Chapter 50: 50

Chapter 50: 031 . Imperial Prince is Attending a Banquet -2 (Part Two)

“I went to look for you in your room, but you were not there . Where have you been?”

The caring grandfather asked her with a concerned expression, and Alice replied with a smile . “I was studying in the library, grandfather . ”

Rapahel smiled back in response . “You resemble me when it comes to satisfying our far-too intense curiosity . I’m worried that you may harm your health if you keep this up, child . Ah, and also, please do be more careful . The Seventh Imperial Prince is lurking somewhere in the palace even as we speak . Do pay extra caution not to run into him . ”

Alice flinched a little when she heard that .

Due to her excessive curiosity, she had recently ended up ‘spending’ the whole night with the Seventh Imperial Prince . What kind of a misunderstanding would occur when her grandfather learns of this matter?

Maybe he’d even seek out the Imperial Prince once more while wielding a crosier .

Alice did her best to form a bright smile . “Please do not worry . I’m growing up healthy and tough all thanks to my mother who safely gave birth to me . ”

“Aikoo, my granddaughter!” [1]

Raphael lovingly held her tightly . She smiled like a benevolent goddess as she gently patted her grandfather’s head .

“Will you be alright?”

He asked her again with another deeply worried expression .

Even if his granddaughter was praised as a genius, the task they were about to perform together was just too heavy of a burden for her young shoulder to bear .

“I’ll be fine, grandfather . ”

With those words, Raphael handed over a bird beak mask and a medical robe to her . “Don’t push yourself too hard, child . Well then . Let us go inside . ”

Alice put on the mask and the robe before staring at the door of the First Imperial Prince’s room . Raphael knocked, opened the door, and stepped inside .

The First Imperial Prince suffering from indescribable torment was laying on the bed . His body was rotting away even now . Judging from how he was thrashing about wildly on top of the mattress, his pain must’ve been truly agonising and unbearable .

The healers wearing the bird beak masks who had entered earlier grabbed the prince’s four flailing limbs and bound them tight to seal his movements .

Then, healing magic was cast on him .

Alice lent her support from their side .

She kept her eyes locked on the First Imperial Prince Luan through the clear lenses of the mask .

Cold sweat trickled down her body . This one single act of trying to conserve his rotting body had kept them mindlessly busy . They also had to pay an even greater attention so that divinity wouldn’t accidentally get into his heart tainted by the curse .

She was praised as a ‘genius’, a ‘once in a generation talent’, or even as a ‘girl who might be a saintess’ . And yet, even someone like her was nothing more than yet another ineffective healer in front of the First Imperial Prince Luan .

The treatment process came to an end seven hours later .

The healers opened the door and exited from the room . The expressions revealed after removing their masks were of despondency . They either held their heads in helplessness or plopped down where they stood . Some even spat out frustrated groans .

Alice was no different from them . She carried a forlorn expression underneath the mask .

“Alice,” Archbishop Raphael called out to her as he took off his mask . He too was soaked in sweat from head to toe .

Noticing that she didn’t respond, his gaze shifted towards her . The girl was simply standing there in her spot unmoving, her mask still on her face . It was probably due to mental shock, even though she had to go through the same experience every single time .

“…Don’t blame yourself . This is an impossible task, after all . ”

Alice flinched a little when she heard that word . “Impossible…”

Raphael watched her blur the end of her word and immediately realised his own slip of the tongue .

She wanted to save the First Imperial Prince more than anyone else . So her own grandfather passing the ‘sentence of death’ on the dying prince right in front of her eyes was clearly not the right thing to do .

“…I’m sure you’re exhausted from this ordeal, so why don’t you go ahead and rest in your room? I shall take care of reporting back to the Imperial Family . ”

She powerlessly nodded her head .

With staggering steps, she walked on the palace’s corridor . However, the very moment she went around the corner, all semblance of strength abandoned her legs and she ended up squatting down .

‘I couldn’t heal him…’

She took off the mask . Her golden locks were soaked through and the messy strands tumbled down her face .

Her despairing expression could now be seen with the mask off .

‘But why not…? I possess Gaia’s fragment, and yet… why couldn’t I…?’

She already knew that she was the ‘saintess’ . She knew better than anyone that she was still in the middle of her growth, and in the future, she’d get to wield an even greater power than right now .

