I Became a Childhood Friend With the Villainous Saintess

142 – Ellis (3)

It was a day with a light fog.

With every breath, the humid air soaked my lungs, and the clouds that blocked the sunlight painted the sky gray.

The weather was not good enough to even describe it as nice. It looked like it might rain soon.

So I thought today was the day to do it, but it just so happened that I met Ellis again on this day.

Is it because I said something harsh to you when we broke up?

Ellis pretended not to know me.

How can you tell people apart when you can’t even see?

It seemed like he had no intention of coming to where I was.

Thanks to that, the sponsorship was very quiet and desolate, as if I was alone.

‘It’s annoying.’

I found the silence jarring.

I couldn’t stand the sight of her looking at the flowers as if she didn’t care about me.

Fortunately, I guess I didn’t think of behaving as badly as before.

Because the mean things I said to Ellis were weighing on my mind.

This time, I mustered up my courage and approached him first.

“You. Why aren’t you talking to me today?”

“I thought you hated me. The sponsorship is a place to rest, so I didn’t want to be a bother.”

“It’s not that I didn’t like it.”

“Hmm. Then would you like to look at some flowers together? These flowers bloom with a really fragrant scent at this time of year. Come smell them.”

Ellis gently caressed the yellow petals.

I crouched down next to her and looked at the flowers.

The petals definitely smelled nice.

But I couldn’t tell if the scent was really coming from the yellow flower or from Alice.

What is clear is that I was staring blankly at that flower for a long time.

Without saying a word or moving at all.

Ellis waited quietly for me like that.

“Haha. Do you like it? It’s a flower called coneflower. If you drink it, it will help you forget your worries.”

An innocent expression as if he knows nothing.

Yet a refreshing smile shone instead of sunlight.

When I look at her face, the tension in her face relaxes without any relief.

I feel like it’s stretching me too. I was clearly taught that royalty must always display dignity.

Right now, I felt like I was looking quite foolish, let alone dignified.

But yeah, I felt a sense of betrayal.

I raised the corners of my mouth at this strange sense of betrayal.

To be honest, I was happy.

“Here are some flower petals. Take them. If you’re having a hard time, they’ll make it a little bit better.”

“That can’t be true. If the problem could be solved by drinking one cup of tea, I would have drunk a hundred cups.”

“That’s why it’s just a little bit. You’re looking for this support because you want to take a break, right? Once you feel at ease, you’ll be able to overcome difficult situations with more strength.”

“… … .”

There was nothing to refute.

In the end, I had no choice but to receive the flower petals.

If I think about it calmly, my conversation with Ellis didn’t help me at all.

The gardener’s granddaughter did not have a family of high-quality soldiers, nor did she amass great wealth.

Moreover, he was not even a member of an influential family.

The same goes for the flower petals you gave me in my hand.

Whatever happened to something like this, it didn’t affect my future in any way.

As she said, it did make me feel better, but that was it.

But… …her words felt so sweet to me.

At that time, I was becoming more and more worn out.

A father who only forces responsibility and burden on me. A mother who no longer looks at me.

During that month, the relationship between my parents continued to deteriorate.

This was true both personally and politically.

Unfortunately, the emperors of that time were quite capable.

Around the time I was born, my father had solidified his foundation by borrowing the power of his relatives.

However, as the imperial power became stable, the powerful maternal relatives became a thorn in the eye.

Recently I received a quiet warning.

– Your Highness, the palace has been behaving strangely recently.

– You must make up your mind strong.

I don’t know what will happen in the future.

In such anxiety, Ellis’s presence was like rain in a drought.

Although my life may not be long, my mother is the only one I have ever felt affection between people.

However, as the couple’s relationship deteriorated, it seemed that he had lost his peace of mind.

It’s been so long since I’ve had a proper conversation that I can’t even remember.

That’s when my thoughts reached that point.

‘Ah. Now I get it. This is the kind of silly conversation I wanted to have.’

It’s been too long since there was anyone who saw me for who I am.

I needed someone to look at ‘Karzan Edelmar’, not just the imperial emblem on my clothes.

