How to Hide the Emperor’s Child - Chapter 145

There was a moment of silence in the room at Fritz’s confession.

“Have you ever seen this herb?”

Not only Astelle but also Gretel looked at Fritz with a surprised look.

Fritz looked carefully at the herbs drawn on the paper.

“I saw something like this when I went to the west estate. It was a flower brought from the south, and a lord gave it to me as a gift.”

“Gift?”

“Flower?”

Astelle and Gretel asked almost simultaneously.

Fritz looked at the two of them and replied, “Yeah, obviously…… they called it a flower.”

Fritz explained to the two about the flowers he had seen in the west estate.

When he went down west as a manor manager, he received gifts from here and there. Although he did not receive valuable jewelry or accessories, he considered small gifts such as elaborate food and flowers difficult to refuse and accepted them as a favor.

Some of them were local specialties and some unusual plants that were said to have been brought from distant places.

“Obviously there were flowers that looked like this.”

Astelle looked again at Gretel’s drawing.

The blue flowers drawn on the paper are small but beautiful. On the flower stalk, abundant blue petals are in full bloom. At first glance, it looks like a small peony.

“Gretel, is this flower known as an antidote?”

“Not really. I also found out for the first time when I went to the South……”

If you are not familiar with medicinal herbs, you may have thought that they are just beautiful flowers grown in the garden.

The country lords did not leave far from their region and were also ignorant of the cultures of other regions. They must have given it as a gift because it was interesting that it came from another region.

“Where is the flower now?”

Fritz answered Astelle’s urgent question with a troubled look.

“I never thought it was so precious…… I just left it in the castle of the estate.”

At Fritz’s dreary answer, Astelle and Gretel both looked disappointed.

After all, there’s no way you’d bring the flowers you received as a gift from the estate to the capital.

“But rather than going to the southern mountains……”

Astelle turned to Fritz again.

“Isn’t it closer to the castle?”

“Of course, the castle in the west estate is much closer.” Fritz rushed out. “Send someone there right now and bring the flowers.”

Astelle took Gretel to Kaizen’s bedroom.

Nothing has changed. The doctor in the bedroom was checking Kaizen’s condition, then turned to Astelle and bowed. He glanced at Gretel.

“Your Majesty, she is…..?”

“It’s all right. This is the pharmacist I called.”

Astelle took Gretel closer to the bed.

Gretel cautiously approached the bed while watching the attendants around her.

She looked at Kaizen on the bed nervously.

“It’s okay. You can take a look.”

The doctor, who was watching, showed an uncomfortable feeling.

“Your Majesty, but–”

“Gretel is someone I trust. She is also very knowledgeable about medicine.”

The doctor could no longer object and withdrew.

Gretel slowly touched Kaizen’s pulse.

“This is a very rare poison.”

“Is this a poison you know?”

“I’ve heard about it before.”

Astelle told her the information she had heard from her father.

“I heard that those who are poisoned will lose consciousness as if they were sleeping and then die.”

“It’s exactly as you said. That’s why it’s called sleep poison. In the past when medicine wasn’t developed, it was said that they didn’t even know it was poison.”

“Do you think it can be cured with detoxification herbs?”

Gretel looked back at Kaizen with a confident expression on her face.

“I think we should use the detox herb first and then watch the progress.”

“Can we slow down the effects of the poison until we get the herbs?”

Gretel looked at Kaizen again and answered in an unsure tone.

“The Emperor looks healthy, so we can try to slow it down as much as we can.”

* * *

Astelle left Gretel behind and this time went to see Count Ecklen.

By now, midnight was approaching.

It was an insanely busy night.

I didn’t even know how time passed.

“Count, can you bring the Knights of Lanberg to the capital right now?”

As soon as Astelle met Count Ecklen, she asked that first without saying hello.

Count Ecklen looked at Astelle with a surprised look.

She didn’t give detailed explanations, but he seemed to have noticed something was wrong with her question as she was looking for the Knights.

“Is His Majesty very ill?”

“I’m not quite sure yet.”

The Count looked Astelle in the eyes intently.

“Is he in a very critical condition?”

“… … .”

Astelle remained silent for a moment, unable to answer Count Ecklen’s question.

The Count asked if the emperor was really sick. But there was no way a healthy young emperor suddenly fell ill.

That, of course, is suspicious.

‘Is it okay if I tell this person the details of the situation?’

This man was favorable to Astelle from the beginning and had a relationship with her mother. But she wasn’t close enough to him to open everything up.

“It can be cured,” Astelle said with a calm look. “I’ll just say that for now. Please trust me.”

“Hmm… … .”

Conflict flashed across the Count’s serious face.

‘Is this not enough?’

