In the end, Rose chose pharmacy school.
Rose casually thought about making a magic recovery potion. But she realized that it wasn't commercially available, no one knew how to make it. However, if it could be produced, it would be useful in battle.
However, Efergan is worried because pharmacology is a difficult subject. Pharmacy requires knowledge of medicine, chemistry, botany, and magic. He said that it is difficult to learn all this in two years. Rose had some knowledge of magic but not anything else, so she wondered where she should start studying.
At Rinka's suggestion, Rose decides to study botany. She had Efergan buy her a plant dictionary and specimens, and she was given a large room and a courtyard in the castle, where she arranged various plants and experiments. Efergan even built a glass house where she could grow her plants. It is also properly locked. Medicines can also be poisonous, so she needs to be especially careful.
The lesson learned when being poisoned is that antidote is important. If it wasn't for Rocco, who knows a lot about poisons, Rose might have already died. However, Rocco is not someone close to her. His whereabouts are unknown during the mission. That's because he is a member of the Black Ops. The details, including the period and location, are all secret.
In other words, she can rely on medical doctors who understand poisons or people who serve as poison tasters. However, not all medical doctors are knowledgeable about poisons. This is because there are many types of poison. The quickest way is to ask someone from the Black Ops to teach her. However, she must start by learning about plants that can eliminate poisons.
Because she had no knowledge, Rose read many books in her study room until late daily. She instructed the bodyguards to sit on sofas and chairs and spend some time as they saw fit. Because, Rose thought, she felt bad for making them wait all the time without doing anything. Of course, Rinka spends her time in the form of a cat. Efergan is busy working in the room nearby, and Rose is also absorbed in her own world. Surprisingly, Rose is good at studying. She is doing well with the assignments and reports and submits them by the deadline.
Perhaps because of Efergan's instructions, her teachers teach Rose very kindly. When at school, Rinka is the only bodyguard, and Efain and Haintz are under the classroom windows and near the owl. Rinka meekly sits behind her, reading her book or listening to her class.
Since her study time is precious, she always tries to understand her teacher's words. When she has something to ask, she goes to her teacher's room to ask questions after class. By the way, when Rose moves, the bodyguard also moves. She uses a link when she moves, and is popular with Efain and Haintz as being very convenient and easy to protect. Of course, she tries not to eat or drink at school as much as possible. Rose brings her lunch every day. She will need three traveling owls to take the poison taster to school. It's already a big traveling owl, but if she brings any more, the school garden will be full of owls.
Sometimes she takes a break with the sweets she brought while chatting with students in her class. Yes, this is the rumored specialty of Alhatross, a baked confectionery made with the original recipe of the village head chef. She was told by the ambassador that the product was a big hit and sold out within minutes of the sale that orders were pouring in, and that there was currently a production rush for the head chef's products in her home country. Factories in the craftsman's district have been overwhelmed with orders and have reached the point where they are short of manpower. However, Dalgodas, which is strict on quality, does not tolerate inferior products. That's why he said he doesn't care if there is a shortage. Dalgodas said that high-quality products are the pride of their hometown.
By the way, the sweets Rose is currently eating are handmade by the castle's head chef and Rose. Efergan also loves these baked goods, and always keeps a box in his office. He happily eats Rose's homemade baked goods, even though they are awfully shaped.
Most teachers know her true identity as Rose the Princess of Alhatross. The general students recognized her as an exchange student from Alhatross, but she was quickly exposed due to the presence of guards and owls. She is now recognized as Efergan's fiancée, and they are spoken to her with polite words. As Efergan said, some of the students approach her with personal relationships. There is also a movement in that they want to form a special friendship with Efergan, their next emperor, as the person closest to her. Rose felt that it was still difficult to do. That's why she gets as many assignments and reports from my teacher as possible, limits her classes to only the required subjects, and adjusts her schedule accordingly. She also received permission to use the school library after hours. This is also the power of Efergan.
