Chapter 38
- tranquillo (quietly)
Theodore Shuho Monetery. A brilliant graduate among the brilliant graduates of the Academy. Currently working at the Imperial Palace as an administrator in the executive department. Blair had slightly finer features, while Theodore had a more masculine, handsome face. In terms of physique, Blair was straight and slender, while Theodore gave off a bear-like impression. Though their faces resembled each other, their auras were quite different.
Standing in front of Moonlight Palace, Adriana’s residence, Theodore gestured to a waiting lady-in-waiting.
“Please inform them that Theodore Shuho Monetery has arrived.”
“Yes. Please wait a moment.”
The red-haired lady-in-waiting bowed politely and retreated with quick steps to deliver the message inside. After waiting for some time, the red-haired lady-in-waiting carefully came out again, bowed her head, and opened the door.
“You may enter, Lord Theodore.”
“What is the Princess doing?”
“She was lying down to rest, saying she was tired.”
“If she was sleeping, I will come back another time.”
“No, you may go in. She said to let you enter.”
Theodore nodded slightly and entered the reception room of Moonlight Palace. He sat in the empty reception room, waiting for Princess Adriana to arrive. Ten minutes later, the door to the reception room opened. Princess Adriana, with her platinum blonde hair pinned up, walked into the reception room with a straight posture.
Theodore, upon seeing her, rose politely and bowed.
“You’ve come, Your Highness.”
“It’s been a while, Theodore.”
“Yes.”
Theodore worriedly examined the Princess’s pale face. Transparent platinum blonde hair and equally transparent, cloudy blue eyes. Skin as white as a wax doll. A body so thin that her bones were clearly visible. There was a paleness about her as if she had never been exposed to sunlight since birth. She also gave the impression of a porcelain doll whose colors had faded over a long time.
Her mother, the former Empress, had given off exactly this impression when she was alive. Everything about her—her bones, her face—was slender and white, with no bright or vivid colors, just transparency. It felt as if she might fade until she became transparent. Eventually, the Empress lost more and more of her color and died not long after.
Just the thought made his heart sink. Theodore carefully observed Princess Adriana’s complexion. A faint pink color still lingered on her lips.
“Did you wait long?”
“Not at all.”
Theodore shook his head.
“Is everything alright outside?”
“It’s peaceful as always.”
“That’s good.”
Adriana smiled slightly.
“By the way, what brings you here? With you being so busy.”
“The budget for Moonlight Palace for the next quarter has been processed, so I came to get Your Highness’s approval.”
Theodore carefully placed the documents on the tea table. It wasn’t a task that required him to come personally, but Theodore made it a point to visit Moonlight Palace in person whenever he had business there. Adriana was like a child left by the water’s edge—there was much to worry about.
The budget written in the documents was quite generous. Even after her mother’s death, Adriana was not a child who was slighted or mistreated. Her maternal family, the Sichen Ducal Family, stood firmly behind her. Adriana flipped through the documents and leaned back against the chair. It seemed that just sitting upright for a long time was tiring for her.
“It looks fine. There’s nothing to fault. Let’s proceed with this.”
“Then we will proceed accordingly. Please send the head lady-in-waiting of Moonlight Palace to the Executive Palace later.”
“I’ll do that. Should I send her at the end of the month?”
“The end of the month is too busy, so please send her before then.”
“Alright. I’ll do that.”
Though they had barely spoken, fatigue appeared on Adriana’s face. During their Academy days, Adriana had been more radiant than anyone. Theodore looked at Adriana, unable to hide the regret rising on his face. Noticing his expression, Adriana smiled gently.
“Why do you look at me with such pity?”
Smiling slightly, Adriana picked up a teacup filled with ginger tea. It was her preference, having been prone to colds since childhood.
“It’s not that, Lady Adriana.”
“There’s no need to pity me. I’ve always been like this. I suppose it’s my fate to live this way. It must be innate.”
Adriana sipped her tea.
“Are you sleeping deeply these days?”
“Same as always. Just as it’s always been.”
It meant she wasn’t sleeping well. Despite spending most of her time in bed due to her deteriorating health, Adriana never slept deeply. She waved her hand, the bones clearly visible beneath her skin. But Theodore had no specific solution either.
“What does the court physician say?”
“That too is the same as always. He always says there’s no problem. That I was born frail. I’m tired of receiving examinations now. If there was something different, I might find it interesting to listen and be examined, but if I’m just hearing the same parrot-like stories, you too would get bored like me.”
Theodore looked at Adriana with sympathetic eyes.
“That look won’t help, Theo.”
Adriana smiled, almost transparently. Adriana and Theodore were Academy classmates. Adriana had returned to the palace to care for her mother, who had collapsed, and hadn’t obtained her degree, but the two had studied in the same building for a full six years.
