The Evil Empress Adores Me - Chapter 121

“So?”

“No, I’m not going anywhere when you’re here as well.”

“Are you and I the same?”

“What difference does that make?”

“I’m!”

Damian, who had raised his voice, cut his words halfway. He shook his head and sighed deeply.

“I know, I’m forced to do this.”

“If you know, then why?”

“It’s fine if you call me selfish.” 

Damian bit his lip as he reiterated what he had to say. 

“I don’t want to put you in harm’s way in such a dangerous place.”

“You know that I can say the same thing of you, Your Highness?”

“That’s why I’m telling you I’m forced to do this.”

Apparently, Damian seemed serious.

He sincerely tried to persuade me. 

“It scares me to think you might be in danger.”

“Your Highness.”

“Just you being here makes my chest tighten.”

Damian looked at me anxiously.

I narrowed my eyes.

“I thought you already expected that things weren’t going well.”

“That’s true, but I never thought there would be an epidemic going around!”

Damian, who raised his voice, covered his forehead.

“…sorry for yelling at you.”

Instead of answering, I silently looked at Damian.

Damian tried to convince me again.

“But can’t you understand me just one bit?”

“No, because His Highness is someone who will become the next emperor.”

Damian was silent.

“I don’t know about anyone else, but Your Highness shouldn’t think differently about my life and the lives of others.”

“Charlize.”

“That’s the responsibility you should have as the Crown Prince.”

Damian, who had been listening to me, raised his hand and covered his face.

A hoarse voice came out. 

“I think you still don’t know me very well.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you think you’re worth the same as anyone else to me?”

Damian slowly lowered his hand and stared right at me. 

My shoulders stiffened. 

Damian’s pupils, which always had a delicate look about them, were ice-cold at this moment. 

Silence ensued. 

The silence was as heavy as a boulder and as cold as freezing water.  

But…

‘I can never back down.’

I clenched my teeth and endured.

Does he not see that I’m worried about him? 

If I can’t stop Damian from doing something perilous, I’ll at least keep him in my sight. 

I’m not going back alone! Never!

After a while.

There was a sigh. 

“…really, you’re still adamant.”

Damian closed his eyes before opening them again. 

With his scarlet eyes and a faint smile, the cold expression he had earlier, disappeared as if washed away. 

“Well, I know you’re right, though.” 

Damian stretched out his hand and quietly wrapped his hand around mine.

Holding my hand, he added a request. 

“Just promise me.”

“What?”

“…that you will never do anything dangerous.”

His eyes were earnest when he said so. 

I gave the answer that Damian wanted to hear the most.

“Of course.”

Only then did Damian put on a slightly relieved expression.

His grip was slightly tight as we held hands, though. 

“Charlize.”

“Yes?”

“I…probably should.”

Damian smiled fiercely. 

“I think I should become emperor.”

I agreed with that. 

It seemed that he could no longer entrust this country to the Emperor.

***

Damian and I started immersing ourselves in our work. 

While Damian went around the city, surveying the city’s conditions, I headed to the infirmaries. 

It was to see how the current status of the epidemic was going.

“A temporary treatment center, you couldn’t open the hospitals?”

“It couldn’t be helped. Existing hospitals weren’t enough to accommodate all the sick.”

The official who followed me gave me a worried expression. 

“By the way, do you intend to care for the sick?”

“Am I not allowed to?”

“No, it’s not that.”

The official shook his head and spoke cautiously.

“But no matter how much you do, Lady Charlize is still the fiancee of His Highness, and you’re doing such a difficult task yourself…” 

“It’s all right. I’m not here to mess around.”

Having set the line, I strode forward. 

In the distance, I could see a school being used as a temporary treatment center.

The chairs and desks had been removed, and in their place was a long line of sick people. 

I narrowed my eyebrows slightly.

‘Ah.’

There was a thick smell of sickness.

Abdominal pain and diarrhea are common symptoms of waterborne illnesses.

However, a lack of manpower made it difficult to remedy the sickness effectively.

A middle-aged woman was busily going around checking on the patients.

I hurriedly approached her.

“Are you a doctor?”

“Who are you?”

The woman looked at me with wary eyes.

