The Princess' Bedroom Doll

Chapter 47

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When the young lady showed her the bracelet, Raha burst out laughing uncontrollably. The ladies who were watching her mood stiffened for a moment.

Raha asked with a smiling face.

“He has turquoise eyes?”

“Yes? Yes ……”

“Ah ……! Sometimes they look as if they are deep green. ……!”

“Like leaves on a tree in the sunlight.”

If the words might have hurt the Princess’s feelings, the ladies hastened to use other expressions, but they were all wrong.

Besides, she regained her usual smile, as if her sudden laughter was just a whim.

“The eyes that suit the green annotation. My slave.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Have you heard that there will be an emerald called ‘Forest Fairy’ at this year’s L’Opère auction? How many people will be after it….”

The ladies changed the subject very naturally. Enough stories to hear about. Since they were daughters of great noble families, the way they acted was amazing.

So Raha leaned back on her back and slowly reflected on the conversation she had just had.

Shed’s eyes were clearly blue-gray.

They were not fresh turquoise.

Did he wear eye covers? Like divine power.

When Raha saw Shed’s eyes for the first time, she thought if Karzen saw it, he might be furious and pulled Shed’s eyes out. 

Shed’s bizarre eye color was obviously the product of an experiment. His eyes were a perfect mixture of blue and gray.

So it seemed that the sacred power hid that dangerous blue-gray color.

For Raha, who had the eyes of an heir, the fake overlaid blue-green color was useless.

But to maintain the blue-green eyes, the divine power had to be periodically infused.

She thought she would have to go outside a few more times with Shed. The Holy Kingdom will take care of it, and let either the servant or the maid deliberately bump into Shed’s body and fill it with divine power. In the meantime, Shed may feel strange, but….

Raha took another sip of cold tea. As the ice-like temperature wheeled down her esophagus, her head felt a little cooler, too.

“I like your eyes.”

She thought of the words she had said to Shed one day. Then, did those words also sound like she liked his beautiful turquoise eyes? Then he might feel a little sad.

Besides, he must have been confused why Raha kept giving him blue jewelry. He must have. Blue jewelry for a man with blue-green eyes.

“…….”

Raha completely emptied the ice cold tea.

* * *

Same time.

Shed was repeatedly told by Paris that it was good.

“The priests were worried that if the divine power ran out and your 

blue-gray eyes would be revealed. Fortunately, the timing was right.”

“The timing was right?”

“Yes. If we had delayed a few more days, your eye color probably would show. Because the divine power is almost empty…”

As Paris said this, Shed’s body was infused with sacred power to the limit.

Of course, Shed knew this. The fact that his own eyes had turned blue-green. Because even to Shed’s gaze, his eyes only looked blue-green.

No one in this Imperial Palace was afraid to look into Shed’s eyes because all they could see were ordinary blue-green eyes instead of blue-gray.

“Um, does the Princess with the eyes of the heir know anything?”

“Well….”

Shed slowly looked back at Raha’s expression.

“I don’t think she knows.”

“It’s a relief. It’s better if she doesn’t know.”

Even though he said so, Shed was unsure.

Of course, Raha was never surprised to see his eyes.

She just told him to keep his head down in front of the emperor. If she had seen even a speck of this eye, she would have felt a little abhorred by the strange color, but she didn’t.

He felt most comfortable with the Princess than anyone. Her bluntness of it all sometimes left Shed speechless.

However, the bag full of blue jewels that Paris had brought as a disguise made Shed suspicious. What on earth did the Princess see that she ordered only blue gems for him?

It was like she could see the color of his eyes.

How will the Princess react when she finds out that she hides the color of her eyes, whether voluntarily or unintentionally, and that all of this is part of the experiment?

“192.”

Paris called him by number instead of his name as Shed ordered.

“And the result came from the Holy Land…….”

Said Paris in a discreet voice.

“You will be able to leave the palace before spring.”

“Spring? When exactly?”

“It’s expected before early spring.”

Shed furrowed his brow. It was much earlier than expected. He remembered Raha mentioned about the combat competition.

