Hazel looked at Lady Pais in surprise at her spiteful words.

“Lady Pais, are you trying to impute a false accusation toward me right now?”

“What if that false accusation is true?”

“Why would I hurt Lorette? She’s my sister.”

“Yes, she’s your sister. A mean sister who took all the love of your father, but to me, she is my daughter whom I gave birth to with my blood and flesh, Your Highness. No matter how low she was, I’m the one who raised and cherished her affectionately. You’d rather hurt me.”

Hazel stod blankly with a surprised look while looking at Mrs. Pais shedding tears before her.

“Don’t you have anything to say?”

Ileos asked Hazel.

“No.”

“How come?”

“Father will decide everything. I don’t have …any power to talk.”

Hazel shook his head.

“It’s actually my fault. Because Lorette suddenly collapsed when she was staying in my palace….”

Soon, thick tears began to escape from Hazel’s eyes.

“Hazel.”

“I’ll take the punishment. I’ve put my sister in danger… I’m guilty.”

Hazel continued between her sobs and tears. Next to her was Lady Pais who saw her with an unpleasant look, which made Hazel’s cry grow louder.

“I just… I just wanted to have tea with my sister while showing her the roses, but… I really couldn’t do that, Father.”

Hazel began to cry with a sorrowful voice and covered her mouth. Lady Pais exclaimed impetuously the moment when a sad glint flickered across Elios’ face.

“Ileo… I mean, Your Majesty, we need to investigate the tea that Lorette had drank earlier. I’m sure there was something added to it…”

“Eleisha.”

“…….”

“How dare you say that my daughter had done such a wicked deed?”

“Your Majesty, I’m just…”

“It’s your fault for not taking care of your daughter’s health.”

“Your Majesty….”

With her mouth widened in surprise, Lady Pais could not say anything to answer the king.

“How is Lorette’s condition?”

“Her fever has gone down, and I think she just needs to drink plenty of water while resting.”

Rayburn came running into the room and gave a detailed explanation, Ileos asked while furrowing his eyebrows.

“Why did Lorette collapse all of a sudden?”

“That’s probably because…”

Rayburn eyed Lady Pais before stating his answer.

“I think it’s because of excessive dietary restrictions.”

“Dietary restriction?”

“What are you talking about… It’s not because of that!”

Lady Pais shouted, but Rayburn continued his words.

“I asked the Princess and she said the only thing she eats these days is just a few slices of fruit, a little milk and a small amount of grain bread these days. She has been trying to control her weight because she had to attend consecutive balls.”

“I said it’s not because of that!”

Lady Pais’ shriek reverberated throughout the room.

“I understand. Why don’t you stop finding fault with her?”

“Your Majesty, I feel victimized. She can’t abuse my daughter like that, right?”

“It seems like I have given someone too much responsibility to the point she doesn’t even have time to take care of her daughter’s health.”

“Your Majesty…”

Lady Pais looked at Ileos as if one of her ominous hunch just came true.

“Take a break from the royal affairs you have been in charge of for a while. Therefore you can focus on prenatal care and Lorette’s health.”

“Why did you say that, Your Majesty- Your Majesty?!”

Ileos turned to his feet and left Mrs. Pain who was screaming behind him.

“Wake up, you are my daughter and the first princess of Land. I never taught you to kneel anywhere.”

Ileos reached out his hand and Hazel took it quietly.

“Yes.”

“Attend to Mrs. Pais and Lorette in the palace.”

Lady Pais began to cry even louder as soon as the order escaped Ileos’ mouth. But Ileos didn’t care about it and went out with Hazel.

***

“It’s been a long time since I stroll around like this.”

“I see. It’s because you’ve been busy.”

Ileos smiled and looked at his daughter when Hazel spoke up.

“I was too busy with political affairs to care about you. But…”

Ileos’ eyes were scanning through the empty rose garden. There was a dubious glint on the King’s face when he looked at the scenery where the flowers in each rose tree hadn’t bloomed properly.

“The garden looks quite empty.”

It was even more difficult to find a tree filled with roses on it.

Even if they managed to find it, the rose blossoms were either too small or the petals were not pretty because they were eaten by the insects.

There were also some rose stems that were severely damaged after their flowers had been cutted off. A deep wrinkle was formed between the king’s eyebrows when he looked at them.

“Why is the garden becoming like this?”

“Oh… they said they didn’t have enough roses to decorate the delegation’s quarters and banquet hall, so Gungnaebu pick the roses from here.”

[Gungnaebu or ‘Department of The Royal Household’ is a Korean Government Office in charge of affairs related to the royal household back in Joseon Dynasty of Korea.]

“There should’ve been a separate place used to grow flowers for that purpose.”

