[74]
As usual, Sena came to give medicine to Astria without fail today, but he saw an unexpected sight.
“You’re here?”
“Yes, I am.”
It’s the third day already.
It’s a short time, but seeing Astria awake in the morning was surprising.
“What’s this?”
Sena regained his senses while looking at Astria’s small hand.
He handed her the medicine.
“Though it still looks unappetizing, the color is different today.”
Astria wrinkled her nose at the blueish porridge.
“Oh, because you said it was too bitter, I added some spices.”
“What did you put in?”
“Mint chocolate.”
“I’ve never heard of those two together.”
By the way, Sena was a huge fan of mint chocolate.
Even if it wasn’t for that reason, mint is good for the body. Herbs aid digestion.
Astria hesitated for a moment before swallowing it in one gulp. She knew that after several days of trial and error, this version was the best.
“…”
“…How does it taste?”
Sena looked at her with some anticipation.
“Physician.”
“Yes.”
Astria said with a face that looked like she had just eaten dung.
“…Never put that in again.”
Unfortunately, the empress didn’t seem to be a fan of mint.
“And there’s something separate to discuss today.”
“Yes.”
“Can you make my leg function normally just for today? Even for a moment, it’s fine.”
Astria said it with such seriousness that it seemed genuine.
But she soon smiled self-deprecatingly.
“Forget what I just said. I asked for something unreasonable. I’m not one to expect miracles, after all.”
As she said, unfortunately, there were no miracles in medicine.
There were only thorough scientific principles.
Sena held out a small vial from his pocket.
Astria’s eyes widened at the sight of it.
“It’s called Levodopa. It won’t help with overall healing, but it can temporarily free up your movement.”
Originally, Levodopa was a crucial medication for treating Parkinson’s disease.
However, the manufacturing process was extremely difficult. It required various chemical processes, and above all, Sena himself didn’t know the recipe.
But he was researching it discreetly because it was necessary. This was clearly an imitation rather than the original drug.
“It takes effect for about 30 minutes. However, there are side effects.”
Since he made it hastily, there were side effects. And they were quite significant.
“When the effects wear off, there will be significant backlash. It won’t lead to death, but it’ll be very painful. Please refrain from any strenuous activity even if you have to take the medicine.”
Normally, he wouldn’t give it. Sena was a doctor, not a pharmacist. He wasn’t the type to give incomplete medicine to patients either.
‘But that expression is cheating.’
It almost seemed like he would burst into tears.
And if the empress took seriously what he said, then it must be quite important.
“…I couldn’t have imagined it. That it would be possible.”
Astria took the vial in her hand.
“Listening to Cruyff’s advice was the best choice. You’re not just capable; you’re worthy. Be happy. You have gained the trust of the Empress.”
Astria smiled, but for some reason, it looked very eerie.
**
On the way back after finishing the morning consultations and acquiring the necessary medicinal herbs, Sena felt that the palace was quite chaotic.
The maids were busy, and there were overwhelmingly more knights wandering around the palace than usual.
Sena chuckled as he held the medicinal herbs tightly.
‘What could it be?’
It was unsettling. The Empress’s tasks this morning, and something seemed to be happening.
‘No, let’s not dwell on it.’
Sena sighed inwardly and continued walking. It was obvious that getting involved would only be troublesome based on experience.
Let’s just focus on fixing the Empress’s leg. Focus.
-Don’t be too disappointed.
-Still, he said such things until yesterday, so his affection must have diminished.
-Don’t you know Sena’s personality? By now, he must be only thinking about escaping.
-…It’s even more irritating.
Familiar voices came from the training grounds.
It was Sylvia and Chris, sitting on a log and conversing.
‘Yeah. Let’s run away.’
That’s definitely an NPC preparing to give a quest.
Sena tried to minimize his presence as much as possible and walked about 1.2 times faster than usual.
He didn’t walk faster because he was afraid the herbs might spill.
“Sena!”
However, he was immediately caught as soon as he entered Chris’s area.
Well, Sena didn’t know how to suppress his presence.
Even if he knew, Chris, who was sensitive to magic, would have noticed immediately.
‘But why is he running away?’
As soon as Sylvia saw Sena, she jumped up.
“It seems like the consultations are over for today.”
“Oh, yes. Sir Chris.”
“…Are you using honorifics strangely?”
“Oh, yes, yes.”
Sena tried to pass by with a clearly awkward expression.
By the way, Chris was a friend he had been with since their academy days. So, he knew when Sena was most uncomfortable.
Chris chuckled and spoke.
“Come to think of it, isn’t the palace quite noisy today? Actually, a very important figure has returned after completing a mission.”
“The Great Commander of the North. Duke Granz has returned.”
‘A forced quest!’
Sena was astonished. He had managed to avoid this much, but now he was being roped into it? This is coercion! It’s invalid!
“Oh, really? I’m not particularly interested.”
“Is that so? Then, I’ll be on my way.”
