Chapter 4
4. There’s no lion in the world that just lets its prey go.
They said the saint was the emperor’s mistress.
From the saint’s perspective, she probably meant to mock me mercilessly for not being loved by my husband, but from my standpoint, I couldn’t have been more grateful.
“You must send them back immediately. This is a ploy to create bad rumors.”
“Huh? Why send them back? What a waste.”
“Yes, I’ll chase them out right now, even if I have to beat them with a stick… Wait… Whaaat?”
Lady Bertolt looked horrified. The maids lined up beside her were equally stunned.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, but those aren’t real doctors. They’re either frauds pretending to be doctors or apprentices. They’ve been sent as young men on purpose to damage Your Majesty’s reputation.”
Still, as the head maid, Lady Bertolt was the first to regain her composure. I glanced at her face, filled with worry, and shrugged.
“Neither do I.”
“!”
“It’s just… I think I’ve been living too foolishly until now. The reason I jumped was because the Emperor promised to come and didn’t.”
Mentioning the accident made Lady Bertolt’s eyes redden again. I was sick of crying, so I quickly added a word.
“So, I’m going to stop liking the Emperor.”
Honestly, I didn’t even know what the Emperor looked like, but I spoke carelessly.
There’s no lion in the world that just lets its prey go.
Especially a lunchbox that’s been delivered all nicely packaged. Why would I give that up?
And a moment later.
“We have come to bring joy to Her Majesty the Empress!”
I looked at the line of men before me and didn’t bother hiding my disappointment.
‘They’re all just empty husks, aren’t they?’
Their outer shells were pretty. But that didn’t stir any feeling in me. Isn’t it the face that fades with age anyway?
And humans age fast.
‘What I need is vital energy (Yang energy)!’
But even if I sucked the energy out of those guys, my lifespan would only increase by an hour or two at most.
Annoyed, I gestured towards Derrick, who had been looking just as unhappy as I felt.
“Lord Noert.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Those things. How should I chase them away to make the saint feel bad?”
Since my mood was ruined, I needed to make the saint, who sent such a gift, feel unpleasant as well.
Thinking like a true demon, I tilted my chin in dissatisfaction. The fox fur shawl draped over my shoulders slipped down.
Derrick, standing behind me, calmly pulled the shawl back up and then spoke softly.
“How about having them flogged and driven out?”
“Hmm, I don’t know. That’s not very fun.”
I’d just thrown a tantrum, telling them to bring in men so I could forget the Emperor, and now I was changing my mind and wanting them chased away because I didn’t like them. But none of the close attendants in the room looked surprised.
They just did as I wished.
After thinking for a moment, my eyes sparkled mischievously.
“Strip them all.”
“Y-Your Majesty! Why would you do this!”
The fake doctors flinched and protested loudly, but that wasn’t my problem.
“Hmm, and we need to dress them up prettily. Put ribbons in their hair too.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“When you’re done…”
I was giving orders in a gentle voice, but then I wiped all traces of a smile from my face.
“Send them to the Imperial Palace. Tell them that I thought it was a shame to keep the saint’s gift all to myself, so I’m sharing it.”
Let’s see how you both like that!
“What did Her Majesty the Empress send?”
“M-Men, my lord. Exactly seven of them… Their attire is very strange. They’re wearing colorful dresses and have ribbons tied in their hair…”
A moment later, at the Imperial Palace.
Elbert, the Head Chamberlain, who had been having a perfectly flawless day as always, was confronted with an utterly bizarre piece of news.
It was a daily occurrence for the Empress to send word to the Imperial Palace, so he could just ignore it. Whether she sent a messenger with a letter, or sent medicine or gifts, His Majesty the Emperor would not accept them and had given strict orders to send them back.
Therefore, Elbert’s duty was to pretend he hadn’t heard whatever contact the Empress made.
But he had never received instructions on how to handle sending people as a ‘gift’.
‘The Empress has cleverly found a loophole.’
Wiping his shiny forehead with a lavender-scented handkerchief, Elbert pondered for a moment.
His Majesty had finished his administrative duties and was taking a short rest. Bringing up the Empress’s matter would surely annoy him…
But his deliberation was short.
The person who brought the ‘gift’ from the Empress’s Palace politely bowed his head and delivered her message.
“Her Majesty the Empress said, how could she possibly monopolize the talented individuals the saint sent her? She is deeply concerned for His Majesty’s health, which must be greatly taxed by his administrative duties. She knows the Imperial Palace already has excellent court physicians, but her heart is troubled, so she wished to share the gift.”
In short, it was like saying, ‘Look what your mistress did?’
‘The E-Empress has never done anything like this before…’
The Empress had a bad temper, but it had always been confined within her own palace. She was anxious because she couldn’t curry favor with His Majesty, so she had turned a blind eye to everything concerning the saint as well.
