Saved Him, Now I'm Obsessed - Chapter 69

“Indeed. The Emperor of the Calovanian Empire is a terribly brutal ruler. No one knows for sure why the Stefan Kingdom was erased from the map, do they? Without realizing it, we could offend him and disappear into history, so we must normally keep them appeased.”

“Even if we go to war with the Calovanian Empire, we won’t lose. I’m here, aren’t I? Does it make sense to send an envoy to appease them? Rather, using the Calovanian Empire as a stepping stone to elevate our kingdom to an empire wouldn’t be bad either.”

“You…!”

Antosion felt chills for a moment. He worried that if he made Failtorin his successor, the Pledinus Kingdom might really disappear from the world map.

War is only for countries that can match each other! Most of the nobles in this country could only read and hold a pen, with many never having even heard of a sword.

In contrast, the Calovanian Empire, until just 10 years ago, had actively waged wars of conquest, with well-trained and battle-experienced knights and soldiers as numerous as the population of the Pledinus Kingdom.

If these two countries were to clash, how could it be a war? It would just be a one-sided massacre.

Yet his son was spouting such nonsensical words, making Antosion worry about the future of the Pledinus Kingdom.

Usually when Failtorin spoke such nonsense, Greina would step in and point out how stupid his words were, but this time she was unusually quiet.

“Father, so I was wondering. Could I go along with the envoy being sent to the Calovanian Empire? I want to experience what the Empire is like.”

Rather than arguing about her elder brother’s stupidity, she seemed to be treating him as if he didn’t exist. This time, Antosion also wanted to treat his son as if he didn’t exist.

But his daughter’s request to accompany the envoy was equally perplexing. Antosion found himself unconsciously looking at his daughter’s expression. It was unbecoming of a king’s dignity, but still.

The girl who aspired to the throne was always busy. She was busy meeting nobles within the kingdom, and lately, she was busy trying to win the favor of the military for some scheme.

Such a girl valued her time outside the kingdom. She had no time to rest as she strived to become the next successor instead of her elder brother.

It was surprising that she wanted to go to the Calovanian Empire with the envoy. She would have to stay for at least a few weeks if she went, but she was willing to be away for so long? Antosion was anxious about what she might be plotting.

“Haven’t you been uninterested in participating in envoys until now?”

“I need to prepare for the future too.”

For some reason, the word ‘future’ spoken by her felt frightening to Antosion. Failtorin, seemingly oblivious to this sense of crisis, spoke to his younger sister in a cheerful voice.

“You’ve had a crush on the Crown Prince for a long time, right? Come to think of it, I heard he still doesn’t have a fiancée. Father, I wonder if our kingdom might be in for some good news.”

Hearing those words, a small hope arose in Antosion’s heart.

‘Could it be….’

His daughter was a child who was dissatisfied with her country being just a kingdom. She especially disliked the fact that her stupid elder brother would ascend to a higher position than her capable self as the successor.

Because of this, she had been arguing hard that she could ascend to the throne despite being a woman, but had been met with Antosion’s strong opposition.

What if she had decided to aim for an empire rather than her elder brother’s position? If she were to marry Ian, the sole heir to the Calovanian Empire, and become the empress, it would fulfill her ambitions.

If she were as clever as she was, even if she sat on the empress’s throne, she could manipulate the emperor to her will and live like an emperor herself.

If his daughter had truly changed her mind, Antosion wouldn’t have to worry about a bloody wind blowing between his children. He asked his daughter with a welcoming heart.

“Are you really going because you have feelings for the Crown Prince of the Calovanian Empire?”

“Who knows?”

His daughter showed a smile that was both knowing and enigmatic. He felt uneasy seeing his daughter’s smile.

Today, I didn’t go to work and was sprawled out in the reception room where sunlight streamed in. Among the places in this large mansion, the sofa here boasted the best cushioning for lounging, so I often came here to rest.

“I thought I’d be busy again…”

Seina, the gravekeeper’s daughter, had safely recovered her health and returned to her duties as an apprentice maid in the Chamberlain Marquis household.

