Chapter 59

She thought that if she could learn the contents of the book, she might find new clues. She felt this was a priority before entrusting it to a research lab or showing it to a librarian at the Imperial Library.

‘What if the Saintess catches me?’

But the thought that the book might flash again made her feel she couldn’t put it off any longer. In the end, Edelis decided to move as much as possible while the Saintess was at the temple, and to advise Sir Frache to increase the amount of time he spent with the Saintess. When she returned to her room and opened the book, a new vision unfolded in the middle of it. Sure enough, the setting was the Ruby Palace.

***

CRACK!

The sudden, sharp sound startled Edelis. In the vision, the Empress was fuming with rage, and the Saintess’s head was turned from being slapped.

“Oh, my goodness.”

To hit another person… it was unbelievable. To hit the Saintess, no less. Even though she wasn’t the one who had done the hitting, Edelis clutched her chest and took a deep breath to calm herself.

『Why are you here?』

『…Because His Majesty told me to stay here.』

『This is a place only for the Emperor’s women! You’re not a concubine or anything!』

The Saintess answered the Empress calmly, but the Empress’s fury did not subside.

『He told you you could stay, and you actually came straight in? Get out of here right now!』

『Are you telling me to disobey His Majesty the Emperor’s command?』

The Empress bit her lip. Telling someone not to follow the Emperor’s orders could easily lead to accusations of treason. As the Empress, she lacked nothing. But since most rebellions were started by those who lacked nothing, that fact alone wouldn’t be her defense. The Empress, looking troubled, soon smiled. It was a bright smile, hard to believe it belonged to the same person who had just slapped someone.

『Fine, there’s no helping it. Then stay here. But you should know this: I, the Empress, am the highest authority here. You must obey my words.』

『…』

『Answer me.』

『…Yes.』

The Saintess kept her mouth shut for a moment before finally answering the Empress. After that, the video suddenly began to move at a rapid pace. It was so fast that the words of the Empress and the Saintess were barely audible. But what the video showed was unmistakable. The Empress was mercilessly ordering the Saintess around. She looked more like a maid than a saintess. And the Empress deliberately watched, cold-faced, as the Saintess struggled.

“Wow… the Empress really has quite a personality.”

But Edelis had no desire to criticize her.

‘What if I lost Lehan to the Saintess? I’d probably do something even worse than what I just saw.’

Or maybe, based on what she’d just seen, she would realize there were methods like this and use them to torment her.

‘No, what if I ended up with the same fate as in the book?’

But she couldn’t just stand by. Even though it wasn’t a real event, she already felt suffocated just watching, so there was no way she could just endure it. The fast-forwarding video began to slow down when someone grabbed the Saintess’s wrist and pulled her up. When it returned to its original speed, the owner of the hand was revealed—it was the Emperor.

『Y-Your Majesty.』

『Elaine, didn’t I tell you to call me by my name?』

The Emperor spoke to the Saintess as gently as possible, his voice thick with suppressed anger. But it was clear at a glance that he was furious.

『But, I don’t want to incur the Empress’s wrath any further.』

When the Saintess said this, avoiding his gaze, a crack appeared on the Emperor’s face.

『Your name, Your Majesty! You haven’t even given me permission!』

In the midst of this, the Empress’s words continued, and he spoke with a voice full of disbelief. The look in his eyes was so cold that the Empress took an involuntary step back. She looked at him with eyes that seemed on the verge of tears.

『Am I not the Empress of this country, Your Majesty’s wife, while she is just…』

『Just?』

『Just… a guest who has come to this country.』

『Yes, for now, she is a guest. But the fact that that guest helped our empire in its time of need remains unchanged. What did you do at that time?』

『…』

The Empress’s mouth was sealed shut. What could she say, having gone to the territory with the medical staff?

『And you would order a guest to do such things?』

The Emperor’s expression, as he scanned his surroundings, became frigid. He memorized the face of each person who stood by without stopping the Empress from tormenting the Saintess. Under his gaze, the ladies-in-waiting knelt and begged for his mercy, but the Emperor didn’t even give them a chance to speak.

『Even if we put that aside, your being the Empress is no reason for me to permit you to call me by my name.』

『Is helping the Empire a reason?』

The Emperor looked exhausted by the mere act of exchanging words with the Empress. It was clear he wanted to take the Saintess, whom he was holding, and leave.

『Do you want to know the real reason I gave her permission to use my name?』

『…』

『Good, you’ve thought well. Just keep being quiet like that. As long as my patience lasts.』

The Empress’s eyes welled up with tears of shame, but she held them back. The Emperor, whom she loved dearly, had been taken from her, and the fact that their relationship was bad had been exposed to everyone. But she didn’t want to shed tears in front of the Saintess. And she didn’t want to hear from the Emperor himself that the Saintess held a bigger place in his heart than she, the Empress, did.

『Elaine, let’s go.』

As the Saintess followed the Emperor out, she stumbled, and he caught her.

『Are you alright?』

『…I think I overdid it a little, Keirhan.』

At her words, the Emperor stated decisively,

『All of the Empress’s ladies-in-waiting here will be stripped of their positions.』

『Your Majesty! Are the personnel matters of the Ruby Palace not within my authority!』

『That’s why I’m only putting up with this much.』

『…』

『I haven’t beheaded them, nor sentenced them to life in prison.』

The ladies-in-waiting kept sending pleading glances to the Empress, but the Empress said nothing more. Who would be next after her people were cut away? All that remained was the Empress, who had actually instigated this. Knowing this, she couldn’t say a word as the ladies-in-waiting were dragged away by the guards. Not until the Emperor, supporting the Saintess, had moved far away from her. And after everyone was gone, and the Empress was left alone in the empty room, she finally let out the tears she had held back.

