When I bit my lips to stop tears from falling down, he suddenly came over and stopped while trying to hug me. He raised my face with his hand urgently and asked in a very embarrassing voice, “Are you crying? What’s the matter? Did I hurt you? ”

“Oh, no, Your Majesty. I suddenly …”

He hugged me in a hurry and asked, wiping away my tears, “Suddenly what? You must have reason for shedding tears. Don’t cry, Tia. What is going on?”

When I looked at his deep blue eyes full of worry about me, I realized my concern was groundless, and that I didn’t have to feel nervous at all.

However, tears flowed down again, even though I felt relieved that I misunderstood him. He got more and more nervous when my tears kept coming. He was at a loss about what to do for a moment, then he pulled me into his arms and said, gently patting my back, “What’s wrong? What the hell is going on here? Why are you crying like this?… ”

“Well, I don’t know, Your Majesty. I don’t have anything to cry about, but I just can’t control my tears…”

“Um? Nothing to cry about?”He paused for a moment and asked curiously, “Um…is it because of the letter you were reading?”

“I think I misunderstood you rather than the letter…”

“Misunderstood me? What are you talking about?”

“Oh, I misunderstood that you were angry…”

“Oh, really? Are you sure?”

I now felt he was no more nervous or tense because of my crying. He gently pulled me out of his arms and said, leaning forward at my eye level, “How can I be angry with you for such a trifling thing, Tia?”

“…”

“You know because you already saw the letters, but I wrote them, but didn’t send them to you. That’s why I reacted like that because I was rather embarrassed when I found out you saw them.”

After explaining to me kindly, he reached out and wiped out the teardrops in my eyes. I could find anything other than friendliness in his attitude, but I could not meet his eyes because I felt ashamed somehow. I was very embarrassed at the fact that I cried over such a trifling thing as an adult, not a child.

When I slightly lowered my head to hide my blushing, somebody knocked on the door. The Lord Chamberlain came in and said, “Your Majesty, they’re all ready as you directed. Can I ask them to wait a little longer?”

“Oh, I forgot! Um, do you have any more to say?”

“Oh, no.”

“Good. Let me go out right now. Tell them to get ready.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

When the chamberlain went out after bowing politely, he reached out to me after adjusting my dishevelled dress. Then, he offered to escort me somewhere. I thought about it for a moment. Where does he want to take me? What was it that he prepared?

“Um? What are you thinking about?”

“Well, Your Majesty, where are you going now?”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you because I’m absent-minded. I’m going to the restaurant. It’s dinner time now. ”

“Ah.”

“I told the chief chef to specially prepare your favorite food. It seems you don’t have any appetite these days.”

Oh, that was why he said that to me. I nodded gently, thinking about what happened in the morning. I often skipped meals these days because my stomach was a little upset. Initially he overlooked it because it’s not a big deal. But when I kept skipping meals, he seemed to have decided that he could take some measures.

In the end, he rebuked me when I emptied a plate of salad for breakfast. Then he said he would check whether I was eating properly from now on. Given the way he spoke to me, it was obvious that he told the chief chef to prepare some delicious food for me.

Although I didn’t feel like I wanted to eat anything particular, I silently put my hand on his hand. I didn’t want to worry him with this, when I already had him concerned about me because of my crying over nothing special.

When I arrived at the small restaurant that I often visited these days. A little later the servants and maids started bringing food. All the dishes made from raw vegetables, grilled mushrooms with asparagus, and dela fruit dishes that I liked because of its spicy taste were all my favorite, like he said.

As if to examine his assignment, he asked after looking at the dishes, “Do you like the food?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” I nodded with a gentle smile.

I felt happy because I knew immediately he prepared the food with deep affection for me. It was partly because the food was my favorite, but I was deeply touched by the fact that he directly instructed the chef to prepare the food for me who didn’t have a good appetite these days.

“Please have a lot. I’m going to see you empty all the dishes today. ”

“Sure, Your Majesty. You, too, enjoy the food, will you?”

I lifted the fork in a happy mood, but I could hardly eat because I felt nauseated.

What’s wrong with me?

Suddenly, I bit my lips gently. Even though he prepared the dishes that I liked very much, I didn’t feel like I wanted to eat them. As a gourmet, he didn’t comment about the food, which meant the food was good enough. But I felt even the lightly baked mushroom dish was greasy. In the end, I felt nauseated at the smell of the mushrooms.

I put down the fork slightly and drank water. But as soon as I had cold water, my stomach began to be upset again.

I decided that I would have to see the royal doctor, so I told a servant to put away the empty dishes. Until now, I didn’t call the doctor for fear he might be worried about me, but I felt uncomfortable these days because my stomach had been upset for the past several days.

I didn’t think some food was stuck in my stomach because it had been there too long.

When I drank a cup of water for the second time because my stomach turned, he asked with an anxious voice, checking my expression while eating, “What’s wrong? Don’t you like the food?’

“No, Your Majesty. It’s because…”

“Because?”

“Oh, actually, my stomach has been upset a lot. It looks like I’ve got an upset stomach.”

“Then, is that the reason why you could hardly eat anything these days?”

“Well, that’s right…’

I tried to choose words carefully for fear he might worry, but he seemed angry, as if he checked out the situation from A to Z. He reprimanded me sharply after telling the servant to call the royal doctor immediately.

“How stupid you are! If you felt such symptoms, you should have called the doctor immediately. Why were you putting up with that without saying anything to me?”

“… I’m sorry, Your Majesty. ”

“Well, why are you so sick alone every single time without letting me know…Whew, oh, I think I’m talking too harshly.”

He stopped talking further while trying to say something, then pressed his temple with his finger. Then, a little later, he said with a sigh, “I understand how you feel, but never do it again in the future. I’m afraid you can get really sick.”

“Yes, I’ll keep it in mind, Your Majesty.”

“…If you can’t talk, I wouldn’t be this annoyed.”

Instead of rebuking me like before, he softened his attitude and pulled my hand off my knees. When I looked at him curiously, he said, pressing my palm firmly with his thumb, “Don’t you think you have me in your pocket? You make me nervous several times a day.”

“… Your Majesty.”

“I’m sorry I was suddenly angry with you. But Tia, if you have a problem like this, tell me first. Don’t even think I will be worried because of you. You can’t keep hiding it forever even if you don’t talk to me, right?”

“Yes I will do so. I think I was narrow-minded. I’m sorry, Your Majesty. ”

When I nodded gently, he relaxed his hardened expression at last.

At that moment, the servant who was standing at a distance, was seen approaching me carefully. The middle-aged woman who walked behind him was the woman doctor that I had met because of her treatment of Beatrice.

“I, Heres Lant, am honored to greet you, the Sun of the empire and the Moon of the empire. I’ve come here at your order, Your Majesty. What’s the matter?”