“Oh, excuse me. My name is Charlize.”

“Charlize…as in the fiancée of His Highness, the Crown Prince?”

“That’s right. I came down to support Lebane with His Highness.”

Despite that explanation, the woman’s eyes were not very welcoming.

“My name is Mayna. I’ve been managing this temporary clinic even with the ongoing shortage .”

After introducing herself, Mrs. Mayna added with a cold expression.

“Taking care of patients is going to be very difficult for a lady who’s lived a privileged life.”

“Lived a privileged life?” 

“Yes. So, if you only feel like helping people in some meager way, it’s best you leave and do not interfere.”

Ooh, the atmosphere became ice-cold when she said that. 

Well, I can understand that level of reaction.

Since the current emperor ascended to the throne, Lebane has often failed to receive help from the imperial family, even when it needed it most.

She might be thinking that I’m only doing this for a campaign. 

But.

“It’s okay. I’m not someone who’s lived a good life.”

“….huh?”

“Well, I used to be a maid.”

I closed my eyes and smiled.

For an instant, a peculiar look appeared in Mrs. Mayna’s eyes.

I spoke gently.

“I’m not a doctor, and I have very little medical knowledge.” 

“Lady.”

“So, I intend to help as much as I can and follow your advice as much as possible.”

I was earnest. 

If I had been thinking about arguing about my status in a place like this, I would have likely gone back when Damian told me to go back earlier.

I shrugged.

“So that’s what I have to say. What can I do?”

After looking at my face for a moment, Mrs. Mayna blurted out.

“Head to the auditorium first.”

“The auditorium?”

“Yes. Contaminated items are boiled and sterilized there, so it would be nice if you could help me with that.”

“I see. Is there anything I should be careful about?”

“Wash your hands and try to keep them clean. Whether it’s checking patients or doing something else.” 

Mrs. Mayna added strongly.

“Furthermore, any food and water consumed must, no matter what, be boiled beforehand.”

“All right. Where is the auditorium?”

“Go out and head down the stairs, take a left, and you’ll see it.”

I nodded and rushed out.

****

Mrs. Mayna watched Charlize work hard at it. 

Since she was the prince’s fiancee, she figured Charlize was a pampered girl from the empire. 

Whether it was true or not that she was a maid before, Charlize’s work skills were not to be looked down upon. 

Hers was a skill that did not fall short in comparison to others. 

In addition, she didn’t shy away from dirty or hard work; instead, she insisted on taking on those tasks. 

As Charlize was doing the laundry, she noticed one of the officials and jumped up from her spot. 

Grabbing the official’s attention, she asked a question. 

official’s attention. 

“When will the supplies come in?”

“I sent a messenger today, so it should arrive in two or three days at the latest.”

“Disinfectants, clean bedding, and soap should be sent to the treatment center as soon as they arrive.”

“Yes, I understand.”

The official replied with a light smile.

Mrs. Mayna felt something strange

‘…It’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone smile like that since the flood disaster.’

But as soon as the prince and his fiancée came down, people started to relax a bit.

Aside from that. 

‘She has no prejudice against me.’

Mrs. Mayna was a woman.

And in the Winsor Empire, ‘women’ cannot work as doctors.

The Imperial Medical University prohibited the enrollment of women, which therefore prevented her from obtaining a doctor’s license. 

Thus, all of the medical knowledge she had accumulated, she learned from her father, who was a doctor.

However, with no professional education, the only thing she could do was ‘run a clinic.’

Mrs. Mayna smiled bitterly.

Until now, she continued to build up clinical experience by treating countless patients, but no one fully trusted Mrs. Mayna.

Without a formal education, she was treated with suspicion by local officials. 

Even now, the reason Mrs. Mayna was in charge of this clinic was that the current situation was urgent enough to require an unlicensed medical practitioner.  

To top it all off, the officials hardly even spoke to Mrs. Mayna.

But Charlize treated her without prejudice.

The prince also wholeheartedly supported Mrs. Mayna and spared nothing. 

Mrs. Mayna was silent for a moment.

Maybe, just maybe.

The two of them might be very different people from the current emperor.

A faint smile hung on Mrs. Mayna’s lips as she thought so.