Chapter 25
This time, it was a teacup.
The viscountess dropped hers, and it shattered into pieces across the floor.
"W-who did what?"
"Lady Trinia is in the early stages of pregnancy, so she needs to be very careful. His Majesty therefore assigned dedicated palace physicians to her."
"Even so, Her Highness is ill. Is it right that only you came to examine her?"
Countess Sertua's voice rang through the room.
She was usually such a calm person that the other ladies froze with wide eyes.
But Riena barely heard any of it.
Trinia wasn't supposed to become pregnant with her second child for several more years.
Yet everything was happening much faster than it had in her previous life.
Wait. Not long after the number of palace physicians was reduced, there was a fire in the Cartes territory. Then Mother and I were nearly poisoned by Trinia....
First, she needed to correct the reduced number of palace physicians.
Riena abruptly stood and glared at the physician.
"It's bad enough that I'm sick, but now I'm being treated like this too.... Don't think I'm going to let this slide!"
"Y-yes, Your Highness?!"
The normally composed physician stared up at her in shock.
"How many palace physicians are currently stationed in the Imperial Palace?"
"W-well...."
"You can't possibly have assigned every single physician to Lady Trinia. And yet!"
"I-I'm sorry!"
The physician dropped to the floor, trembling.
Riena almost never lost her temper.
Of course he was terrified.
"Bring me the full list of palace physicians immediately. How dare anyone neglect their duties!"
At her sharp command, the physician staggered to his feet and ran from the room.
Then a maid came rushing in.
"Y-Your Highness! There's a fire in the Cartes territory!"
Already?
Everything was moving so quickly, as though someone were deliberately playing with the timeline.
Riena shot to her feet, grabbed the stack of papers she'd been preparing little by little, and headed for the door.
"Your Highness! Where are you going?"
"I need to see Father."
She kept walking without looking back.
This time, I can stop it.
The luxurious white marble made the room resemble a sacred temple.
Leaning back against a satin-covered sofa while eating fresh fruit made Trinia feel almost like a goddess.
"A fire? There's a fire?"
"Yes! Count Shilton has come to the Imperial Palace because of it!"
Trinia's eyes shifted rapidly.
The Empire's dry season is a living hell of fire. The palace will be especially busy then. When that happens, whether it's the Imperial Princess or the Empress....
Trinia, who had been biting her nails, shook her head sharply.
If you touch the Imperial Princess, do you really think the Empress will stay quiet?
Then deal with the Empress first, and send the princess away afterward.
B-but then I'll be suspected....
Even if His Majesty learns everything, he won't be able to touch you. Not when the prince is growing so well.
Still, being suspected....
Doing anything suspicious in front of an Emperor as distrustful as Francio was the same as jumping into a pit of fire.
How many years had she spent building his trust since his days as Crown Prince?
Shilton had smiled strangely before speaking.
Then choose. Will you remain merely his favored woman, or become the mother of the Crown Prince?
Remembering the conversation she'd had with Shilton several weeks earlier, Trinia stood.
"...I'm bored. I think I'll go to the bakery."
"Pardon? When everything is this chaotic...?"
"Isn't this exactly what I should be doing? While everyone else is busy thinking, I'll bake some sweet cookies."
"Then I'll go check the bakery first."
The maid left the room.
Trinia's pale fingers trembled as she slipped a small medicine bottle into her clothes.
The bakery was filled with a rich, buttery aroma.
The workers bustling around all bowed to Trinia at once.
"Lady Trinia, you're here?"
"I only plan to bake a little today. You don't need to help me."
As always, the bakery manager greeted her and returned to work.
Only then did Trinia breathe more heavily.
Today would be the last day she stood here like a machine, endlessly baking cookies.
From now on, I'll think only about my babies.
Her tension disappeared as she began humming while working the dough.
Meanwhile, the pale-faced nobles could do little but sigh.
"The fire has spread from the edge of the mountain range connected to the Cartes territory all the way to the civilian homes on the opposite side."
"Because Duke Cartes, the lord of the territory, has disappeared, the initial response was delayed."
Francio lowered his head and pressed hard against his brow.
"Suppress the fire in the civilian areas first. Dispatch palace physicians as well."
The moment he finished, Philip leaned in and whispered something into the Emperor's ear.
Francio paused briefly, then gave a short nod.
The conference room doors opened.
Light footsteps hurried inside.
"I greet Your Highness the Imperial Princess."
Several nobles flinched at the sudden appearance of the princess.
"Thank you for allowing me to enter, Father."
"You have two minutes."
Riena wasn't the sort of child who threw ordinary tantrums.
She had also handled her previous inspection well.
That was why, despite the seriousness of the situation, the Emperor allowed her into the meeting.
Riena quickly placed the documents she'd brought onto the table.
[Fire Suppression and Palace Physician Deployment]
The handwriting was clumsy.
But the material itself was well organized.
"Father, we need to stop the fire from reaching the mountain range first!"
Her clear voice rang through the conference chamber.
