Chapter 158
Two days later, in the courtyard in front of the First Prince’s Palace.
Count Latrang’s carriage arrived.
Three people alighted from the carriage.
Count Latrang, a brown-haired man wearing a white coat who appeared to be a doctor, and a yellow-haired woman who seemed to be the doctor’s assistant. Three people in total.
Count Latrang led the way, and the yellow-haired woman unconsciously started to move ahead of the brown-haired doctor before stopping herself.
Then she gestured forward with her hand, as if telling the brown-haired doctor to go first.
“My goodness, I almost made a mistake due to my nervousness. Please go ahead, Doctor.”
“Ahem, yes… no. I shall.”
The brown-haired doctor’s shoulders jerked noticeably at the yellow-haired nurse’s deep smile.
Like someone who had seen something they shouldn’t have.
And he hastily corrected his habitually spoken words.
A strange atmosphere surrounded the doctor and nurse. And the doctor seemed to be watching the nurse’s reactions.
It looked quite unusual, but there was a reason for this.
The two weren’t really a doctor and a nurse.
Well, to be precise, the man was indeed a doctor, but the woman wasn’t a nurse.
The real name of the man with brown hair and brown eyes was Helkin.
He was the Dearrut Duchy’s physician.
And the woman with yellow hair and crimson eyes wasn’t a nurse but Alice Dearrut, the lady of the Dearrut Duchy.
Yes. Alice and Helkin were now infiltrating the First Prince’s Palace, their appearances altered by Sienna’s magic.
Today was the day promised to save the First Prince.
Originally, Alice had planned to come to the First Prince’s Palace disguised as Count Latrang’s maid, but the plan had changed.
If the First Prince suddenly recovered after Count Latrang’s visit, there would be a lot of gossip.
So they had crafted a more natural scenario where Count Latrang had personally brought a famous doctor from the south.
They would say that a renowned southern physician had greatly improved the First Prince’s condition with miraculous medical skills.
And they were able to change the plan so freely because the current Emperor, shocked by the Second Prince’s incident, wasn’t properly attending to state affairs.
According to Kylus, the First Prince’s Palace had been closed by the Emperor’s order, and no one without permission could enter.
But Count Latrang, who had reached an agreement with Kylus, pressured the Emperor using the Second Prince’s black magic incident as a pretext to lift the closure of the First Prince’s Palace.
He argued that since the Second Prince had been secretly contacting black magic practitioners in the palace, perhaps the First Prince had also fallen victim to black magic, and a thorough investigation was necessary.
And the Emperor couldn’t simply deny Count Latrang’s suspicion.
Because evidence related to black magic had been plainly found in the Second Prince’s Palace.
Moreover, while it was known that the First Prince had collapsed after being poisoned, the imperial family had not clarified anything related to the incident.
Not even what poison the First Prince had consumed, or how he had consumed it.
So the Emperor had no choice but to give in to Count Latrang’s pressure.
To begin with, the Emperor was already quite exhausted from the Second Prince’s incident, and even the Empress, who had always advised him, was in confinement, so there was no support to block Count Latrang.
In any case, the closure of the First Prince’s Palace had been lifted, and as soon as it was opened, a search for black magic was conducted.
It was a brief, ceremonial search conducted under Kylus’s command.
Both Kylus and Count Latrang knew that the First Prince hadn’t collapsed due to black magic.
And today, Count Latrang had brought a renowned physician from the south to accurately assess the First Prince’s condition, who was still breathing though unconscious.
That renowned southern physician was Helkin.
But in truth, the real healer who would save the First Prince was Alice.
‘But with acting skills like that…’
Though it was inevitable that Helkin would feel awkward, since Alice was far above him in real social status, it was still quite severe.
Helkin was walking ahead with a creaking gait, as if he were being controlled by strings.
Alice clicked her tongue, watching him.
‘Kylus said not to expect acting skills from Helkin, and he really can’t act at all.’
‘Come to think of it, he was always bad at acting.’
Even when Madam Quillian was controlling the Dearrut Duchy, Helkin had been somewhat clumsy. It was fortunate that Madam Quillian hadn’t called for him often.
Moreover, perhaps because today’s location was the Imperial Palace, Helkin seemed even more unable to hide his nervousness.
Just before entering the lobby of the palace, Alice, unable to bear it any longer, moved close behind Helkin and whispered:
“Pull yourself together and act naturally. If rumors spread that the doctor Count Latrang brought is strange… do you think the Duke would let you off?”
“Eek-“
Helkin, who understood the exact implication of Alice’s words, drew in a breath, terror-stricken.
Then, as if releasing his tension, he clenched and unclenched his hands and entered the lobby with a more natural movement.
