novelraw Chapter 297
Chapter 297
Chapter 297As soon as she left the reception room, May sighed while running her fingers through her hair. To think their royal family’s secret, hushed even in their homeland, would surface here in the Bariel Empire.
Fortunately, Prince Jin was still young and gentle-natured, and they’d come as festival guests. Otherwise, this would have been truly awkward.
What delegation enters a palace without showing their face? Even if illness struck, it was something that could easily be criticized if someone wanted to find fault.
Stay careful. Keep your wits about you.
As May stood in place rubbing her forehead, her subordinates expressed concern. They’d just arrived in Bariel, and both Prince Noah and May looked unwell. It would be disastrous if all their leaders collapsed.
“Lady May, are you alright? You don’t look well.”
“No need to worry too much. His Highness Jin understood us, so haven’t we passed one hurdle?”
“That’s right. Let’s hurry back and rest. Everyone should be done unpacking by now.”
The Clifford royal lineage was a kind of proof. It indicated their ancient founding began with foxes.
The royal family deeply celebrated when babies raised their ears and revealed their tails, considering them true bloodline children. A divine gift passed down through long ages. Surely they must have viewed it that way in the kingdom’s early days.Not knowing it would later be called a curse.
She wasn’t sure when it had changed. Clearly there must have been no prejudice against beast-folk when Clifford was established, but now such a thing was utterly unimaginable.
“Let’s hurry. The prince is waiting.”
“Yes, understood.”
“They’re providing a coachman from the palace?”
“They said we can send him back once we’re familiar with the geography. Oh, here he comes. Hey! Please hurry and mount up!”
Though called a coachman, he was a servant under the palace administration. He was provided to assist with geography and general guest convenience. He bowed politely to the Clifford people while putting on his gloves.
“Please let me know if anything is lacking. Also, Lord Ian Hielo said he would send a letter to the detached palace. He specifically requested Prince Noah’s signature.”
It was essentially an agreement stating that they had refused medical support offered by the palace.
It must seem quite strange to them. The prince’s condition was supposedly too poor to pay respects upon entering, yet they refused a doctor. They might suspect some scheme.
“I understand. Tell them not to worry about that matter.”
“Yes. Please get in. We’ll depart immediately.”
Their diplomacy had already started on shaky ground. They couldn’t afford additional complications.
May boarded the carriage and counted days on her fingertips. One to two days – the curse would need at least that long to fade, but how could they manage?
Never mind it cutting close to the appointment ceremony – if we can’t meet the kings of Ruswena and Burgos, there’s no point in coming here. Starting with tonight’s banquet…
Unlike Ruswena, which was somewhat separated by the Great Desert, Burgos shared a border with them.
Like all neighboring countries, they had built and destroyed their histories through countless wars large and small. The Burgos people were utterly inscrutable, especially since King Damon’s ascension.
If Clifford is absent from a gathering of the three nations, no one knows how the other two might conspire. They might throw us to the wolves to oppose Bariel. We must somehow make it to that meeting…
Neigh!
Clop!
While May pondered, the carriage galloped refreshingly and arrived at the detached palace.
As her subordinates had said, unpacking was complete. People could be seen leaning on railings singing, gathering to dance, and sipping wine. The Clifford way of spending the afternoon.
“Lady May, you’ve returned?”
“How is the prince?”
“We sent in food, but the dishes haven’t come out yet. Otherwise, no problems.”
“Will he be alright? The food and drink here are different from Clifford. His recovery might be slow.”
The guard reported with some concern. The royal curse was known only to a select few families, after all. When they had to hide his appearance like this, others assumed he was having some kind of fit.
“Withdraw. I’ll call again later.”
May cut them off firmly, saying their words were unnecessary.
After the guards withdrew, she slowly opened the door. A wave of flower fragrance wafted up. The palace must have prepared it for them…
“My Prince? It’s May.”
The prince’s heightened sense of smell couldn’t possibly tolerate this. May found Noah sprawled out in the yard beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows. Noah too spotted May and happily wagged his tail.
“May, you’re back?”
“How can you lie on the bare ground like that?”
“The smell inside is too strong.”
The prince said this while sniffing the grass scent.
May sighed and went down to the yard. When the curse manifested, the prince’s senses became as keen as a beast’s while his reason dulled. It was sometimes troublesome.
But nothing could be done about it – recovering this way made him feel comfortable, which meant he healed faster.
“Are you feeling better?”
“Yes. It feels like being in a foreign country. The earth smells different from Clifford, the trees are different, even the sunlight feels different.”
Noah approached May and rubbed his forehead against her shoulder. The saying about foxes bewitching people didn’t come from nowhere. Though it was killing her inside.
But what could she do? May stroked the fox ears while reporting what happened at the audience.
“All tribute gifts have been presented. Though Prince Jin showed consideration, his bearing was sharper than expected. Perhaps because this is his first diplomatic event and the appointment ceremony approaches, his reactions were immediate. He seems somewhat suspicious too.”
