“Is there an empty building in the imperial city?”

“I’ll check. There are many such places inside the imperial city.”

Unlike the previous Emperor who had many family members, the current Emperor only had the Empress and two children as family. As a result, there were many unused buildings within the imperial palace.

The Emperor and Empress, more modest in nature than expected, did not try to find uses for those places or greatly expand their own quarters, so empty buildings could be found in abundance.

“May I ask what you intend to use it for? So I can find a suitable building for the purpose.”

“I’m going to create a medical office.”

“A medical office? Then it doesn’t need to be very large. I know of a usable building. It was donated by the Principality of Ilunia to commemorate diplomatic relations, and it has a large lavender field next to it.”

“A lavender field, you say? That’s perfect. She’ll surely be delighted.”

“May I ask why you’re suddenly looking for a medical office building?”

Simons cautiously asked Ian. Ian, with even his cheeks flushed red, spoke in a somewhat excited voice.

“I’m thinking of making Countess Hydrangea the imperial city’s physician.”

“The imperial city’s physician? You’re going to make that Countess Hydrangea the imperial city’s physician?”

Simons asked again, but Ian just shrugged his shoulders.

Simons instinctively rubbed his brow, knowing it was impolite. He was at a loss, seeing such great changes in the Crown Prince he served recently.

He couldn’t understand why the Crown Prince was suddenly taking an interest in Claire McCain, Countess Hydrangea.

Until just recently, he had been refusing food and drink, acting as if his days were numbered… Then suddenly, as if he had come to his senses, or rather as if he had completely forgotten Jane, he took an interest in Countess Hydrangea.

Of course, it’s not that she was disliked or bad. But from what he had observed so far, the Crown Prince hadn’t liked her much until now. No, it would be more fitting to say he didn’t even care enough to put her in the like or dislike category.

Ian had judged Claire as small, weak, and troublesome. Even though she had saved his younger brother Daniel’s life, he had muttered, ‘She’s just unnecessarily meddling and making things bothersome.’

He cared more about the annoyance of having to clean up after her than worry about her condition. Even on that day when he last sent Jane off, because he had to leave his post due to matters related to her…

Could it be that he’s pretending to be nice to her for revenge? Simons worried with an uneasy heart.

Of course, Claire was not at all to blame for Jane’s death, but since when does resentment arise by following logic? Even if the Crown Prince held a grudge against her, Simons could not stop him.

‘Could it be… because of how she helped him at the last banquet?’

When Ian, who was not feeling well, suddenly said he would attend the banquet, Simons tried to dissuade him. But he couldn’t overcome Ian’s stubbornness. As he continued his thoughts, he recalled meeting her that day when Ian collapsed in the garden.

‘Lady McCain was indeed strange…’

She wasn’t the extremely shy Lady McCain that Simons knew. Come to think of it, how did she know so matter-of-factly that he suffered from arthritis?

Getting lost in the garden could be explained by her unfamiliarity with the imperial palace interior, but… It probably wasn’t anything, but Simons briefly thought of Pharmacist Jane while looking at Lady McCain. Perhaps Ian had thought of her too?

It might be better for him to forget the deceased Jane and give his heart to Countess Hydrangea, but…

Ian was the person who resembled the fearsome Emperor more than anyone. He was born with a fierce temperament. Although Simons served him, he knew well about his nature.

He was by no means a kind person, and his temperament was well-known among other nobles. His position as Crown Prince made it seem natural. Only Pharmacist Jane treated him like a small, fragile younger brother…

Come to think of it, Claire had looked at him that way too. The reaction of Countess Hydrangea, holding the collapsed Ian in her arms in the garden, was truly unexpected.

Although it was only once before, when she had faced Ian previously, she had trembled like a mouse before a lion, unable to even meet his eyes. But in that garden, she looked at Ian as if he were the weakest and most lovable animal in the world.