Even then, she couldn’t shake off this gnawing feeling that even if her growth was completed, it’d still be impossible to heal the First Imperial Prince Luan .

‘At this rate…’

…The prince would definitely die for sure .

No, he wouldn’t just merely ‘die’, but turn into an undead, instead .

This was indeed the ‘impossibility’ . Exactly as her grandfather told her just now . Demonic energy invading one’s heart meant that the curse would never come undone unless you died first .

-Resurrection, is it? Doesn’t sound like it’ll be completely impossible, actually .

Alice recalled what the Seventh Imperial Prince said earlier .

[Resurrection], a miracle that would only be seen in the legendary myths . Not to mention, an absolutely impossible domain that went against the providence of nature itself, too .

But if it was this ‘miracle’, then treating the First Imperial Prince would certainly be possible .

She tried to comb through every bit of knowledge crammed deep inside her head . She kept her fingers crossed all the time but eventually, had to let go of her expectations .

What a funny thing it was . She herself loudly stated that such a thing was impossible, and yet here she was, hoping for that exact miracle to occur .

In the end, there was nothing she could do .

She held her head in frustration and despair .

**

(Back to 1st person POV . )

“You sure this is everyone?”

I perused the report Harman had compiled for me . It was a list of past actions and the individual relationships the Seventh Imperial Prince had, ones that the Paladin got to observe with his own eyes in the palace .

When I asked him about such things back in the monastery, this guy didn’t even mention anything about Alice Astoria . So naturally, I had to dig in even further for his reasoning, and he eventually replied that it was ‘to maintain secrecy’ .

It sorta made sense, seeing how even the village stuck in the Land of the Dead Spirits knew about the Seventh Imperial Prince trying to assault a lady-in-waiting . It’d be even more troublesome if the rumour of whose granddaughter it was somehow wound up spreading throughout the empire’s citizens .

“Yes, your highness . This is everyone . ” Even while answering me, Harman was avoiding my gaze .

“…That’s odd . There isn’t any info on my mother and father here . ”

“Do you even require that, your highness? Don’t you remember them perfectly anyway?”

“What do you mean, I remember? I’ve forgotten all about them, you know . ”

“You don’t have to hide the truth from me, your highness . We’re riding on the same boat, aren’t we?”

“What the heck? You’re now openly getting in bed with me? Fine, whatever man . Hurry up and spit it out, will ya . ”

Harman had this deeply troubled expression on him .

He pondered deeply about something before opening his mouth . “When you were with both of your parents, you lived a truly happy, ordinary life, your highness . ”

Even as he said this, he kept avoiding my gaze .

This guy, he was definitely lying .

I figured that I still wouldn’t get any answers even if I went around asking other people . I noticed earlier that the maids and servants were very reluctant to even mention both the father and mother of the Seventh Imperial Prince .

Which wasn’t surprising at all, since the topic itself dealt with the Imperial Family’s internal affairs . Unless you were a high-ranking aristocrat, even thinking of mentioning it in the open would be quite tough .

Harman seemed to be trying to change the topic, because he brought something else up . “Tomorrow is the banquet, your highness . Have you finished preparing for the occasion?”

“Nope . ”

He did urge me to learn about etiquette earlier, but I didn’t bother . Heck, I didn’t even have enough time to learn more about magic, so where would I find spare moments to waste on learning such a useless thing called etiquette?

Harman spat out a lengthy sigh . “Others may start mocking you if you put on a poor display, your highness . Charlotte has been learning diligently in her own room, just so that she wouldn’t embarrass you in any way . ”

“Tell her to just relax and enjoy it at her own pace . Isn’t that what a party is supposed to be, anyway?”

“A party and a banquet are two different beasts, your highness . ” Harman sighed once more . “What will you do if his highness the First Imperial Prince attends as well?”

After hearing that, I quickly glanced at the report once more . “You know… there is no mention of this First Imperial Prince in here, too . ”

“A simple oversight on my part, your highness . ”

Harman’s gaze automatically went towards the ceiling . This dude… his ability to lie was on par with little kids .

I asked him, “Okay, so . Who is the First Imperial Prince then?”

Harman pretended to not hear me, but when I locked my glare on him, he finally caved in and opened his mouth .

“Luan Olfolse . ” His gaze lowered and he was now looking straight into my eyes . “…He’s your older brother, born from the same womb, your highness . ”

Fin .