Chapter 25

Kaizen ordered after a brief sigh.

“Send soldiers and subsidies to that castle to manage the village and to heal the patients, and to contact other neighboring provinces to send doctors and pharmacists.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Lyndon bowed his head and went outside.

Kaizen was immersed in his thoughts as he looked at the map unfolded on his desk.

‘Except for the capital and a few big cities, this village is too underdeveloped. There are no medicines to treat patients in such a country.’

It was because no one had properly ruled the country over the past decades.

His grandfather was eager to expand his power and territory throughout his life, and his father, the former emperor, was only wielded by the great nobles, including the Duke of Reston.

After Kaizen himself became emperor, he spent six years quitting the rebellion and purging the great lords.

But he was different from now on.

Kaizen perfectly captured the entire empire.

Since there is no more distance, he was going to focus on his internal affairs from now on.

That is why he went on the tour as soon as the situation in the capital was stabilized.

It was the emperor’s personal tour of the imperial land and inspecting each area.

In order for him to properly rule and prosper the empire, he needed to look around the territory himself.

“Where is Astelle now?”

Kaizen, looking at the map, asked the attendant with a teacup.

“Lady Astelle is in the western annex.”

He had to explain the situation to Astelle.

The reason he moved to Denz earlier than planned was because of Astelle, but the schedule suddenly became delayed, so he must tell her himself and ask for patience.

Kaizen got up from his seat and headed to the western annex, guided by the attendant.

This place was very old-fashioned, and it was very inconvenient because it was small in size.

In the corridor, the sunlight was not good, so it was dark.

Leaving the main building and exiting the corridor leading to the west, an annex that looked shabby and uncomfortable than the main building came out.

“You say this is where Astelle is staying?”

“Yes, Majesty.”

Kaizen looked around the cramped corridor with a ridiculous glance.

The wrinkles deepened in his eyebrows.

No matter how limited the bedroom is, how someone could live in a place like this?

‘I have to change the room right away.’

With that thought, he went through the narrow corridor and walked to the door at the end.

Before the attendant opened the door, he tried to knock, but as soon as he knocked on the door, the door opened.

“Your Majesty…!”

The person who opened the door was Astelle.

Kaizen, who tried to speak out, stopped looking at Astelle’s outfit.

Astelle was wearing a white chemise gown.

It was an indoor gown with pure white cloth hanging down to the floor, so the body was not revealed.

Still, there was no choice for Kaizen but to be surprised at the moment.

The blonde who looked like the gold thread was moist and wet as if it had just come out after taking a bath.

“Sorry. Because I’m a little nervous now.”

Astelle saw Kaizen’s surprised face and quickly came to her senses.

She pulled more of the collar to cover her bare nape.

“Still, I tried to meet and tell you.”

“What happened?”

Astelle’s pale green eyes were anxious.

“I think I have a fever.”

* * *

Astelle was surprised.

As soon as she found the spots on her wrist, she quickly ended the bath and returned to her room.

She dries Theor, puts on his clothes, and Astelle herself was about to change her clothes.

Suddenly she heard a knock, so she opened the door and Kaizen stood in front of the door.

‘I thought it was a maid.’

She thought it was a maid and forgot that she was wearing an indoor gown and opened the door.

Kaizen was a little surprised, and she looked across Astelle’s body.

The white gown wasn’t as thin as the bathrobe, but it wasn’t thick enough to completely cover her body.

Astelle quickly tightened her gown and pulled out a coat and put it on.

She talked about the most important thing first.

“I think I have a fever.”

“What?”

Kaizen surprised at the word of fever.

His eyes trembled with shock.

“You have a fever… no, how bad is it?”

Because Kaizen was so astonished, Astelle was also amazed.

Is this so surprising?

‘I only said it was a fever, so I guess he thought it was a very contagious and fatal Innes fever.’

Astelle quickly added an explanation.

