﹡ ⊹ ⊰ Chapter 244 ⊱ ⊹ ﹡
In the Imperial Palace bedroom.
The quiet bedroom was filled with only the rough breathing sounds and the strong smell of medicine.
"Why am I not getting better?!" Jovanes screamed toward the palace doctor with a grimace.
His bony fingers trembled for weeks now along with his dry lips.
"I'm not sure either. I've been concocting the same medicine as what—"
"You're trying to kill me—Cough!" As he raised his voice, Jovanes began to cough in fits.
Every breath was painful, and if he shows a little bit of reaction, he would cough nonstop, making every day painful to bear.
"Uh, Your Majesty, come and take the medicine—" The palace doctor, who was so intimidated and wary, quickly rushed with a bottle of medicine as Jovanes began coughing.
"Ah...You—"
Barely swallowing a few sips of medicine, Jovanes snapped and grabbed the palace doctor by the collar.
"S-spare me, Your Majesty!" The palace doctor begged, closing his eyes tightly, and trembled.
"Right now, make the medicine.....if you don't want to d.ie...Cough!"
He started coughing again and his eyes became blo.odshot red.
Eventually, after drinking another bottle of medicine the doctor gave, he started to breathe easily again.
"Haa..."
Looking at the back of the doctor making his escape, Jovanes took a breath again.
There was silence again in the bedroom.
"This is unacceptable..."
Jovanes was isolated.
He wasn't saying that he was trapped by someone. It's just that no one came to visit Jovanes.
Jovanes was being forgotten.
"What an ungrateful fellow."
Glaring at an empty space, Jovanes pulled the string by the bed hard.
"Did you call, Your Majesty?"
Maid Otua suddenly disappeared one day, and the young maidservant, who had newly filled the spot, asked with her head down.
"Bring the Second Prince."
At Jovanes' order, the maid took a moment to reply. It was because starting the afternoon up to now, the Second Prince was bound to be busy.
"...Yes, Your Majesty."
Once again, the maid politely stepped out of the bedroom.
After a while.
"Did you call, Your Majesty?"
As Perez came in and greeted him, Jovanes smiled viciously.
"They said you're very busy."
Perez did not answer. It was because he had already heard through the maid that Jovanes was very upset.
None of the people who attended Jovanes weren't on Perez's side.
"Do you think that power belongs to you?" Jovanes said in a very sarcastic tone.
"With my words, you will be nothing right away."
He still has the power
"... I know," Perez answered in a low voice.
At that appearance, Jovanes raised the corner of his mouth again and said.
"Bring me tea."
"...I will call the maid immediately."
"No, bring it out yourself."
If Perez and Jovanes are close, it's not too much of an order.
Regardless of status, making tea for someone you care about was an expression of affection and respect.
But Jovanes was now trying to humiliate him by ordering to bring him tea instead of the maid.
"Why? Can't you?" Jovanes asked the unresponding Perez.
Looking a little insincere for a moment, Perez replied.
"... No, it's not that. Please wait a moment."
After opening the door and getting hot water from the maid, Perez started brewing tea directly by Jovanes' bedside.
Jovanes stared at Perez's every move with the intention of scolding him right away if he made any mistakes, but in the end, there was no reason to nitpick.
It wasn't until the light green tea water was poured into a teacup, that Jovanes looked away and drank the tea.
The refreshing scent of flowers stimulated his nose.
"At that time...it's the tea I drank before the meeting began."
"That's right."
Inwardly, Jovanes was amazed.
It was because drinking tea seemed to make it a little easier to breathe.
Jovanes said to Perez, who was standing still with his hands behind his back.
"Second Prince, come twice a day and bring this tea to me."
It was a ridiculous request.
Perez was doing all of the Emperor's work in his stead. And now he wants the Prince to come twice a day and make tea.
But Jovanes was impudent.
If Perez refused, he intended to delay the appointment of the Crown Prince using it as an excuse.
"I'll do that."
But Perez nodded his head and was calm.
"I'll be back tomorrow morning. Take a rest."
When Perez took his leave and left the bedroom, Jovanes was left alone again.
But unlike before, Jovanes was smiling.
Soon after, he pulled the string one more time to call the maid and said.
"Ask Chairman Kil.lian, early tomorrow morning, to stop by."
I will not be forgotten like this.
Jovanes thought, trembling again.
***
My father and I stepped out of the mansion and arrived at Lombardy square, precisely in front of the fountain.
It was a fountain devoid of water because it was winter, but since it was a symbol of the square, people still crowded around it.
"Would you like to sit here for a minute?"
Dad sat down by the fountain and tapped the seat next to him.
