Side Story 1.3

Lehan’s intense, possessive gaze entangled Edelis.

“…You’re not going to kill me?”

“Why would I kill you? I’d kill anyone who tried to harm you, if anything.”

“Because I… ran away.”

“Run away? You just went for a short walk before the wedding and happened to be attacked and kidnapped by bandits.”

A person wouldn’t go on a three-day, two-night walk, bringing all their jewels and gold coins with them, so this was obviously premeditated. But because Lehan had decided, he was going to pretend she hadn’t gone for a three-day, two-night walk, but had been kidnapped for that long.

“So, the delay in entering the palace was unavoidable… or am I wrong?”

“Oh, no. You’re right.”

As far as Edelis was concerned, it was a relief that he would bury the truth. At least he wouldn’t behead her for running away. She felt lucky that the time her head was still attached to her neck had been extended. In the meantime, she decided to find another way to survive.

“Then, you can rest until the wedding in three days.”

“Three days?!”

“I’ve moved up the schedule as much as possible. What if you go for another walk while I’m preparing everything the way I want?”

“…Surely not.”

Edelis avoided his gaze, feeling as if he had already seen through her plans. The Emperor, too, let out a light sigh and immediately called in several people. Edelis thought it would be a good thing if they could at least have a fitting for her wedding dress in three days, but for some reason, several dresses had already been completed in a size that was almost identical to hers. There were even the latest trendy designs and some that she had never seen before but felt certain would become a trend.

“How do they look, Your Majesty?”

“They are all, truly, not just empty words, beautiful.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. They are my masterpieces!”

The person who said that was the madam of the most famous boutique in the capital. She was so famous that people said you couldn’t get a dress from her even if you went with money. It was surprising that there were dozens of dresses made by such a madam.

“They look great on her, don’t they?”

“They do.”

At the madam’s words, Lehan nodded with an expression that showed he was even prouder. Why was the Emperor here while she was trying on dresses? How were there dresses in her size already prepared? And how was the madam, who was said to be as elusive as a shadow, here? All of those questions were on her mind, but the Emperor’s expression was so striking that nothing else seemed to matter.

“They will surely become a trend once you wear them, Your Majesty!”

“W-Will they?”

“Of course!”

It was the same now. Why was the Emperor, who she was sure would stab and kill her, nodding with a face full of conviction? But she couldn’t bring herself to ask the Emperor about his expression, so she held it in.

***

After the wedding, Edelis returned to her room and realized something strange. Unlike what she had seen in the book, there were very few attendees, and no matter where she looked, the most important person, the female protagonist, was nowhere to be seen.

“Why? Shouldn’t the female protagonist attend the wedding?”

Edelis didn’t know it, but a letter with the message, ‘The Emperor of the Empire is getting married,’ had only just reached foreign countries on the day of the wedding. But because she didn’t know this, she felt a sense of relief, thinking that maybe the book wasn’t true and that her predictions were wrong.

“Isn’t it good that things are good?”

Edelis lay down on the bed with a relaxed mind. If she had known this would happen, she wouldn’t have run away. Furthermore, the Emperor, who had been consistently cold to her, was looking at her with a strangely warm gaze. If she hadn’t read the book, she would have been convinced that he was in love with her.

“Red hair and golden eyes… I miss Lehan.”

The more she looked into the Emperor’s golden eyes, the more she missed Lehan, the boy she had parted with a long time ago. He also had golden eyes and red hair like the Emperor, so his image was reflected in the Emperor’s appearance. The old Lehan was a cute boy of a similar height to her, so he had a very different impression from the Emperor. But just the same hair and eye color were enough to remind her of him. Was he doing well? All the promises he had made to her had become lies. He had promised to protect her from anyone, but he hadn’t protected her from the bandits or the Emperor. He had said he would come to get her one day, but she was already an Empress. The possibility of Lehan, a commoner, entering the Imperial Palace was extremely low. But why? Even though it was obvious they would never see each other again, she had a feeling they would meet again.

“I miss you.”

She was curious to know if he was doing well. If possible, she even wanted to help him to live well.

“Who do you miss?”

“Your Majesty!”

“…You don’t have to call me Your Majesty.”

“If I don’t call you Your Majesty, what should I call you?”

“My name, perhaps?”

“Lord Keirhan Raksid Cronad?”

As Edelis spoke his full name, Lehan let out a long sigh. She couldn’t understand why he looked so frustrated.

“So, who do you miss?”

“Oh, well…”

Edelis avoided Lehan’s direct gaze. Even if the Emperor was treating her better than she expected, he was still the Emperor. Saying that she missed a man she had been close to in the past could easily be misunderstood. As Edelis hesitated, Lehan pressed her.

“Is there someone else?”

“…”

“I thought there might be. This wasn’t a marriage you wanted, after all.”

They hadn’t promised a future together. He had only sworn to protect her. Of course, she had thought they might get married if they ran away together.

“It doesn’t matter. You are already married to me, and you are my wife.”

“…”

“Just bury it in your heart. A man blinded by jealousy is more unsightly than you can imagine.”

“W-What would you do?”

“Are you curious?”

Lehan said with a menacing look. His voice made it clear that he would not let it go.

“…No.”

“Let your eyes only hold me, let your mouth only speak my name, and don’t keep anyone else by your side besides me.”

Edelis’s mouth wouldn’t close. Why was the Emperor acting like this? She couldn’t understand his obsession with her.

