Chapter 80

“Day, or night?”

“Hm? What’s that all of a sudden….”

“There are about two hours left until tomorrow. Will it be ready within those two hours?”

What? She thought he was literally asking whether it was day or night, but he was actually asking when things would be ready.

“Night! At night! Tomorrow night!”

Daytime? Broad daylight? For a beginner like her, daytime required an entirely different kind of mental preparation.

“Two hours from now would also be tomorrow night, wouldn’t it?”

“After sleeping, at night!”

“So then, I can wake you up around two o’clock?”

“Lehan.”

For him to jump in like this right after she said she was ready—it was unexpected. He had always been patient until now. Yet rather than disliking this side of him, she found herself struggling not to burst out laughing.

“…I should have acted more suspiciously, so that you’d be desperate to check right away.”

At those words, Edelis couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore. Her bright laughter made Lehan smile as well, a happy look on his face as he drifted off to sleep.

“Empress.”

Edelis woke to the sound of a voice calling her under the dawn moon. It was still dark outside the window. They had agreed not to wake her at night—yet here he was. But his voice felt unusually rigid, unlike his usual self, so she couldn’t simply whine about being disturbed.

“Get up immediately.”

“…Can’t I sleep just a little longer?”

This was normally the hour when Lehan rose for his sword training. Usually, he let her rest and never woke her, only returning after training to rouse her gently. But she had suffered much the day before, and her body still craved rest. She tried closing her eyes again. Yet his stiff tone snapped her fully awake.

“Answer me—why are you here?”

“…What?”

“Have you sunk so low that you now sneak into my bedchamber?”

“What are you talking about, Lehan?”

At first, Edelis thought he was teasing. She smiled and answered casually, but at the sound of his name, the man before her suddenly furrowed his brow.

“No matter that you are empress, if you think insolence toward the emperor will be excused, you are gravely mistaken.”

“Insolence? That’s nonsense…”

“Then where is the proper honorific for your emperor?”

“…”

“And Lehan? I don’t know who told you that name, but if your intent was to disgust me, then you’ve succeeded admirably.”

What was happening? Edelis was dumbstruck.

“Why… why are you acting like this, Lehan?”

“Call me that again, and you won’t like what happens.”

“….”

“If you’ve come to your senses, leave at once.”

Her sleep vanished, but her mind was still fogged with confusion. What on earth was going on? Just last night, they had whispered words of love, holding each other close.

‘But now, overnight, this…?’

Overnight. That word triggered a memory.

—Look forward to when you wake up tomorrow.

At the echo of that woman’s voice, Edelis’s face darkened.

‘Is this even possible? Can this be real?’

Her reason screamed it was absurd. But if anyone could make it possible, it would be the saintess, the one with the book that revealed the future. She needed to confirm the situation.

“…Your Majesty.”

Normally, Lehan would have stopped her from using the formal title, insisting she just call him by name. But now he only raised his chin, as if daring her to continue.

“Do you… remember when we first met?”

“You woke me for such a trivial thing?”

“Please. Just answer.”

The emperor was taken aback. This was unlike the timid empress he knew. She usually lowered her head and slunk away at his sharp words, not stared straight into his eyes demanding answers. He still disliked her, but this was at least more tolerable than before.

“…I went to the count’s manor to take you as empress.”

“…Count.”

“Have you heard enough?”

“…”

“I’ll be off to train. You should get more sleep. In your own chambers, not here.”

He opened the door—a clear dismissal. Wrapping her gown tightly around herself, Edelis was all but thrown out. Even if it was early morning with few people about, it was humiliating for the empress to be cast out half-dressed. She gave a hollow laugh at her plight. A maid, startled at the sight, quickly led her to an empty room to dress her properly before escorting her back to the Ruby Palace.

Back in her own chambers, Edelis was exhausted in body and soul, but sleep was impossible.

‘It’s been so long since I stayed in my own room.’

She had spent every night in the Emerald Palace, with Lehan. It felt alien to return here. She pulled the bell cord for her maid.

“Your Majesty, you called?”

“Sorry for waking you so early, but could you bring me some tea?”

“Yes, I’ll prepare your usual.”

“Thank you.”

Edelis settled by the window, staring outside as the maid brewed the tea. After a while, she finally asked the question gnawing at her.

“…Tell me. Do you think the saintess is at the temple?”

“Well… His Majesty the Emperor went to the temple first, but it seems he couldn’t find her.”

“…”

“Wherever she is, Sir Frache is searching diligently. Please don’t worry yourself too much, Your Majesty.”

“…Thank you.”

“I’m just glad you returned safely, Your Majesty.”

The maid smiled as she poured the tea. Edelis dismissed her gently and returned to staring out the window.

“…Count, he said.”

She replayed Lehan’s words. His coldness felt utterly foreign.

“My father is a marquis, not a count…”

Just like in the book. In that book, her father had been a count. She had been shocked when he was elevated to marquis in reality. That’s why she had tested the maid with a question that could apply either way—whether things were as in the book, or as in her lived world. If the maid had answered “the saintess is at the temple,” that would have matched the book. But instead, she said they were still searching—proving the world hadn’t completely shifted. Only Lehan had changed. Yet even that alone made everything feel invalidated.

The cold eyes from the book—the ones that had once been directed only at the fictional empress—were now aimed squarely at her.

At least, she told herself, it could be worse. If the entire world had turned into the book, she might have gone mad.

“But how do I turn Lehan back to normal…?”

Could she even? What if he never came back? If he behaved like in the book, she could survive—simply by yielding her place to the saintess and not resisting. Then he would have no reason to kill her, and her father would have no reason to rebel. She would live. But…

‘That would feel like losing.’

It would mean submitting to the saintess’s script. And Edelis had no intention of conceding to her.

When Lehan returned from training, freshly bathed, the chamberlain asked if he wished to visit the empress.

“…Why?”

“…Excuse me?”

“Why would I visit her? Is there some reason?”

“W-well… after every training, you always went to Her Majesty. But since she’s in the Ruby Palace today, I thought…”

“I always went to her?!”

The empress was nothing but a hollow title, no more. Why would he ever bother with her? Better to spend his time seeking the saintess. But the chamberlain bobbed his head, babbling more details.

“Her Majesty is drinking tea now. Perhaps you might bring a suitable snack to accompany it?”

“Ridiculous.”

Why should he? He had often sent her away, finding her bothersome.

“Then, should we prepare the necklace you secretly commissioned? It has arrived.”

“…What necklace?”

“The one with emeralds, matching Her Majesty’s eyes. You said countless times how beautiful it would look around her neck.”

“That never happened.”

“But Your Majesty repeated it so often that I could never mistake it.”

Lehan’s jaw dropped. Waking to find the empress beside him had already been strange enough. Training should have cleared his mind, but instead he felt more unsettled. Since when had the chamberlain spoken so casually with him? After the coup, Lehan had made a point of treating everyone coldly, so they wouldn’t underestimate him for his youth. The chamberlain too had always been deferential. Yet now he was speaking freely, as if nothing had changed.

“Bring me this necklace.”

“Yes, sire.”

The chamberlain soon returned with it—a necklace adorned with flawless, high-grade emeralds. Lehan had thought it would turn out to be a fabrication, but here it was, undeniably real. Something so lavish could not have been purchased on a servant’s salary. Which meant he himself must have ordered it.

‘What is going on? Has my mind finally gone mad?’

He was hungry, but food no longer mattered. He returned to his office. At least the documents on his desk were familiar. But then why was this happening? The empress in his bed, gifts supposedly bought for her, his servant relaying it all as fact. Every single inconsistency was tied to her.

‘Has the empress done something to me?’