Side Story 2.1

Day 3 Before the Emperor Arrives

Sitting on her bed, Edelis was deep in thought.

‘The Emperor will be here soon. What should I do…?’

She had spent all this time preparing to run away, but now that the time had come, she was scared. Could a noble lady who had been raised so delicately truly survive without someone’s protection? Lately, there had been quite a few kidnapping incidents targeting not only commoner women but even noblewomen.

‘In this situation, can I really survive without a bodyguard?’

‘Maybe I’ll die even faster than being killed by the Emperor?’

The thought made Edelis tremble with fear. She quickly began to rationalize her current situation.

‘Right, maybe the Emperor won’t kill me? Will things really happen exactly as they did in the book?’

‘No matter what, she’s the Empress; it’s absurd that he would just stab her to death with a sword, this isn’t a novel.’

‘And a Saintess appearing? A Saintess who hasn’t appeared for hundreds of years suddenly showing up? Does that make any sense?’

‘Besides, she’s a Saintess, would she really steal someone else’s husband? Even if he’s the Emperor?’

With these thoughts, Edelis began to feel like she had been overly afraid. Her current situation was not bad at all. After all, she was the only daughter of Marquis Brill, the leader of the pro-Emperor faction. Her father would surely be a strong support for her.

Edelis turned to look at the mirror. Her golden hair sparkled in the moonlight, even in the darkness. Her round face, a high-bridged nose, and mysterious eyes that seemed to hold the verdant green of a forest—her beautiful looks were still the talk of society. An elegant lady from a powerful family. Edelis knew what a great advantage that was. And she had studied countless subjects and accumulated more knowledge than just what was required for basic etiquette, just in case she had to run away. Even she herself thought she was quite a catch. All of this filled Edelis with a strange sense of confidence.

“Even if a Saintess really appears, she hasn’t shown up yet, has she? I’m in a much more advantageous position.”

As long as she didn’t make a huge mistake, there would be no reason to remove her. And just as the Saintess would try to seduce an already-married Emperor, she could simply try to seduce the Emperor before the Saintess appears.

“Right, if the female protagonist can do it, why can’t I?”

Edelis clenched her fists, her resolve firm. She would make sure the female protagonist couldn’t do anything once she appeared.

***

After arriving at the Imperial Palace, Edelis still struggled to calm her pounding heart.

“The book didn’t say the Emperor was that handsome!”

Edelis fanned her face with her hands, trying to cool the heat. She kept remembering his firm hand holding hers as she got into the carriage. He was an incredibly charming man with attractive red hair that reminded her of someone from her past. And his smile, when she glanced at him and their eyes met, with his eyes gently crinkling at the corners!

“Is the Emperor allowed to smile like that?!”

Her plan to seduce him was proving to be useless, as the Emperor kept seducing her instead, making it impossible for her to think straight. Every word he spoke was a fatal blow to Edelis.

  – Oh, now that I think about it, my hair and Your Majesty’s eyes are the same color!

– It must be fate.

The Emperor’s face, as he bowed slightly and gave a gentle smile, still made Edelis’s face burn now. For him to say such a thing with such a handsome face and a kind voice was practically cheating. And that wasn’t all.

– I never knew Your Majesty was like this.

– What kind of person did you think I was?

– Well, a little scary… but you’re not at all! You’re so kind!

– I’m only kind to you, Edelis.

The Emperor said.

– But Your Majesty, why do you speak to me so formally? You’re the Emperor.

– I have never met anyone as noble as you, so it is only natural.

– You are far more noble than me, Your Majesty.

– Who would say such a ridiculous thing?

– Anyone you ask would say…

– Tell them to say the same thing in front of me. Let’s see who can.

He told her she was the most noble person in the world, and he spoke as if he would give her his liver and heart. Her heart pounded so hard that she almost didn’t make it to the Imperial Palace. She felt as though her excessively pounding heart might not be able to bear it and would burst.

“…I’d die happy. No, no! I can’t die! Get a grip, Edelis!”

Her face flushed, Edelis lightly slapped her own cheeks with both hands, thinking of the Emperor she had just been with. She couldn’t continue like this. Her job was to seduce the Emperor, not to be seduced by him. She might not be able to make him her own before the Saintess appeared, but she at least needed to make him her ally.

“But it’s impossible that the Emperor would kill me.”

She deduced that if the Emperor were to stab her to death as she saw in the book, it must be because she had committed a grave sin.

