/
There were dark shadows around his usually bright eyes, and they were a little bloodshot. His skin seemed rougher than usual.
“I was a little busy. Now it’s almost over. It’s time for those who bothered me to go back.”
Ray could hardly rest for a few days as he was dealing with nobles from the provinces before and after the debutante. Then he finally had time to come to see Dorothea.
Still, he was glad he had time the day Dorothea moved into the new palace.
“rest when you have time, why are you here?”
Dorothea knew how tight and difficult his schedule was.
Before returning, she had insomnia, whether fortunately or unlucky, and went to work during that time, but it was still difficult and overwhelming.
There are so many things to be concerned about, both mentally and physically, so it’s a place where even a lot of stamina will run out.
“Are you worried about me now, Dorothea?”
“No. I’m worried about the state of the country, and if you’re tired and out of shape, you might not be able to do your job, so you must stay healthy and in good shape.”
Raymond looked at Dorothea with a touching look in his eyes, so Dorothea turned her head.
“So now that means you want me to stay healthy and in good shape, right?”
“Whatever.”
With a tone of resignation, she threw out a word and resolutely walked into the palace.
Raymond looked at her back happily.
Dorothea’s worries seemed to wash away the tiredness he had suffered from his political affairs.
‘I really want to hug her and kiss her.’
Although Dorothea was in the form of a lady, to him, Dorothea was still only a precious and lovely little sister.
‘If Theon or Julia heard, they’d think it was weird, but what can I do? I really loved her.’
Just then, Dorothea, who was about to go inside, turned to Raymond, who was standing in the garden, laughing and smiling.
“Aren’t you coming in?”
Raymond’s brow furrowed at her single word, and he couldn’t bring himself to lower the smile that had risen.
Oh, my God. How can she be so cute!
“We have to go, we have to go!”
Raymond couldn’t hide his white teeth and ran after her.
* * *
The southern wall of the first floor of Renascor Palace has a glass front. Thanks to this, when the sun rises, a bright light shines inside so that they don’t need to turn on the light.
The soft sunlight penetrates the window curtain, the round wooden table of maple, the unlit candlestick, and a gold frame of a teacup filled with black tea.
“It’s been a while since I’ve had free time.”
Raymond leaned back against the soft chair, pleased with the leisurely tea time he had with Dorothea.
He leaned comfortably on his back, which had been standing upright, and melted softly on the sofa.
“I told you to rest.”
“When I come here, I rest while looking at your face.”
As if it was not worth responding to his words, she lowered her eyes and drank the tea leisurely.
Raymond stared intently at Dorothea, unable to stop smiling.
“You used to hate me when I was like this.”
“What do you mean, like this?”
“That I’m not like a crown prince.”
He pointed at himself, languidly, with his fingers.
There was nothing like the dignity of the Crown Prince in him now.
“Do you remember how fiercely angry you were?”
Raymond smiled and brought out an old story.
When she was ten years old, she’d been so unhappy when she saw how he was trembling ahead of the opening ceremony.
Ray followed her up after being kicked out of the banquet hall and heard a loud voice telling him to keep his position like a crown prince.
He’d been scolded for playing in the garden.
Besides that, Dorothea was dissatisfied with his bright and innocent attitude in daily life.
“That was a long time ago.”
“It’s only been a few years, Dorothea.”
Raymond chuckled, making fun of Dorothea, who wanted to pretend not to know.
He was right, she had once thought an emperor, a crown prince, had to be perfect.
‘But now I know. Strict authority and dignity are not the only answers.’
The act of tying herself up to protect her authority and dignity may have turned Dorothea into a tyrant.
The obsession that everything must be perfect like the emperor may have gnawed at her and made her forget the essence of being an emperor again.
So, Dorothea thought it was okay for Raymond to put down his authority and rest in front of his family.
An emperor and a crown prince both need room to breathe.
As Dorothea watched Raymond laying down, he jumped up again and sat straight down.
“Ugh, I want to take a break, but I can’t rest comfortably now.”
He sighed as if some trouble had disturbed him during the break.
“Is there anything that bothers you?”
“There is still work to be done.”
“work?”
“His Majesty asked me to find a way to increase wheat production in the Barahan region, but I can’t think of any more. I must have exhausted all my mental powers looking for wheat varieties.”
Raymond shook his head.
“No, I won’t think about this when I’m with you. I don’t want to….”