***

As Edelis watched the video, she struggled to calm her rising anger.

“It’s wrong to torment the Saintess who is a guest, but shouldn’t he still take the side of his wife, the Empress?! And to call the Emperor by his name in front of the Empress! Is the Saintess trying to make fun of the Empress?!”

Edelis was empathizing with the Empress. She felt so annoyed by the Saintess that if she could watch the video again, she would only want to replay the scene where the Empress slapped her.

“What’s the point of taking all the Empress’s people away!”

Both the Emperor and the Saintess were infuriating. But unlike before, she couldn’t shout for the Empress to get a divorce. She felt that just as she didn’t want to part with Lehan, the Empress must feel the same.

“Whew, let’s calm down first.”

Edelis decided to organize the contents of the book.

‘It’s clear that the Empress tormented the Saintess. I don’t know if this is the end or if there’s more, but if she was stabbed to death by the Emperor’s sword, she must have tormented her even more.’

It would be so unfair to die from a single incident like this.

‘And the Saintess called the Emperor Keirhan, but the Empress couldn’t use his name. The Emperor called the Empress “Empress” or “you,” and called the Saintess by her name.’

The difference in their titles and address revealed a clear distance. But now, when Lehan called the Saintess, he called her “Lady Saintess,” and when he called her, he used her name.

“The book and reality are different after all.”

That gave her some peace of mind. And in fact, what was more important than the content of the book was the fact that the book had flashed again. It matched the hypothesis she had before opening the book: ‘If I go to that location, the book will flash.’ This confirmed that carrying the book around with her was the right thing to do. She would just have to be careful to avoid running into the Saintess as much as possible.

“Let’s make it our goal to gather as much information as possible inside the Imperial Palace.”

Edelis clenched her fist in determination and left the room. At first, when the book flashed, she found herself unconsciously glancing at Sir Pasis, who was behind her. But after realizing that he couldn’t see the book’s light, she opened it right there.

***

In the garden, the Empress was taking a lonely stroll. She then spotted the Emperor walking in the distance. The Empress, delighted, tried to walk toward him as quickly as possible. Noticing someone’s presence, the Emperor turned his head and their eyes met.

『…』

The Empress felt a flutter of excitement, wondering if he might invite her to walk with him before she could ask. She quickened her pace even more, worried she might miss his invitation. But at that moment, the Emperor turned and walked away, trundling in a completely different direction from where the Empress was.

『…』

『Are you alright, Your Majesty?』

『Yes, I’m fine… Thank you for your concern.』

『But…』

『If I just wait, and keep waiting, one day he’ll open his heart to me. He will.』

Saying this, the Empress forced a bright smile, defending him by saying that His Majesty must have remembered some urgent business. The ladies-in-waiting looked at the Empress with even more pity.

***

‘That wretched Emperor! What’s so hard about taking a walk with the Empress!’

And the Empress was so pathetic. She waited and waited, only to be taken away by another woman in the end! Edelis fumed, then, noticing Sir Pasis’s gaze, she pretended that nothing had happened. Inside, she was still cursing the Emperor.

“Ahem.”

But the problem came after that.

“Excuse me, Your Majesty, if you’re going to read, should we head to the library?”

“Oh, well, that’s not… that’s not it…”

Edelis suddenly realized her mistake. The video from the book wasn’t just for her eyes alone. In Sir Pasis’s eyes, Edelis had simply stopped while walking, opened a book, flipped through the pages as if reading, and then closed it. She had tried to sit on a nearby bench to read, but the book’s light would disappear, so she had been forced to read standing up.

“I-I’m just looking for a place to read outside.”

“Should I have a tea table set up for you?”

“I haven’t picked a spot yet! So, just bear with me!”

“Yes, I understand.”

She was glad it was Sir Pasis. If it had been Sir Ferrin, he would have definitely given her a strange look. Edelis hurried her steps, searching for the next location.

‘Where could it be? A place where the story might progress.’

The first place that came to mind was the Saintess’s room in the Ruby Palace. But she remembered earlier, when she was in the Emerald Palace, that the Saintess was waiting for the Emperor in his bedroom. She didn’t know what kind of story would unfold there, but she absolutely did not want to go to the Saintess’s room.

‘I don’t want to see it.’

The second option was the Emperor’s office or bedroom. She didn’t want to go to the bedroom for the same reason as the Saintess’s room. So that left the Emperor’s office, which was close and where she wouldn’t run into the Saintess, making it a very suitable choice.

“I think it would be nice to have tea with Lehan. Let’s go to the Emerald Palace.”

“Aren’t you having it outdoors?”

“Oh. Um. Yes. Maybe tomorrow I’ll want to have tea outside.”

She said this in advance in case she had to wander outside again tomorrow. Or maybe it would be good to go with Sir Frache or Sir Ferrin when they were on escort duty tomorrow afternoon. Edelis headed for the Emerald Palace via a shortcut to find the next story. It was a secluded path, perfect for walking in peace. And just before she entered the Emerald Palace, as she was letting her guard down, someone called to her from behind.

“Your Majesty!”

It was the Saintess.