Chris bowed slightly and turned away.
Sena urgently grabbed Chris’s shoulder.
“…What’s up? Spit it out.”
How could he bear this?
**
Sena hesitated and sat down heavily on the stump where Sylvia had been.
Chris laughed and cried while looking at the drivers moving about busily.
“Duke Granz Kairos.”
“The most threatening political rival to Her Majesty.”
‘The reason you said that to me was because you didn’t want to appear weak to your political opponents.’
Sena finally understood, but there were still things he didn’t understand.
“As far as I know, as soon as Her Majesty ascended, she took care of all the rivals. They say she eliminated all threats on the spot.”
Sena pretended to hit his own neck.
It was a famous incident. The so-called Night of Blood.
On the night when the previous emperor passed away.
At midnight, Princess Astria, at the age of 12, armed with a sword, broke through the emergency system and sat on the throne.
And in the process, she killed all her siblings.
History is divided on the matter. Some say that Astria, at the age of 12, couldn’t possibly have surpassed the Crown Prince, who was controlling the empire’s top knights at the time, and ascended the throne without someone backing her.
The person identified as the backer is the Second Empress, Marianne. She was Astria’s own mother and also held power at the time.
However, it was caught that Astria had put all the people related to Marianne on the chopping block.
So now, the ‘Night of Blood’ is interpreted in one of two ways. One is that Marianne made Astria an empress but was betrayed afterward.
The other is that there was no backer from the beginning, and everything was Astria’s doing.
Sena was personally curious about which one it was.
Of course, he had no intention of asking directly. Because his remaining life was precious.
“The internal affairs of the palace are not that simple. Even Her Majesty can’t kill everyone. One of them is the former Imperial Guardian Knight, Sir Granz.”
“How strong is he?”
Surprisingly, Sena likes this kind of stories.
Who is strong, who is weak, who wins, that kind of thing.
Since it’s a fantasy world, he admires it to some extent.
Chris replied with an unenthusiastic face.
“He’s at least stronger than me.”
“Than Her Majesty?”
“What do you think? By the way, Duke Granz is ranked first among the imperial knights. He’s the strongest among the five Masters.”
Chris looked at Sena with more interest.
‘…Although Astria’s nickname is the Sword Empress, she’s still an empress.’
Sena, who had lived through the 21st century, wasn’t so naive as to believe rumors about the Empress blindly.
After all, it’s natural for an emperor to be deified to maintain power.
“Wouldn’t Duke Granz be stronger? He’s a commander.”
Chris didn’t immediately give an answer and instead beat around the bush.
“Her Majesty’s Guardian Knight undergoes tests. Her Majesty herself participated in the third test.”
“Even though she was quite ill at the time, she could still move. Can you guess what the test was about?”
“I wonder.”
“Just once. Make the Master draw their sword.”
“…What happened?”
“No one succeeded. Even the three Masters who took the test didn’t move a finger. I was the only one who managed to draw the sword with trembling hands.”
When one reaches the height of swordsmanship, they’re bestowed with the title of Master.
Sena knew how formidable they could be. It was akin to a medieval version of tactical nukes.
And yet, Masters couldn’t even draw their swords?
“As I was leaving, Her Majesty said one thing with a poker face. ‘Passed’. That’s how I became Her Majesty’s Guardian Knight. But that was only a half-baked success. My goal is to one day make Her Majesty draw her sword for real.”
How strong could Empress Astria be then?
Sena couldn’t even imagine.
**
Astria, sitting on her throne with an arrogant look on her face, spat indifferently.
“Lord Granz.”
“It’s been a while.”
Even though it had been a long time since he had seen his liege, there was no trace of warmth.
“I sent you to die, yet you’ve crawled back alive. You’re an insolent subject.”
“That’s regrettable.”
The obedient Granz showed no change in expression.
Astria made a mocking gesture with her tongue and formally spoke.
“How are the monsters in the North?”
“The Empire’s territory has increased by a fifth.”
Astria, with a bored expression, rested her chin on her hand for a moment, then slowly rose to her feet.
With perfect footsteps, she approached Granz and casually drew his sword.
After stepping back two paces, she swung the sword towards Granz’s eyes.
Without even blinking, the sword stopped exactly at the edge of his pupils. But due to the air pressure, his cheek was slightly grazed.
“Aren’t you avoiding?”
Astria turned around, dropping the sword as if contemptuous.
Granz’s sword rolled on the cold carpet.
“Such an uninteresting guy.”
Granz, who hadn’t moved an inch throughout the entire process, opened his mouth as if to ridicule Astria’s actions.
“You’ve improved quite a bit.”
Astria’s steps halted. Without even looking back, she spoke.
“Yes. And what that means is that it won’t be long before I kill you disgusting b*stards. Aren’t you afraid?”
Granz still spoke in his dry tone.
“The new personal physician seems to be quite skilled. It’s fortunate.”
Astria bit her molars and moved on.
“Get lost.”
