Chapter 68
I sent the twins back for now.
They were sad to see my face after a long time, but I send them away.
They were very careful to treat me, perhaps because they thought my father"s condition would hurt me.
Clerivan and Estira were still in front of me.
I found a chair and sat down. And I"ve sorted out the situation now.
My hands were cold.
I also closed my eyes.
Just calm down.
I have to think of a way that can solve these problems.
I continued breathing in and out for a long time.
In the beginning, it wasn"t easy either.
My heart that is beating fast keeps disturbing my mind.
But I remember my father.
My father, who hasn"t been awake in a long time recently, because of the painkillers he was taking for the pain when his condition got worse.
Things that happened when my father was weak can never be coincidences.
I made up my mind and just thought that I should move on.
Then, like a lie, the trembling died down.
The thoughts that were scattered in chaos gathered together and began to gradually get sorted.
When my thoughts died down enough, I opened my eyes and said.
Estira.
"Yes, Miss."
"What"s the problem with the drug now? Precisely, explain it briefly."
Estira agonized for a moment and said.
"We need a medium to stabilize the mixed herbs. We need to find that one material."
That"s a relief.
Estira"s medicine is not far from finished.
Come up with it, come up with it.
I have read Estira"s autobiography in my previous life.
I have no background in herbs, so my memory of the original content is weak, but it is worth thinking about.
The difference between past Estira and the current Estira.
[...A vacation in about five years has led me to my hometown. The study was sluggish with no results, and I was lucky enough to find the answer where I found it with a tired body and mind...]
Yes, there was such a thing.
Maybe both then and now Estira was blocked by the same wall in the course of the study?
"Estira, have you told your grandmother back home what"s going on?"
"Oh, no. I thought I"d keep it a secret..."
"I"ll send someone right away, so send a letter to your grandmother. She has been making medicine for a longer time than Estira."
"Oh, yeah! If it was grandma, she might know!"
Estira"s face was filled with joy.
I wrote a little note for Estira to show to butler John, and Estira left the room without delay.
"And Clerivan......."
The rumors of Angenas and my father"s diseases are closely related.
"It"s a bad time. Rumors that Gallahan had Tlenbrew"s disease amid conversations with the Sussew family about opening a branch to the South would be fatal.""That"s what they"re planing."
It will be the work of Angenas.
I don"t know how they found my father sick, but I have to move carefully for today.
"Do you think the Sussew family already knows?"
Clerivan asked me.
"If it were Mrs. Sussew"s personality, she couldn"t have believed it immediately after hearing the words. It"s not completely different from the Lombardy family. They would have confirmed to us in any form."
"I"m glad to hear that. There"s not much time before Mrs. Sussew hears the news. We need to move fast."
"You said Angenas was in the Palace now, right?"
"Yes, that"s right. I heard they pa.s.sed through the palace gates, so I"ve been waiting for your orders."
I agree with Clerivan that there is no time.
We have to move fast.
"I"ll take care of Mrs. Sussew. Clerivan has a place to go right away."
"Tell me, Miss. Florentia."
Clerivan stood up and said, packing up his coat.
Luckily, I knew someone who could help us now.
"Go out and meet my grandfather right now. Tell my grandfather about this situation and ask him to go straight to the Palace."
Seeing the Emperor is not easy for the highest-ranking aristocrats.
Sometimes you have to wait a few days.
But if it was my grandfather
If it was my grandfather, he can go straight away from Lombardy to the Emperor"s office.
He may be able to catch up with Angenas plan.
Watching Clerivan"s out from the back, I opened my father"s door, which was tightly closed...
* * *
"Daddy, Daddy."
Gallahan opened her eyes to a small hand that shook his shoulder.
"Well, Tia?"
How long he has been asleep.
The stiff eyes showed a hazy world only after blinking a few times.
"Dad, just wake up for a second. There is something I must say."
Gallahan clasped his daughter"s small hand, which was still in one hand.
He was trying to make sure he wasn"t dreaming by being drunk.
"It must be difficult, but I"m sorry."
"Our Tia has nothing to be sorry about. I"m more sorry because dad keeps sleeping."1
In the meantime, Gallahan struggled with the eyelid that kept trying to close.
"What do you have to say, Tia?"
"There"s a rumor going around that my dad is sick."
"......What?"
Gallahan"s illness was to be kept secret until the end.
It was important for Gallahan"s clothing store, and most importantly for Tia.
"No, how....... Who the h.e.l.l......."
Gallahan muttered in confusion.
One word from his daughter stopped him.
"Dad."
"Tia......?"
Gallahan wondered, "Oh, is that a dream?"
It"s because her daughter"s face looks a little different every day.
Her face still looked childlike, but on top of it was a much more mature face.
It was as if he was drunk and hallucinating.
