"Emily, please bring us some tea." Jeanette smiled at the maid beside her. 

Tea was the drink that one would offer their guests, though at the same time Jeanette hoped her aunt would get the message of her unwelcomeness as she was offered a hot drink when suffering from overheating. 

"Of course, your imperial highness." Emily bowed, leaving the room with two other maids. 

Ignoring her aunt's invite for a hug, Jeanette took a seat opposite her, brushing her fringe out of her eyes, she needed to cut it soon if she didn't want it getting in the way of her lessons. 

"Please have a seat, aunt." Jeanette gestured to the sofa behind her aunt, which she had been sitting on moments before. 

"My dear imperial niece, it's been so long since we've seen each other, why do you seem so unhappy to see me?" Her aunt was trying to smile, but she was clearly surprised at Jeanette's coldness. 

In the novel Jeanette's aunt had been something of a mother figure to the young Jeanette. She had lost her mother at such a young age, and her aunt being her mother's sister looked so like her. Jeanette relied on her for almost everything a child would rely on their mother for, but her aunt didn't love her like a mother. 

She wasn't lying to Emily when she said she was sure her aunt loved her, but it wasn't a healthy love. 

Her aunt knowingly and deliberately poisoned Jeanette in the novel, just to secure her place on the throne. A place for Jeanette that was never really under threat; Athanasia may not have wanted to give up the position, but it's not like she truly had any standing. 

And it's not like it was out of the goodness of her heart that her aunt wanted Jeanette to sit on the throne, it was because she wanted to have the power of being the mother of the emperor. 

Jeanette didn't know if she ever got her wish, though, as she never finished the book. 

"Of course I wanted to see you, aunt, but I have been very busy adjusting to life in the palace. Sister Athanasia has been very helpful, but it's still an adjustment." Jeanette smiled, Emily returning with a tray of tea.

It was a white teapot covered with small pink flowers, the teacups matching, shaped like roses. They had also brought a small, 3 tiered tray full of afternoon tea treats. Scones, fruit, small sandwiches, and pastries. Jeanette hadn't asked for that, she had been planing to finish the teapot and then leave to be with Athanasia, but she guessed there was no need to be annoyed, she could give it all to the maids. 

"Rooibos tea with rose buds and vanilla, your imperial highness." Emily bowed to Jeanette. 

It was always etiquette for the maids of the imperial palace to speak to the highest ranking person in the room, and even though she was far younger than her aunt, that was Jeanette. Her aunt didn't seem to see things that way, though. 

It was hard for Jeanette to avoid rolling her eyes at the sour look on her aunt's face as she was not addressed. As if she needed more proof that her love was, first and foremost, for power. 

"That's perfect, thank you Emily." Jeanette smiled, taking her teacup filled with the warm, reddish liquid. 

"Rosebuds? Isn't that..." Her aunt's lip was starting to curl. 

"I like their flavour." Jeanette cut her off, eyes closed. "Besides, they are good for the body. We are no more immune to scurvy than commoners." 

"You think an imperial princess needs to worry about scurvy? The sickness only sailors and pirates get? What lies have Athanasia been feeding you?" Jeanette slammed her teacup down, her face blank and eyes filled with a burning rage. 

"It is 'her imperial highness princess Athanasia' to you." Jeanette was sure even her aunt could feel that her welcome was far running out. "And yes, I worry about scurvy, it has nothing to do with the sea. You get it because you don't have enough vitamin C, which can be found in roses. It's strongest in rosehips, but that doesn't mean the buds don't contain any. It's common in people travelling via the sea because they don't have access to fresh fruits, thus vitamin C. Have you not wondered why roses are so hard to find for flower arrangements recently?" 

It was something Jeanette had learnt from a different manhwa, but she had researched it and found it to be true. Scurvy is probably one of the nastiest diseases you could get; scar tissue isn't permanent, and when your body lacks vitamin C it will take it from the scar tissue, reopening any and all scarred wounds. Yes, that includes internal scars. 

Hoping to bolster Athanasia's position as well as help the sailors of this country, Jeanette mentioned a made up story of when she was younger she snuck out of the house with Ijekiel and brought some dried rose petals with her. She and Ijekiel had lost each other, and she ended up being helped out by a commoner whose father was suffering from scurvy. She gave him the rose petals, and after he ate them he started recovering. 

As a princess who knew what it felt like to be unloved, Athanasia immediately researched Jeanette's "findings", naturally finding that roses had significant effect in the recovery of scurvy, and the prevention of it. It could last long journeys on boats, and could be easily prepared. Athanasia moved to make roses into teas and foods for sailors and others who didn't have much vitamin C in their diets. It significantly improved her reputation, especially among commoners who previously felt uncared for in the system. 

The only slight downside was that the current production of roses couldn't keep up with the numbers needed. Only the royal family could afford to have roses or any parts of the plant, everything else was given to sailors or other commoners at risk of scurvy. 

Some nobles though, clearly including her aunt, now looked down on roses, thinking of them as soiled by sailors. 

Jeanette didn't really care though, she liked roses, though she would only get them after the ships were already supplied. The people who grew the roses were paid the same as when nobles would buy them, more commoners were growing them as the nobles were turning away, and people weren't dying of scurvy. 

"If there a reason you came here, aunt? I do have another appointment after this that was arranged in advance." Jeanette glanced at the clock. She wasn't being subtle, but as the person with the higher status, she had no obligation to be. 

"Jeanette!" Her aunt looked aghast at her, forgetting to treat her with courtesy. 

"That is indeed my name, but it's not an answer to my question." Jeanette put her teacup down calmly, though Emily looked angry. 

"I am your aunt," She was clearly trying to calm herself down, trying to draw on the motherly bond she had with the original. Not that it would be any use. "Do I really need a reason or appointment to see you?" 

"I see." Jeanette got to her feet. "Well, I am busy now. You can go through the maids to arrange a meeting next time. I'm busy with my family I haven't been able to get to know until recently." 

Finally, she could go see Athy.