(From Blue''s Perspective)
"All of a sudden he is afraid of water?" I asked.
"Yes, this is what happened. No doctor could cure it. That''s why the Prime Minister''s wife went to a priest for a solution. That priest asked for information instead of money to cure the child. And the information..."
"... is about our Athena," I finished for him.
"That''s right," Reece nodded. "Your Highness did a good thing by sending her to the magic tower. No one in the pce saw her or know about her other than us. The magic tower is a very secured ce, even more than the Imperial Pce. That''s why, even spies could not go there, thanks to the magic barrier Lord Luc has created.
Apparently, it is true that information has been smuggled, but not by the Prime Minister, rather his wife. She could not give any information about Athena''s whereabouts because the Prime Minister doesn''t know about it. She has been stealing copies from the Prime Minister''s office. As far as it is known, the Prime Minister is not aware of his wife''s acts.
Or perhaps he knows, just is not doing anything since it''s his wife and son''s matter."
"Hmm... That child... If I am right, it is a phobia that causes someone to fear water," I muttered.
"Why would someone fear water if they did not face any traumatic turn of life that included water specifically?" Perita asked.
"As I said, it is a phobia, perhaps."
"Not just that, if hees into contact with water, his whole body breaks out in hives," Reece added.
"What? Why didn''t you tell me this before? Haa, now I understand," I said. "He actually doesn''t fear water. He is just allergic to water. That''s why he doesn''t want to take a shower or drink water and cries because no one seems to believe him.
I mean, it is a very strange condition, also super rare. It can happen that no one believes him. Since he is a toddler, it''s more likely that he can''t express properly what is happening."
"But can it happen?" Perita asked. "No matter how I think about it, it is very weird."
"Of course, it can happen. In my world, it is a really rare disease and no one knows the exact cause. Doctors or scientists still have no clue about how to cure it. Perhaps they have gotten closer to the solution, but could not find the exact result. I think it''s called Aquagenic Urticaria.
There is no cure, but doctors usually prescribe meditation to calm your hives aftering into contact with water. Well, no priest can fix this problem obviously if doctors can''t."
"That sucks," Reece said. "A kid suffering from such a thing..."
"Yeah, it''s really unfortunate. Usually, women suffer from this condition. But he is rare I suppose," I said. "Anyway, is this the brief?"
"For now, yes. I will let you know if I find something more out," he said. "Your Highness might want to p some sense into his mother and the Prime Minister''s wife. She has lost it."
"It is her son. As a mother, it must be very hard for her to see her son in that condition and not be able to do anything. But we will need to get her. I will talk to Doctor Dimitri as well. He might know something to help that kid. After that, I will decide upon her punishment.
No matter what the reason is, she went against the Royals. It is a crime," I said. "I will read the reportter. You may leave."
"Perita, get the maid with orange hair who serves me personally," I ordered Perita.
"Yes," she gave a nod and left.
"The Prime Minister''s wife, huh? Lady Bianca... Should I meet up with her myself?"
It would depend on my schedule. If I had free time, I would meet her myself, which I suspected would not happen since I rarely had any free time. After working six hours or more at a stretch, I barely had any strength or motivation left to do anything else other than resting or spending time with Dem since it was very rxing.
Sometimes, I took a walk in my free time, so my waist would not freeze up from sitting for too long.
*knock*
"Your Highness, I have brought her here!" Perita yelled, barging into the office and Sapphire jumped up in surprise. No wonder Sapphire did not like her. She made too much noise for no reason.
"What''s the point of knocking if you are going to barge into my office?" I sighed.
"I did not knock. She did."
"You summoned me, Your Highness?"
"Yes. Have you packed the blue tea I mentioned?"
"Yes, I did."
"Good. Now, I need you to pack thepass I boughtst night and the ne I bought from the auction. Make the packaging pretty and ck and golden in color. Send this letter along with the package to my dear sister-inw Lady Evelyn."
"I will do so, Your Highness. Is there anything else I need to do?"
"No, this will be all. You can go now. And send the gifts to Lady Evelyn right after packaging them."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Gifts for Lady Evelyn?" Perita asked.
"Yes, they will be leaving for Mazazine tomorrow, I think. I need to gift her something, of course. And there is a surprise with thepass. I believe it wille of use to her if she is really going to do what she told me that she will."
"What surprise?"
"That''s a secret," I smiled, putting my finger on my lips.
"Your Highness, do you know that there is a reason why everyone likes you?" she chuckled.
"Everyone? I doubt so. But the people who like me, they surely have a reason."
"Well, most of the people like Your Highness. Some do it because they are loyal to the throne, which happens in the case of the knights and people like Flint. They will be loyal to the throne, but might not like their masters. But loyalty is above personal preference if you are a knight or someone working directly under the rulers. Yet, our knights like Your Highness because of your nature and deeds.
You are gentle and kind, yet did not show mercy to the guilty. You have made some very amazing decisions which caused most of the high-ss nobles like Your Highness. Ruby, Flint, Reece, Lord Luc, me- we all have our reasons for liking and following Your Highness."
"Ruby likes Your Highness because you showed her kindness even though you had known her only for a while. When His Highness wanted to punish her, it was very normal since she disobeyed his orders. Be it a small thing, an order is an order, and disobeying a King''s order is not a huge deal. But Your Highness saved her. You also treated her rightfully and respected her, although she was just a maid."
"In your eyes, you always considered her as your equal. Flint is the type to be loyal to the throne, but might not like his master. But he now likes Your Highness not because you are the Queen, but because you have epted him as he is. He is good at work and that''s the main point. Your Highness doesn''t mind if he is informal in private and swears at others in your presence.
You simply treat it as if it is his behavior and it is alright to ept it as long as he doesn''t cross the line and works well for you. No wonder Flint works more enthusiastically, even though heins so much."
"For Reece, it is gratefulness and the considerate manner as a master. Trust me when I say this, Your Highness, there rarely is an employer who works this much even though they have an assistant. Besides, Your Highness has always been very considerate of him and asked him all the time if he has eaten properly. This means a lot for a person.
And as for me, I have liked Your Highness right after seeing you. But even before that, I became a fan of yours after the dagger incident that the beta told us about. It was just impressive. And the more time I spend with Your Highness, the greater I feel. I feel very proud to work as Your Highness''s escort knight.
And Lord Luc has always seen Your Highness as someone very close to him mostly because of your different yet charming character."
"What''s gotten into you today? Why are you praising me like this suddenly?" I chuckled. "That''s so unlike you, Perita. I got to say that your words tter me."
"It''s nothing, Your Highness. You work so much all day and we all know it. And I just wanted to say that we are very grateful to have you as our Queen," she smiled.
That smile was so bright that if I had not been careful, perhaps I would have cried.