Chapter 15
“Cherries! I like cherries, Your Highness!”
“……”
“Southern cherries taste really good. It’ll be hard to get them for a while… but I’m okay!”
I smiled brightly.
When I said that, Ian pulled his handkerchief higher to cover his face.
Then, in a small voice, he repeated, “Southern cherries…”
That tiny whisper, like he wanted to remember it, made me smile again.
Just wait a little. I’ll return this warm kindness with medicine made from willow bark.
Oh, but don’t worry. I’m not trying to give you something bitter.
The illness hurting the Grand Duchess—
I’ll cure it no matter what!
I looked into Ian’s red eyes and made a secret promise.
“How is it, May?”
After bringing the freezer into the room, I quickly called May.
May tasted the medicine made from frozen and crushed willow bark, and looked at me with teary eyes.
She was standing far away, covering her face with a handkerchief, but her eyes looked like they were about to cry.
“Your Highness!”
Both Seri and I waited for what she’d say next.
“The taste and strength of the medicine are really close to what was written in the herb encyclopedia you told me about!”
“……!”
“That missing part we couldn’t figure out—now it’s there! I think we can really try this now!”
Hearing May’s hopeful words, I put my hands together like I was praying.
“I’ll go check how the critical patients respond to the medicine!”
Please… please… I prayed to the sky as I watched May leave.
“Seri, look at this letter. That book I read… it really was right, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, Your Highness! You were right again!”
“Not really. It’s because you and Dad filled my shelves with good books.”
“Your Highness! I’m so touched! Boo-hoo!”
Whenever I talked about the fake herb encyclopedia, Seri got emotional.
Honestly, a book was the best excuse for how a ten-year-old like me could know all this.
Even with just a little information, May started researching “Astrin” right away.
[This medicine is very effective in reducing high fevers.]
May’s letter was full of joy.
She said they used the medicine on a few very sick patients—and miraculously, their fevers started to drop.
“May is asking if Your Highness could name the medicine.”
“Hmm.”
I smiled.
There was only one name I could give it.
“Astrin.”
That was the name May had chosen for it in the past. Everyone would remember it that way.
“I’ll name it Astrin.”
“Your Highness, the Grand Duke’s wife is asking to meet with you.”
In the Grand Duke’s office, Ian’s knight informed him that I was here.
I nervously waited for Ian.
Soon, the door opened and I saw him.
He had papers all over his desk—he must’ve been working hard.
Before becoming Grand Duke, Ian didn’t care much about family duties.
But now he was working day and night with full responsibility. It made me admire him.
Even though he must’ve been tired, he looked calm and clean. The moonlight from the window made his red eyes shine.
“Your Highness.”
I calmed myself and held out the medicine bottle to Ian.
He looked at it with a confused expression.
“What is this?”
“One of my maids is good with herbs.”
“So?”
“She said she read in an old foreign book about how to treat an illness like the current one.”
That was the plan May and I came up with.
I gave her the idea, but we agreed it should look like she discovered it.
After all, if a ten-year-old claimed to have invented a cure, people would only suspect something strange.
“It took a long time to make, so I didn’t believe it at first… but it really works.”
Ian still looked doubtful as he took the bottle.
“I had Seri check it herself. Seri?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Tell him what you saw.”
Seri bowed deeply and began to speak.
“I swear to tell only the truth.”
“Speak.”
Ian’s voice was more serious than usual.
“The medicine was given to 50 critical patients. They were of different ages and genders.”
“And they all improved?”
“Yes, even a small amount worked well. With just half of this bottle, we saved 50 lives.”
“Are you sure?”
“I saw it with my own eyes.”
While Seri explained more, Ian had a strange expression.
There was a long silence.
The cure for the plague was ready.
Now, it was Ian’s turn—to help me, to believe in me.
I held my breath and looked at him.
Finally, Ian spoke.
“Say I had my servant make this medicine.”
“…Huh?”
I was surprised.
“But…”
“I believe it works. But if something goes wrong, you’ll get blamed too.”
“……”
“You were the one who gave that maid a chance.”
He held the bottle and continued.
“I’ll report it to the emperor. Bring this girl, May, here.”
Ian told Seri.
Seri looked at me, then quickly left to get May.
Left alone, I called out to Ian.
“Your Highness.”
“What.”
“Don’t you want to check it more carefully?”
Ian looked at me and said,
“You said you’d become Amelia Vesperd.”
Huh? Why say that now?
“You said you’d stay by my side ‘forever.’”
“Right…?”
“Well, if you said it so seriously, you wouldn’t bring me something dangerous, right?”
“What? I mean…”
“You’re always doing crazy things.”
Okay, that’s true. I always surprise people… haha.
His words were a little cold, but they made me happy.
“So that means… you trust me?”
Because I felt his trust.
“No. You always get into trouble. How can I trust you?”
What?! I yelled out in shock.
“What do you mean?!”
Ian smirked and walked closer to me.
He was a head taller, and when he stepped forward, he filled my whole view.
W-What’s happening? Why is he getting closer?
Under his pretty black hair, his white skin and sharp features… and those red eyes stared right at me.
He bent down slightly to meet my eyes.
His face was so close that I stepped back, but Ian grabbed my arm faster.
“You came rushing in with messy hair. How can I trust a wife like that?”
He gently tucked my hair behind my ear.
“But since you said it in front of a truth-telling potion, I’ll believe you this time.”
When he smiled, my face got hot without me realizing it.
“Your Highness!”
Seri came running, holding her dress.
She was usually very proper, but today she looked like she was about to fall over.
“What—what happened?!”
I was just as nervous as she was.
This had to work.
I squeezed my shaking hands together.
The Grand Duke finally gave the medicine to the Grand Duchess.
If it didn’t help—or if there was a side effect—the situation would get really bad.
Ian even risked his own name to protect me, so I was extra scared.
Just as Seri opened her mouth to speak, my heart pounded so loud I could barely hear.
“The Grand Duchess’s fever is gone!”