But paradoxically, it was not the adults with two eyes who looked at me straight, but a blind girl.

A realization came rushing in like a tide.

Things that were mine until now but I didn’t know about.

For example, I came to understand things like my emotions.

My gaze couldn’t leave Ellis.

I was so glad that she couldn’t look at me now.

“Why haven’t you come to support us all this time? It’s been a while. Is it because of me?”

“No. If that were the case, it wouldn’t have come up by now.”

“Then? Was there another reason?”

“As you can see, I can’t see. Also, I have a skin disease that makes me feel pain when I’m exposed to the sun for too long. Because of my illness, I can only go out for a limited time.”

It was a calm attitude.

Ellis spoke about her illness as if she were telling someone else’s story.

It was a disease so terrible I don’t even want to imagine it.

How can he say such a thing so quietly?

I felt ashamed of myself.

The royal family, who should have been setting an example, ran away and vented their anger, but the horticulturalist’s granddaughter was living a more resilient life than him.

“You know. Next time… … ”

“Your Majesty. Are you a sponsor?”

“The chief of the watch?”

I was going to ask when we could meet again next time.

When I turned my head at the call of the attendant, Ellis was leaving without saying a word.

In the end, I had to follow the chief chamberlain back to the Empress’s Palace.

Nothing got better as time passed.

It’s always been the same.

The only thing that had changed was that my life had gotten messier.

I surrounded myself with greedy old men, sometimes with blood on their hands.

I didn’t kill him myself though.

Well, it doesn’t make much of a difference since he died under my orders.

It didn’t really matter whether the tool was a sword or a human.

Anyway, the Emperor and Mother… … .

To be precise, the Emperor and my maternal family’s conflict became more intense, and only recently did it come to a conclusion.

Victory belonged to the emperor.

My mother cried until she collapsed on the day my grandfather was beheaded.

– Ah, ahhh… … aaah!

– Roderick Edelmar! How. How could you do this to me!

– Even if you didn’t love her, you shouldn’t have stabbed her with a knife!

After that, I couldn’t have a normal conversation with my mother.

He would mutter to himself and occasionally have nervous fits.

So I lost another part of my life.

As things got worse, I became closer to Ellis.

Now I don’t go to the garden on clear days.

It was because she wasn’t there.

I was no longer young enough to need a refuge, and I was a proper prince, capable of gradually expanding my influence.

Whenever I had time, I always went to sponsorship.

I spent countless hours just waiting to see Ellis.

Today I was lucky enough to meet her.

“I’ll stop here for today. I’m starting to feel a little warm. It was a fun time, Your Majesty.”

“Me too. It seems like it’s been a long time since I’ve heard the word ‘fun’. Do you think I’ve become a prince with a lot of respect now?”

“Me, your Majesty?”

“Haha. I’m just kidding. Just go in.”

Meanwhile, I spent more than 90% of the day wearing a mask.

Figure out the other person’s intentions and hide your own.

A battlefield of tongues that speak only of reason and logic.

I was a pretty resourceful warrior there.

When I came to my senses, it was only a few days before my investiture as crown prince.

But my world didn’t change.

Still, the only person I could talk to with confidence was Ellis.

Surprisingly, she didn’t change her attitude even after finding out I was the prince.

I was so incredibly happy about that fact.

Joy has become dependence.

I felt like I could endure whatever misfortune befell me as long as I had Ellis.

I truly thought so, and it happened.

I met my mother on my way to the palace right after I broke up with Ellis.

“Prince. You are here.”

“Ah, my… … Ahem. Your Highness. You have been in a place like this.”

It was an amazing stroke of luck.

After my grandfather’s death, my mother rarely had a day of sanity.

A polite greeting like this meant that today’s events would be very good.

Have I ever had such a lucky day?

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Yes. Prince, are you busy today?”

“No. I will make time even if I have a busy schedule.”

If meeting Ellis was the first stroke of luck in my life, the second stroke of luck was not missing today.

My mother led me somewhere with a faint smile.