“It’s too early. No.”

“But………”

Paris looked somber. In fact, Shed was in much better shape than he had expected. This would never have been possible without that imperial Princess taking care of him.

Moreover, it was Karzen that the Holy Land hated. It was not Raha.

Above all, the red-haired maid said that Shed was the first person Raha had cared about in 10 years. Hence …….

He didn’t feel good about it. As a priest and as a person, Paris couldn’t help it.

* * *

Even after the ladies returned, Raha spent days and days busily preparing for the combat competition. In fact, she wasn’t that busy when it came to work. But Karzen kept calling her. He wanted to have dinner with her.

Jamela did not leave the place either, but Karzen called Raha to the office even after dinner. And it was a repetition with similarities. Hand over the papers, ink, and pen.

Karzen had recently looked into Raha’s eyes. It was an occasional whim, so it was nothing new.

That was until Raha had Shed.

The time that Karzen did not let her go became infinitely longer, and at 3 a.m., even the time to return to the palace became vague. So she slept in the guest room in the main palace for several days.

But, today was different.

“I think I can get this ready on my own. Princess.”

Jamela wasn’t a dim person and she knew that Karzen had continued to hold on to Raha in his office until dawn.

Perhaps that was why Jamela was so immersed in the preparation of the competition, almost as if she had devoted her life to it. And Raha gladly gave it all up and left the office.

It was the first time in days that she had not come back to her palace when the sun was rising. Her tired body felt somewhat light because she couldn’t sleep properly for several days.

She felt a little better and walked down the long, wide corridor of the palace, dancing lightly.

“Princess Raha.”

She did not expect to meet Duke Esther there, of all people. Perhaps if Raha had to choose one person more uncomfortable than Karzen, she would choose this Duke. A Duke that always looked indifferent and made Raha uncomfortable with words and actions that remind her of the dead Countess of Borbon.

“Duke Esther.”

Fortunately, he didn’t seem to be trying to say anything to Raha. Happen to be on the same road? 

Raha walked up to him slowly. At first glance, it looked as if the cat was wary and walking unsteadily.

At first the Princess and the Duke walked together, their glancing gazes dissipating as their steps lengthened without dialogue.

Only then did the Duke speak up.

“You poured the tea on the floor that day.”

Raha immediately understood what the Duke meant. She did not stop walking, did not look at the Duke, but walked straight ahead and opened her mouth.

“Did the Duke send me that tea?”

“If I did, would you drink it?”

“No, that can’t be right. I am a person with many people to whom I must be responsible.”

“Responsible.. ….”

Duke Esther spoke slowly.

“They are all dead souls, except for one.”

“…….”

Raha looked at Duke Esther and then turned her eyes away. The quiet afternoon of the Imperial Palace, where only the sunlight reflected from the snow through the large window.

“My sister told me that the Princess should not drink poison and die.”

“…….”

“My sister has taken the poison instead of you, and you are living a serious life as payment for it.”

“…….”

Raha’s hands tightened. She bit the inside of her mouth. In no time at all, the thick taste of blood was in her mouth, but Raha didn’t have time or the luxury of worrying about it.

It was the price for not drinking the poison.

Live a serious life. ….

“…….”

For a moment, Raha recalled her mother, who had passed on her particularly white skin. Empress of this empire.

The Empress slapped Raha four times on the cheek and stopped. The fourth time she slapped Raha’s cheek, she had the same wound on her cheek.

This bloody eyes of the heir clearly returned the murderous violence against the heir.

So the Empress, like the best lady of the empire, chose a much more elegant way.

She began to poison Raha.

That was when Raha knew. She learned that if she received poison sent by someone with the intent to kill her, the holes in her eyes would appear empty.

At that time, Raha was young and could not drink a poisoned teacup. It felt like she was drinking an empty skull, so she was horribly reluctant. 

Yes. In fact, she didn’t even want to die voluntarily at that time. She didn’t know if she would rather be killed by a knife, but she didn’t want to die of her own volition. 

That was the way Raha had been up to that point.