Chapter 41

“…Kitten.”

“What?”

“Nothing, Lehan!”

Lehan gave her a suspicious look, but Edelis didn’t want him to know. He was already secretly sensitive about being younger than her, so nothing good would come from him finding out what she was thinking.

“W-Would you look at the time! Sir Frache, we should get going! Lady Eliana must be waiting!”

While listening to Sir Frache’s story, time had flown by and his off-duty time had long passed.

“I know. Sir Raiden came by a little while ago.”

“When?!”

“You must’ve been too focused on the conversation to notice.”

Raiden hadn’t knocked or opened the door. Johannes had simply recognized the footsteps outside. But when he saw the Empress was listening intently, he couldn’t bring himself to interrupt. So Raiden, reading the room, waited outside until the Emperor arrived.

“What were you two talking about that was so enjoyable? I could’ve sworn I heard something about a kitten just now.”

“T-That! We were talking about a kitten I once saw. Right?”

The problem was, that “kitten” wasn’t a real kitten—it was a person. The person standing right in front of her: Lehan.

“That’s correct.”

Thankfully, Johannes backed her up. It wasn’t a complete lie, so it should be fine. Lehan still looked doubtful.

“Well then, Johannes. Time to go.”

“I could stay a little longer, you know.”

He saw right through Lehan’s attempt to send him away and decided to resist. Lehan’s expression grew even more serious. It seemed he realized pulling the same trick twice wouldn’t work with the Empress.

“Actually, now that I think about it, Eliana must be waiting. I’ll be going then.”

“Take care, Sir Frache!”

Edelis quickly said goodbye as Johannes briskly left. She let out a breath of relief—one less person who knew the truth.

“Did you enjoy your conversation with Johann?”

“Yes! He’s really good at telling stories.”

“What story did you enjoy the most?”

“…”

Edelis paused, about to answer reflexively.

‘Stay calm, Edelis. Don’t fall into Lehan’s trap!’

Even though he was smiling and speaking gently, Lehan’s real focus was still “What did you talk about with Sir Frache?”

“We talked about you.”

“…Me? But I thought you said it was about a kitten.”

“T-That was… just a little at the end. Most of the conversation was about you.”

“Hmm. I doubt Johannes said anything flattering about me.”

“He did! He told me in detail about when you two first met… and it was really… cool.”

Edelis turned her head, blushing furiously.

“Really?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“You said I wasn’t cool before.”

“I did?!”

“You did.”

When she saw him again after seven years, Lehan was cool—tall, handsome, well-built. Most importantly, his eyes clearly showed how much he adored her. Anyone with functioning eyes wouldn’t be able to say otherwise.

“If you don’t feel that way anymore, that’s enough.”

She couldn’t remember ever saying he wasn’t cool. When had she said that…?

“Don’t get too close to Johannes.”

“…Why not?”

Lehan lowered his voice in warning, making her tense. Sir Frache seemed like a nice, caring person. And in the book, he had been described as loyal to the imperial family. But Lehan had known him for far longer than she had.

‘The book’s plot has changed—maybe the character details have too?’

Edelis held her breath, waiting for Lehan to elaborate. He gave her a serious warning.

“Because I’ll get jealous.”

Edelis had expected something more. But Lehan’s lips stayed sealed even after a long silence. She couldn’t help but ask, “That’s it?”

“That’s more than enough of a reason, don’t you think?”

“…Let’s go with that.”

“You don’t seem to understand what happens when an emperor loses himself to jealousy.”

Why was he suddenly using the word emperor again? Like he’d use his authority to retaliate against Sir Frache.

“You’d really lose yourself?”

“Yes. So be careful. If I start getting desperate, it’ll be hard to keep waiting.”

“Wait for what…?”

She almost asked, but bit her tongue. There weren’t many things Lehan was waiting for.

“I’ll be careful.”

“For your sake as well.”

“Mm…”

What had happened while she was gone that turned Lehan into this aggressive, forward young man? Not that she minded. Honestly, she liked it. But if the Saintess were to return…

‘Should I just make things official now so she can’t do anything?’

No, calm down. Edelis Brill—no, Edelis Cronad. Even in the book, after everything that had happened between the Emperor and the Empress, the Emperor still went to the Saintess. So none of this should matter.

