Chapter 83

Edelis slowly turned her head and looked at Lehan with trembling eyes. When their eyes met, Lehan smiled faintly. With the same face as before, but a smile with a different meaning, she almost broke down.

“If you have nothing more to say, it would be best for you to leave.”

“…”

“And don’t have any useless thoughts from now on.”

Edelis bit her lip to hold back her tears. With trembling hands, she grabbed her dress and barely managed to bow to the Emperor before leaving his room. The library, the place where her heart felt most at ease, was right next door, but Edelis left the Emerald Palace and went to her residence in the Ruby Palace. As soon as she reached her bedroom and closed the door, the strength in her legs, which she had been holding on to, gave way, and she collapsed to the floor. And she cried out, letting the tears she had held back flow freely. Just a short while ago, she had been so happy that she couldn’t ask for anything more, but in an instant, she had fallen into an abyss. Lehan’s last words echoed in Edelis’s ears.

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

Thinking of his cold voice, she couldn’t stop the tears from flowing.

‘What do I do, what should I do?’

Just half a year ago, she had anticipated the image of the Emperor who would treat her coldly and seek the Saintess for about 8 years. The event she had thought about for so long was unfolding before her eyes, but the reality was much harder, more nightmarish, and hellish than she had ever imagined.

‘Can I change Lehan’s heart? He says his heart goes to the Saintess the more I try to change it.’

Moreover, the thought that he believed she had framed the Saintess gave her a sense of foreboding. Could this be… an addition to the ‘evil deeds against the Saintess’ that the Emperor had mentioned in the book? Her head throbbed. But she couldn’t just stand by. If she did nothing, the Saintess would get the ending she wanted. Edelis wiped her tears and began to search for what she could do.

‘What’s in my hands, what can I use?’

Many things came to mind, but she couldn’t figure out how to use them. The first things that came to mind were the characters from the book. Johannes Frache, Berman Pasis. But she didn’t know if Sir Frache would follow an Empress who was being treated coldly by the Emperor. And Berman Pasis was much more likely to follow the Saintess’s orders. It would be fortunate if he didn’t come to kill her again.

“Your Majesty, may I enter?”

A small, whispering voice was heard from outside the door. It was the Imperial Knights Commander, Johannes Frache. She had just been thinking of talking to him, and he came to find her himself! Edelis immediately opened the door so that Sir Frache could enter.

“…What brings you here?”

Because she had been crying just a moment ago, Edelis’s voice was mixed with tears, and her eyes were red and swollen. But Frache looked away from her face and pretended not to notice.

“I don’t know where to begin.”

“Does Your Excellency’s return mean your mission is over?”

“Yes. I went to the temple in case there were people helping the Saintess, and I ran into the chief attendant there.”

***

Frache went to the temple in case anyone was in contact with the Saintess. He was surprised to see the Saintess there, not hiding at all and looking very relaxed. She couldn’t have been unaware that the Imperial family was searching for her, and she must have known that His Majesty the Emperor would kill her. For a moment, he almost forgot his place and urged the Saintess, asking her what she was doing there and why she hadn’t run farther away. The chief attendant, whom the Emperor had sent, stopped him. As soon as she saw him, the Saintess walked out calmly, as if she had been waiting.

“His Majesty the Emperor entrusted me with the search for the Saintess, so I will take her with me.”

“His Majesty rescinded that order just a moment ago. He sent me instead.”

“Instead of me?”

“Yes. He told me to wait here myself until the Saintess arrived and escort her.”

He remembered vividly how the Emperor had adamantly refused when he had tried to save the Saintess. And he had said that even though he was entrusting him with the search for the Saintess, her life or death was not important. He couldn’t believe that he had changed overnight and was now telling him to escort her immediately. Frache couldn’t trust what the chief attendant said and immediately headed to the Imperial Palace to see Emperor Keirhan. The chief attendant, the Saintess, and Frache stood at the door of the Emperor’s reception room.

“Your Majesty, I have brought the Saintess.”

“Yes, come on in.”

“And Sir Frache would also like an audience.”

“Let the Saintess in first.”

At the Emperor’s firm answer, Frache was worried that he might try to harm the Saintess first. His worries grew, and he couldn’t wait any longer and burst through the door without the Emperor’s permission. But his worries were for naught; the Saintess was sitting very comfortably next to the Emperor. The spot where he had naturally expected the Empress to be was occupied by the Saintess. And in a very close position to the Emperor.

“What is it, Johannes Frache?”

“…Ah, nothing.”

A moment later, the Emperor looked away from him as if he didn’t care.

“More importantly, Elaine.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Have you already forgotten? Didn’t I tell you to call me by my name?”

“Is that okay? …Keirhan.”

“It sounds good.”

