“Prince Claudio, could you please repeat what you just said?” Rosemarie stared at Claudio with a dead serious expression.
It was the night after Claudio had collapsed due to the Kaola tea. Feeling obligated not to rest too much, Claudio headed to perform his official duties, then dropped by Rosemarie’s room when he was done for the day. When he got there, he broke the news to her as if it were nothing at all.
“You’re forbidden from drinking Kaola. Don’t drink any until Master Edel is done with their analysis.”
“Kaola... forbidden...” She had exposed Claudio to mortal danger. There were no two ways about it. However, although she had felt herself succumbing to feelings of self-reproach, wouldn’t it suffice if she just didn’t drink it in front of him?
“I’ve already taken the liberty of ordering the maid to collect Baltzar’s entire supply. I’ve given her explicit instructions to hand over any to Master Edel by way of Alto right away, even if you send out for it from Volland.” Claudio informed her with a smile on his face, almost as if saying he has already predicted any bright idea Rosemarie might have. Rosemarie hung her head in disappointment.
(There goes Tranquilizer #2...)
Her steadfast #1 was her bucket.
Rosemarie slumped her shoulders with the wind knocked sorely out of her sails while Claudio added more insult to injury.
“Ah, yes. And in ten days’ time, the crown price of the neighboring nation, Rivera, will be making a visit with the crown princess, so it will be your duty to entertain said crown princess. Rivera as a nation has been close allies with Baltzar forever. I’d like you to be on your best behavior. Which means absolutely no bucket wearing during their stay.”
Rosemarie was left in shock upon learning that her #1 Tranquilizer had been sealed off from her. Rosemarie’s spirits may had dropped, but Claudio had a wry smile on his face for whatever reason.
“You don’t need to look that grim. Sure, I’ve banned your Kaola and your bucket, but I’m going to give you something nice in return.”
“Something nice?” Was there even anything better than those two things?
She cocked her head, positively perplexed. The somewhat amused-looking Claudio led her out of the room.
It was late at night. They went through the hallway, which was vacant aside from the knights on patrol they would occasionally pass by on the way, and they were approaching the rose garden that was visible from Rosemarie’s quarters. The same rose garden that she wanted to visit had already passed its peak bloom, but seeing the vibrant green leaves was a refreshing sight for her heart.
“Um, where might we be going?” Rosemarie asked Claudio from behind as he walked with her in tow, passing the rose garden as well. All he did was smile suggestively without giving her a proper response.
Soon, they arrived at garden considerably off to the side among the many gardens of the royal palace. A slight glance revealed that the dense Forbidden Forest, which resided at the back of the castle, was right nearby. What Rosemarie then saw there made her eyes widen in surprise.
“...A greenhouse?”
A greenhouse stood beside a giant yew tree as if it were long since forgotten. The moonlight’s reflection kept her from making out what was on the inside, but the glass building was most definitely a greenhouse.
Claudio led her inside by the hand. Perhaps thanks to some sort of spell, a faint light suddenly illuminated the room. What that light shone upon was a variety of multicolored roses. However, perhaps due to a lack of maintenance, the branches were growing as they pleased, looking a bit unruly.
“This place...”
“It’s a greenhouse that the royal gardener used to use in the past. Something about seeing some sort of shadow stalking around the Forbidden Forest scared them so bad that they abandoned it. Due to the spread of those rumors, not many people come near it. So, I’m giving the place to you.”
“You’re giving it to me? Really?” Her eyes lit up and she scanned the room. There had been a greenhouse at her villa in Volland as well, but it was far smaller than this.
She looked up at Claudio with a big smile on her face, which prompted him to smile in return.
“Yes, really. I heard from your maid. You’re a fan of gardening, right? In exchange for banning your Kaola and your bucket, feel free to use this place. However, you also have to worry about Master Edel using this place for an afternoon nap on occasion, or even me dropping by while on a walk. This is all assuming you’re not afraid of the Forbidden Forest.”
“As long as I don’t go into the forest, there should be no problem, correct? In that case, I have nothing to fear. I’m also already used to both you and Master Edel, so I will be fine. Thank you so much for this!”
Since she wasn’t raised in Baltzar, the concept of the Forbidden Forest being a place to fear wasn’t really instilled into her. It had been out of the question for a good while, but now that things had settled down, she wanted to utilize her green thumb and garden—even a potted plant would have sufficed.
When she turned around to face Claudio and extend her thanks, the glass of the greenhouse acted as a makeshift mirror, and the reflection of his Silver Lion head entered her view. It had been quite a while since she last saw him look like that, so it startled her for a split second.
“Are you afraid?” Claudio quickly detected what was going on and asked her that question in an impassive tone.
“No, just a little startled. It’s just that my eyes always show your head as being human, so whenever I see you as the sacred beast, I brace myself because I’m able to see the results of stealing your mana with my own eyes.” They had to get Claudio’s mana back to him so that he could have the same human face that she saw through her eyes, and quickly. Otherwise, Claudio would be driven out of his position of crown prince.
That moment of deep thought made her come to a realization.
“Um, that reminds me. I’ve been putting off asking this for a while, but why is having mana a prerequisite to accede to the throne?”
“Oh, that? I suppose it’s natural you wouldn’t know. I never told you, after all. It would be inconvenient in many regards if this information were to spread too far. In fact, only a certain handful of people know about...” Claudio unnaturally cut off his own sentence. Rosemarie looked at his face with suspicion to see that his expression had turned contemplative and grim.
“—It couldn’t be... Might there be a definite chance that Kastner doesn’t know...?”
“What about the Archbishop?” Claudio mentioned before that Archbishop Kastner was always challenging him. She started to worry that there might be some sort of issue afoot. She found herself tugging at Claudio’s cuff, and he looked back down at her, slightly startled.
“O-Okay, okay. I’ll fill you in, so wipe all that worry off your face.” Claudio lightly cleared his throat and smiled wryly.
“Baltzar’s royal palace was constructed in order to contain the spread of the Forbidden Forest. The king’s mana is pivotal. If the king has no mana, then the forest would continue to spread, and the capital would be overrun with trees and eventually fall to ruin.”
“Fall to ruin...” she repeated, her face suddenly turning pale. That was something that wasn’t going to end simply by removing Claudio as crown prince.
“Does this mean that I just so happened to do something that might destroy the nation?”
“In conclusion, you did. Even so, I didn’t give that point the consideration it needed, either. In spite of me being in a position of responsibility, I conducted myself carelessly in search of you instead of leaving it to those around me.” Claudio admitting that he shared in the blame prompted Rosemarie to let go of his sleeve. That still made her the number one cause of all this, nevertheless.