Chapter 69

Edelis awoke from a light sleep, relieved to find herself in her usual cozy bed. If she hadn’t escaped yesterday, she might be buried in the cold earth right now. The dampness and chill of the basement floor still felt tangible. So, Edelis burrowed deeper into the warmth. Soon, she felt a warmth warmer than sunlight, and a smile unconsciously bloomed on her face. But the owner of that warmth urgently called her name.

“E-Edelis!”

“Hmm?”

“Aren’t you awake?”

“Just a little more sleep.”

Perhaps it was because of all that had happened yesterday, but she was still so tired. So, just for today, she wanted to sleep a little, just a little bit more.

‘I usually wake up early and get moving, so one day won’t hurt, right?’

As if last night had never happened, the warm sunlight, fresh air, and warm body temperature reassured Edelis.

‘…Warm body temperature?’

Edelis subtly raised her head. Just as she had seen before, Lehan was embracing Edelis, his face flushed, and Edelis was nestled deep in his arms.

‘Again?!’

But this time, she wasn’t as flustered as last time.

‘It’s not like I woke up in a basement in front of a kidnapper; I’m in my warm room with Lehan, so what?’

Besides, weren’t they husband and wife? They would do more than this in the future, so she couldn’t blush over something like this!

“Lehaaan.”

“Edelis?!”

As Edelis burrowed deeper into Lehan’s embrace, his panic was palpable.

“I-Isn’t it time to get up?”

“Why?”

“If you’re tired, I’ll get up first.”

“…Are you leaving?”

Feeling Lehan pull away, Edelis held onto him. She had held onto him last night anyway, so what would happen if she held onto him for one more day?

“It would be better if I left, in many ways.”

“Just a little longer, please?”

“Edelis.”

“Hmm.”

Lehan spoke with an utterly serious expression, his voice a little lower than usual.

“Save me.”

“Huh? Uh?”

“I’m going to wither and die like this.”

A shadow fell across Lehan’s face as he spoke. But Edelis did not realize how much Lehan, in his prime, was struggling to endure by exercising superhuman patience every night.

“I want to prepare myself quickly.”

Lehan couldn’t hide his surprise at Edelis’s words. It was good news to hear.

“So, Lehan, just help me a little. So I can get used to it.”

“…If you say it like that, I have no choice but to cooperate.”

“Hehe, right?”

As soon as Lehan gave his permission, Edelis burrowed into his arms with even more excitement. The desire to pull away and the desire to hold her tighter fought within him.

“…Edelis.”

“Hmm?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to cooperate actively?”

“More than this…? This seems enough.”

“No.”

Lehan smiled, pulling up one corner of his mouth. Edelis felt a little uneasy seeing that.

“How can you prepare yourself by just hugging?”

“…No, I can do it!”

“If I help, you can prepare faster, can’t you?”

“No, it’s okay!”

“You don’t have to refuse.”

Even though Edelis vehemently denied it, Lehan wanted to give her various kinds of help, both to satisfy his own desires and to truly help her prepare quickly.

“Kyaak! I said it’s okay!”

“Do you dislike it?”

Lehan asked, his eyes lowered, unlike his usual confident self. Seeing his expression, Edelis’s heart softened. She didn’t know that Lehan was intentionally doing that to manipulate her. There was no way she could say she disliked it. Lehan merely kissed her with affection. From her fingertips to her wrist, arm, shoulder, then her nape, and finally her lips.

“No, it’s not that I dislike it, but…”

As if he had been waiting for Edelis’s words, Lehan kissed her again with his usual playful expression. Even as she spoke, Lehan’s kisses showed no sign of ending. Still, it felt good to be loved by Lehan. She believed that the Saintess could never come between them.

“Once Edelis gets used to it, won’t you do it to me someday?”

“…”

“Just as I did, kissing every inch from fingertip to toe.”

Edelis was now dizzy.

“Will such a day ever come?”

“Hopefully.”

Edelis couldn’t easily imagine it.

“Lehan.”

“Yes.”

“I like you.”

“To say something like that in this atmosphere…?”

“Huh?! Why?!”

Edelis confessed her feelings precisely because of the atmosphere. But Lehan seemed to think it was rather bad timing.

“Edelis, please let your heart be ready before my patience runs out.”

Lehan felt like he was the only one feeling anxious, so he ran his hand, filled with his desires, over her thigh. He clearly stroked her clothes, but Lehan’s meaning was clear, and Edelis’s body stiffened just from that. Moreover, his gentle touch now had a different meaning. The composure Edelis had shown was gone, and her body tensed and hardened.

“Don’t test me too much.”

“I-I’ll be careful.”

Edelis vowed once again. Not to do anything she couldn’t take responsibility for. Still, seeing him so infatuated with her, not the Saintess, Edelis tried to hide her smile.

