How to Hide the Emperor's Child - Chapter 21

Vellian thought he was loyal in his own way.

He always had the heart to advise His Majesty the Emperor whenever necessary.

‘But if the child can inherit the pension, it would be against the law…… It’s better to think again.’

But in this situation, he prefers to be silent.

‘Well, I can’t help it. Anyway, no one can object to His Majesty. However, if there is a problem…… Lady Astelle, the person concerned, will never accept it.’

And there was another problem.

The appearance of Astelle running through the rain kept coming to his mind.

Her expression in the cold rain kept on his mind.

‘No matter how much I think about it, there seems to be something wrong with the child. Is he really ill?’

It doesn’t matter if it’s simply a chronic disease that can’t be spoken, but if it is a contagious disease, there is a problem.

He would continue to go with His Majesty the Emperor during the journey, but what if the child suffering from a suspicious illness?

‘I don’t know what it is, but I suspect she’s hiding something.’

Vellian thought as he watched the fast passing landscape.

It seems like it would be good to find out properly.

 

***

 

The scene of a peaceful forest quickly passed through the window.

The party was running along the forest road.

It was a little late than expected, but now it is said that the party will arrive at the destination in three more days.

Astelle sighed, leaning against the back of the chair.

After being nervous for several days, she was tired and her head was heavy.

‘But it’s all done now.’

A lot has happened in a short time, but this hardship finally will be over in just a few more days.

Even in the midst of tiredness, a sense of relief came.

The hound lying on the floor raised its head when it heard Astelle move.

The bead-like clear eyes stared at her.

Astelle smiled bitterly at that cute appearance.

It was good to use her grandfather to get the emperor’s permission.

It was a little off the plan that Kaizen and his party went together, but it was better than spending time with him and stuck in the Maern Castle.

Anyway, she’ll be able to send Theor back as long as she gets to Dentsu Castle.

But as soon as she started preparing for the departure, a small obstacle arose.

Just before the departure, Astelle cautiously soothed Theor, who held his cry.

“We have to go a long way, but wouldn’t it be hard for the hound? And this hound’s hometown is here.”

Tears filled in Theor’s blue eyes.

“His Majesty said it was a gift for me……”

Theor was not a stubborn child.

He usually quiet and listened well.

He was always convinced if Astelle explained carefully why he shouldn’t even be stubborn.

But this time he didn’t give up so easily.

Theor cried and hugged the hound’s neck with his arms.

The appearance of a small child holding a hound was quite cute.

Both were like dolls.

The attendants who were preparing for departure glanced this side.

There were some people who noticed what was happening and shed bitter smiles.

‘What should I do……’

It was when Astelle was thinking hard.

Kaizen who came out of the castle found the two and stopped.

It seemed that he easily grasped the situation by looking at Theor hanging the hound with a teary face.

Kaizen came to the place where the two were without hesitation.

“Why? I gave this hound as a gift for him.”

Astelle was stunned by the appearance of Kaizen asking what was the problem.

She explained to Kaizen the difficulty of raising a dog.

“Because the child is young, I am worried that he will treat the hound by mistake. And—”

However, Kaizen did not listen and steadfastly stopped her words.

“It’ll be fine because it’s a well-trained hound. Just take it. When you are five years old, it is okay to have a dog.”

“……”

Astelle realized that she couldn’t convince Kaizen.

He is the one who gived a hound as a gift to a five-year-old child.

When she tried to explain to this person why she couldn’t leave the little child and the big dog alone, he wouldn’t listen.

Still, Astelle tried to refute more.

As Astelle continued to object, Kaizen said with bitter ridicule, “Are you going to refuse the gift I gave to the child too?”

“……”

Astelle, who had endlessly refused the gift he gave, missed the chance to refute it momentarily.

Kaizen turned and stroked Theor’s well-arranged hair.

“It’s okay. You can take the hound and raise it.”

“Your Majesty, thank you!”

Theor laughed with joy and then looked back at Astelle.

Astelle also nodded without much effort.

“……okay. Instead, you must be nice. You must never treat badly or harass the hound.”

“Yes, I will take good care of it!”

Theor hugged the hound with joy.

The hound shook its fluffy tail.

‘Yeah, well, now there will be a pension, so I can raise one dog.’

If she teach Theor well, it would be fine.

As it became irreversible anyway, Astelle decided to think as positively as possible.

‘Now there is a more important problem than that.’

Astelle took the potion bottle.

There was about half full of blue potion in a small glass bottle.

When she saw the remaining potion as much as her nails, she sighed.

When she first followed Kaizen, it was full.

‘I stayed too long at the castle I stopped by before.’

She was planning to get some herbs in the forest, but from the first day, she didn’t have time to say that she had to go to the forest.

After that, it rained. So she couldn’t go outside.

‘And Kaizen suddenly took Theor to the hunting lodge……’

Astelle sighed again and counted on her fingers to figure out how many more times she had to put in the potion until she reached her destination.

‘Somehow…… it seems to be insufficient.’

The remaining time is three days.

It means that she has to dripped in the potion at least six or seven times on Theor’s eyes.

‘It is easy to make the potion if I have the ingredients.’

The problem was the ingredients.

The ingredients that are difficult to obtain are all contained in the potion.

But on the contrary, there is no ingredient that is easy to obtain.

The scarce ingredients were herbs that could easily be obtained anywhere in the forest, but now Astelle was moving with the emperor’s party.

At this point, there was no way to say that she would go to the medicinal store to get medicinal herbs.

Even if she get herbs, she won’t be able to make the potion in the carriage.

Astelle went through the medicine box to check the ingredients and then threw her gaze through the window.

A flat forest road was seen through the clear glass.

With a flat road in the middle, there were dark green trees on each side.

‘When will I arrive at the next destination……’

At that time, she has no choice but to go out to the forest for a while when opportunity arose.

Fortunately, the place to stay for the night was an inn near the forest.

She heard that a village was also not far away from the inn.

The castle she stopped by yesterday was in remote place.

However, if it is an inn near a village, it will be possible for her to go out for a while.

‘I have to tell Theor to go out and see the village.’

Theor fell asleep on Astelle’s knee.

Astelle looked at the window and pulled up a blanket over Theor’s shoulder.

Three days were still left until arriving at Dentsu Castle.

 

***

 

The party arrived at the inn whenl sunset.

An inn built of gray stone stood tall with the setting sky and dark forest in the background.

It was an old and shabby inn.

An old man who seemed to be the manager of the inn greeted the emperor with sweat rain-like.

The waiting servants came out and helped the party.

The narrow front yard was fulled with attendants and servants carrying luggage.

Astelle got off the carriage, took the child’s hand, and went into the inn.

Vellian suddenly grabbed the old man and asked, “Is there a pharmacist around here? Is there anyone who knows medicinal herbs well?”

 

***

 

Astelle held Theor’s hand and climbed the winding stairs.

After going up the stairs for a long time, a narrow corridor could be seen, and at the end, there was a way to the bedroom.

“This way, Lady.”

The servant who guided the room opened the wooden door.

There was a large room with a high ceiling.

There were walls made of dark gray stones on all sides, and old tapestries were hung on one side.

A large bed in the center, a small wooden table, chairs, and a mirror on the wall are all of the furniture.

It was neatly setted, but it was something that might have been popular about a hundred years ago.

It was a little shabby for the room to be handed over to the customer.

‘It’s the inn where the emperor is staying, but it’s a small village in a corner of the empire, so it doesn’t seem to be in good shape.’