“It is not a severe fever. It’s an ordinary fever. It is still in the early stages, so there is no fever and only spots have occurred.”

Astelle showed her wrist to Kaizen.

“I have a spots here.”

Kaizen closed his mouth and looked at the red spots on Astelle’s arm.

Astelle tried to explain to him step by step.

“Eastern fever is initially spotted like this. At this time, if you can’t treat it, you gradually get a fever…”

“I know how the eastern fever progresses.”

As if Kaizen was frustrated, he ended Astelle’s explanation.

Kaizen looked a little upset.

Even after hearing the explanation that it was not a highly contagious disease, he did not feel relieved.

‘Why do you have an expression as if you feel guilty? Is it because you thought I got sick from the rain?’

Or is he blaming himself because he took Theor to the hunting lodge on a rainy day?

‘He is not the one who cares about that.’

Astelle replied vaguely.

“I’m glad you know.”

Suddenly, Kaizen approached Astelle.

Astelle was surprised at the moment, and it was a tough momentum enough to take a step back.

“You, what the…”

It was when he came closer to Astelle, a clear voice stopped his foot.

“Hello, Your Majesty.”

There was a bed in the center of a flat room with little furniture.

Theor who was playing with a doll on the bed found Kaizen and ran to him.

Theor greeted him, looking up at Kaizen with clear blue eyes.

“Your Majesty, Aunt Astelle is sick.”

Theor took turns looking at the two people standing silently and said, hanging on to Kaizen.

“Your aunt will be fine.”

Looking down at Theor, Kaizen stroked Theor’s moist hair.

He looked back at Astelle with a dazzling glance.

“You got sick and what were you doing with a child here? You should have called the doctor right away.”

“I was about to change my clothes and go to the doctor.”

She just returned from the bath.

Kaizen turned to the attendant and ordered.

“Call the doctor.”

After a while, the doctor who accompanied the party arrived. It was Vellian who brought the doctor.

Even Lyndon came to the emperor to report something there.

All three people gathered in Astelle’s room.

* * *

Vellian seemed to be very surprised by the news that Astelle was sick.

When Astelle looked closely at him, Vellian quietly avoided her glance.

“It’s an unsuspecting eastern fever.”

The doctor who examined Astelle reported.

“Fortunately, it’s not very contagious and it’s not a serious illness. I found it quickly, so if you take the medicine and get enough rest, you’ll recover quickly.”

It was the expected result of the diagnosis.

Adtelle nodded her head without much effort, but Kaizen was deeply relieved after hearing the doctor’s confirmation.

He turned to Vellian and ordered.

“Inform the manager here and tell him to send more maids and servants. First, let’s move her bedroom to the main building…”

“Your Majesty.”

Astelle stood up and called Kaizen.

At the moment, everyone’s gaze in the room turned to Astelle.

“If you allow me, I would like to stay here and heal my illness. And I want to make a remedy with my own hands so that rumors do not leak out.”

“What?”

Kaizen gave Astelle an absurd look.

“What are you talking about?”

“Isn’t there an epidemic spread around here? It must be Innes fever.”

Vellian and Lyndon, who were standing and looking at the distance this time, also looked surprised.

Kaizen asked a question with suspicious eyes.

“Where did you hear it?”

“I didn’t hear from anyone.”

‘I just guessed.’

If the plum blossoms wither and die, Innes fever is spreading a lot around this area.

Fortunately, this village did not seem to have any patients thanks to the pharmacist who came in disguised as a maid, but the other villages around it did not seem so lucky.

There must be a village engulfed by a plague somewhere in this area.

Just a while ago, Kaizen’s reaction, who was particularly surprised by the word fever, brought conviction to Astelle’s guess.

If he hasn’t heard of Innes fever, there’s no way a careless person like Kaizen would be so overreacted.

Astelle explained step by step, why she came to guess that an infectious disease was spreading.

Of course, she only mentioned the silver plum blossoms, not about Kaizen’s overreaction.