This man was very loyal to the Emperor.

He was very kind to Astelle, but it seems that he was not kind enough to do her favor in such a suspicious situation.

Just as Astelle was about to say something else, the Count gently nodded his head.

“Alright.”

“Will you?”

“As a subject, I only act according to the rules that have been set.”

Count Ecklen replied as if reassuring Astelle.

“If His Majesty falls ill, the rule is that the Crown Prince inherits the throne and the Empress acts as regent. His Majesty the Emperor clearly said so.”

“His Majesty said that?”

It was the first time I heard it.

“His Majesty called me right after the Crown Prince’s coronation. He told me to put the safety of Your Majesty the Empress and His Highness the Crown Prince first in case of an emergency.”

“… … .”

Astelle looked at the Count blankly.

Did Kaizen give such an order?

Astelle hastily composed her thoughts. Now is not the time to be immersed in emotions.

“What troops are the closest?”

“The Knights of Lanberg was sent to the north. And on the south side is the Knights of Rosewood.”

“Which one can arrive first?”

“It is difficult to say for sure right now.”

In terms of scale, Lanberg is the largest, but Rosewood also has the same strength as Lanberg.

Because Seibel is the leader of the Lanberg Knights, he will act at the behest of Count Ecklen.

“Yes, Lanberg has Seibel as the commander, but on the Rosewood side… … he is a close friend of the Marquis Croychen.”

“… … .”

Astelle frowned at the unexpected name.

Of all things, the commander of Rosewood Knights is close to Marquis Croychen.

They are new nobles of the same rank, so they might be close to each other because of that.

“Will they be a threat?”

“No way.”

Count Ecklen denied it without hesitation.

“He is a picky guy, but he is not one to try to rebel for a friend. That’s why when the Marquis was ousted, he remained in his position.”

Although he is close to the Croychen family, it seems that he is more loyal to the Emperor.

He is not a person who would seek treason, but if he knew that the Emperor had been poisoned, what would he do?

Count Ecklen guessed what Astelle was thinking and quickly reassured her.

“I will call Seibel to the capital as soon as possible.”

“Yes, please.”

* * *

After finishing the conversation with Ecklen, the time to rest alone finally came.

Astelle walked into her room without energy.

She didn’t even have time to change clothes, so she was still wearing a fancy dress.

She then went into the dressing room to change clothes. Hannah followed to help her.

“Your Majesty, are you okay?”

“Hannah, where is my grandfather?”

“He is in the Crown Prince’s bedroom.”

She changed her clothes and went out through the small door connecting the two bedrooms.

Her grandfather who was watching Theor in the dark bedroom rose from his seat as soon as he saw her.

Theor was in a deep sleep.

“Astelle.”

Astelle leaned into her maternal grandfather’s arms. Being held in familiar arms gave her a sense of relief.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

Astelle told everything to her grandfather. Starting from her father who was behind all of this, her meetings with the ministers, and the conversations she had with Gretel and Fritz.

When her maternal grandfather heard about the detox flower that Fritz had seen, he asked in a hurry.

“Is that possible?”

“It might be possible if Fritz gets the herbs quickly.”

In fact, it may not be possible to completely detoxify poison even with detox flowers.

But other than that, there was no hope.

The Marquis patted Astelle on the shoulder.

He said quietly, “Hey, if the emperor comes back to life… … .”

At that moment, it felt like cold water was running down her spine.

Astelle was deliberately not thinking about what would happen when Kaizen recovered.

“I know.”

When Kaizen comes to life, Astelle becomes the daughter of a traitor who tried to poison the Emperor.

Even now Astelle was hiding that fact from the ministers.

When things are settled, anyone will see that she was in cahoots with the Duke of Reston.

Astelle herself, as well as perhaps Theor, will not be safe.

In an instant, a terrible conflict took hold of her heart.

‘Should I let the Emperor die?’

The past few months she spent with him flashed through her head.

Kaizen apologized to her in front of the pond and said he would not remarry even if Astelle left.

The ten-year-old prince who carefully handed over the blue jewel and the young emperor who presented the newly made blue ring appeared one after another on her head.

She remembered Kaizen, who had collapsed in her arms last time.

What Astelle felt at that moment were shock and fear.

Looking back, Astelle realized that she still liked him a lot.

She thought she had lost all her feelings for him after six years apart.

“But I don’t want His Majesty to die,” Astelle spoke frankly.

She has complex emotions, but only one thing is certain: Astelle wants to save Kaizen.

“There must be a way to solve this without hurting everyone.”

If only I could make medicine to save Kaizen while preventing this incident from leaking out.

Maybe we can get out of this quietly.

It was a slim possibility, close to impossible.

But for now, there was no hope but that.