Episode 30
“Achoo!”
Kaiyen sneezed without warning and tried to act like nothing happened.
Last night, he felt so hot he thought he’d burst into flames, but clearly, the seasons didn’t lie.
“Your Majesty.”
“My nose just tickled, that’s all,” Kaiyen said casually, looking at Glenn.
“No, I mean… about what I just said earlier.”
Kaiyen sat dazed on the throne, not really listening to Glenn.
Glenn, frustrated, had to repeat himself.
“Are you feeling unwell, Your Majesty?”
“Of course not.”
“I thought maybe you pushed yourself too hard with that sword training at dawn. Isn’t that a rather strange time for practice?”
Glenn, who had been dragged out of bed for an unexpected duel, grumbled.
But Kaiyen clearly didn’t care.
“It wasn’t a real duel. I just needed to move a bit.”
“Yes, before the sun even rose.”
Even in the Rubeo battlefield, Kaiyen’s unpredictable behavior was well known.
Some knights feared his sudden decisions more than enemy attacks.
But since those decisions often led to big victories, no one could complain.
“So, how should we respond to Rubeo?”
Only then did Kaiyen remember the letter in his hand.
It was a request from Rubeo’s knight commander, asking him to return.
“We should start preparing for the trip.”
The real reason Kaiyen came back to the capital without notice was to put pressure on nobles who were trying to push him out of politics using Alicia’s illness as an excuse.
Since he already humbled Duke Nigel in the council, there wasn’t much left to do here.
“Shall we leave today or tomorrow?”
Glenn was a skilled knight but completely clueless about his lord’s deeper thoughts.
He never once thought Alicia had anything to do with the change of plans.
“No. I’m delaying the return to Rubeo.”
“What? We’re already behind schedule. Why delay?”
Glenn looked confused.
Kaiyen cleared his throat, flustered.
He knew the real reason, but it was too embarrassing to say aloud.
“There are still things I need to do in the capital.”
Glenn nodded seriously.
“So you’ve discovered something? As expected of Your Majesty. What did you find?”
Today, Glenn’s loyalty felt a little too intense for Kaiyen’s liking.
“It’s not something I can talk about yet.”
Kaiyen wasn’t good at lying. So instead, he just said something vague.
“I see… It must be really important then.”
Thankfully, Glenn didn’t question him.
“If Your Majesty decides something, I’ll follow no matter what.”
“…Right.”
Kaiyen accidentally muttered his real thoughts.
This wasn’t something even Glenn could help with.
“Pardon?”
“It’s nothing.”
Kaiyen quickly stood and walked to the window
Just moments ago, he sneezed from the cold, but now he felt too hot again.
He couldn’t make sense of it.
“This weather is strange.”
Now Glenn was the one confused.
The capital and Rubeo weren’t far apart—they had similar climates.
“The battlefield and the palace are two different places.”
“Yeah. This place is unbelievably peaceful.”
Kaiyen’s dark eyes grew serious.
He couldn’t deny that Alicia filled his thoughts lately.
But even so, he hadn’t forgotten his responsibilities as emperor.
“Winter in Rubeo will be harsh, won’t it?”
“Yes. Desperate enemies will keep attacking.”
Rubeo was a border region taken by force under the previous emperor. It was always full of conflict.
“But the people there trust you, Your Majesty.”
Kaiyen had earned their loyalty by living and fighting alongside them—not just sending orders from a throne.
“Let’s start sending supplies. We can do that from here. And while I’m in the capital, we should prepare the people for winter.”
“An excellent idea. They’ll feel safer once everything’s ready. However…”
Glenn hesitated.
It was hard to say that the emperor no longer had the power to handle even that much.
“I won’t leave it all to you. I’ll come up with a plan myself.”
“Will you be reviewing the records all day again?”
“Yes. There’s no one left to teach me.”
Kaiyen smiled like it was no big deal, but Glenn felt sad.
As the empire’s only heir, Kaiyen should have learned to rule with support—but he had to figure it all out alone.
“Of course, Count Haier was a great teacher. But we’re not kids anymore.”
“You praise him too highly. My father…”
“He was a great teacher—and a great father to both of us.”
Kaiyen smiled faintly.
Count Haier had saved his life and given up his own future to raise two children in the wilderness.
“He did his best. He couldn’t teach imperial politics instead of my mad father—but he did his best.”
Kaiyen didn’t blame his cruel fate.
He grew stronger and made himself into a ruler.
“I’ll look into the supply orders now.”
“Good.”
Even though they left the battlefield, their mission wasn’t over.
Kaiyen had to restore his strength as emperor, and Glenn had to find out more about their enemies.
“On your way out, tell the chief attendant dinner is at six.”
After the council, Kaiyen would spend the day reading political records.
But if he could find a small joy in the evening, he wouldn’t mind.
“Will you dine in your office? I’ll bring my report then.”
Of course, Glenn had forgotten all about the Empress.
“Just… tell the chief attendant.”
“Huh? Oh. Yes, Your Majesty.”
Kaiyen couldn’t say aloud that he was going to the Empress’s palace—it felt too awkward.
“…It’s just because I like the food there.”
He muttered to himself after Glenn left.
“Well… that’s part of it.”
Left alone, he remembered last night. He wasn’t even drunk, but his memory was fuzzy.
All he could recall was her scent, her soft skin, and the sweetest kiss he’d ever experienced.
“…That’s not why, though.”
Husband and wife often end up resembling each other—though neither of them knew it yet.
Meanwhile…
Everyone in the Empress’s palace seemed full of energy.
Alicia ignored another letter from Lucan and dressed even more beautifully than usual.
She even went to the kitchen to check dinner herself.
“Agnes, which dish should be the main one tonight?”
Alicia had written several recipes, and the cooks had practiced them all.
But tonight, the main dish didn’t really matter.
“All of them are excellent, Your Majesty. And the kitchen staff is used to your new methods now, so you don’t need to oversee it yourself.”
“True. Then tell the chef to choose whatever’s freshest for the main dish.”
The kitchen staff was skilled and had quickly adapted to Alicia’s ideas.
In fact, some had even started inventing new recipes themselves.
“But I kind of feel useless now.”
As Alicia left the kitchen, Agnes gently adjusted her dress. She thought this was the perfect time to explain the Empress’s real role.
“There are many things only the Empress can do here in the palace.”
“Me?”
“Yes. The Emperor rules the empire—but the palace itself is the Empress’s domain.”
In her past life, Alicia had been Empress in name only.
She hadn’t known what she was allowed to do.
But today, Agnes’s words felt possible.
“Well… a lot has changed.”
Alicia had changed.
Kaiyen had changed.
So why couldn’t everything else change, too? Her dreams weren’t just about picking dinner menus.
“Honestly, I don’t even know where to start.”
The Empress Dowager had passed away long ago, and no one had filled the role since.
It was no wonder people thought the Empress title had become useless.
“After the Dowager passed, no one officially managed the palace. The Emperor’s head maid, Lady Emma, took care of it.”
Alicia nodded, remembering the older woman.
“But now there’s a rightful Empress, so there’s no need to leave that seat empty anymore.”
“I still don’t know what I can really do.”
Alicia wasn’t afraid of responsibility—she just didn’t know how to begin.
But Agnes saw a bright hope in her eyes.