When I sat where he indicated, he said with a big smile. "Can you see that tree over there? When spring comes, flowers bloom on that tree. And when the wind blows, the petals blow all the way here."
"And here I met Shan for the first time."
"Mother?" I asked again, a little surprised.
"Yes, I was sitting here and drawing that tree full of flowers. And then, I met Shan."
As if he had returned to that time, Dad's eyes crinkled at their corners as he smiled.
"There... She walked looking straight at me from that road. She stood in front of me and said 'Do you like to draw?'"
"You remember all that?"
"Well, that is the first thing your mother told me. And actually..."
My father smiled a little shyly and scratched his cheek before saying, "I've fallen in love since the first time I saw her."
"Oh, love at first sight!"
It was an anecdote that I had never heard personally in my previous life, until now.
"I thought I should tell you this one day, Tia. How was it?"
"Amazing! To be honest, I was also curious."
Because my father rarely talks about my mother.
I only heard that she di.ed shortly after giving birth to me. But it was something I couldn't even ask my father about without being cautious.
"Then, shall we go for dinner first?" My father asked, taking the lead.
I got up quickly and walked with my father.
Soon, we arrived at a small, shabby restaurant. At first glance, it looks like a place that seemed to have a lot of history.
How good the smell of the food flowing out was, my stomach growled unconsciously.
My father opened the old wooden door rather familiarly and took us to a table by the window.
"Two stews, please."
When he ordered, a middle-aged woman who was serving food energetically, quickly came with two large round bowls filled with stew full of meat.
As I was salivating while watching the steamy stew, the middle-aged woman asked my father after bringing us a basket of bread to go with the stew.
"Hmm? You look familiar."
"Haha. I used to be a regular a long time ago."
When my father smiled warmly, the middle-aged woman clapped her hands loudly as she remembered him.
"Oh my God, yes! I thought you look familiar! You've always been with a small lady, haven't you?"
"Yes, that's right."
"I see. This is your daughter, isn't she?" The middle-aged woman said as she looked at me.
To be honest I was a little nervous. It was a restaurant a little far from the Lombardy mansion.
She might recognize my face.
"You look just like your mother!"
However, she was just a middle-aged woman without a sign of recognizing me, looking very happy.
"I shouldn't treat a regular customer like this. Wait a minute!"
After saying so, the middle-aged woman held a freshly baked apple pie in her hand straight from the kitchen.
"It's on me! Go on and have this dessert!"
After the middle-aged woman left such pleasant words, left to busily work again.
"It's hectic, isn't it?" My father looked around the noisy restaurant as he asked me.
Not really.
In my previous life, I also toiled away at a restaurant like this where commoners mainly gathered.
"Your grandfather always said to us, The citizens of Lombardy should not know the faces of the Lombardy clan."
"So you're saying that you need to be so comfortable to the extent that you couldn't care less who you're running into?"
"Yes, indeed, they need to feel at ease in Lombardy." My father said as he encouraged me to try the stew.
"Wow, it's delicious!"
Even though it's a little early for dinner, I expected the food in this restaurant to be good after seeing so many people.
The hot stew was more delicious than I thought.
"It was Shan's favorite food." My father brought forth as he started eating with delight.
In the end, my father and I even emptied the apple pie we got for free and exited the restaurant with full bellies.
"....Huh?"
But the more I walked, the stranger it get.
"Where are we going now, Dad?"
"We'll be there in a little while."
Eventually, we stopped in front of an alley in a residential area where the commoners live.
"Here we are, Tia."
My father pointed to a small house in the corner.
It was a pretty house with a red roof and a shallow brick wall. It has a small garden that looks like spring full of greeneries when the days get warmer.
"This is the house where Shan and I lived together until we entered the mansion."
"Ah..."
I couldn't say anything for a while.
I only looked at my father as he was looking at the house in nostalgia and then turned my eyes to the corner.
Down the street, I saw a bakery that was closed after a day of business.
'Aunt Perry'
When I was just eleven years old, it was the bakery where Laurelle and I came to eat sandwiches. And right in front of it is the building where I lived in my previous life.
"Here we are."
Once again, I looked at the house where my father and mother lived. It was a familiar house because I walked through this street every day.
In my previous life, I lived without knowing that the house filled with memories of my mother and father was so close.
Then, my father said, pointing at Aunt Perry's bakery.
"The bread at that house is very delicious. Shan loved it a lot. Let's come together early in the morning next time. There's a secret menu that only regulars know!"
I couldn't say anything.
My dad slightly patted me on the shoulder and laughed while standing still.
"Then shall we go inside?"
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March 24, 2022
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