Chapter 28
I was briefly puzzled by Marianne’s suggestion to beco a double agent.
Marianne continued calmly.
“If we let the outside world know about this, we may not be able to get to the bigger picture.”
“Of course, you have a point. I’ve chosen people to do this job that I’m willing to discard at any ti. Edwin will have to take the bla for all of this and the real power behind him will co out.”
“Yes, so I will pretend to accept his proposal to be a spy and gain Baron Edwin’s trust. We’ll know more precisely what their intentions are.”
“I wish I could get you to do that, but it would be too dangerous.”
“It’s alright. Your Majesty cares for so much. If there are any forces that wish to harm you, I will not spare it and pursue them to the end.”
Marianne said with a quiet and serious face. Her face contained an unfeigned expression.
I approached Marianne and gently held her by the shoulders. Her stiffened shoulders flinched in surprise.
“I appreciate your loyalty, but take care of myself. If at any ti you feel that you are in danger, please let know.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Marianne nodded, but her determined face looked unlikely to hear my dissuasion.
‘I don’t want Marianne to get hurt.’
Suddenly the sight of blood I had seen in my previous life stirred in my mind.
‘Is Edwin the one Diaquit sent because he didn’t trust ? Or there may be other forces in the Empire who are targeting .’
While spending a few days with Kwanach, my loose spirit seed to be firming up.
It was the tenderness with which Kwanach showered . Its sweetness and radiance. The tension that I had forgotten for a while, drunk on it, reared its head again.
Just because my marriage to Kwanach had gone more smoothly than expected, it didn’t an that all my problems had disappeared. I wasn’t sure about the political situation in the Radon Empire, so I couldn’t easily deal with the danger.
I patted Marianne gently on the shoulder and said.
“I still need to et the people who are currently in power in this country.”
“Do you want a seat? What kind of seat would you like?”
“I would like you to act in a less politically conspicuous manner first.”
“I heard that there is a tea party eting where the nobles belonging to the Imperial Council et on a regular basis. How about eting with those noble ladies first?”
A smile naturally appeared on my lips at Marianne’s clever suggestion.
The Radon Imperial Council was made up of representatives from all walks of life, with a total of twenty people. There were exactly the sa number of 10 nobles, and 10 commoners.
In order to enact a new law, at least thirteen of them must agree to it. Each ti in the outer play, the political struggle between the various classes was fierce.
The noblewon would surely know a lot of information.
“That’s right. It would be better to et the noble ladies first, as it’s a part of the social activities. We’ll have it in the annex in the near future.”
“I’ll have it ready in a few days, Your Majesty.”
“Thank you. Your presence is very reassuring. It seems I have many more requests in the future.”
They were words said from the heart, without any embellishnt.
I could see why Kwanach had assigned Marianne as my personal maid. She was more than just a maid. She was an excellent source of information, and also seed to be a capable secretary.
No amount of effort would be spared to get such a person on my side. I said, looking at her with smiling eyes.
“Marianne. Shall we go and pick up your sister then?”
* * *
When we arrived at the imperial palace clinic, Simon rushed out to greet us.
“Wa, Empress, Your Majesty…..!”
“Simon. Did you get my ssage? I need your help with sothing.”
“Yes, yes. I’m at your service! You said her na was Edith. She’s coming today.”
Simon stamred with great enthusiasm.
“Yes, she is.”
“I heard she has sclerosis.”
At the ntion of the na of the disease, Marianne, who was standing next to , flinched.
Sclerosis, abnormal hardening of body tissue.
Suddenly, it was a disease that had been occurring all over the human continent for several years, and there was no known cause. There was still no cure for the disease. However, a drug has been developed to stop the symptoms.
The true identity of the disease has not been revealed, but a wizard has developed a dicine for sclerosis. And he was selling the dicine exclusively through the largest upper tier of the human continent, the Guilier Upper Tier.
The ingredients of the dicine were made public, but no one could easily imitate its production. The reason was that magic power was needed to make the dicine. It was also not clear what thod was used to infuse the magic power.
As a result, the cost of the sclerosis dicine has gone up completely.
Marianne’s salary was not small, but she was not a noble with a fiefdom, so she didn’t have enough to pay for the dicine.
However, if her sister stopped taking dication for more than a month, her body started to harden like a stone. Marianne should have brought the dicine to Edith even if she had to force herself to do so by now.
I stepped closer to Simon and lowered my voice to ask.
“Simone. Can you make dicine for sclerosis?”
“Yes, what? That’s… I’ll need mana, Your Majesty.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll supply it to you. I just need to figure out how to inject mana. Is it possible?”
