Chapter 26
Hasollan thought of herself as just a “temporary employee with a paycheck.” That belief was a bit of self-deception, really—just a way to pretend. But she held onto it stubbornly. She wasn’t his partner, or anything more. She was just doing a job, getting paid for it. That’s all.
She believed that if this arrangement had always been a paid job from the start, Akelans wouldn’t have tried to go back in time.
“This is just a proper political marriage.”
Akelans hired a skilled woman by paying her well, and she, in turn, ran the empire and served loyally. That would’ve been the most ideal, perfect relationship between them. Nothing more than that was ever possible, Hasollan was sure of it. After all, they’d gone through 14 years together. How could she think otherwise?
“No.”
Akelans firmly refused as he looked at Hasollan reaching for the papers on his desk.
“Go take a break. Why do you always try to work more?”
“I need to save up and escape one day,” she replied flatly, snatching away the piles of documents with no hesitation.
“Bring those back. I don’t even have any money to pay you extra.”
Liar. He was rich and just pretending he wasn’t.
“Well, maybe you shouldn’t be stuck in this poor, always-under-attack border region then. You should’ve taken the throne like you were supposed to.”
“Should I do it right now then?”
Akelans’s eyes lit up as if he was seriously considering it.
“Go ahead.”
Hasollan flipped through reports from different provinces like she couldn’t care less.
“Then you’d be Empress.”
Akelans said it so casually.
“Not interested.”
That finally made him set his papers down and stare at her.
“Why not?”
Why is he staring like that? She’d cried, gotten angry, trembled—yet she never held back what she wanted to say.
“I could keep doing this same work even in Impel.”
Akelans said it honestly.
“They’ll write in history that I was the emperor who couldn’t win the Empress’s heart. I don’t care.”
He never cared about that kind of thing. If he did, he wouldn’t have treated her like some prop left in a corner.
Hasollan crossed her arms, not caring about how rude she looked.
“Aren’t you tired of this?”
“Not at all.”
“Well, I am.”
Her exhaustion practically weighed down the air. Still, Akelans had enough strength and resolve to carry her over mountains if needed.
“That’s why I haven’t gone to Impel yet.”
For now, things were okay. As long as Usman didn’t put a blade to his throat again, it was fine. All he had to do was rebuild Roetingen’s borders, train the army, and keep looking at Hasollan.
He was an emperor, a dragon who should never have lowered himself this much.
“Stop working and get some rest.”
“There’s no such thing. I need to work, save money, and fly away.”
“Even when you rest, you’re getting paid. You do know that, right?”
Akelans gently replied, not bothered by her snark.
“Why should the lady do the housework? Just sit down, order others around, and do what you like.”
“How would I know? I’ve never been in that position.”
Hasollan snapped and dropped into her chair. Her tone, expression, and posture were all disrespectful but Akelans didn’t say a word. She felt a little guilty, but he didn’t care.
‘Weird. He’s not saying anything.’
She yelled at him, talked back, and even softened her tone sometimes but unlike before, he never made her feel small just to show his authority. He just let her be.
Hasollan absentmindedly stroked the embroidery on her dress.
“Then try it.”
Akelans said as he looked through some papers.
“If you’d rather start as a bandit queen of Roetingen than as Empress, fine.”
“Will you pay me a lot?”
She shot back, annoyed.
He laughed.
“If I’m going to live with you, I better have a lot of money. I’ll need more than just a few mines.”
“Then if I ‘get promoted’ from bandit queen to Empress, you better pay more. Don’t try to wrap it up with a ducal title and some land and a castle.”
Akelans rested his chin on his hand and looked at her.
“Alright.”
He nodded.
“I’ll make sure you become the wealthiest and most splendid Empress in history. Whatever you want, I’ll get it for you.”
“You said you’re broke. Go fix the walls, feed your soldiers.”
Hasollan muttered, stealing more documents from his desk. It was a habit. This was all she knew work. That’s all she’d ever done. She was a boring person that way.
“You always say ‘no’ at the most important times.”
If she had said she didn’t love him but was willing to become Empress for the money, he might’ve been okay with that. He could’ve lived with it. But she flat-out rejected everything.
“If I don’t say it clearly, I’ll look like a fool.”
She spoke up again, not backing down even while watching his face.