“Isn’t it difficult to increase wheat production because is weak there?”
“Yes, even if compost is poured on it, half of it must be rested for a year to grow it. In the worst case, we should let them take two years off.”
Even the farmers who had lived in the area for a long time knew that the work was hard.
Dorothea thought about it for a moment, then spoke up.
“I heard this a long time ago, that in some countries they don’t leave the land fallow.”
“no fallow land?”
“They find crops that require different amounts of energy and plant them, so they can plant onions in the spring, barley in the fall, beans the next year, and so on…”
“Oh, right! I’ve heard of it too.”
“I wonder if wheat could do the same thing, Especially in Barahan, the land is barren, so they will do a lot of livestock, or maybe even grow fodder crops.”
“Right, come to think of it, the wheat seems to grow well on land that used to grow turnips!”
“Did you grow turnips and wheat too?”
At Dorothea’s question, Raymond turned his gaze away and suddenly drank tea and pretended to savor the aroma.
‘How serious is he farming?’
“I won’t say anything. Relax.”
At Dorothea’s words, he smiled shyly.
“But why didn’t I think of that and obsess over varieties? I am disqualified as a farmer.”
“You are not a farmer.”
“Uh, well…. But it hurts my pride that you could come up with something like that, even though you’ve never farmed.”
“Well, I’ve learned a lot about farming from the book.”
As most of the common people are farmers, agriculture is the foundation of the country, so it is natural to study hard and learn.
If farming experience alone could increase the production rate, the farmers would have already done it.
Research and experience are different, and coming up with an idea is different.
“Anyway, thank you, Dorothea. Thanks to you, You’ve given me something to think about. It will take some time to find the answer.”
The corners of Raymond’s lips rose happily.
“No matter how much I look at it, it would be better if Dorothea succeeded the throne than me, but she wouldn’t like it if I brought this up again.’
He looked at Dorothea, sitting in the sunshine, and thought. If only fate had changed.
Dorothea is the older sister, and Raymond is her younger brother. If that were the case, they would have been able to live where they wanted and show their abilities to the fullest.
‘The reason Dorothea hates talking about the throne so much is because she knows that the throne is burdensome and difficult? Because she doesn’t want to do it?’
If so, it is correct that he, the older brother, bears this burden. Just because it’s hard, he shouldn’t hand over the burden to his younger sister.
“Right, Dorothea. His Majesty has asked me to help you get used to the spirits.”
“I don’t need it. I’ll take care of it, so you don’t have to worry about me.”
“I’m doing this because I want to.”
He wanted to spend some alone time with Dorothea. Using the spirit class as an excuse, he skipped some boring schedules.
“Then come over whenever you want.”
“Really, Dorothea?”
Raymond asked with a broad smile.
She’d been so good to him so far.
“Ah…I’m thinking about holding the sword again these days, and you could help me with that.”
“Really…You want to hold a sword with me?”
Raymond looked at Dorothea with a dazzling look in his eyes.
“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”
“No! I want to! It’s good!”
After graduating from Episteme, he didn’t have enough time to hold a sword, so it was a good suggestion for Raymond.
* * *
Ethan stayed in the mansion and was nervous.
He paced in the room, sat down on the sofa, then walked back to the window and grabbed the curtains and looked at the streets of Lampas.
The reason he was in such an unstable state was all because of Dorothea.
He couldn’t figure out what was going on between him and Dorothea.
Should he go to her at will, or should he wait for her to come to him again.
Should he smile and speak to her in a friendly way, or should he still keep his distance, and most importantly, is there any hope for his love?
‘Why don’t you use the Spirit Stone…?’
Every day, he waited patiently, but after that day, Dorothea never used the power of the Spirit Stone.
‘If she uses a spirit stone, I can feel her presence. She really makes people miserable…’
‘You said you’d give up, Ethan Bronte.’ He thought, biting his lip.
With the intention of giving up on Dorothea and letting her go, he confessed everything frankly.
‘Obviously, I thought that the debutante was the last event to get rid of lingering feelings.’
But why did Dorothea accept him as if he had a chance?
‘A cruel person no matter how I think about it.’
People said that Ethan played with a human heart, but Dorothea was the one who played with a human heart.
“I want to be a good… person.”
‘If you’re trying to be a good person, why are you making people so nervous?’
“Damn it.”
He clenched his fists tightly and chewed the swear words.