“No..yes…….”
Simon ruffled his disheveled red hair.
“I was actually a little curious about sclerosis, so I did so research on it. The materials in the potion were slightly deford, not like in their natural state. It’s because of the magic power, but I don’t know anything about magic, so I couldn’t test it. If Your Majesty can help , I’ll try to study it properly.”
Simon, who had been slumping his shoulders and stamring, instantly changed when he spoke about dicine.
He spoke much faster and more accurately than usual, and his eyes, which had always wavered with anxiety, stood firm.
“I understand. I look forward to working with you, Simon. If you succeed, you will be able to help a lot of people suffering from sclerosis.”
“Huh, but it will take so ti to develop…… There’s no guarantee that I’ll succeed, either.”
Simon murmured, showing his usual timidity again.
“No, I believe in you. You have a natural talent and you can do it. If there is anything you need, just let know. I can help you in many ways.”
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, thank you for your help!”
That was when Simon stared at , his green eyes sparkling. I heard the news that a carriage had arrived in front of the Imperial Palace dical Clinic.
It was the carriage of Marianne’s sister Edith, who had left the sanatorium on the outskirts of the capital.
Soon Edith ca into the clinic with several knights. I knew she was Edith without introduction. She looked exactly like her sister, Marianne.
“Empress.”
“You must be Edith.”
I stepped in front of Edith and looked at her.
She was smaller than the average 16 years old, perhaps because she had been ill for many years. I wasn’t a tall person either, but she was certainly smaller than I was.
Everything else looked exactly like Marianne. She has brown hair and amber eyes. Even her rigid posture and calm, cool impression.
“Edith, you must have been surprised to suddenly be called the Imperial Palace like this. From now on, you will be spending your ti not in the sanatorium, but here, at the Imperial Palace dical Clinic. You will be able to see your sister whenever you wish.”
The hard expression on Edith’s face wavered slightly as I continued to speak. Edith averted her gaze and looked carefully at her sister Marianne. The look in her eyes was still incredulous.
Marianne, on Edith’s behalf, bowed deeply and said to .
“Thank you, Your Majesty ……!”
I replied with a smile.
“Marianne, it’s been a long ti since you two have seen each other, so don’t worry about and catch up. I’ll go talk to Simon.”
I stepped back so that the sisters could talk as much as they wanted.
Once I was far enough away, Marianne finally gave Edith a hug. Before I knew it, Edith, who was standing stiffly, started sobbing like a child in her sister’s arms.
‘I’m glad I helped them. I hope the dicine will work.’
I followed Simon into his lab. So of the guards were outside the door.
The inside of the lab was cluttered. All kinds of books and papers were piled up like mountains. It looked like a scholar’s room, even though Simon had said he would be doing various dical research in addition to his practice.
“What’s all this?”
“It’s, well, it’s about dicine. Oh, I’m sorry to show you such a disgusting place. I’m sorry, if the Emperor sees this, he’s going to want to know about all the, all the…….”
Simon shuddered as he rembered Kwanach.
“Has he seen all this?”
“Yes, yes.”
“He said you can morize everything you’ve seen just once. That’s amazing.”
“Well, it’s not much..”
Simon smiled broadly. He was weak for complints anyway.
“Well, wait a minute.”
Simon scrambled and began to clean up the scattered papers on the one armchair in the room.
“There are so books on sclerosis. Huh, would you like to read one?”
“I will. If I don’t understand sothing, can I ask you?”
“Yes, yes. Please feel free to ask anything at ……!”
I chuckled and sat down in the chair.
At first, I thought of making a sclerosing potion for the purpose of pining over Marianne. But even if that wasn’t the only reason, I couldn’t keep quiet about the situation of using magic to rake in the profits.
‘If I succeed in making the dicine, I will have to supply it at a low price, especially to the commoners.’
I heard that there are sotis people who can’t afford the cost of the dicine, and their bodies beco as hard as stone, and they just die.
I was the Empress of Radon now, and I wanted to use my power to help this country. No, it was a position that obligated to do so.
Furthermore, if the imperial family took the lead in distributing the sclerosis dicine, the support of the people would be greater.
‘I’m sure Kwanach would be pleased.’
The train of thought naturally reached Kwanach. And I touched my lips unknowingly, but retracted my hand in a panic, aware of Simon.
* * *
“No.”
“Huh? Why not?”
“Naturally, I thought you would be pleased to see try to develop the dicine…”
That night, as I was having dinner with Kwanach, I was puzzled by his unexpected reaction.
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