Satisfied with the now more human-like Helkin, Alice stepped back.
Then she carefully looked around the lobby of the First Prince’s Palace.
There were quite a few palace attendants in the lobby.
Contrary to her concern that they might be wary of her and Helkin, the attendants showed no interest in them.
It was as if they didn’t see them at all, not even giving them a glance.
‘What’s going on?’
As Alice was feeling puzzled by the strange atmosphere, a neat elderly gentleman with streaks of white in his brown hair approached Count Latrang and bowed.
“Count, let’s go up right away.”
“Yes, let’s.”
Count Latrang climbed the stairs with the man who seemed to be the palace steward. Meanwhile, Alice and Helkin paused with slightly bewildered expressions.
This was because the palace attendants didn’t inquire about Helkin and her identities, nor did they perform even a simple body search, which made it difficult to just follow Count Latrang.
According to imperial palace protocol, outsiders who weren’t nobles should undergo a body search.
At that moment, Count Latrang, who was climbing the stairs, turned around.
Toward her and Helkin.
“What are you doing? Come along quickly.”
‘Really, just like this? Is this allowed?’
Count Latrang gestured with a composed face. Come on.
Although Alice felt something was odd, she followed Count Latrang to the First Prince’s bedroom.
And only after the steward who had guided them to the bedroom closed the door and left did Alice receive an answer about the strange atmosphere in the palace.
“The palace attendants currently in the palace are all new people from the south that I brought in two days ago.”
Count Latrang explained slowly.
“Originally, the palace attendants are under the Empress’s jurisdiction, but… since the Empress has voluntarily withdrawn from all duties, I was able to replace the attendants at my discretion.”
Finally, the mystery was solved. Alice let out a small exclamation and said:
“Ah… I was wondering why they didn’t seem wary of us.”
“Yes. I’ve already instructed them. The southern physician will treat the First Prince with a very special method today, so they must absolutely keep silent about what they see and hear today.”
Count Latrang smiled as if to reassure her.
“In particular, the newly appointed steward is someone who served the former Empress, so he’s very trustworthy. You don’t need to worry at all.”
‘The steward was someone who served the former Empress?’
Even though the Empress had withdrawn from all duties, it wouldn’t have been easy to bring the former Empress’s people back to the palace.
Count Latrang had gone to great lengths for Alice.
To ensure that no loose talk would ever leak out of this palace.
Alice gave Count Latrang a faint smile.
“Yes. Thank you for your consideration.”
“Consideration? You’re the benefactor who will save my grandson. I’ve only done what I should.”
Count Latrang, who had been looking at Alice with steadfast eyes, turned his head toward the bed draped with silver curtains.
The Count’s gaze, which until just now had been like an immovable massive rock, trembled slightly.
As if suppressing his emotions, he took a deep breath and looked at Alice.
“…Then, I entrust him to you, Duchess.”
“Yes.”
Now it was Alice’s turn to act.
The time had come to save the First Prince.
Without hesitation, Alice approached the bed. She carefully parted the silver curtains.
There, she saw the face of the First Prince, lying quietly with his eyes closed.
The First Prince, who had never been described in the book.
Though his cheeks were sunken as if he hadn’t properly consumed nutrients for a long time, he clearly resembled the beautiful former Empress she had seen at the Count’s mansion.
If he opened his eyes and regained proper flesh, he would surely become a handsome man with a kind impression.
Of course, this was a sight she could only see if she successfully saved the First Prince.
‘I should be able to save him.’
After deciding to use her holy power for the First Prince, she had never once thought she might fail.
Because… she had saved Kylus and saved the dying Butler, and also because the Deity had said he had directly given his power to her.
So she had never doubted her ability, but now, facing the First Prince, she felt a little anxious.
This was because a cold and desolate energy, different from Kylus’s time, was strongly felt from the First Prince, who lay with his eyes closed as if dead.
Was it because her connection with the Deity had strengthened? Alice could instinctively understand what this energy was.
The energy of death.
It was truly the energy of death itself, fundamentally different from the Wraith of Darkness.
So the First Prince’s current state was much worse than Kylus’s had been in the past.
The energy of death surrounded his entire body and was about to take his soul.
While Kylus had been unconscious for 6 months, the First Prince had been so for over 2 years…
In truth, according to the flow of the original story, the First Prince should have already died.
‘But he’s still alive.’
‘So… I should be able to save him.’
Alice exhaled resolutely and steeled her heart.
Then she knelt beside the bed. At the moment Alice held the motionless First Prince’s hand and gently closed her eyes,
‘Lord Helios, please save the First Prince.’
As if answering her desperate prayer, an immense light filled the bedroom.