She sensed that Jin thought Clifford was deliberately avoiding showing themselves to establish psychological dominance.
The more he thought this, the more May had humbly bowed her head and actively denied it, though whether Prince Jin properly understood remained uncertain.
“So when you meet him later, please be mindful and handle things carefully to avoid giving cause for criticism.”
“Right. You mean grovel flat on the ground?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Noah grinned as if joking. His fangs stood out particularly sharp. Those usually marked the beginning of his gradual return to normal.
“…The curse seems to be passing.”
“Yeah. My teeth are like this, and my pupils have completely changed too. Look.”
Just as May turned her head to check, there was movement outside. Several people seemed to be talking, and from their raised voices, it appeared some problem had arisen.
Sure enough, a guard urgently knocked on the door.
Bang bang! Bang!
“Lady May! Prince Noah!”
“Such commotion. What’s happening?”
May called out while rushing over. Noah too couldn’t suppress his curiosity and poked his head through the floor-length window, though the thick smell immediately made him gag.
Creeak
“Lady May, ma-mages from the Ministry of Magic have come. It seems you need to come out for a moment.”
“Mages?”
Was it about the letter mentioned earlier? But that wouldn’t warrant such a fuss.
May turned and signaled to Noah, who immediately wrapped himself tightly in a blanket. Only his eyes peeked out, blinking. When his tail popped out conspicuously, he fidgeted to arrange it properly.
“I’ll return shortly, Your Highness.”
After saying this, May followed the guard outside.
At the corridor entrance, at the end of the passage connecting to the quarters, the guards were in a standoff with the mages. May hurriedly ran over to block their path.
“What’s the matter? You say you’re from the Ministry of Magic?”
“Are you May, the delegation chief?”
“Yes, but we were supposed to receive the letter separately.”
From the Ministry of Magic – wouldn’t that mean Ian sent them? The mages tilted their heads briefly, confused by May’s words.
“We haven’t received any such information. What do you mean?”
“The letter about refusing palace medical support.”
“Ah. That’s something different. Recently, an abnormal hypersensitivity reaction to dragon antigens and antibodies was reported in Bariel. Investigation suggests it came from Ruswena, so we’re conducting our own examinations of foreign visitors to the palace. It’s nothing complicated. We just need a moment of your time with the mages. The results come quickly too.”
As the mages looked outside, May’s gaze followed.
Clifford people gathered in small groups were holding out their hands to the mages. Those moderately drunk on wine were excitedly chattering about something, not knowing the situation.
“This isn’t just for Clifford – we applied it to Ruswena who entered earlier too. We request your cooperation, but the guards won’t let us through.”
The mage shrugged awkwardly with an uncomfortable smile. It meant the prince was no exception to the procedure.
May bit her lip unconsciously in panic.
“What are the symptoms of this abnormal reaction?”
“Chills, fever, seizures, hemoptysis, vomiting, dizziness, and so on. It’s complex, so I can’t explain it simply. The prince is unwell, correct?”
Damn it. How could things flow in this direction?
With the abnormal reaction reported, there was no proper way to avoid examining the prince. No, rather, the more they avoided it, the more awkward Clifford’s position would become.
Won’t see a doctor, won’t take the examination, but claims illness to avoid an audience? At worst, they could be accused of bringing an external epidemic into the palace.
“Is it truly fact that it started from Ruswena?”
“Yes, of course. How could we lie about such a thing? Even Queen Eripony received the examination.”
What kind of country was Ruswena to create and spread something like an epidemic?
Well, it could happen. It wasn’t their intention, after all.
But why now of all times!
Given they mentioned Queen Eripony, it seems certain. Haah.
While May hesitated, a mage stepped forward.
The guards stood firm against him, chests out. This was an appearance their prince wanted to hide. How could they give way?
The mage asked May with clear displeasure:
“Would you please withdraw your guards? We have much to do.”
“The prince’s condition is quite poor right now. Couldn’t we do the examination after he recovers somewhat? The day after tomorrow, no, even tomorrow…”
“……”
“This absolutely isn’t the dragon abnormal reaction you’re testing for. It’s just-“
She couldn’t say it was just a cold. Avoiding a palace examination for such a minor reason made no sense. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place.
The mage frowned and asked:
“…It takes just minutes, and we mages are the ones expending magic power. Perhaps you object because of who we are?”
Despite mages’ high status, they were commoners without titles. They thought the royalty was refusing to let commoners touch them.
Though a major misunderstanding, to May it felt like rain in a drought.
“I-I apologize.”
“No need for apologies.”
But then, a voice from behind:
“That could be the case.”
It was Ian.
Head of the Ministry of Magic and Viscount of the Empire.
Beric and Romandro tagged along behind Ian.
“In that case, I’ll conduct the examination personally. That would be acceptable, wouldn’t it, Delegate May?”
Ian smiled brightly while putting on his gloves.
As if saying to make way quickly.
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Magic Amplification Drug