"I want to explain everything, but I don"t have time right now. So I"ll tell you right away. Please write me a letter."
"Letters...? To whom?"
"To Mrs. Sussew."
Tia quickly brought a low-sitting desk, letter paper, and writing instruments to use in bed.
"The letter is simple. "Sorry, I didn"t tell you about this illness before. I"m calming myself right now. But I"m sending this letter to someone I trust, so I want you to trust me and wait a little longer.""
Gallahan held a quill as his daughter gave him.
When he had just put the tip of his pen on the paper, he looked at Florentia.
His eyes were filled with a lot of things.
It was calm but full of things in his eyes.
"......If you put out the urgent fire. Will you tell me then, Tia?"
He knew his daughter was different.
Although she was timid and vulnerable, she was always faster than anyone else to learn.
In the past and the present.
She was a lovely daughter than anyone else, but he had a hunch that maybe she had a secret that he didn"t know.
"I promise, Dad."
Listening to Tia, Gallahan moved the quill without hesitation.
From beginning to end, he wrote it down as Tia told.
In the end, he dipped his pen deep in ink and took it out, leaving a powerful signature that did not appear to belong to a sick person.
Gallahan folded the letter, giving it to Florentia, and asked.
"May I ask who will deliver this letter?"
Looks like he won"t send a letter if it"s held by someone else.
It was a vague guess, to the point of calling it as a father"s instinct.
Tia looked surprised for a moment, then smiled.
"I"m going to ask Aunt Shananet."
Before long, Tia ran out of the room after leaving a kiss on Gallahan"s cheek.
* * *
Angenas"s Lord was sitting in the right place without even moving.
He was in stark contrast to Croyton, the owner of Durak, who couldn"t stand still for a while and was impatient.
"How long has it been since we arrived here now?"
"Uh uh, I mean...... Yes, maybe four hours have pa.s.sed."
"I see."
Jovanes was currently hosting a meeting of 80 people instead.
It was a meeting that no one could predict how many hours it would last, but according to what the servant just announced, the meeting was almost at the end.
"Oh, when did he come..."
Croyton said nervously, looking at the door that wouldn"t open.
"When the King comes, Croyton, you just shut up. I"ll take care of it."
Croyton nodded and agree.
If he opened his mouth in front of His Majesty, he might be relieved of the tension.
"Ho, even if His Majesty tells you to speak, I will answer......"
Brakk.
The door opened without warning and Emperor Jovanes walked in.
Croyton turned white and jumped up from the seat of Angenas.
"I can"t believe you were here without an appointment. What the h.e.l.l is going on?"
Although he was the father of the Empress and his father-in-law.
There was no respect for his father-in-law in Jovanes" face.
Rather, he felt very uncomfortable because he couldn"t go to the hawk hunt that was scheduled after the compet.i.tion.
Angenas"s Lord said with a friendly smile that did not suit him.
"I took the liberty of visiting Your Majesty because I wanted your permission."
"Permission? Since when did Angenas need my permission?"
"We, Angenas, always move for the prosperity of your Majesty and the Empire. That"s why I came to see you again this time. We need your special permission......."
"That"s a long introduction. So what family are you going to attack this time?"
At present, the Lambrew Empire was saturated.
There were too many so-called "central n.o.bles" or "higher n.o.bles".
To squeeze in the gap and settle down, Angenas has been taking things from other families in the meantime.
This was the case with the Brown family, whose castle was taken for the first time, and surrounding n.o.bles who took their territory by making them indebted.
Naturally, the enemies would definitely continue to grow, and if it weren"t for the Empress to be the daughter of Angenas"s Lord, they would have become public enemies and perish.
"The Lombardy family."
"What? What did you just say?"
"I told you it was the Lombardy family."
"Are you crazy now?"
Jovanes shout angrily from the bottom of his heart.
"Is this the Empress, what the h.e.l.l! What does Angenas have against Lombardy, so that it always puts this burden on them ......!"
"Gallahan Lombardy is suffering from Tlenbrew"s disease."
"Gallahan...... has Tlenbrew"s disease?"
"Yes, so the survival of the ready-to-wear business is at stake. It"s hard for a clothing store to survive without its founder, Gallahan. How many Imperial people would suffer from that?"
"That, are you sure? The illness of Gallahan."
"Yes, I heard it directly from Gallahan"s doctor."
"Huh......."
It was difficult.
In celebration of the ready-to-wear business, I even gave him the Founding Medal.
It"s like bragging about the prosperity of the Empire under the rule.
"So we, Angenas, are going to try to make that ready-to-wear thing. Give me your permission, Your Majesty."4
"Give me a moment to think."
Jovanes tried to seriously consider the proposal of Angenas"s Lord.
"No need to think, Your Majesty."
Until Lulak Lombardy opened the door with a relaxed look.