‘If nothing had happened, would that mean there was something wrong with Lehan?’

She hurriedly shook the thought from her head. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with someone this passionate. Lost in thought, Edelis glanced at Lehan and accidentally locked eyes. Her face flushed bright red, as if he had read her mind. Seeing this, Lehan pulled her into his arms.

“This is exactly why I said it’s hard to hold myself back.”

“…Just wait a little longer.”

Back when the Saintess was visiting, she had insisted on keeping things platonic to maintain appearances. It had been easy to delay then, but now it felt too embarrassing to say she was “ready.”

‘Ugh, I should’ve just done it on the wedding night!’

Back then, she had believed in the book’s story and was preparing to run. Now she knew better, and regretted it terribly. That night, she lay next to Lehan again, opened her mouth to speak—and fell asleep without saying a word.

***

The next morning, Johannes came with Eliana early to see Edelis. With them was Count Reynold, a professor of medicine at the academy. The night before, Lehan had heard that Eliana hadn’t been able to resolve a question during their conversation, so he immediately brought the count.

“This is quite surprising. I didn’t expect Her Majesty to be so interested, and Lady Frache—despite not having formal training—is quite impressive…”

Eliana blushed shyly.

“Most of my students aren’t nearly as passionate or attentive to the material as she is.”

“I-Is that so?”

“It’s a shame. If she were to enroll at the academy…”

Seeing Eliana’s expression darken, the count fell silent. Only the literature department at the academy accepted women.

“I don’t need to attend the academy. Just being able to learn from a scholar like you is more than enough.”

Eliana smiled brightly, hiding her feelings like a noble lady should. She then began asking the questions she had been curious about—ones she and Edelis had debated but couldn’t conclusively answer. The count explained his views and various theories, and each time he spoke, Eliana’s eyes sparkled. As the lesson ended, Edelis brought up her own question.

“Count, do you think there are enough doctors in this country?”

“Well, in the capital, perhaps. But outside the capital, we’re certainly short.”

“Even in the capital, commoners can’t really call for doctors, can they?”

“That’s true. Most rely on elderly villagers who know a little about herbs.”

In the book, the Saintess and the Emperor had pointed out the medical shortage. From what the count said, nobles in the capital had enough doctors, but they were few. So overall, there weren’t enough.

“What if—just what if—10% of the capital’s population got sick?”

Edelis intentionally gave a low estimate. The real event she had read about involved a third of the Empire’s population dying. If she told him that, he’d dismiss it as nonsense.

“If that happened in the capital, then outside it, a third of the people would likely be infected.”

“What if the disease were life-threatening?”

“Infections hinge on two factors: transmissibility and lethality. If it spreads slowly and kills quickly, the infected die before spreading it further.”

“But if it spreads fast and kills slowly, people just recover and move on.”

“Exactly. But if it spreads fast and kills fast…”

The disease from the book fits the latter. A third of the Empire’s population dead in one year—fast spread, high lethality.

“Even with treatment, at least 20% of the Empire’s population would die. And preventing that would be extremely difficult.”

“What if we had help from the temple?”

“They use a different kind of healing from the academy, so I can’t say for sure. But even then, I think we’d still lose at least 20%.”

“What can we do to prevent that?”

“Your Majesty, I’ve never heard of such a severe disease.”

He told her she was worrying too much, though he appreciated her concern. But the truth was, it was going to happen. And the “worst-case scenario” he spoke of was far lighter than the one Edelis had read.

“I just want to be prepared. So I wanted an expert’s opinion.”

“Well, if you insist…”

He explained the response plan for such an outbreak, emphasizing the importance of preemptive education. He also talked about increasing the number of medical professionals, though that would take time.

“Thank you. I’ll speak with His Majesty about it.”

“Yes. If this is implemented during His Majesty’s reign, it could be of great benefit in the future.”

Edelis already planned to implement it immediately. According to the timeline in the book, the outbreak could hit as early as this year, or next at the latest. Hopefully, the book was wrong again. But even if it wasn’t, early preparation would only help. As soon as Eliana and Count Reynold left, Edelis went straight to find Lehan.