Doctor Elise

Chapter 6

Part 2 An Unfair Bet-2

That was when the emperor, who had been conversing with her father, suddenly turned to her and smiled.

“Lady Elise seems a little odd today. There’s something different about her. Should I say, she seems more demure than before?”

Elise’s face flushed slightly.

In her past life, she had acted very immaturely, though the emperor overlooked it as though watching the childlike charm of a niece.

Marquess Earl chuckled and said, “That’s right, Your Majesty. She seems to have undergone quite the change and suddenly matured.”

“F-Father.”

“Just the other day, she...”

The marquess proceeded to brag about his daughter in a way one wouldn’t expect from someone with such a stoic demeanor. He went on to describe Elise’s filial acts, the ways she thoughtfully looked after the staff, and so on.

“That is why there has been no end to the praise about Elise at the estate lately.”

“Oho, is that so?”

The emperor looked at Elise.

As someone who had watched over her since she was young, he was more than familiar with her usual behavior. He had always believed she would get better as she grew older, but so suddenly?

“She brews you tea herself every time?”

“Yes, that’s right. The taste is so rich that it’s surprising.”

“Is that so? I’m curious. Lady Elise, would you also allow me the honor of tasting your tea?”

Elise’s face reddened at the playful words.

“I am truly grateful, but I worry that skills as poor as mine would only upset your taste buds, Your Majesty.”

“What do you mean? I consider you like my own niece. Any tea you brew will taste delightful. You needn’t worry about such things. I would like to see your skills for myself.”

At those words, she had no choice but to get to her feet and bow her head.

“Then I will do my best. Please don’t fault me should it be lacking.”

And then she approached the servants. “Could you please prepare the following?”

“Yes, my lady.”

“First, please ready some black tea and white tea from the eastern nation of Qing. As for the water, please bring some freshly drawn spring water...”

Even the same tea leaves varied widely in taste depending on the combination of the leaves, the state of the water, the temperature at which they were boiled, and so on.

The tea His Majesty preferred was...

She thought back and brewed the tea according to Emperor Minchester’s preferences. She knew what they were because she had occasionally brewed tea for her father-in-law in her past life.

“Here is your tea.”

She presented the tea with deliberate motions, and the emperor caught its scent and looked surprised.

“The scent is truly very rich. I once had tea brewed firsthand by a Qing minister, and this scent is almost identical.”

“You honor me, Your Majesty.”

After savoring the scent for a while, he tried a sip and looked even more astonished.

“Incredible. When did you learn to prepare tea like this? I’d better have the palace servants learn how to brew tea from you.”

The emperor regarded Elise proudly.

After tea spread from the eastern Empire of Qing, tea drinking became a quaint hobby of the nobility.

A noble house could be measured by how well they brewed their tea, so all of the noble ladies were focused on tea preparation. Therefore, the more cultured a lady was, the richer the taste of her tea was, and Elise’s tea was comparable to any other noble lady of the empire.

“She told me that she studied on her own in secret. I also drink Elise’s tea every day, and whenever I do, I feel my head clearing and my fatigue leaving me,” Marquess Earl bragged about his daughter again.

“Yes, I agree. I can feel my head clearing and my fatigue dissipating. Incredible. To think that you can drink tea like this every day. I’m jealous, Marquess.”

She shook her head, flustered by the constant praise. “I think you are praising me too much. I still have much to learn.”

“Not at all. Anyhow, Lady Elise.”

“Yes?”

The emperor asked, looking satisfied, “Will you occasionally prepare tea for me as well after you move into the palace?”

Startled, Elise suddenly grew stiff.

The emperor was talking about her marriage to the crown prince!

“Um...”

“Regardless, I should reward the young lady since she allowed me to taste such exquisite tea. Is there anything you want? Name anything you like. We’ll be a family soon, after all. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

Those kind eyes gazed upon her as though she were already family.

She gulped.

I need to tell him before it gets any later.

She took a deep breath... and spoke. “Your Majesty, there is actually something I have to tell you.”

“What is it? Go ahead.”

“The truth is...”

Just then, a frigid sound cut through her heart.

“My apologies for being late, Father.”

The moment she heard that voice, Elise’s expression stiffened.

It can’t be... That voice is...

A chilling timbre so emotionless that it cut even deeper into her soul.

Her hands trembled at the unforgettable voice.

“Oh, there you are. Come closer.” The emperor lifted his head to look at him. “Linden.”

Linden de Romanov.

Her husband in her previous life and the man she had dragged into ruination. The man who dropped the guillotine upon her.

The imperial crown prince looked down on her with gold eyes of indifference.

Those clear gold eyes held a supernatural power unique to the imperial family, and were as frigid as the northern wind. His face, which seemed as though it had been molded by divine hands, was breathtakingly beautiful as well as chilling.

A man cold enough to cause frostbite and yet extremely beautiful, this was none other than the current imperial crown prince of the Empire of Britia. He would later be known as the greatest ruler in history, Linden de Romanov.

“Elise de Clarence offers her greetings to Your Imperial Highness.”

Though she was flustered by the unexpected reunion, she hid her emotions and followed proper etiquette.

But the crown prince merely gazed at her with indifference.

I used to really like that gaze.

Even as the blade of the guillotine dropped onto her neck, she had still deeply loved the crown prince. His cold eyes, his beautiful face, even his curt way of speaking. She loved everything about him.

But he didn’t feel the same.

Unfortunately, he didn’t love her.

The more obvious it was that he didn’t feel the same, the more her heart broke.

We should never have gotten together in the first place.

Though she had a bad personality to begin with, she wasn’t so terrible as to commit those atrocities from the very start.

There was only one reason for her gradual descent: her unrequited feelings. More specifically, his cold treatment of her.

And so, the more their feelings clashed, the lower she descended, growing exceedingly vain and greedy. Her love-turned-obsession crossed the forbidden line, and as a result, she lost her family and was executed by guillotine.

Well, it was all my fault. I was a fool—truly.

She sighed inwardly.

Yes, it had been very foolish. Very, very stupid indeed.