He was the Crown Prince. Usually, emperors have many wives and children, but the current Emperor only had the current Empress as his wife.

She gave birth to two sons, who were Ian and Daniel. Both resembled their father Blake in appearance, but their eyes took after their mother. Nevertheless, there was once a strange rumor circulating in society.

The rumor was that ‘Ian is not the Emperor’s son.’ This rumor spread very secretly and quickly.

At that time, when the war had not ended, the Emperor spent more days away from the imperial palace. Considering Ian’s developmental state, it was said that the Emperor was not in the palace when the Empress became pregnant.

Secondly, what further fueled this suspicion was that the Empress kept her pregnancy a secret for a long time.

Despite it being a cause for celebration, the fact that she kept the news of her pregnancy secret was because the child was not of the Emperor’s bloodline, and she was trying to conceal this fact.

It was followed by speculation that the Emperor, who returned to the palace belatedly, knew of his wife’s infidelity but forgave her mistake because he loved her.

Of course, as Ian grew up and revealed an appearance exactly like the Emperor’s, those rumors disappeared. But Ian seemed to worry that if his red eyes were revealed, it would reignite those rumors and tarnish the Empress’s honor.

It’s not common, but there are cases where eye color changes due to disease. As one ages, clear eye colors can become dull, and spots can appear in the whites of the eyes.

I think it’s foolish to doubt one’s origin just because such changes are seen. But people who like to gossip wouldn’t care about such things.

Moreover, it just had to be red. The current Emperor is very hostile towards red eyes. He was not a very merciful ruler.

It was the same for his own children. It was unknown how he would react if he found out that Ian had red eyes.

That’s why Ian was keeping it strictly secret. He especially tried to prevent the Emperor from finding out about this fact. Currently, only Simons and I knew about this.

I understood Ian’s concerns, but I was skeptical about whether this secret was worth enduring the side effects of the medicine to keep.

I was that worried about the side effects. Even I didn’t know how the side effects would manifest, so the fear could only be greater.

“If it’s Jane, she’ll be able to find a way somehow.”

Knowing it would be difficult to persuade him, I nodded.

“The best solution would be to stop taking the medicine, but… Alright. I’ll research more to prevent side effects as much as possible.”

Just as I was about to ask Ian more about his eye condition, someone knocked on the door and informed him of an official meeting.

Originally, official meetings were held with the Emperor at the center, gathering nobles in the capital, but the Emperor, who had no interest in state affairs, often passed his duties to Ian, the Crown Prince.

Ian made a troubled face and said to me,

“I’ll send Simons soon, so wait.”

“I can go alone.”

He said with a distrustful face,

“Don’t get lost in the palace like last time, just wait.”

“Ugh. That time I just got lost because it was too dark.”

He laughed as if finding it amusing.

“People don’t usually get lost just because it’s cloudy. Moreover, the imperial palace is so complex that even ordinary people find it difficult to navigate. It’s too much for someone as directionally challenged as you.”

I did get lost a few times, but that wasn’t because I was directionally challenged, but due to the special nature of the imperial palace.

There are no signposts, the buildings are far apart, and maze gardens pop up here and there – it’s more surprising if someone can navigate well.

I heard that the maze gardens were actually designed to make assassins lose their way. So me getting lost here is definitely not because I’m stupid.

But I didn’t want to argue with him and waste his time, so I obediently replied,

“Alright. I’ll wait for Head Servant Simons.”

“I’m worried you’ll just say that and leave anyway. Should I take you there myself rather than you struggling to find your way?”

The servant who came to deliver the message looked restless. Seeing his anxiously shifting eyes, it seemed to be an urgent matter. Feeling sympathy for that servant, I pushed Ian’s back.

“I said it’s fine. People will be waiting, so hurry and go.”

I forcibly sent out Ian, who was hesitating as if his steps were heavy.

“That fool Daniel caused some stupid trouble…”

He set out while cursing his brother, Prince Daniel. Unlike the mature Ian, the troublemaker Prince Daniel had caused quite a problem this time.

Calling it ‘causing trouble’ might be unfair to him, but anyway, it seemed Ian was needed to resolve the situation.

Although Ian grumbled discontentedly about being dragged to the official meeting, he seemed worried about my poor sense of direction and repeatedly told me to wait until the head servant arrived.

“I said I understand. So don’t worry about me and hurry up and go.”

Ian followed the servant with a worried face. I chuckled, finding his behavior cute.

“Head Servant Simons, are you very busy?”

The head servant, whom I thought would come soon, didn’t appear even after my tea had gone cold. I wasn’t someone with unlimited time either, so sitting still and waiting was frustrating. I needed to return to the pharmacy soon; there was a mountain of work to be done.

“Well, he is a person with heavy responsibilities after all.”

Head Servant Simons was the person who managed the entire Crown Prince’s palace. It was also too high a position to waste manpower on escorting just one pharmacist, officially a perfumer, to the palace gates.

It was starting to get dark outside the window. Dark and heavy clouds were gathering, in stark contrast to the bright morning weather.

“It looks like it might rain this afternoon, I should return before then.”

A light rain would be fine, but for the past few days, once it started pouring, it rained so heavily it was hard to believe it was winter rain. Just imagining returning to the pharmacy in such rain was quite tiring.

I could catch a cold if I’m not careful. No matter how healthy one’s body is, getting drenched in a downpour is not good. Feeling it was a waste to spend more time sitting idly and waiting, I packed my bag and stood up.

“Surely I won’t get lost? I just need to retrace the path I came.”

Of course, I came by carriage, passed through a maze-like garden, and might lose my sense of direction walking between trees maintained as high as castle walls, but I couldn’t just sit here forever waiting for the Head Servant to come.

“I’m busy too. I have a lot to do today… If I meet any servants on the way, I can ask them for directions.”

I set out intending to ask for directions if I met someone, but finding someone to ask for directions was not easy.

“Did everyone go to the official meeting?”

Having already lost my way out, I walked and walked, hoping for someone to appear. The imperial garden with its diverse flora was interesting, but the heavily overcast sky made me anxious and quicken my pace.

“If I had known this would happen, it would have been faster to wait until the Head Servant called a carriage. The imperial palace is unnecessarily large… Is this normal for an empire?”

Being the imperial palace of an empire, it was considerably larger compared to other kingdoms. Not only the various buildings but also the large and complex gardens were contributing to my loss of direction.

I’ve never seen it myself, but they say there’s even a village inside the palace. When the Empress missed her hometown, the Emperor had an exact replica of her hometown built within the imperial palace for her.

They say even a single stone lying on the road was perfectly reproduced, and people were even hired to dress up exactly like the villagers living there.

I had once gaped in astonishment at Simons’s story that shepherds, blacksmiths, farmers, restaurant owners, and even children playing in the village were paid workers.

Still finding it hard to believe, I asked Ian again, and he nodded as if it was nothing special and said,

“Mother missed her hometown, so His Majesty the Emperor had it made himself. Some buildings and trees were brought directly from her hometown. There was a lot of opposition to bringing the sacred tree, but he pushed it through forcefully.”

I couldn’t help but be shocked.

I knew the story that the Emperor deeply cherished and loved only the Empress without taking any other concubines, but even so, creating a village identical to her hometown for her when she missed it seemed excessive, even for an emperor.

The sacred tree usually refers to the oldest and largest tree in the village, considered sacred by the villagers.

Sometimes, some people believed that if many insects appeared on the sacred tree or if its leaves withered, it would bring calamity to the village. That’s how great the villagers’ belief in the sacred tree was.