“I guess raising them in a private greenhouse wasn’t enough for that. But then they must’ve thought of the Rose Palace. As the name suggested, there are many roses blooming around this palace.”

Hazel explained with a smile, but on the contrary, an unpleasant expression was shown on Elios’ face.

“All of the flowers are placed where they’re needed. They are used to adorn the quarters of our precious guests. It’s a flower that blooms and withers after all, so it’s worth it if used in a meaningful place.”

Ileos had an even more perplexed look when he looked at Hazel who spoke calmly.

“I’ve seen roses in the palace a lot, it turns out that they’re all from your palace. I didn’t know about that.”

“I don’t think all of them are from here though… They said to pick up the roses at my palace as they didn’t have enough roses.”

Hazel answered carefully.

“They don’t have to use roses to decorate the palace. Moreover, those are from your palace. How dare they pick roses in the princess’ garden? Also this place used to be the Queen’s palace.”

“My mother will be happy to see the flowers she grew are used in a good place. She might be willing to give it as well if she was still alive.”

“…….”

“Because she always thought of you and Land first.”

“Martina?”

Elios said while flashing a self-mocking smile.

“For your mother, her family always came first before her husband and daughter. She forced you to do the same.”

“It was around the time when she was sick, both physically and mentally. However she was worried about you until the end, father. I heard it even when I stayed by her side the moment she breathed her last breath. She prayed for you, Father.”

“…you mean Martina?”

“Yes.”

Of course such a situation never happened in the past. Martina only reiterated while holding her little daughter’s hand, saying that she should somehow survive inside the palace. Hazel felt like she finally came to know the thing she couldn’t understand at that time.

“I’m sorry to see your roses being cutted off like this. You must have gotten upset, but I’ll have the gardener send you new seedlings. I heard that the new varieties of seeds are resistant against pests and diseases.”

“Thank you, Father.”

Hazel bowed slightly while thanking her father.

“There’s an important event in the palace, and it won’t be a waste if you give these away for the sake of it. It is all for this country. That’s how important this event, a peace treaty, is.”

Half of the countries on the continent have been seized by the Demophos Empire. Other countries had to give numerous offerings or sign papers full of treaties, such as trade and taxes that were more beneficial to the empire each year.

Land also had some unfavorable provisions because of this agreement, but it was a fairly favorable agreement to the country itself compared to others.

On top of all that, there was also a pledge that there would be no war during the period of the agreement, therefore it was really important for the Land.

“You sound as if you’ve grown up quite a lot.”

There was a surprised look in Ileos’ eyes.

“Even if it was Eleisha’s order to pick these flowers?”

“The roses in my palace are especially beautiful. It’s because Lady Pais has a keen eye to choose this place.”

“Do you really think that way?”

“Of course.”

Hazel said while laughing lightly.

“That must be the reason why she fell for you, Father.”

Hazel’s remark made Ileos look even more surprised as it sounded like she was either half-joking or simply saying her wild guess.

“You seemed like a different person after getting sick.”

“It happens to everyone. Lorette worried about me a lot. So I must have misunderstood her. She is actually a good kid.”

“I’m glad you’ve changed your mind by now. You were so vicious.”

Hazel just smiled at Ileos’ comments. Her father’s ‘vicious’ words were referring to the whole thing back when she used to spray water on Lorette’s face whenever the poor girl came to visit, shouting she didn’t like Lorette, or openly using sarcastic words to the girl.

When she recalled each of those events, she could understand that her father’s eldest daughter would never have looked pretty in his eyes.

Because parents originally wanted their children to get along well.

“That’s why I’ll try to do better in the future. Lorette seems to follow me well, too. I’m going to tell her about everything I know before leaving.”

“…leaving?”

“Don’t you think I will be getting married soon? I’ll live far away after I get married, but before that, I’ll have to spend a short but friendly time with Lorette.”

“Are you only thinking about leaving your father’s arms?”

Hazel was about to laugh hearing her father’s words, so she hurriedly lowered her head.

“Hazel?”

She felt tears welling up when she tried to bite on to the flesh inside her mouth. Tears were running down Hazel’s face as she raised her head again.

“I don’t want to leave, but… There’s nothing I can do. I want to be a good daughter who will make you proud as much as I can.”

Then Hazel entrusted herself into his father’s arms after saying so. Ileos hesitated for a moment, but then patted her daughter’s back gently.

“You really seem to have grown up well. I think I can leave a responsible position to you now.”

“You will take over the responsibility of the royal affairs that Eleisha previously was in charge of.”

“Father…”

Hazel lifted her tearful eyes and looked at Ileos.

“This is where you were born and raised, so you must be able to manage it better than anyone else.”