Chapter 91

But contrary to Lehan’s expectations, Edelis tidied his gown and tied the knot firmly again.

“What are you doing?”

“….I don’t know, getting ready for bed?”

“Don’t play games with me. I’m not in the mood for games right now.”

“I’m not playing games either. I’m being very serious.”

“A serious person plays a trick like this?”

“Why do you think it’s a trick?”

“No matter how distant and bad a relationship is… no, your relationship with me wasn’t even bad!”

In his memories, he couldn’t be sure, but in the letters he read, Lehan and Edelis’s relationship was as good as it could be. So who would believe this kind of prank? He was sure they had engaged in intimacy more frequently than other royal couples.

“Wasn’t our relationship good?”

“Yes, it was.”

“And you’re saying you just had conversations?”

“…Please don’t say that with Lehan’s face and Lehan’s voice. It’s embarrassing.”

“That’s unbelievable!”

“I don’t know what you were expecting, but this is the truth.”

“You want me to believe that?”

He let out a scoff. A full-grown adult, and they even liked each other. It was unbelievable.

“No, it doesn’t matter if it’s not true. Regardless of how things were, it’s a fact that you have a duty to produce an heir. And as it happens, I don’t have any concubines.”

“Your Majesty. The duty to produce an heir is not more urgent than restoring Your Majesty’s health.”

“I can try to regain my memory and produce an heir at the same time.”

“But I told you, I’ll act as I normally did.”

“It’s not as though you didn’t make an effort to produce an heir back then, did you? Just think of it as one of those days.”

“…”

Edelis calmly looked at Lehan. A sense of foreboding suddenly came over him.

“Surely not. Oh, don’t lie to me.”

Lehan tried to deny it, but Edelis’s eyes were still unwavering.

“It’s quite baffling, but it doesn’t matter. You still have your duty.”

Lehan stared at Edelis as if he was going to devour her. Edelis, who should have been flustered, still had the same unchanged look in her eyes.

“Your Majesty, as I’ve repeatedly said, you are not Lehan.”

“Do you think that’s a reason?”

“I am only trying to help Your Majesty regain your memory, but if that’s not it, I don’t mind choosing the method I mentioned before.”

“What method did you mention before?”

“Divorce.”

“Do you think that makes sense? Divorce is not an option. No matter how much you want a divorce, I won’t grant it.”

“Why?”

“Isn’t it obvious? What reason do you have for wanting a divorce? I’m still the emperor, and I still have the appearance you love.”

“But since your heart has changed, I can get a divorce. I was going to divorce the emperor, Your Majesty, from the very beginning.”

Edelis’s firm answer left Lehan bewildered. They had a good relationship, yet she was talking about divorce.

“Are you confident you won’t regret it after divorcing me?”

“…”

“I am the emperor, so after I divorce you, I will take another woman as empress. And even if you don’t divorce me, if you refuse me, I’ll have to take a concubine to produce an heir.”

“I would rather get a divorce than hear about a concubine going to Your Majesty’s bedroom.”

“You won’t regret saying that?”

Lehan spoke with a stern expression. Although he thought highly of Edelis, stabilizing imperial authority was far more important. He could first consider the women he had taken as concubines in his past memories.

“I will regret it. No matter what choice I make.”

“…I will respect your wishes. The mood is already broken, and the excitement has cooled.”

“But Your Majesty.”

“What is it now?”

“If you regain your memory later, will you be confident that you won’t regret divorcing me or taking concubines?”

Edelis’s words hit Lehan hard. He thought there would be no reason to worry about what others thought after he ascended the throne. At most, a power struggle with the noble faction. But Lehan couldn’t say no to Edelis’s question. It was natural after reading those desperate letters. To think the day would come when he had to worry about the Empress’s feelings.

“…No.”

“What will the nobles think of an emperor who remarries a divorced empress? Will you be able to get rid of a concubine later on?”

“…”

“And how will you handle the way you treated me like this?”

“I… what did I do?”

“You can’t say you don’t know.”

Lehan had a few things that came to mind. Even without regaining his memory, the thought of the Empress looking at him with resentful, tear-filled eyes made him feel guilty. In the end, Lehan gave up, relaxed his body, and lay down. His future self would handle the mess, but it was important not to cause any bigger problems to ensure a smooth resolution.

“…Let’s just sleep. As usual.”

“Okay.”

“And think about the heir problem. Even if you don’t love me. It’s common for nobles to have political marriages without love, let alone royalty.”

“…I’ll think about it. But I want to discuss it with my lover, not Your Majesty.”

“You keep separating me and your lover in every sentence, but what will you do if my memory never comes back?”

He only mentioned one possibility, but Edelis’s expression was filled with sadness he had never seen before. She must have known this was a possibility, but her face became so mournful. The sadness was so contagious that even Lehan, who was watching her, felt it. He was jealous of Lehan, who was receiving such love from her. If he had known, he would have treated the Empress well in his memories too. He had no idea she was such an attractive and promising person.

“Don’t be sad. I will cooperate as much as possible to find my memory.”

“Thank you.”

“But please think about it. What it would be like to love me. Like you normally did.”