Allow her to use the library even on her days off, and minimize interaction with other students as much as possible. Efergan also bought the books for Rose and created an environment where she could study at the castle. She conducts her experiments in a room near the courtyard, and sometimes they fail. Sometimes she would get weird smoke, bad smells, and even smells that hurt her eyes. When it comes to poison, Etule, who is from the Black Ops, is helping her. He was knowledgeable about poisons and carefully explained the effects and side effects. Hattie, a poison taster, also told her about poisons often mixed into food. He is very knowledgeable about poisons, as his job involves death. He even taught Rose how to make an antidote, which has been very helpful to Rose.
After a few weeks of studying at her school, Rose ranked so high compared to the other students, and she has been able to take classes in a special separate room. Although she has no idea how to make her target magic power recovery potion, she is learning how to make potions. By the way, she has already finished reading many books in the school library. She takes good notes and understands things well. Rose thinks this brain is unlike her previous life and is grateful to the Dragon God for giving her such a good brain.
One evening during her busy life, Efergan entered her study room.
"Rose, are you busy?"
"I just finished writing the assignment to submit tomorrow. I'm fine now."
Rose nodded.
"We've both been busy lately, so I thought we needed a break from time to time. Are you busy tomorrow?"
"I just have to submit this essay to the school, and there's nothing else to do."
"Have you finished your essay yet? It's so fast, it's only been a little over a month, right?"
"Since I was told I had completed most basic knowledge, my teacher said I could move on to specialized knowledge. He also said I could take special classes in a separate room whenever convenient."
"You're smart. Show me the essay you wrote earlier."
Rose handed Efergan the essay she had written. Efergan was reading it with interest.
"It came together well."
"Thank you."
"And the text is also clean."
"I tried my best. The teacher couldn't read the letters if they were too weird."
"I could read a letter Rose wrote a long time ago."
"You didn't even read it, you deciphered it, didn't you? That was terrible, wasn't it?"
Rose smirked and said about her letters.
"It was a unique handwriting. I thought it was a characteristic of Alhatross' handwriting."
"No, I'm just not good at it."
"Well, it hasn't been that long since Rose woke up. I think it's amazing that you can read and write."
"Yeah."
Rose nodded.
"Thank you for your essay. Tomorrow, let's submit it and then go out for a while. There's a place I'd like to take you to."
"Yes. How will I dress?"
"Anything is fine, anything comfortable will do. It's far away, so you should bring a dagger just in case."
"Okay."
Rose started packing her things.
"Rose."
"Hmm? What?"
"Right now, I really want to hold Rose, but..."
"Wow, I don't know how to react when you're honest with me."
"No good?"
"It's fine if you just hold me. But if you do more than that, Rinka might move."
"Is she there?"
"She's under the desk."
"Then, let's just hold each other. Will you hold me tight?"
Efergan knelt on the floor. His arms are outstretched. Rose was confused as she approached Efergan put her arms around Efergan, and hugged him tightly. Efergan's hand also went around her back and hugged her tightly. But... something is wrong. He hugged her for a while without saying a word.
"Efergan, are you okay?"
"Leave it like this for a while."
"Okay."
Rose smells Efergan. His upper body is naked, so she can directly see his figure. Then, she was hugged even tighter. She's in a bit of pain, but she's still okay. After a while, Efergan let go of his hand.
"Thank you, Rose."
"Yes?"
"We'll be leaving early tomorrow, so you better get some rest early today."
"After breakfast?"
"That's right. I want to leave as soon as we finish eating."
"Okay."
"Good night, Rose."
"Good night, Efergan."
The next morning, after breakfast, Rose and the others set out. On the way, she stopped by her school and put the essay she had written yesterday into the reception box at her school. Submissions submitted outside of business hours are always placed in this box.
After finishing her schoolwork, the owls took to the sky again. Apparently, the destination they were heading to was a small island far southeast of Suzukinoyama. The name is Cania Island.
