Kays Translations

Chapter 94: ep.11 [The Dark History of the Royal Family】◆

　A heavy air hangs over the royal quarters of the castle. Queen Aaliyah’s condition was not good.

　The fresh potion made by the magic department had no effect, so another bottle of potion was used. Even but the Queen still did not recover.

　She suffered from joint pain, itchy skin, fatigue, headache, and fever. … The queen couldn’t sleep at night and had lost the energy and strength to talk.

　Dennis, the doctor stationed at the castle, had just finished examining her, and was beside himself. Then Roman Ellington, the chamberlain, came in carrying another potion.

“Doctor, please hurry up and use this potion.”

“I’ve already used two potions. They don’t seem to be working.”

“This was made by a wizard who is an acquaintance of His Majesty’s, and it should work. It has been used on commoners and has proven to be very effective. Please use this as soon as possible. I beg you.”

“A better potion than those from the castle’s wizards? … Let me test it for poison first.”　

　Denis saw that there were five potions and drank one himself. Then they both stared at the water clock and waited for an hour to pass. Denise stood up and said, “Okay, the poison testing is complete,” and headed to the queen’s bedroom.

　In Queen Aaliyah’s room was one of the chambermaids she had brought with her when she married. The lady in waiting is also haggard. Denis hands her a bottle of the potion, saying, “You should drink it, too.” The maid accepts it, muttering, “Thank you.”

“My Queen, a new potion has arrived. Please drink this. If you will excuse me, I will raise your head.”

“Denis… I’ve already drunk a potion.”

　Queen Aaliyah’s eyes are bloodshot and her breath is hot as she exhaled. When she sees the potion Dennis is holding, she has an indescribably sad look on her face.

“The potion doesn’t seem to be working. I want to see Christopher’s face before I die, even if it’s from a distance.”

“You say such fainthearted things. This will definitely work. Please drink it. I beg of you. Also, while you are not feeling well, I cannot let the prince into this room. Please forgive me.”

“You are right. ……. I understand. Let me drink the potion.”

　The maid helped the queen up and supported her back, while Dennis placed the potion bottle to her mouth. The queen drank the clear green potion little by little. She looked distressed with each sip, probably because of the pain in her throat. The queen, who has always been patient, nevertheless drank it all. The lady-in-waiting gently laid the queen down as if she were handling a fragile object.

“Your Majesty, would you like some water?”

“No need. Lindsay, you should drink the potion too. You’re probably catching my illness.”

“I’m going to have some now. Don’t worry.”

“Drink quickly.”

　Queen Aaliyah said to her maid and fell asleep.

　The king had moved with the prince to another floor since the news of the epidemic came in. He now conducts his affairs in a room that only a select few can enter.

　Ten-year-old Prince Christopher is also alone in his room. Although he misses his mother, he understands the situation and spends his time alone reading books and practicing his sword skills. Even the servants who occasionally come into his room are in a hurry to leave after completing the bare minimum of business.

　After leaving Queen Aaliyah’s room, where she had fallen asleep, the doctor sat down on the couch in the medical room and lay down. He felt extremely sleepy. Since the queen’s condition worsens at night, she has not been able to relax and sleep properly for the past few nights.

　A sweet sleepiness came over him and Dr. Dennis closed his eyes.

“Doctor!　Doctor!　Please get up!”

　A woman is making a fuss nearby.

　The lady-in-waiting, perhaps out of frustration, starts shaking his shoulder violently. He woke up with a start, his heart beating fast as he imagined the worst. In front of him stood Lindsay, the Queen’s maid, looking panicked.

“What’s wrong?!”

“The Queen’s condition has changed. Please come!”

　Dennis jumped up without saying a word and ran to the Queen’s room. Roman, the King’s chamberlain, was already there. Dennis strode over to the Queen’s bed and peered at her.

　The queen, who had been feverish and weak until a moment ago, was now sleeping peacefully. The blisters that had appeared on her skin which had been swelled up moments ago were now beginning to wrinkle on the surface of the blisters. He gently placed his hand on her forehead and found that she no longer had a fever.

“The potion seems to have worked,” he said to Roman, who nodded repeatedly.

“It worked. I had heard that this potion had helped many commoners recover, but I didn’t think it would work this well. I’m glad I got the potion.”

“I must report this to His Majesty.”

“I will come with you.”

　The two of them left the Queen’s bedroom, washed their hands, gargled, and changed clothes from head to toe. Even when they entered the King’s study, it was customary to call out from the other side of the room. In the Kingdom of Wernos, which has survived several major epidemics in its long history, this method has been used in the past. All the windows were open, and the breeze gently ruffled the curtains inside the room.

Eldor VIII stopped working and looked at the two with a look of worry on his face.

“What’s happened to Aaliyah?”

“That potion worked. Her fever has gone down, and the blisters all over her body are starting to subside.”

“I see. It worked.”

　Eldor VIII put his hand to his forehead and relaxed, letting out a sigh.

