Chapter 88
“So that’s how it is. I’m nothing to you, right? Got it.”
“Grizelle!”
“Forget it!”
Leaving a flustered Elenia behind, Grizelle stormed out of the room. Her face twisted hideously, an ugly expression of humiliation from being rejected by someone she had looked down on.
When the door slammed shut behind her, Elenia let out a faint sigh. Her chest felt heavy, but she couldn’t bring herself to accept Grizelle’s invitation.
Go to the palace of the Second Prince?
She didn’t even want to go near his shadow. It was a ridiculous suggestion.
Besides, if she stayed near Grizelle, there was no telling when her father’s influence might reach her again. Elenia preferred her current peace. She had no desire for the lively, bustling life that Grizelle so adored.
Gazing quietly at the door Grizelle had slammed behind her, Elenia pulled the covers back up and, within the serenity she so longed for, gently closed her eyes.
* * *
“What did you say?”
Meanwhile, Sylaria shot to her feet when she heard the shocking report from Marin. The maid had seen Grizelle entering Elenia’s quarters just as she was leaving.
Sylaria gritted her teeth and pressed a hand against the desk. Taking a steadying breath, she questioned her maid in a low voice.
“So. What did Grizelle say?”
“I apologize. The door was too thick, so I couldn’t hear. But I did see her storm out looking furious.”
“Whatever she tried to do, it must’ve failed.”
Sylaria exhaled in relief and sank back into her chair. A blot of black ink had spread across her stationery, an accidental stain from when her pen had slipped from her grasp.
“Nothing can ever go the way Grizelle wants.”
She spoke coolly as she tossed the ruined stationery aside. Back when they’d all lived in Gideon, Grizelle had subtly belittled Elenia, treating her as a burden because of her poor health and acting as if she were a nuisance to deal with.
But Elenia was not someone to be looked down upon. Despite years of illness, she had never once complained. Beneath her gentle nature was a quiet but unyielding strength.
Her persistence in living was born of sheer willpower. She might seem mild and delicate, but Elenia was not easily swayed.
Grizelle had probably tried to sweet-talk her. Perhaps she had even badmouthed Sylaria behind her back.
But whatever she said, Elenia would have brushed it off. Sylaria had already warned her about Grizelle beforehand.
‘Good thing I prepared her in advance.’
Back then, she had pitied Elenia for being so frightened by their father’s schemes, but now, she was glad she’d done it.
Still, it was too soon to relax.
Grizelle’s persistence was not to be underestimated. She was not the type to give up after one setback. Who knew when she might try to approach Elenia again?
“Cora, assign someone to watch over Ellie’s quarters. We don’t know when Grizelle will try to get close to her again.”
“Understood, Milady.”
After issuing the order, Sylaria pressed her lips together. She had been in the middle of rewriting a letter to Posfina, but she sighed and set her pen down. Her mind was too clouded to focus on correspondence.
In the end, she decided to deal first with the things that worried her most.
“Cora, Cyan’s still managing Ellie’s medication, right?”
“Yes. He serves as both aide and chief physician for the First Prince’s Palace.”
Cyan was a scholar who had graduated at the top of his class from the Imperial Academy and obtained his medical license soon after.
Euclid had recognized his talent during his research on the overdrive of divine power and taken him in as an aide. Thus, Cyan served as both Euclid’s assistant and his personal physician.
“Call Cyan here. I have something to discuss regarding Ellie’s medicine.”
Not long after Sylaria gave the order, Cyan arrived. With proper decorum, he bowed and spoke in a professional tone.
“I was told you wished to see me.”
“There’s something I’d like to ask of you, Cyan. It’s about Ellie’s medicine.”
“Please, give the order.”
Sylaria hesitated for a moment. She wasn’t entirely sure if what she was about to do was right. Perhaps it was an excessive worry. But soon, her eyes hardened with resolve, and she spoke.
“There’s something I want you to add to Ellie’s prescription.”
“What kind of medicine?”
“Is there… something like this?”
Sylaria began to explain cautiously. As she spoke, Cyan’s eyes narrowed to slits.
Discussion
0 CommentsNo comments yet.