Until now.
‘This is beyond my capacity.’
Breaking into a cold sweat, Elbert had no choice but to knock on the door of the audience chamber.
Inside the audience chamber, bright with sunlight.
The young Emperor of the Great Sacred Nix Empire was having a brief teatime with his advisory board, composed of eight exceptionally talented individuals.
Given the Emperor’s personality, which greatly disliked idle chatter during work hours, the advisors barely dared to breathe loudly while reviewing documents.
The only time they could chat was at four o’clock in the afternoon.
But today, even though that precious time had arrived, the advisors could not say a word.
Having seen the bizarre ‘gift’ sent by the Empress, the Emperor’s mood had plummeted sharply.
“What do you think this means?”
The Emperor, furrowing his brow, spoke slowly.
The afternoon sunlight slid down his pale golden hair. His mysterious eyes, which looked purple in the light and violet in the shade, flashed with clear anger.
“……”
The advisors all fell silent together, as if honey had stuck to their lips.
The Emperor’s appearance was so delicate that one might mistake him for an aristocratic young lady at first glance, so during his time as a prince, he had often been provoked. Many people, judging solely by his looks, said the Emperor’s personality must be gentle or weak.
But the advisors sitting here knew.
They knew how ruthless the Emperor was.
Their Emperor, Yert Ru Nix, was by no means a kind-hearted person.
“Ahem, if I may speak. In my humble opinion… Isn’t Her Majesty the Empress unwell? She has been suffering from a feverish cold for a long time… So…”
“Is she dissatisfied that I haven’t visited her? So she staged a protest?”
“I apologize.”
After one advisor bravely spoke up, the audience chamber grew even colder. Even though the fireplace was lit, it was enough to raise goosebumps on their arms.
Another advisor, gauging the atmosphere, swallowed hard and opened his mouth.
“Her Majesty the Empress has a unique constitution that is immune to both divine power and magic. She falls ill often, and since she cannot be healed with divine power, the Duke of Ahil’s concern is great as well.”
It was a preamble that, at first listen, seemed completely unrelated to the current situation.
But who were these people?
Aren’t they the Emperor’s advisors, masters of reading the room?
Caleb, the 8th advisor, belonging to the youngest group, quickly picked up the thread.
“Exactly! That’s why every time Her Holiness the Saint goes on her missions across the country, she seeks out precious medicinal ingredients and good doctors for Her Majesty the Empress’s health. Where else could you find someone with such a beautiful heart?”
They knew very well how much the Emperor cherished the Saint.
As evidence, no one in the Sacred Nix Empire called the Saint the ‘Emperor’s mistress’. She was simply the Saint.
The Emperor’s childhood friend. The one who saved him five years ago when he was still a prince and suffering from demonic temptation.
She was also the Emperor’s advisor, actually influencing various policies.
She even attended administrative meetings in place of the ailing Empress, offering various advice.
Thus, wasn’t she a precious being, even holding the title of ‘Sacred Compass’?
How could anyone dare use the derogatory term ‘mistress’ for such a person?
In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that the Saint was born a ‘Quid’, a minority group and untouchable class considered even lower than slaves, she could have become the Empress.
“The Empress disregards the Saint’s goodwill too much.”
“I think so too.”
“With the summit meeting approaching and the palace still in an uproar because we haven’t caught the intruder, how could she…”
“Even if she is completely unaware of the palace’s internal affairs.”
Seeing that the Emperor’s reaction wasn’t bad, the advisors began vying with each other to defend the Saint and disparage the Empress.
The Emperor listened silently for a while, then slowly raised his hand.
“How long has the Empress had that feverish cold?”
“It’s been over two weeks.”
“That’s a long time for a cold.”
“Yes. Perhaps… she might not make it through this winter.”
The last statement came from James, the 1st Head Advisor, the foremost of the advisory board.
Until now, James had been observing the situation with a somewhat worried attitude.
It didn’t really matter what the relationship between the Emperor and the Empress was like.
It was more surprising for a political marriage to have a good relationship from the start.
However, as the 1st Head Advisor, James had a duty to offer counsel to maintain the balance of the nation’s political structure.
“Your Majesty, the heir must come from the Empress.”
“……”
“Otherwise, no matter how sacred the empire, the power of the temple will become too strong. There will be no balance. I know well that the Saint is akin to an incarnation of an angel, but politics is a different matter.”
“……Alright.”
The Emperor, pressing his forehead, eventually nodded after a long silence. There was nothing wrong with James’s words.
“Send word to the Empress that I will visit tonight.”
However, a couple of hours later.
The Emperor and his advisors were once again plunged into great shock.
This shock was even more severe than the previous one.
The Empress’s reply to the Emperor’s message was very short and concise.
[ There is no need for you to come. ]
It was a clear refusal, without any roundabout phrasing.
