Chapter 28
Chapter 28
I was briefly puzzled by Marianne’s suggestion to become 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 time. Edwin will have to take the blame for all of this and the real power behind him will come 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 me 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 time you feel that you are in danger, please let me 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 me? Or there may be other forces in the Empire who are targeting me.’
While spending a few days with Kwanach, my loose spirit seemed to be firming up.
It was the tenderness with which Kwanach showered me. 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 mean 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 meet 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 meeting where the nobles belonging to the Imperial Council meet on a regular basis. How about meeting 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 same number of 10 nobles, and 10 commoners.
In order to enact a new law, at least thirteen of them must agree to it. Each time in the outer play, the political struggle between the various classes was fierce.
The noblewomen would surely know a lot of information.
“That’s right. It would be better to meet 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 embellishment.
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 seemed 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 message? I need your help with something.”
“Yes, yes. I’m at your service! You said her name was Edith. She’s coming today.”
Simon stammered with great enthusiasm.
“Yes, she is.”
“I heard she has sclerosis.”
At the mention of the name of the disease, Marianne, who was standing next to me, 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 medicine for sclerosis. And he was selling the medicine exclusively through the largest upper tier of the human continent, the Guilier Upper Tier.
The ingredients of the medicine were made public, but no one could easily imitate its production. The reason was that magic power was needed to make the medicine. It was also not clear what method was used to infuse the magic power.
As a result, the cost of the sclerosis medicine 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 medicine.
However, if her sister stopped taking medication for more than a month, her body started to harden like a stone. Marianne should have brought the medicine 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 medicine 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 some research on it. The materials in the potion were slightly deformed, 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 me, I’ll try to study it properly.”
Simon, who had been slumping his shoulders and stammering, instantly changed when he spoke about medicine.
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 some time 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 me know. I can help you in many ways.”
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, thank you for your help!”
That was when Simon stared at me, his green eyes sparkling. I heard the news that a carriage had arrived in front of the Imperial Palace Medical Clinic.
It was the carriage of Marianne’s sister Edith, who had left the sanatorium on the outskirts of the capital.
Soon Edith came 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 time not in the sanatorium, but here, at the Imperial Palace Medical 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 me.
“Thank you, Your Majesty ……!”
I replied with a smile.
“Marianne, it’s been a long time since you two have seen each other, so don’t worry about me 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 medicine will work.’
I followed Simon into his lab. Some 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 medical research in addition to his practice.
“What’s all this?”
“It’s, well, it’s about medicine. 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 remembered Kwanach.
“Has he seen all this?”
“Yes, yes.”
“He said you can memorize everything you’ve seen just once. That’s amazing.”
“Well, it’s not much..”
Simon smiled broadly. He was weak for compliments anyway.
“Well, wait a minute.”
Simon scrambled and began to clean up the scattered papers on the one armchair in the room.
“There are some books on sclerosis. Huh, would you like to read one?”
“I will. If I don’t understand something, can I ask you?”
“Yes, yes. Please feel free to ask me 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 medicine, I will have to supply it at a low price, especially to the commoners.’
I heard that there are sometimes people who can’t afford the cost of the medicine, and their bodies become 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 me to do so.
Furthermore, if the imperial family took the lead in distributing the sclerosis medicine, 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 me try to develop the medicine…”
That night, as I was having dinner with Kwanach, I was puzzled by his unexpected reaction.