‘The Saintess…’

Having just thought of her, Edelis had something to discuss with Lehan about the Saintess. She trusted that he would take her side, so she felt no hesitation in speaking.

“Lehan, listen. Yesterday, Berman Pasis said…”

“Pasis. You can just say Pasis. He’s the only survivor of the Pasis family anyway.”

“R-Right. Pasis kidnapped me because of the book, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“But two people know I have that book.”

“Who are they?”

Lehan asked about the suspects in a cold voice.

“One is Lehan.”

But if Lehan were to kidnap her, he wouldn’t have bothered to instruct Pasis. He would have just asked her to come, and she would have, without resorting to troublesome methods. So, Edelis didn’t suspect Lehan in the slightest. Ultimately, the most important thing was the other person.

“The other one is the Saintess.”

I suspect that Saintess.

“The Saintess, huh. It was the Saintess who told you about the book at the previous banquet, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, and Pasis asked how the Saintess was written about in the book.”

“The Saintess is certainly suspicious. Even at the palace…”

Lehan was about to speak, but his expression hardened, and he fell silent. Edelis wondered what had happened to make him look like that and felt worried.

“What happened at the palace?”

“…I don’t even want to speak of it.”

Deep wrinkles formed between Lehan’s brows as he recalled the Saintess’s words.

-It could be that Her Majesty the Empress left on her own…

Seeing Edelis’s return, he realized how absurd the Saintess’s words had been. But thinking about the unfounded anxiety he had felt, the Saintess did not look very good to him.

“But it’s not certain that the Saintess is behind Pasis.”

Although she mentally considered the Saintess to be almost certainly involved, the crucial point was that she was an opponent who could not be easily implicated without material evidence. If it were a noble of this country, they could clearly determine right and wrong, but the opponent was a Saintess who had appeared for the first time in hundreds of years. There would likely be an outcry about religious persecution or insults to the Holy Empire. Indeed, hundreds of years ago, hadn’t a king of another nation who questioned the Saintess’s authenticity been assassinated on charges of persecuting religion?

“Pasis did request to meet the Saintess.”

“You can’t accuse the Saintess of being behind it just based on that.”

“…We told him we would call the Saintess if he revealed the mastermind, but he remained silent.”

“Surely, it’s not because the mastermind is the Saintess, is it?”

“It could be.”

“But can we link the Saintess with just that? The Saintess is… the Saintess.”

“Yes, furthermore, the Saintess is refusing to meet Pasis, so it will be difficult.”

Whether it was a cover-up or if she had no connection from the start, the Saintess did not want to meet Pasis. And early this morning, the Saintess even sent a letter through a priest expressing regret for Pasis’s actions and conveying her concern for the Empress. Therefore, it seemed difficult to link Pasis and the Saintess without clear evidence.

“Did you get a reply to your request to speak with the Saintess?”

“Yes, she said anytime is fine.”

“Then send a servant now. I need to get ready quickly and talk to her.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to get information from Pasis first?”

“Is that allowed?”

Since Pasis and the Saintess are currently separated, they wouldn’t be able to coordinate their stories. So wouldn’t this be the best time to get information from Pasis?

“It is possible, but there are some limitations.”

“Limitations?”

“First, you cannot see Pasis directly.”

“Why?”

“Because… we were seeking answers to several questions early this morning.”

Lehan said only that, but Edelis could anticipate the rest of the answer. To get answers to a few questions, he had “tortured” him. And since the traces of that torture would remain, he recommended that Edelis not see him directly.

“O-Okay, I understand.”

She had forgotten. How cruel the Emperor’s nature was. Because Lehan, who was always with her, was such a gentle person, she hadn’t associated him with the Emperor in the book. But she knew how ruthlessly Lehan dealt with things, both from the stories of the rebels he suppressed when he ascended to the throne and what Edelis had personally read in the book. She felt a shiver, but if he was on her side, there was no one more dependable.

“By the way, was there no book in that house I mentioned last night…?”

“We brought some belongings, but your book was not among them.”

“…I see.”

Edelis’s expression darkened sharply. Although the future that lay ahead was increasingly diverging from the book’s contents, she still felt an inexplicable sense of unease. Lehan, seeing Edelis’s expression, burned with murderous intent towards Berman Pasis, but Edelis did not yet know.

***

Since Edelis hadn’t eaten anything since the previous evening, she ate a light breakfast and immediately headed to the underground dungeon.

“…There was a place like this in the basement where I sleep every day?”

“Even the people who work in the Emerald Palace don’t know much about its existence.”

As Edelis held Lehan’s hand and descended into the dark underground, she recalled being kidnapped the day before. But leaning on Lehan’s firm grip, she felt at ease. Now, she wasn’t waiting for death, but going to get information from Berman Pasis, who had put her in danger.

‘I’m going to get information about the book and the client. And probably the mastermind is…’

The Saintess, perhaps.