I advised Seina never to carelessly make and drink tea. She was grateful, saying she would repay the favor for the rest of her life.

I told her it was fine, but secretly I hoped that she would spread the word about my skills to others through her work at the marquis household, and that patients would start coming to the medical bureau in the imperial palace… But still, not a single patient had come.

“It’s not just about not being known, but this seems to be mostly an accessibility issue. Did I accept too hastily when they offered to build the medical bureau? Maybe I should have just reopened at the old pharmacy location.”

The medical bureau being inside the imperial palace makes it difficult for people not affiliated with the palace to visit. And it’s not like people from the palace are coming either, so the medical bureau is bound to be empty every day. I can’t say I don’t want to do it now…

It was only because I was an imperial doctor that Ileana said it was okay, but if I really opened a medical bureau in the capital, she would probably discourage it, saying it was undignified work.

With no particular patients to care for, I spent my time managing medicinal herbs at the medical bureau. But what’s the use of preparing so diligently? There’s nowhere to use it.

The position of imperial doctor was also nominal. Although the salary came in regularly, I felt uncomfortable just receiving money without doing any work, even though no one was giving me sideways glances. What should I do from now on…

“Claire! You were here? You didn’t go to work today? Come to think of it, His Highness the Crown Prince who used to come to pick you up every day hasn’t come either.”

“I’m trying not to go to work on weekends now. There’s no point in going out every day when no one’s looking for me… And His Highness the Crown Prince said he had something to do today.”

“So is His Highness returning to his duties?”

“Well, I’m not sure about that. He said there’s an envoy coming from the Pledinus Kingdom today, and it’s so important that he absolutely can’t miss it.”

“An envoy is coming from the Pledinus Kingdom?”

Her face lit up as she asked me. I’m not sure what the relationship is between the Pledinus Kingdom and Ileana, but she seemed very pleased to hear that an envoy was coming from there.

“Yes, that’s what I heard.”

“That’s great news. Then Lord Elroid might return to the Calovanian Empire at the same time. I was worried that the time apart for the two of you was getting too long.”

“El…who?”

I was puzzled by the unfamiliar name. I had been diligently studying and memorizing the names of people I needed to know in high society, but that name wasn’t on the list.

“Lord Paddington Elroid. He’s a very important person to Claire.”

“Is he that important? Is he family?”

“He’s not family now, but he’ll soon be family to Claire. He’s Claire’s fiancé.”

“What?”

It seems I keep asking her to repeat herself today. Claire had a fiancé?

Of course, I knew that noble marriages often happened based on family interests, so it was common to have fiancés from an early age and hold the wedding soon after coming of age. But Ileana hadn’t explained this separately, and given Claire’s shy and unsociable personality, I thought she didn’t have one. I had never once considered the existence of a fiancé.

He’s Claire’s fiancé, but doesn’t that make him my fiancé too? A fiancé. I was dumbfounded by this sudden existence.

His name was Paddington Elroid, she said.

“I wanted to tell Claire earlier, but with her lost memories and not being fully adjusted to her memories with Shuri and me, I wasn’t sure if I should mention Lord Elroid.”

I nodded at her words. I could fully understand why she hadn’t explained about the fiancé to Claire.

As she said, I had an awkward relationship with Claire’s elder brother, Shuri.

Although I had somewhat accepted them as family now, it was clearly very different from the previous relationship between Claire and Shuri. So Ileana probably couldn’t bring up the topic of the fiancé to me.

By the way, did Ian know about Claire’s fiancé too? If he knew, why didn’t he tell me? Ian, who used to react sensitively whenever I showed interest in other men.

Yet he never mentioned that Claire had a fiancé, which made me feel a bit hurt.

Usually, when he showed sensitive reactions, I would grumble that he was being childish, but now that he’s not showing concern, I feel disappointed… If he had shown signs of caring about Claire’s fiancé, I probably would have grumbled that he was being childish. How ironic.