He felt a strange sadness in having to rely on his past self to ask her for her heart. It was all because of those letters and the diary. After reading the detailed records of his love for the Empress, he felt he had to do the same. He had never felt happy, but the person he was who loved her seemed so happy.

“I will try to love you, too.”

So, within that heart filled with the past me, please give a little corner to the present me, even a small one. Edelis was wary but gave a slight nod. He had thought this even in the arena, but life was so unfair. Just like some people fought for their lives in the arena, while others watched them with interest from a safe place. And now, he was the one pleading for a corner of her heart, yet she was gradually entering his. He couldn’t help but feel that way.

***

“Do we really have to go this far?”

“Yes!”

Edelis watched the two of them with an anxious expression. Then, when her eyes met Lehan’s, she instinctively turned her head away. This was all because of what happened this morning. He had slept well the night before, but the problem was that while they had slept a decent distance apart, she had slept too “normally,” and when she woke up in the morning, she had burrowed too far into his arms. Lehan had laughed and called it a new form of torture, but his eyes were filled with a burning heat, so Edelis hadn’t been able to make proper eye contact with him since.

“Okay, here I go.”

“Isn’t it dangerous? What if something goes wrong…”

“Then I’ll investigate Frache for treason.”

“Treason!? This method was decided after a discussion with Her Majesty the Empress!”

“…It would be a disaster if something went wrong without an heir.”

“Lord Frache, what are you doing? Hurry up!”

Edelis, who reacted sensitively to the word “heir,” urged Frache on, and he hit Lehan’s head with the shield he was holding. With a loud *dong*, Lehan let out a short yelp and collapsed.

“Ahh! Lehan!”

“Keirhan, you can’t die like this! I can’t be the culprit in an assassination attempt on the emperor!”

“Imperial doctor…”

“Ah, I get it!”

The imperial doctor, whom Edelis had on standby outside, immediately came in and treated Lehan’s head. Lehan’s eyebrows furrowed every time the doctor applied ointment to the abnormally swollen bump.

“This method isn’t working either?”

“Surely the other methods aren’t like this, are they?”

“…The next one is hypnosis, so it won’t hurt!”

“Can that really bring back memories?”

Edelis avoided answering Lehan’s question by staring into the distance. Lehan’s intense gaze, which had been there since last night, remained. When Edelis couldn’t answer Lehan’s question, Frache interjected.

“We have to try everything!”

“If I had said I wouldn’t cooperate, you would have been stuck on the gallows.”

“I’m so glad you’re cooperating, Keirhan. So can you not say such murderous things with a smile?”

“You can’t say you didn’t have any personal feelings when you just hit me, Johannes Frache.”

“I get scared when you use my full name.”

“O-Okay, I’ll get ready!”

In the tense atmosphere, Edelis quickly took out a pocket watch she had prepared. Following the rumors, she drew the curtains to make the room dark and had Lehan sit down. Then, she held up the pocket watch and swung it in front of Lehan’s eyes.

“Okay, look at the watch. Slowly, focus on the watch.”

Edelis spoke while looking into his eyes, in case he might fall under hypnosis. But his eyes were not on the watch; they were on Edelis.

“…I said to look at the watch.”

“Can’t I look at you a little longer?”

“Keirhan, you’re back! The shield I hit you with earlier must have worked!”

“Shut your mouth before I hit your head with a shield too.”

“You’re just as sarcastic as ever, so you must be back, Keirhan!”

“Lord Frache, what kind of treatment did you receive normally…”

Edelis fanned her face with her hand, trying to cool her red cheeks. If his memory had returned, he wouldn’t be reacting like this. But she had mistakenly thought he was back just because he said he wanted to look at her more. She was curious about how Lord Frache had normally seen Lehan, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask. She didn’t know what he would say.

“I’ve looked enough, so let’s continue.”

“Okay! All right, focus on the watch.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“I-I guess this isn’t it.”

Edelis, who had been leaning toward Lehan, quickly straightened up and took a step back from him.

“Do it more.”

“T-Then Lord Frache will…”

“No, you.”

“…It seems like his memory is back when I see him act like that.”

Frache shook his head.

“You think my memory is back? Nothing seems to have changed. Nothing is coming to mind.”

“I’m just saying this because you, who were so cold to the Empress, are now looking at her as if you’re going to devour her and trying to get close.”

“….Lord Frache, your choice of words is a little too explicit.”

“Don’t say things like that, it makes the Empress uncomfortable.”

“Yeah, even the way you say that is just like Keirhan. Isn’t that right, Your Majesty?”

“I’m not going to say anything.”

Edelis was thinking something similar. She was flustered, wondering if this was the same emperor who had treated her so coldly. If someone asked her if she disliked it, she would say no, but somehow, it felt like she was cheating on Lehan. The person who was making her have these thoughts was also Lehan.

“So, what’s the next method?”

“The one with the highest possibility.”

“Lord Frache, surely not.”

“Yes, that’s right. That method.”

“Didn’t we decide not to do that method?!”

Edelis turned her head again and fanned her face with her hand.

“But after failing once, we can’t be picky! It’s a method proven effective throughout history, mentioned in many fairy tales and old stories!”

“Can you call it effective just because it’s mentioned in fairy tales and old stories?”

Frache continued his exaggerated acting as if he couldn’t hear him.

“And that is, a k-i-s-s.”