“So, if I just maintain the current situation without making any major mistakes, won’t I be okay?”

Edelis’s internal conflict grew stronger in this totally unexpected situation. She was already so happy she felt she could die, and if he treated her any better, she was sure she’d get a nosebleed and die from blood loss.

“W-what should I do?”

As Edelis was agonizing, a maid knocked on the door.

“Empress, I’ve finished organizing the luggage Your Majesty brought.”

“Oh, thank you.”

“The clothes have been put in the dressing rooms. Where should I put the books and diaries?”

“No, give them to me!”

Edelis frantically took the book containing her future from the maid. The book was glowing. The maid didn’t seem to notice anything strange, or perhaps she was trained not to show any reaction. She calmly handed the book and diaries to Edelis, bowed with an expressionless face, and left the room.

“Phew, take a deep breath, deep breath. It’s been a long time since the book has glowed.”

Edelis took several deep breaths before slowly opening the book. As she did, a video appeared just like before.

***

The room shown in the video was the very room Edelis was in. In it, the Empress and the Emperor were standing at a distance from each other. The Empress was looking at the Emperor with a tear-filled face, and the Emperor was sighing, looking at her with contempt.

‘…So this is how His Majesty can look at someone.’

“Your Majesty!”

Suddenly, a woman burst into the room without knocking. The knights who were following her seemed to be trying to stop her, but they bowed to the Emperor and then closed the door and left.

“Bee-eep. Why have you come here?”

The sound of him calling her name was drowned out by a loud ringing, but the Emperor’s tone was as gentle as when he spoke to Edelis earlier.

“It’s okay that the Empress tried to kill me, so please forgive her and make the punishment light.”

“…”

The woman asked him to forgive the Empress, who had tried to kill her, living up to her name as the Saintess. Edelis was surprised by this, but the Empress, on the other hand, was utterly dumbfounded, her eyes bloodshot with rage as she screamed.

“If Your Majesty had shown me even half as much affection as you show her, I wouldn’t have done this!”

The Empress was full of resentment, watching the Emperor and the Saintess express their affection for each other right in front of her. Edelis felt nothing but pity for her. Even though the Emperor was treating her well now, she felt she would go crazy if he turned his back on her. It would be different if he had never been kind, but for him to change after being so good to her would be unbearable. But the Emperor, far from pitying her, spoke to her as if she were a nuisance.

“Did you not prepare for this much when you married into the Imperial family?”

The person who was hurt by the Emperor’s indifferent words was none other than Edelis herself. It felt like he was speaking not to the Empress in the video, but to her.

“Confine the Empress to the detached palace. We will discuss her punishment later.”

The Emperor ordered the knights and then calmly left the Empress’s room with the Saintess, leaving the Empress’s cries behind. When the Saintess looked back several times with a worried expression, the Emperor told her not to worry and led her away. And just before they left the room, Edelis saw it. The Saintess looking at the Empress with contempt and a slight smirk on her lips.

***

“Ha!”

Edelis let out a sarcastic laugh. It was a laugh directed at herself. Only after seeing the content in the book did she realize how careless she had been. She had simply hoped that the current situation would continue. The Empress in the book must have felt the same way. She must have been grateful for what she had been given. And what was the result? She was mocked by the Saintess and confined to the palace.

“Just staying put? If I do that, I’ll have nothing to say when I end up with the same fate as the Empress I just saw in the book.”

She realized how short-sighted her thinking had been. No matter when the Saintess appeared, she was still a Saintess. She wasn’t a normal person like her. Just as she had her father, the Marquis, as her backing, the Saintess would have the Holy Empire. And the Saintess’s beauty was just as great as, or perhaps even greater than her own. In the end, her only advantages were that she had met the Emperor first and that she held the position of ‘Empress’ first.

So what should she do? How could she avoid being pushed out of her position as Empress and not lose the Emperor who was so kind and affectionate to her? As she agonized over what to do, an idea finally came to her.

“…Ah. I have it.”

The ultimate way to never be dethroned as Empress. A way to not only seduce the Emperor but also to achieve an even better result. That was… an heir. An heir. With an heir, no one could covet her position. And who would cast aside the person who was carrying their child? At the very least, the Emperor wasn’t that kind of person. Moreover, since his throne was still unstable, the Emperor would likely cherish her even more. And this was a method that only she, the Empress, could use, something the Saintess would never dare to consider. To achieve effective results in a short time, Edelis went to find him the next morning.

“Hic, sob…!”

“E-Edelis?!”