunic that looked like a white cloth that had been roughly wrapped around him like a blanket.

I could see his collar bones protruding clearly through the loose clothes. His clothes drooped on him, exposing his neckline and veins.

“… B-brother.”

When our eyes met, Amor looked down for a moment before staring back at me.

He began to walk towards me slowly, though it looked more like he was wobbling. Even though he was walking on flat ground, he looked like he was still struggling. It looked as if he was walking on a tightrope or taking his first steps as an infant. Taking a closer look, I realised his face was paler than usual.

“Are you alright? How the heck did you get here?”

“Quiet.”

Amor who finally reached me stared down at me.

He stumbled with a coughing fit. Though I jolted up from my bed at the sight, his vines were faster.

“Ha…”

He stopped coughing. He looked at the palm of his hand for a moment before raising his head and hiding his hand behind his head. If I was not wrong, I saw something black on his palm. What was that? But he kept his gaze up arrogantly. The gaze that captured me gently gradually lowered and landed on my arm that had bandages wrapped around it.

“It’s nice to see you.”

As if I had a bucket of cold water poured over me, I came to my senses.

‘Why are you here?’

Amor was not someone who could be here easily. Because he was someone who was trapped in his palace under close surveillance.

“Is it really you… brother?”

Soon after, when my curiosity was satiated, I smiled like a flower blossoming brightly. His voice made me focus on his reddish eyes that seemed to glow in the night. His weak smile looked rather ephemeral and decadent.

“It’s hard to see you. You even made me come find you myself. Don’t you think so too?”

He spoke quietly and softly.

“Brother, why are you here? Did you come to see me?”

“Who knows.”

He squinted and stared at me.

“More importantly, you should have something to tell me.”

T/N:

(1): Not very sure about the translation on this one.