Frache couldn’t hide his surprise as he watched the Saintess smile brightly at the Emperor. Keirhan had clearly not shown an ounce of interest in the Saintess. What’s more, if the Empress hadn’t stopped him, the Saintess would no longer be of this world. But his actions of getting close to her now were very unfamiliar. More strange than Keirhan was the Saintess, who couldn’t have been unaware that the Emperor had held a sword to her neck. She was accepting Keirhan’s favor as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Her sudden appearance at the temple was also strange, and there were many other things. Keirhan, who did not want his time with the Saintess to be interrupted, ordered the standing, dumbfounded Frache to leave.

“You’ve worked hard, Johannes. Now, return to your original duties.”

“Y-yes. As you instructed before, I will secretly escort Her Majesty the Empress.”

“…What? Why would you do that?”

“Didn’t you instruct me before?”

“What danger could the Empress in the Imperial Palace be in?”

“Have you already forgotten that she was kidnapped inside the Imperial Palace? And even before that, after she was attacked…”

He couldn’t understand how the previous Keirhan, who had been overly protective of the Empress, could change so easily. Just as Frache was about to explain in detail why His Majesty had made such a decision, the Saintess intervened.

“Keirhan, I’m tired right now.”

“Ah, yes. I was being inconsiderate. Johannes Frache, that will do. You may leave.”

“…Yes.”

Even after leaving the Emperor’s reception room, Frache couldn’t shake off his unease. What on earth happened last night to make him change like this? The most flustered person would, of course, be Her Majesty the Empress, so he thought it would be best not to go find her to give her time to compose herself. But he also thought that Her Majesty the Empress might know something about this unbelievable situation. This was because the chief attendant had told him that His Majesty the Emperor’s strange behavior had begun with him casting out Her Majesty the Empress in the early morning, and she had been with Keirhan until last night. Therefore, after a brief moment of thought, Johannes Frache immediately headed towards the palace where the Empress was staying.

***

“…That’s all I saw.”

Edelis’s expression became serious as she listened to his story. Lehan, who had looked serious and annoyed when she called him ‘Lehan,’ had allowed the Saintess to use his name. Edelis had expected this might happen because she had seen their overly good relationship in the book. But hearing it from Sir Frache was still a significant shock.

“But how is the Saintess… with His Majesty the Emperor?”

“His Majesty’s memory is not intact.”

“Pardon?”

“It might be a little shocking, but it’s the truth. However, I ask that you not let other nobles know about this.”

She told him because she believed that Sir Frache would not do anything to harm Lehan. Moreover, since he was the Imperial Knights Commander, he had every reason to be informed of this fact befoLehand. And a bigger reason was that he liked the Saintess and was one of the main characters in the book, so she wanted to seek his cooperation.

“His memory is not intact…”

“He thinks I staged my kidnapping, and it seems he doesn’t remember the time we spent together before that.”

“Is that true?”

“I don’t want to believe it either, but it’s the truth.”

“How, how could that be a self-inflicted plot! When I found His Majesty, he was truly…!”

“Even that, it seems he doesn’t remember that he saved me.”

“How could that be?!”

“I don’t know why he’s like this either. Or how…”

Sir Frache’s face darkened at Edelis’s answer.

“I heard that His Majesty changed suddenly.”

“…Yes, I was truly surprised. I woke up, and he had really, changed into a different person.”

“…He won’t return to his old self if he just sleeps and wakes up again, will he?”

“I don’t think so.”

“But, isn’t it something we don’t know? If we wait until tomorrow…”

Edelis felt a little frustrated. Waiting until tomorrow meant senselessly wasting a day. What if he didn’t change? Was she just supposed to hope that each day would pass like that?

‘During that time, the Saintess will get closer to Lehan… to Lehan.’

She didn’t want to think about it, but it seemed likely. If it followed the book’s content. As the main characters in the book, they would confirm their feelings for each other and their relationship would deepen.

“Yesterday. I ran into the Saintess in the secret passage.”

“The Saintess, you say?”

“The Saintess said to me, ‘Look forward to when you wake up tomorrow morning.'”

“That’s unbelievable…”

“I don’t think Lehan’s change is unrelated to the Saintess, at least not to me.”

“No, but how could that be? Besides, what reason would the Saintess have…”

“Do you still think the Saintess couldn’t have done it?”

“…”

“Among the people I’ve met since this morning, only one has changed: Lehan. And there’s only one more person who has changed that I haven’t met.”

Sir Frache’s lips moved for a long time before he finally uttered one word.

“…The Saintess.”

“That’s right. Besides, don’t you think the situation is turning out too favorably for the Saintess?”

The Saintess, who had feelings for the Emperor, was trying to push out Edelis, the Empress. If she were caught after escaping, the normal course of action would be execution. But from the very bottom, from a situation where she was about to be executed, she had orchestrated a great turnaround. So, it was only natural to suspect the Saintess.

“Don’t tell me, you still want to believe in the Saintess?”

“…Yes.”

What a frustrating person!

“I don’t think you would oppose bringing Lehan back to his old self.”

“Of course not.”

“Then since we have a common goal, let’s think about that.”