Chapter 82

“If you’ll just accept this one condition, I’ll help you completely. After all, you’ve already been found out by me, and you don’t want others to know, do you?”

“…I suppose I should at least hear what the condition is.”

“It’s nothing difficult.”

What she wanted most right now was for Lehan to return to the way he used to be. But she didn’t think simply asking him would make it happen. And she had no intention of making some suspicious request like ‘Please don’t kill me.’

“You have to eat with me every day.”

“Fine. I suppose breakfast will do.”

“No, we used to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner together.”

“Let’s limit it to one meal a day, breakfast or dinner. I don’t see why we need to share every single meal.”

“Won’t people think that’s strange?”

“People won’t start calling me insane just because I don’t eat every meal with you. At least, not if they have any sense.”

He had a point. But Edelis wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. That was why she chose mealtimes—at least during those, she thought, he might recall his past memories. In the old days, she could meet Lehan whenever she wished, but she was certain that wasn’t possible anymore.

Because now, he’s like the emperor straight out of the book.

Edelis knew all too well how coldly he had once treated his empress.

“…All right.”

“Then, can you tell me why your father is a marquis?”

The moment they came to an agreement, Lehan went straight to the main issue. The Lehan of the past would have begun with a lengthy greeting before getting to the point.

“I heard that when Your Majesty staged the coup, he supported you with troops.”

“Many provided troops. Why was he the only one elevated from count to marquis?”

“….”

“You don’t know?”

“W-well… I heard it was because of me.”

“Go on.”

“They said that if I married into the imperial family as only a count’s daughter, other nobles might look down on me. So he was granted a marquisate instead…”

“….”

Lehan’s expression hardened as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Well, that’s past. Never mind. Now then—what’s this about the saint trying to kill you?”

Edelis briefly recounted the incident. After listening, Lehan asked calmly:

“Even if my memory isn’t whole, I do know how dearly you’ve always cared for Berman Pasis. That hasn’t changed, has it?”

“Not entirely. There was a time I believed he saved my life…”

“And I also know how much you’ve always disliked the saintess.”

“…So what are you trying to say?”

“That it could have been your own scheme.”

“….”

Edelis swallowed hard. For Lehan—who once vowed to always be on her side—to speak words of suspicion… It was unbearable. She told herself this wasn’t Lehan, but the emperor. Still, the face and the voice were the same, and her heart ached as though torn apart.

“I, I didn’t…”

“….”

“I may have felt uncomfortable about the saintess, but not to that extent.”

“And why was that?”

Though Edelis felt her chest tighten, Lehan remained calm.

“…Because she seemed to have feelings for you.”

“That may be uncomfortable, but it’s no reason to want her dead. Such people could easily be sent to the harem. Speaking of which, where did my concubines go?”

“…What?”

“I had four or five. Where are they now?”

“You never took a single one.”

“Why not? Taking concubines is the easiest way to secure noble support.”

“….”

“Did you oppose it? Even so…”

Lehan’s cold eyes settled on her. It was clear that to him, the most suspicious person in this whole matter was Edelis.

“No, I never once opposed it. In fact, I encouraged you to take them.”

“Is that so. Very well, let’s say that’s true. Then—can you still swear it wasn’t your own doing?”

“Yes.”

Edelis met his gaze firmly. After a long moment, Lehan nodded.

“…It seems so. Then are you certain the saintess is the culprit? Truly?”

“Yes.”

Lehan leafed through the documents on his desk, then set them down again.

“From what you told me just now, and from what’s written here…”

“….”

“I don’t see why the saintess would be the culprit. Merely to steal a book?”

“It wasn’t merely a book—!”

“Then what?”

Because of that stolen book, Lehan had changed—almost as though the book’s memories had been overlaid upon him. That was why it wasn’t a matter of just stealing a book.

“It brought chaos to Your Majesty’s memory.”

“And what would she gain from that? War with the Empire?”

“N-no… But because she has feelings for you…”

“Then wouldn’t killing you outright have been simpler?”

“…She may have considered it, but…”

“Then why the trouble of kidnapping?”

Edelis explained that the saintess had wanted to rewrite reality to match the story in the book, which had already diverged from events.

“But once I escaped and was rescued, Berman Pasis was captured, and the saintess soon after as well.”

“Suspiciously little evidence for such a grave accusation against a national saintess, don’t you think?”

“…Lehan.”

At his frown, she quickly corrected herself.

“Your Majesty said the evidence was sufficient…”

“Hardly. Even to me, the saintess doesn’t seem guilty.”

“Your Majesty!”

Her plea fell on deaf ears.

“No physical evidence, no confession, and the saintess continues to claim innocence.”

“But I saw her with my book!”

“She could have come by it after you were abducted.”

“That’s impossible—I had knights search the place immediately after!”

“Perhaps. But how is that different from me speculating how she got the book, and you speculating she was behind your kidnapping?”

Tears welled in Edelis’s eyes. To be doubted by the one she trusted most was agony.

“You promised… you promised to believe me.”

“Did I?”

She nodded desperately, but his words shattered her hope.

“I only believe what I see. The one you’re talking about—that’s not the man I am now, is it? You mean the me from before my memories became muddled.”

Edelis couldn’t answer. He was right.

“To me, you’re the more suspicious one. You disliked the saintess—something you admitted just now. So what’s to stop you from framing her?”

“…You trust the saintess over me, your wife.”

“When plague broke out, wasn’t it the saintess who brought clerics for the people, while you only went to cure your father, Count Brill? Between the two, the saintess seems far more dependable.”

“I never did that.”

“Records will tell. In my memory, you did.”

It was clear he carried the emperor’s memories from the book.

“If you don’t trust me, then why accept my proposal?”

“I only wanted to hear your side before meeting the saintess.”

“You’re going to meet her?”

“With her sacred powers, she might understand this situation better than anyone.”

“Of course she would—she caused it!”

“Perhaps. But the documents don’t support that claim.”

Edelis finally realized—he intended to absolve the saint.

“…You mean to declare her innocent.”

“I mean to reinvestigate.”

“You’ve already decided she has no guilt.”

“I’ll punish the guilty, and I’ll clear the name of the falsely accused.”

“…The falsely accused.”

“Indeed, it seems stranger that she was confined in the first place. What were you thinking?”

A bitter laugh escaped Edelis. Yes, the evidence had been weak, but Lehan had believed her and confined the saintess regardless. Now, he was the one insisting the saint was innocent.

He summoned his steward. The atmosphere of the study was so cold, the steward flinched as he entered.

“You called, Your Majesty?”

“Fetch the captain of the royal guard.”

“…You mean…”

“Order him to cease the search for the saintess.”

“Your Majesty!”

The steward glanced nervously at the empress.

“And you—go to the temple yourself. Tell them you’ve come to escort the saintess.”

“…Excuse me?”

“She seems to have been falsely accused. We must discuss compensation.”

“B-but…”

“If she isn’t there, wait until she returns.”

Not long ago, he had been ready to execute the saintess for trying to kill the empress. Now, in the blink of an eye, he was declaring her an innocent victim. The steward bowed low, hiding his confusion, and hurried out.

Lehan stepped closer to Edelis, who stood frozen, disbelief in her eyes. He leaned in, whispering at her ear—not words of love as he once had, but a death sentence.

“You must not realize something.”

“…What?”

“The more you act like this, the more my heart turns toward the saintess.”