I asked Evely to sit down again, but she looked awkward sitting alone, so I pulled up another chair and sat down across from her. Evely still looked awkward and tried to get up.
"You must be tired after all you've been through. It's okay for you to sit still."
"But that would be rude..."
"Don't worry."
As I tried to keep Evely from getting up, Laura brought a refreshing fruit juice made from a mixture of apples, grapes, ice, and sugar.
Evely hesitated as soon as she received the drink, but finally calmed down. She then took a few sips and explained the situation.
"His Majesty Sovieshu asked me to deliver a gift to you. He entrusted it to me because it is a personal gift apart from the official gifts. On the way here, suddenly one side of the carriage collapsed completely."
"Oh my!"
"In the end, we got out of the carriage to try to find our way back, but it wasn't easy... the carriage was also packed with official gifts for the Empress. They were precious and heavy, so it was difficult to carry them. Still, we all helped each other as we tried to orient ourselves in the dense forest. Fortunately, the knights arrived soon."
"That's a relief."
"It's all thanks to Your Majesty."
The credit is not mine. However, I couldn't say this because Evely would feel awkward again.
Instead of refusing to receive her thanks, I asked her about the magic I was curious about.
"Did you heal the wounded?"
I didn't know if Evely could heal with her magic. Even when I helped finance her studies, I was only informed that she had been admitted to the magical academy, but I didn't hear anything about her magic.
Many people tried to hide their magic, so I never asked.
However, now things were a little different. I wasn't curious about what kind of magic Evely used, what I wanted to know was if she had recovered her mana.
Although I thought Evely would answer without hesitation, she remained silent with her eyes down.
"Evely?"
When I called out to her in surprise, her face blushed and she clasped her hands together nervously.
While I wanted to know, I also didn't want to push her. So I didn't insist and changed the subject.
"What kind of personal gift did the Emperor of the Eastern Empire send me?"
"Ah, that..."
"?"
"It got a little ruined when the carriage broke down."
"It's fine."
Evely rose from the chair, squatted down in front of the slightly battered satchel that lay on the floor against the dressing table, and undid the clasp.
After a click was heard, the satchel opened to reveal a small box wrapped in a handkerchief. The box was also dented in one corner.
"Your Majesty, here you go."
Evely handed me the box and said,
"I don't know what it contains."
I wondered what Sovieshu had sent through the girl I used to be a benefactor for. After we exchanged a few more words, I went back to my room and put the box sent by Sovieshu on the table.
I was confused as to why he sent me this. I wasn't sure I should open it.
He had already sent several official gifts. One was a small racing chariot sent through Grand Duke Lilteang and the others I had not yet seen. In any case, they were gifts brought by the delegation that came with Evely.