“Your Highness, I will promptly look for a suitable place for your convalescence. If you stay in a place with good air and clear water, your health will recover. You should at least try that.”
“If I leave the Imperial Palace, won’t that Spirenda woman make a fuss about taking my mother’s place immediately? I need to stay here, at least.”
Adriana looked at Theodore with a wry smile.
“Your Highness, the most important thing now is your own health.”
“Either way, I won’t live long. In that case, shouldn’t I just do what I want before I die, Theo?”
Adriana laughed at Theodore, who was looking at her with concern. It seemed as if she had no lingering attachments to her life. Theodore bit the inside of his lip slightly. Whenever Adriana took that attitude, his heart ached so much that he could barely look at her face.
No one could understand how terrible it was to watch a first love dying. Every time Theodore saw Adriana suffering, he painfully realized his own helplessness. It was the only sense of defeat that he, born as the eldest son of House Monetery and having lived his entire life as a high-ranking noble, had ever felt. The despair that no matter what good things he procured, he couldn’t restore Adriana’s health. Theodore called out to Adriana in a low voice.
“Your Highness.”
“Theo, I understand your concern for me. But people have their predetermined fates. This is my fate. How much healthier could someone like me get even if I went for convalescence? Even in the palace, where the empire’s best physicians and medicines are gathered, I’m still ailing like this. It’s better to leave things to their natural course. Going against it won’t make much difference.”
Adriana, who had given a decisive answer, slowly rose from her seat.
“Thank you for always caring. But let me handle this matter as I wish. I’m too tired to see you out. Go carefully. Come visit often when you have time. It’s nice to see an old friend after so long.”
“…Rest well, Your Highness.”
Theodore bowed and watched as Adriana left the reception room. She left the reception room precariously. Theodore, gathering the documents he had brought, moved to the Administrative Palace where the executive department was located.
A considerable amount of time had already passed since his visit to Moonlight Palace. Now that he had Adriana’s approval, once the Emperor’s permission came down, the budget for Moonlight Palace for the next quarter would be executed. Thanks to Theodore’s efforts, Adriana was often allocated a larger budget than what was assigned to the other princes.
“I’ll be heading back now. You all should head back too.”
Theodore, bidding farewell, put on a thin outer garment. In the inner palace of the Imperial Palace, even high-ranking nobles or officials were not allowed to ride in carriages. Theodore, having left the inner palace, boarded the House Monetery carriage waiting in front. Once inside, he let out a long sigh. There was a heaviness in one corner of his heart. He felt like he might develop an internal illness like Adriana at this rate.
His heart felt heavy whenever he thought of Adriana. But when the person concerned said she had no particular thoughts about it, he couldn’t force convalescence on her. Adriana’s words also had a point. Currently, the power in the Imperial Palace was divided into three factions.
Although Adriana and the former Empress’s influence was not small now, if Empress Spirenda, who was currently pregnant, happened to give birth to a son, she might really become the Empress. The Emperor, whose mental acuity was dimming, greatly favored Empress Spirenda, who was young and beautiful and wrapped around his finger like a tongue in his mouth.
At this rate, if Empress Spirenda gave birth to a son and became Empress, and then persuaded the Emperor to make that son the Crown Prince, the Emperor might really bypass his older brothers and make that child, who was young enough to be his grandson, the Crown Prince. Naturally, Empress Spirenda, who was not much older than Adriana, did not get along well with her.
Empress Spirenda wanted to become Empress as soon as possible to take on the role of the empire’s mother, while Adriana, as the only daughter of the Imperial family, contended that she should act as the empire’s mother in the vacant position.
Adriana openly badmouthed Empress Spirenda, saying she couldn’t stand her haughty attitude backed by the noble faction, and that she wouldn’t let it happen before dirt entered her eyes. Despite not being particularly strong, Adriana always reacted sensitively to Empress Spirenda’s affairs.
Adriana had a very bad relationship with Empress Spirenda. It was completely understandable that Adriana didn’t want to see such a woman sit in her deceased mother’s place and wield power. But what use were power, wealth, and the throne when one wasn’t healthy? Shouldn’t staying alive be the top priority, putting everything else aside?
Theodore unbuttoned the top of his neatly worn outer garment. If it were him, he would set everything aside and focus on recovering his health, but Adriana seemed to have no such intention. Perhaps she was already anticipating her death.
Everything was frustrating, and nothing was going as he thought it should. The House Monetery carriage carried Theodore, racing relentlessly toward the Monetery territory.
Returning home and changing into comfortable clothes, Theodore lay on his bed. Even though he was in bed, his complicated feelings refused to calm down.
It was then…
[To be continued…]
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