“If I don’t speak, you’ll just ignore me. You’re already half ignoring me.”
Still, the two of them staying together started to stabilize Roetingen. New warm uniforms were issued. Soldiers got a small raise. People were worried about how much money the new ruler was spending—but then Akelans ordered a new gold mine discovered, and those worries vanished.
Merchants returned. Roetingen’s northern harbor came alive again.
“Uncle?”
It was all thanks to Akelans’s fierce leadership—and Hasollan’s experience in running an empire. They were long-time comrades. Maybe not in heart, but their teamwork was perfect.
“What is it?”
Princess Deny peeked her head through the office door.
“Can I come in?”
Funny thing, that girl was born a princess—always proud, always aloof. But she was very cautious with Akelans. He’d never scared her, but she was still careful. She could sense something in him even without being told.
‘Usman never noticed, but this girl did…’
Hasollan thought, remembering how Usman never realized that she and Akelans had traveled through time.
“Come in.”
Akelans nodded, and Deny skipped inside—but ran straight into Hasollan’s arms instead.
“I cut my hair!”
“I see.”
“I wore shoes too!”
“Good job.”
“That means… I don’t have to go to Impel, right?”
Akelans turned to look at the little princess, who clung to Hasollan and peeked at him nervously.
“But you already sent a report to Impel…”
She knew the emperor had been told that a young dragon had awakened.
“Of course I did. The emperor needs to know which dragon is awake.”
“But I don’t want to go…”
“Your opinion doesn’t matter. If the emperor says go learn, then you go.”
The princess groaned and clung to Hasollan, who gently patted her back.
“Do you hate Impel that much, Your Highness? It’s just cold there.”
“No, I just hate the emperor.”
Deny frowned.
“But he was appointed by the late emperor himself.”
Hasollan stroked her silvery hair.
“He’s just like me.”
Akelans muttered,
“You don’t hold back, do you? Talking to someone who’s lived ten times longer than you.”
“But he’s still dumber than me. You know it too, Uncle.”
She mumbled into Hasollan’s dress.
“What am I supposed to learn from someone like that?”
Young dragons often woke up, which is why they were raised and educated carefully. They needed help to grow into true dragons.
“Do you know anything, then?”
“I need to learn! I’ll be emperor someday.”
“Say that after you’ve lived a thousand years.”
“Then I’ll study for a thousand years!”
Startled by her outburst, she hid behind Hasollan again.
“Being emperor is important. I don’t want to be taught by someone who just talks about finding a ‘life partner’ like a fool.”
“By that logic, I’m a fool who lost the throne to someone way younger than me.”
Akelans laughed at himself. Hasollan flinched.
“Uncle.”
Deny stood up and declared,
“I may be less than 200 years old…”
She knew he saw her as a baby.
“Yeah.”
“But I do know the difference between losing something and choosing to let it go.”
“You do?”
“If I fall asleep and wake up again, you’ll be in Impel. You’re just letting that idiot have his turn for now!”
Akelans signed a paper without looking at her.
“I wrote in the report that you want to stay here. Whether that fool listens or not, who knows.”
“Really? Really?!”
“Yes.”
Deny spun around in delight, then skipped closer.
“Uncle, then can I go play? Read books? Ride a horse?”
“Ask the librarian for the books I picked out for you.”
“Yes!”
“Read all of them.”
“Okay!”
She dashed out. Hasollan watched Akelans quietly.
“What?”
“Nothing…”
“Want me to pick books for you too?”
“No, thanks.”
He slumped slightly. That stung.
Hasollan frowned, then said honestly,
“You like children, don’t you?”
Even when he was emperor, he taught and cared for the young dragons in Impel.
“I do.”
At that moment, Hasollan hated his smile. That boyish joy on such a beautiful face—it made her want to smash it.
“And yet, you never thought about having any of your own.”
The smile vanished.
“Well, I am too stupid to have a child, right?”
She stood up smoothly. It had taken her until 37 to realize it.
“Don’t keep me employed for too long. Let me go soon. I’m human too—I don’t want to hear that again.”
“..You won’t.”
His voice shook, and his face went pale but he swallowed it down. Because she meant for him to hear it.
Hasollan looked at him for a moment then walked out. Akelans clenched his teeth and stared at her delicate figure until she disappeared.
