Chapter 14. The topic that came with it like a gift
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Sponsored by Curufin. Thank you ❤️ (8/8)
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Doa, who was now near, spoke kindly to Ihedia.
"We’ll be staying here for the night, I'm afraid, but there's nothing quite as luxurious as Elmir’s palace in the area, and we still got a long way to go, so you might as well get some rest now."
Ihedia looked around and saw that it wasn't a very large inn.
She followed the group inside, and the tables on the first floor were filled with the sounds of drunken travelers.
As soon as they entered the room and were shown to their assigned rooms by the owner, the tension was gone.
It was cramped and ramshackle, but it was a welcome respite from the long hours of traveling in a cramped wagon.
She thought she should be grateful for this luxury after being sold to savages.
Ihedia stretched out on the bed and closed her eyes.
"It's hard to get out of the castle without being watched in here, let alone rescuing a prince who doesn't even see. It's a big risk for us, and it's probably for the best that you've left the palace. So, Princess, be sure to take your chances and earn Kayan Bayate’s trust."
Ihedia gently opened her closed eyes, remembering Madam Lloyd's last words before she left.
She fiddled with the sachet she kept hidden inside her sleeve for a moment.
'How to earn Kayan Bayate's trust.......’
It was when she was trying to figure out how to survive in the infamous Bayate family.
There was a knock at the door.
Someone had come to her room.
She opened the door and there stood the innkeeper with a tray of bread and milk.
"I didn't think you'd feel comfortable in an inn full of men, so I brought you something."
"Thank you."
The middle-aged innkeeper handed Ihedia the tray and asked in a kindly voice.
"My room is right next door, so if you need anything, feel free to ask. By the way, keep an eye on the door, just in case."
"Excuse me, ma'am."
Ihedia hurriedly called out to the departing innkeeper.
"May I know which room my companion is in? He's the tallest man with dark hair......."
"Ah, he is in the first room upstairs."
The innkeeper disappeared, and Ihedia placed the tray she'd accepted on the table.
Kayan Bayate was just upstairs.
The warm bread wafted a savory aroma, but somehow her appetite dropped.
***
"She’d been sold to the savages, and she threatened me with something that isn't a threat, that wench!"
As Charlotte followed the Queen through the patronage, she recounted every insult she had suffered from Ihedia.
Lena offered no sign of sympathy, only a cold smile.
"When cornered, rats will bite cats. If things have come to this, she’d be wise to find a way to survive in Anut somehow."
"Surely...... that barbarian isn't going to make the princess his mistress?"
Charlotte murmured, a little worried.
She couldn't help but think of Ihedia's horrified threat about killing her.
Charlotte swallowed hard at her anxiety and spoke again.
"Of course, that can't be true, though why Kayan Bayate would willingly take such an unattractive, shabby-looking princess is still a mystery."
On the day the envoys left for Anut, Ihedia was abandoned at the palace gates in a shabby dress, without a servant to attend to her, or even a proper bag of luggage.
It was all Lena's doing.
For there was nothing more disturbing to a man's heart than the sight of a damsel in distress.
What followed was all as she had predicted.
Lena would now sit back and watch with puppeteer's delight as Ihedia struggled there.
"What do you have so much to worry about when you have me?"
Charlotte's face blossomed at the queen's honeyed words.
She took this opportunity to slip in what she wanted from her master.
"By the way, now that Ihedia is gone, am I to serve Your Majesty?"
Charlotte had always resented being a maid of a lesser princess.
But she dared not show her dislike, so she had been meekly obedient.
Now that she was no longer under surveillance, she wanted to be by the Queen’s side, Elmir’s real leader.
"By the way, it must have been a lot of trouble for you to take care of Ihedia."
Lena plucked a flower and held it close to her nose.
In truth, Charlotte had been more of a bully using surveillance as an excuse to harass her than she had been carrying Ihedia's water, but it didn't matter.
Charlotte's eyes sparkled even more at Lena's positive reaction.
"Then I'm going to the Queen's Palace......."
"I haven't seen that bracelet before."
Lena glanced at Charlotte’s pearl bracelet, which glowed differently depending on the angle.
"It was given to me by my father. What made him give me such expensive jewelry for my birthday, I don’t know."
At the words, Lena's red lips drew a wider arc.
It was the highest grade of Elmir’s pearls.
Not to be bought or sold without the king's permission.
"Lord Gordon cares for you more than I thought."
Considering he's thinking of bringing his young daughter into this royal household.
Lena dropped the plucked flower to the floor, thinking about the pearls’ monopoly profits that Patrick and Count Gordon controlled.
"Charlotte, would you mind running an errand for me?"
"Of course, Your Majesty, just say the word!"
The instruction was to go buy a beauty magic tool that sold for a high price on the black market.
It was something she had done many times before, so the cheerful Charlotte accepted the order without question.
Lena stared at Charlotte's face, which she would never see again.
Everything was ready.
The moment she arrived at the black market, Charlotte would be gone from Elmir forever.
Leaving behind a letter explaining that she's running away with the commoner she met and fell in love with there.
The determination to never allow anything to stand in the way of her future swept through her dark brown eyes like a breeze.
***
It was the second time.
Ihedia moved her feet and stood in front of Kayan Bayate's bedroom.
She had been forced to come then, but now it was different.
She steeled herself and knocked on his bedroom door.
It wasn't long before the door opened.
As cold as the first time, his gaze fell on her like ice water.
Instead of asking why she had come, Kayan let out a small sigh and looked down at her wordlessly.
She couldn't help but feel her whole body stiffen with tension as she stood before him.
Ihedia opened her mouth to speak, but Kayan beat her to it.
"Does my room look like a barn where dogs and cows come and go?"
"..."
"What, are you going to come in and jump out of the window again? I'm warning you, you're going to have to go somewhere else for that kind of crazy. Preferably right next door, in my aide's room."
Kayan pointed to the next room with a jerk of his chin.
Facing him squarely with a look of blatant dislike, Ihedia held out the sachet in her hand.
"You have insomnia, don't you?"
"...."
"I smelled the scent of itesol on Lord Bayate."
Itesol was one of the herbs used as a sleeping agent.
It was also a dangerous herb, as it was addictive and could cause severe side effects if used improperly.
It was usually used in very small doses for people with severe insomnia.
The scent she smelled on Kayan that day was quite strong.
If he could go about his daily routine unaffected by that amount, Ihedia guessed his insomnia must be pretty heavy
She had made a sachet of sleeping pills before leaving Elmir.
"Itesol is very addictive and poisonous if you use it too often, so at Elmir we use aloche leaves instead of itesol for insomniacs. It's not very effective because it went extinct decades ago and can only be grown with horticultural magic, but it's better than itesol in the long run."
Kayan stood still, not buying it.
After an uncomfortable silence, Ihedia's voice wavered slightly.
"...As a reward for listening to my request."
"Do you think the word reward is appropriate for someone in your position?"
"That's......."
"I think you're mistaken, but the moment you agreed to come with me to Anut, you were no longer Elmir’s princess or anything, just one of the bounty that came with it. If you're unhappy, you can go back to your country now."
Ihedia's mind was momentarily clouded by Kayan's words, but it cleared in an instant.
"No, I won't do that, I'll take whatever treatment I get, and anyway, this is for Lord Bayate, so you can throw it away if you don't want it."
Ihedia strode out of the room, leaving what she had brought hanging on the doorknob.
***
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