　Two days ago, Dennis had told him, “I’ll do my best, but her condition is serious, and from now on it will depend on her physical strength.” The anxiety that had been weighing heavily on Eldor VIII’s heart ever since then was silently fading away.

　He thought Dennis would finish his report and leave the room, but he did not.

“What is it?”

“Your Majesty, is the wizard who made that potion here in the royal capital?”

“Why do you ask?”

“If the wizard is capable of making such a potion, I think he should be employed at the castle.”

（Oh, yes, as expected.) Eldor VIII looked back at Dennis with a blank expression.

“Dennis, you don’t know the story, do you? It’s about my great-aunt, the one they call the black stain of the royal family.”

“Only rumors.”

“This isn’t ghost stories about a haunted castle. It is a true story. I grew up with my father repeatedly telling me, ‘Don’t use power to entrap wizards.’  My grandfather was heartbroken until the day he died when he found out what his sister had done. It was because of what happened with my great-aunt that the clause, ‘Only those wizards who of their own will wish to participate in the Magic Department are eligible to join” was added.”

“That was… a true story?” 

“Yes. The young wizard wasn’t the only one who fell victim to my great-aunt. In the end, hundreds of thousands of people died. I can’t make the same mistake. I should be grateful that the wizard provided the potion this time.”

　Dennis had no words to say after the King told him that, and left the office. Dennis was surprised when the King so easily confirmed that the rumor was true.

　The great-aunt Eldor VIII was referring to was Rosalind, the elder sister of the previous king. Born with a frail body, Rosalind never married and lived quietly in a villa with only a few servants.

　However, through some means or another, when she reached middle age, Rosalind began to seek out and buy children with high magical powers, lock them up like slaves, and forced them to brew potions for her to drink.

　By the time the previous king learned of Rosalind’s evil deeds, it was too late. A very talented wizard was said to have been used up. Word of Rosalind’s misdeeds, which were supposed to have been covered up, started to leak out and spread among the nobles.

“I can’t believe that was true. So that’s why members of the royal family don’t drink potions so proactively. With that past, then I guess that wizard who can make amazing potions… I have no choice but to give up.”

　He realized after sitting down on the couch that the terrible stiffness and dull ache in his neck, shoulders, and back are completely gone.

　At that time, Eldor VIII was discussing the matter with his chamberlain Roman.

“first the diamonds, now these potions? A legendary wizard indeed. How many potions has Mai provided?”

“The guards told me that they have twenty-three barrels with enough potions for one thousand one hundred people at the moment.”

“Twenty-three? That’s already an achievement on a national scale.”

　Then both of them thought about it. Eldor VIII was the first to speak.

“Roman, I would like to reward her with a noble title and land in recognition of her achievements, but would that not please her?”

“I have a feeling that would be the case.”

“It’s difficult to deal with people who have no desires. But just to be safe, ask her fiancée, the head civil servant.”

“Yes, sir.”

　After Roman leaves, Eldor VIII, now alone, recalls the story his father told him.

　Princess Rosalind’s end, known only to the royal family, was gruesome. After years of drinking special potions instead of water, her body lost its natural human functions. Shortly after she was no longer able to drink the wizard’s potions, Rosalind began to show symptoms.

　She developed recurring fevers, swellings all over her body, blood when she coughed, and bloody stools. Using a hairbrush would scratch her scalp and cause it to fester, and simply changing her clothes would easily scratch her skin and cause it to fester. The castle’s wizard’s potions were useless. Rosalind died in her own blood and pus, groaning in pain.

　The doctor, suspecting a contagious disease, asked the servants, “How long has this been going on?” and one of the older servants revealed the truth, which led to the discovery of Rosalind’s misdeeds.

　There’s more to this story.

　After Rosalind’s death, the country was hit by a succession of epidemics, epidemics that later proved to kill one in every several citizens.

　The wizards in the Magic Department continued to make potions, but eventually they grew exhausted and the quality of the potions began to decline. The soldiers and nobles, even if they drank the potions, would die, starting with the weakest.

　One day, his grandfather called his father out to the balcony.

　Countless plumes of smoke were rising from all over the royal city below. The bodies of those who died in the epidemic would not be buried as they were. They are immediately cremated in a nearby vacant lot. The sheer number of plumes of smoke rising and the amount of smoke that hung like clouds in the sky above the Royal Capital left his father, a young boy at the time, speechless.

　His grandfather called out to his father.

“Look carefully, and remember that God is deeply angry with Rosalind for her evil deeds.”

　Even after the epidemic subsided over the course of several years, the decline in the working population caused the kingdom of Wernos to suffer from chronic food shortages and industrial stagnation. The reigns of his grandfather and father thereafter were a history of hardship for the country. In his memory, his father was always busy with government affairs.

　Twenty-five years ago, the disease spread again. His father’s despair at losing his first and second sons almost simultaneously was not all that small, and he passed away from a heart ailment after watching Eldor VIII ascend to the throne.

　Now, there is no smoke to be found in the royal capital from burning bodies. It’s all thanks to Mai’s potions.

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