The Abandoned Princess, Yet She Is Loved - Chapter 109

After one round of treatment, Grace caught her breath and examined the emperor’s complexion.

 

“He’s changed…”

 

As she continued to pour healing energy into him, changes began to show on the emperor’s face. His once ghostly pale complexion had started to regain some color, and his lifeless lips now had a faint flush of red.

 

“Madam Winstaine, His Majesty looks different,” the crown princess cautiously observed after studying the emperor’s face.

 

“He seems a bit more at ease… and his complexion looks better too.”

 

“Yes, I think so too.”

 

“Does it feel like he’s improving?”

 

“I can’t say for certain, but… I think there’s hope.”

 

Grace wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve.

 

With each session, the unique sense of resistance she had always felt while channeling healing energy into the emperor had started to ease. It didn’t feel like her energy was flowing into him completely freely, but the resistance was weakening, as if her healing force was gradually opening a path through his body.

 

“Madam Winstaine, thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, we couldn’t have even attempted something like this…”

 

“There’s no need for gratitude just yet. We haven’t woken him up. I’m still afraid he may not wake up at all.”

 

Grace examined the emperor’s condition more closely. Not only had the color returned to his face, but even his body, once deathly pale, now looked much healthier.

 

“Oh, please, just a little longer like this… Please let him wake up…”

 

The crown princess clasped her hands in prayer. Her face was full of hope. Grace decided not to voice the concerns lingering in the back of her mind.

 

“Yes. If this continues, he might regain consciousness soon…”

 

If things went wrong, she could explain later. After all, they had agreed not to place the blame on her. For now, she simply wished for his recovery. She gathered energy in her hands once more for additional treatment.

 

“That’s all for today.”

 

Exhausted, Grace slowly withdrew her hands.

 

“Are you okay? You’ve been using a lot of energy lately… I’m a little worried.”

 

“I’m fine. I’m not in battle or defending the northern gate right now. I haven’t been overexerting myself in other ways. I just felt that His Majesty’s recovery had to be the priority.”

 

“Yes… Truly, thank you.”

 

Grace smiled gently at the crown princess before turning back toward the emperor.

 

And in that moment—the emperor’s eyes snapped open.

 

“…?”

 

As his eyelids lifted to reveal his eyes, Grace froze, unable to speak in her surprise. He had shown no signs of waking until now.

 

Though he had twitched his fingers before, she hadn’t expected him to regain consciousness so suddenly. After all, he’d been hovering near death for months.

 

“…”

 

The emperor slowly sat up. Grace and the crown princess stared at him in stunned silence.

 

“Hah… How long have I been asleep?”

 

His deep, raspy voice echoed in the room. His eyes then shifted toward the crown princess.

 

“Why have you come to see me?”

 

“You had collapsed and were bedridden for a long time. You’ve only just awakened.”

 

“Me?”

 

The emperor sounded completely confused.

 

“What day is it today?”

 

“It’s September 5th, 1927, by the Elius calendar.”

 

“What? September 5th? I’ve been unconscious that long? What in the world…”

 

The emperor’s eyes widened, and then he suddenly let out a short sigh of realization.

 

“Ah… Yes. I remember now. Damn…”

 

A shadow passed over the emperor’s expression. After cursing quietly, he abruptly turned his gaze to Grace.

 

“Putting that aside, I need to confirm something first.”

 

“…”

 

“Who is this woman?”

 

 

 

“So, you’re the Duchess of Winstaine.”

 

The emperor nodded slowly.

 

“Then you must’ve come after the wedding.”

 

“Yes. I was in the territory, but I came to the capital at His Highness Crown Prince Rubens’ summons.”

 

“I figured Rubens would do something like this eventually.”

 

The emperor evaluated his son with an emotionless expression.

 

“And Vladimir… Hah.”

 

He sneered at the mention of the second prince.

 

“Do you remember the condition you were in when you collapsed?”

 

At the mention of Vladimir’s name, the crown princess immediately asked the question she had been holding back.

 

“Of course. That bastard gave me wine, and after drinking it, I lost control of my limbs and blacked out.”

 

So it was just as the crown princess had described.

 

“I don’t know exactly what it was, but I knew it was a powerful poison. I could feel, instinctively, that I was dying.”

 

“Your condition was indeed life-threatening. So Prince Vladimir really did try to poison you.”

 

The crown princess nodded solemnly.

 

“I can’t forget the look on his face right before I collapsed. That smug, victorious expression… When I asked him what he had done, he said I didn’t need to know.”

 

The emperor’s face contorted again.

 

“I truly lived a cursed life. To think I raised a son who would try to kill his own father to take the throne.”

 

Regret weighed heavily in the emperor’s voice.

 

Grace and the crown princess silently waited. Having returned from the brink of death, he must have been wrestling with complex emotions.

 

“Where is he now?”

 

“His forces are on the verge of breaching the capital. He’s enlisted significant foreign military aid. We need your strength, Your Majesty.”

 

“Foreign aid…?”

 

“Yes. He joined hands with the emperor of the Bahorne Empire to stage a rebellion.”

 

Shock colored the emperor’s face.

 

“That bastard threw away his own country for greed.”

 

“Please strip him of his succession rights and publicly denounce his crimes.”

 

“Yes. He’ll lose all rights to the throne… and his status as a prince. He’ll pay the price for mocking this nation. In any case, my body feels surprisingly light. What kind of power did you use to heal me?”

 

The emperor turned his sharp eyes on Grace.

 

“It’s a power I received from a Divine Beast.”

 

“From a Divine Beast? What do you mean?”

 

Grace briefly explained how she had come to receive the power and her time in Panbion after arriving in the capital. She also mentioned how the Bahorne Empire had tried to either capture the Divine Beast or win her over, likely already aware of what was to come.

 

“How strange. I didn’t know such power could be inherited like that. This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

 

“Yes, I didn’t know either—until it happened to me.”

 

“But the Duke of Winstaine never cared much for the royal family. Yet you saved me. You could’ve just let me die.”

 

“That’s not how I see it.”

 

“I actually made a promise, Your Majesty,” the crown princess interjected eagerly.

 

“What promise?”

 

“That if Madam Winstaine saved Your Majesty, the crown would return the confiscated Winstaine family assets. I swore it on my honor.”

 

“Hah?”

 

“I apologize for making the promise without your consent, but we had no other choice. And I believed the Winstaine family was well within their rights to request such compensation.”

 

The emperor looked surprised for a moment, then burst into hearty laughter.

 

“Fair enough. A lifesaver deserves that much. If returning what was taken settles that debt, so be it.”

 

“…”

 

“Could I speak with Rubens? I need to hear what’s happened and discuss what comes next.”

 

“Yes, His Highness is in the palace. I’ll bring him immediately.”

 

The crown princess replied in a bright voice.

 

“Oh, and I’m late in thanking you. Thank you for saving my life, Madam Winstaine.”

 

“It was my honor, Your Majesty. I worried the treatment might not work, but I’m truly glad you’ve awakened.”

 

“If I’ve been unconscious this long and no physician could cure me, then you must possess a remarkable gift.”

 

“You flatter me.”

 

Now that the emperor was awake, the tides of war would surely shift in their favor. Grace, filled with hope, beamed with a bright smile.