***

After that, Edelis found herself thinking of Lehan more often while she was with the Emperor. Even though his appearance was so different from the old Lehan, he kept coming to her mind in a strange way. The problem was that the Emperor immediately noticed when Edelis was lost in thought and became very displeased.

“Who exactly is it?”

“Pardon?”

“I’ll find them and bring them to you. Just tell me the name.”

Finally, the Emperor, unable to stand it anymore, said he would find the person she was thinking of. Of course, he only said he would bring him; he didn’t say he would bring him back in one piece. The Emperor intended to find the man Edelis missed and pressure him to break his ties with her. He would threaten to end his life if he didn’t.

“…”

“Your birthday is coming up soon, isn’t it? Consider it a birthday present.”

So, if Edelis told him the name, he would have the man meet Edelis once and then immediately exile him from the country. Edelis hesitated, about to say the name ‘Lehan,’ but instead asked for something else.

“Not that. I’d like something else for my birthday.”

“What is it? Just say the word. I can fill your room with jewels, or I can have dresses made from silk produced in the far East.”

“Please hold a martial arts tournament.”

“A martial arts tournament?”

“Yes, a martial arts tournament.”

“I didn’t know you liked such things.”

“Please make the winner my guard. Not Sir Ferrin or Sir Raiden, who are currently my guards.”

Despite Lehan’s questions, Edelis stood her ground with her conditions. And her last request was that anyone, regardless of their status, could participate. This was because Edelis believed that Lehan would participate. After she became Empress, the rumor that ‘Edelis Brill had become Empress Edelis Cronad’ had already swept through the Empire. So, she believed that Lehan would also know that she had become the Empress. And she believed that Lehan would surely participate in the tournament to keep his promise to meet again. Furthermore, since Lehan had been a prodigy from a young age, she thought he might even win the tournament and enter the palace with honor. Even if he didn’t win, she planned to use any means necessary to get him into the palace and eventually make him her close aide.

“Understood. I will have a nationwide announcement made immediately.”

After that, Edelis spent her time just waiting for the day of the martial arts tournament. She waited for Lehan to come, to win, and to meet again. She was excited to see how that cute and innocent boy had grown up.

***

A week passed, and the martial arts tournament finally began. Before, only people with knightly titles could participate. But this time, commoners could also participate and even be granted a title, so many skilled people flocked to the event.

“Welcome to all who have participated in the martial arts tournament. I hope you will show us a great match…”

After Edelis’s opening speech, the Emperor did not come to the stadium. A message was sent that he could not come because he had a meeting with Johannes Frache, the commander of the knight order. Edelis was actually glad because she didn’t want to have to be on her guard around the Emperor at a tournament where Lehan might be.

“Lastly, the winner of today’s tournament will receive a large prize and the opportunity to become my personal guard.”

“Whoa-a-ah!”

The stadium erupted. The position of the Empress’s guard was surely a very high-ranking one. Of course, it would require a strict background check, but that wasn’t what mattered now. When Edelis took her seat, the matches began. It was a tournament-style competition, and to ensure fairness between nobles and commoners, they used armor, helmets, and swords provided by the country. However, they didn’t stop them from wearing cloaks with their family crests, so those without a family crest wore cloaks with the Imperial crest.

‘Since Lehan was good at swordsmanship, he might have caught someone’s eye and already have a knight’s title.’

All the participants wore helmets for safety, so it was impossible to distinguish them. It had been so long since she had seen Lehan that she couldn’t even guess how tall he was. Maybe he hadn’t grown much and was still about her height, or he could have grown a lot. In other words, just by looking at them from the outside, she couldn’t tell who was who or if Lehan was even there. As the matches progressed, the number of people dwindled.

“Now, from the round of 16, we will proceed with one team at a time!”

‘There are 2 commoners left and 3 from my family. Maybe Lehan is one of them.’

“Then, the first match…”

The matches became more and more intense, showing a higher level of skill. The two commoners would probably both get into the knight order who was eyeing them. One of the commoner’s helmets came off. He had ordinary black hair. When his handsome face was revealed, the women watching held their breath. He seemed to want to join the Imperial Knights, so he knelt down and bowed his head to Edelis, appealing to her. But he wasn’t the person she was looking for, so she just nodded to acknowledge his greeting. The man looked disappointed and went down with his head bowed.

‘Now there’s only one commoner left.’

The next match was a fight between two knights from the Marquis Brill’s knight order. They seemed familiar with each other and sparred for a long time, eventually ending in a victory by decision. As she applauded for those who showed a good match, the defeated Bernhard smiled and raised his fist to the sky. The crowd’s cheers grew louder, but the winner hit Bernhard on the head and told him to get lost. Bernhard kept waving his hand at Edelis, jumping up and down and making her laugh. When Edelis waved back, Bernhard became even more excited and jumped up and down until he fell and was eventually carried away on a stretcher.

‘Oh dear…’

The tournament continued to the semifinals, and a knight from the Marquis Brill’s family was defeated by a knight from the Grand Duke of Raksid’s family. The Marquis’s face was filled with surprise, as he had thought his knight was the favorite to win. In the end, the finalists were a knight from the Grand Duke of Raksid’s family and a commoner. Edelis couldn’t take her eyes off that commoner. She had been watching him closely for a while because the swordsmanship he was using was familiar to her. It was very similar to what she had seen when she was a child, waiting for Lehan’s training to end at the knight’s order. Seeing that made Edelis’s heart beat even faster. She had seen it so many times that she couldn’t forget it. Moreover, the roughness of the sword he used was the same as before, which was unusual for a knight’s sword.

“L-Lehan… Is that you, Lehan?”