Efergan said it's about four hours from the capital to Cania Island. A tropical atmosphere could be seen from the sky. On the way, they took a break in a small town and set out again. Suzukinoyama is very large, making the atmosphere, nature, and temperature from north to south somewhat different. Compared to Jade Castle, which wasn't that hot even during the day, the temperature around here to the south was relatively high.
However, Rose still felt that it was a country with many highlands. There are many high mountains, creating a fantastic landscape. It was Rose's first time seeing this scenery.
After a long journey of about 4 hours, they finally arrived at Cania Island. Cania Island is a small island surrounded by sea. There are some high hills on the island. By the way, there are no beaches, and the entire island is a sheer cliff. Besides, there's no one on the island. This doesn't look like a tourist spot, Rose thought. Efergan landed the giant owl on top of a hill.
"We arrived."
"Here? So, where are we?"
"It's Cania Island. Even if I say that, you won't know."
"Yeah."
"Well, come on."
Efergan's bodyguard moves forward while cutting the tall grass around him. When they finally arrived at a relatively large area, Rose found a half-buried stone. Efergan had taken a piece of candy from the box he always carried in his pocket on top of the stone.
"It's my brother's grave."
"Huh? Is that your younger brother? The one who set you into a trap?"
"That's right. This is where he was executed."
"What can I say..."
Rose was speechless.
"He was a cute little brother. We always played together and loved candy. I once thought he could be my right-hand man someday."
"Did you ask him why he set you into a trap?"
When Rose asked, she could see the sadness on Efergan's face.
"Power. After all, he doesn't want to be second. He wanted to be emperor, so he listened to his Morg-related minions and carried out that terrible plan."
"Is that why the Empress said that to you with cold eyes?"
"My mother liked my younger brother more than me. My younger brother...was similar to someone she liked..."
"In other words··."
"I didn't want to hear it, but I knew from the Black Ops."
Efergan confessed the bitter truth.
"Did His Majesty the Emperor notice this?"
"Well, I don't know if he knows or not. Even if he did, he probably wouldn't be able to do anything because of her high status."
"Is her status that high?"
"Yeah. She was the only daughter of the previous king."
"Oh, I see."
"When I returned safely, I was asked who the culprit was, and when I answered honestly, His Majesty the Emperor arrested my younger brother just to make an example."
Efergan sighed and remembered that day.
"Then, on this island that no one knew about, the soldiers said the Emperor has ordered my brother to be executed here. After his body was dismembered, they were buried in several places on this island. My mother doesn't know he was buried here."
Efergan knelt in front of the stone. Then he started stroking the stone.
"My brother was executed right in front of me. I saw his body was dismembered and turned into chunks of flesh. It was His Majesty the Emperor's orders, so I couldn't do anything about it."
Efergan said very bitterly.
"Rose, my brother was begging for his life until the very end."
"Efergan..."
"But I couldn't do anything. Or rather, I didn't do anything. Many people died because of what he caused. Compared to those who died and their families who were left behind, it wasn't a big deal I was turned into a magic stone. Many soldiers sacrificed themselves to save me. Even Rose and others from other countries were involved in the sacrifices. To be honest, it was painful and sad. Even now, when I think about it, it's unbearable."
Tears are flowing in Efergan's eyes. Rose instinctively hugged Efergan. This was yesterday's answer. Rose thought that something was wrong, but he was actually feeling sad.
"My mother called me ruthless, but he had to atone for that crime. The weight of that crime was immeasurable. That's why, until the very end, he begged for his life. But I couldn't even say a single word to my younger brother who was doing it."
"It must have been painful."
"Oh, it was painful. But there was nothing I could do."
"Efergan."
Rose hugged Efergan tightly. Efergan also hugged Rose tightly. Tears were flowing from his eyes, a mixture of anger, frustration, and sadness, meant to comfort himself as he felt helpless.
After that, he remained silent for a while and left the island. After learning about Efergan's feelings after losing his beloved younger brother in an ugly power struggle, Rose felt like she was able to understand him a little bit more.