Simons felt sorry for Countess Hydrangea. Given that Ian resembled the Emperor’s temperament so closely, receiving his attention was certainly not a welcome thing in her life.

Although the Emperor loves the Empress, his way of loving is not the way the Empress desires.

The Emperor chooses dresses for her every time and holds banquets as if she had initiated them. While the nobles consider her the true ruler of high society, she herself preferred country life over social circles.

To win her favor, the Emperor created a garden just for her within the palace. Because she missed her hometown, he uprooted and moved a large tree from there, and built a replica of the small mansion from her hometown.

Though saddened by the transplanting of the tree, she likes the palace that perfectly resembles the mansion in her hometown. The Emperor wanted the Empress to indulge in luxury. He wanted her to stay with him, even if it was for the money, spending it lavishly.

When the Empress first entered high society in the past, most noble ladies ignored her. They used the etiquette that those of lower status cannot speak until addressed by those of higher status to embarrass her.

The Empress, not knowing the etiquette well at the time, didn’t understand their intentions. She just muttered that it was too quiet for what was supposed to be a banquet. However, even after that, the Emperor spent a lot of money without her knowledge to establish her prestige.

Despite this, there were no financial problems.

Rather, it became more abundant, partly because the Emperor increased the number of vassal states sending tributes, but more so because he sent all the lovers and concubines’ children of the previous Emperor, as well as his own aunts and many siblings, to the execution ground under various pretexts.

He was an Emperor without mercy, and the nobles feared even blinking without permission before him.

The Emperor had an aversion to newspapers that carried bad news about the Empress in the past, so he shut down most newspaper companies and left only the court newspaper.

Even if new newspapers were founded, they had to pay excessive taxes for each issue, get permission from the royal family before publication, and face severe punishment if they possessed printing presses large enough to print newspapers without permission, thus controlling the press.

It was his way of loving. But did it truly make the Empress happy? With each passing day, the Empress was withering away. Simons, who had aged for a long time in the royal palace, knew very well how cruel one-sided love could be.

It was enough that the Emperor and Empress had such a cruel love. He didn’t want the Crown Prince to follow in their footsteps with a sorrowful love. But it seemed too late already.

His behavior of making her the imperial city’s physician to bind her to his side, and building a medical office within the imperial city for her to stay, closely resembled the Emperor.

She might be happy at first to become the imperial city’s physician and receive the gift of a medical office.

But neither the Emperor nor the Crown Prince were particularly considerate of others’ feelings, only knowing how to pour out love one-sidedly. It was obvious she would soon feel fear from their distorted love and try to run away.

There was only one person who could accept Ian’s nature. The big problem was that she no longer existed in this world.

“Perhaps I’ve lived too long.”

Simons muttered as if lamenting, after nodding and leaving upon being told to prepare the imperial city’s medical office as if it were natural. Though it had been disrespectful in front of the Crown Prince, he remembered Pharmacist Jane, who had always been the reins for the Crown Prince with her lively presence.

She had been like a friend to Simons too. Perhaps because they shared the same secret, he could confide various stories to her, which was a great comfort in life for Simons who had many secrets.

Perhaps due to age, Simons even felt as if she were his granddaughter. In a way, they might have been substitutes for family for each other, both being without families.

While he was glad to see the Crown Prince regain his vitality as if he had forgotten her, on the other hand, it felt as if a large hole had been pierced in his heart, with a cool breeze passing through.

Now it seemed he was the only one in the world who remembered Pharmacist Jane. Even that wouldn’t last long given his remaining lifespan… Would there even be people in the world who remembered her?

Of course, there was still a steady stream of people coming to pay respects in front of her pharmacy, but they only knew a part of Jane. There was no one who had as deep an exchange with her as himself and Crown Prince Ian.

“I should bring a flower today.”

Simons thought he should make time to bring flowers to her pharmacy. Of course, her body was still in the Crown Prince’s room, but he didn’t have the courage to pay respects seeing that sight.