[CHAPTER 54]
I had no idea what state of mind I was in when I opened the window.
If I had been even one second later, Rision looked like he would fall straight down.
Panicking, Dianu flung the window open, grabbed Rision by the collar, and dragged him into the room.
Rision, who had been lightly holding onto the window frame, looked startled but allowed himself to be pulled inside without resistance.
He was heavier than she had expected.
If he had not supported his own weight while climbing over the frame, Dianu would have fallen backward with him on top of her.
“Your Majesty, what on earth, this is, this is the second floor, no, why!”
Rision lightly held Dianu by both shoulders as she panted as if her breath were about to give out.
“Please calm down.”
“Do I look like I can calm down right now?!”
Like most buildings in the Imperial Palace, the Oak Palace had very high ceilings.
It might be called the second floor, but falling from here would leave no bones intact.
Rision, on the other hand, calmly brushed leaves off his clothes.
“There is a reason it is called the Oak Palace.”
“What?!”
“That tree is a centuries-old oak.”
“It will not budge just because someone climbs it.”
In other words, he had climbed the massive tree outside the window all the way up to Dianu’s room.
Dianu felt dizzy just imagining it.
“You could have just come in through the main entrance…”
“If I visited you at this hour, Countess Ornin would be obligated to drive me away.”
“Then you could have come after daybreak…”
“I simply could not wait.”
Only then did Dianu realize that he was wearing light indoor clothes with just an outer robe thrown over them.
An emperor climbing into a lady’s bedroom window dressed like this was unbelievable.
“No one saw you… right?”
“I did learn a few things from Lira.”
Rision looked down at Dianu as she let out a hollow breath, then suddenly spread his arms open.
Dianu’s eyes widened.
Taking her reaction as rejection, Rision lowered his arms and gave a bitter smile.
“I thought it was right to wait for you to come to me.”
“But I felt that if I could not see your face for even one more day, I might truly lose my mind.”
His face looked slightly rougher than before.
Without realizing it, Dianu reached out toward his sharper cheek.
He took a deep breath and placed his hand over hers.
“I want to apologize for what happened before.”
The slight tension in his voice honestly surprised Dianu.
“It may sound like an excuse, but what I said then did not mean that you lacked qualification or ability.”
“It was quite the opposite.”
He held her hand as if afraid she would run away the moment he let go.
The grip felt desperate, like a child clinging to a parent’s hand in a crowd.
“Even when you knew almost nothing, did you not notice the schemes of the Belua Duke and Ambassador Nixandor and protect Lira?”
“If someone like you were given public authority as well, it would be like giving wings to a fast horse.”
“Then why…”
“I do not want their malice to reach you.”
“Once your ability is exposed, and once I lend my strength to you, you become a target immediately.”
“That is what happened to Edric Loisen.”
Rision carefully wrapped Dianu’s hand in both of his.
“My wish is simply for you to live comfortably and happily, without doing anything difficult or dangerous.”
Seeing Dianu’s eyes narrow slightly, Rision gave a wry smile.
“But now I know your heart is different.”
Still holding her hand, he gently pulled her toward himself.
Dianu gave in and leaned into his arms.
His warm body wrapped around her like a blanket.
Holding his solid chest and listening to his heartbeat, the storm in her heart finally began to settle.
“Do you remember what I said after the incident at the Fir Palace?”
“I said we would make good partners.”
“…Now that I think about it, what kind of employer says that to a private tutor?”
“You had already decided to seduce me back then, hadn’t you?”
Still holding her, Rision chuckled softly.
“I was sincere.”
Dianu, who had been burying her face against his chest, lifted her head.
Rision looked down at her with a faintly bitter smile.
“So… when a moment of doubt comes someday, please remember this moment.”
His hand stroking her hair was gentle.
Dianu slowly closed her eyes.
Rision lightly kissed her forehead and spoke carefully.
“If you are interested in administration, there are many officials in the Imperial Palace besides Neyron Berdian.”
“How about learning from them?”
“If you wish to stay close to me, the female count of Calamier also handles important duties.”
“Hmm…”
“Neyron handles investigations into the southern nobles, especially the Belua Duke.”
“I want you to help me, but I would prefer you to stay as uninvolved with the Belua Duke as possible.”
Only concern for Dianu’s safety filled Rision’s expression, and it made her feel guilty.
She slowly pushed him away, tidied his slightly mussed hair, and cleared her throat.
How could she explain that just hours ago she had been running around the capital digging into the Belua Duke’s affairs?
“Your Majesty, I… well, about that…”
Dianu began to explain hesitantly.
* * *
At first, Rision merely looked dumbfounded, but when Dianu reached the part about visiting Bertona Aldebaron’s shop selling lace and perfume, he openly pressed his fingers to his forehead.
“You are no longer allowed to go out alone.”
“I was not alone.”
“I was with my younger brother.”
“Is that younger brother a trained knight?”
“Well, no, but…”
Rision cut her off firmly.
“It would be best to inform your family that you are staying in the Imperial Palace.”
Dianu nodded, having already known it could not be hidden forever.
Even receiving letters through the Erbinjel Grand Duchy had been exhausting enough.
She showed Rision the paper listing the names of the clerics who had issued permits to sell luxury goods from Arasas.
“I cannot tell myself, but I think if you look into it, you might find a connection to the Belua Duke.”
“The Belua Duke likely paid Ambassador Nixandor for the goods, and Baron Aldebaron sold them through several small merchant groups to make a profit.”
“…If we find and interrogate those merchants, the baron’s name will come out.”
“Will that be difficult?”
Rolling the paper and tucking it into his chest, Rision smiled faintly.
“Most people will confess how many forks they own at home the moment they see the Imperial Guard’s uniform.”
He fell into thought for a moment.
“However, in the end we would have to remove not only Baron Aldebaron, but also the Belua Duke and Ambassador Nixandor.”
“With what we have now, that will be difficult.”
“And if your suspicions are correct, exposing the Belua Duke’s involvement would require stirring up the Church.”
Rision smiled regretfully.
“Issuing import permits in exchange for money is reprehensible, but it is not severe enough to arrest and interrogate clergy until they confess the Belua Duke’s name.”
Dianu could not hide her disappointment and sighed softly.
“I suppose… Your Majesty cannot oppose the Church.”
It was the High Priest who placed the crown on the Catalos Emperor’s head.
And the High Priest would never tolerate the arrest of clergy without consultation.
For generations, the High Priest had restrained imperial authority under the pretext that the Church must remain distant from secular power.
“We need undeniable proof that the Belua Duke and Ambassador Nixandor are colluding.”
“Only when the roots are pulled out do the rotten branches come with them.”
“Does such evidence even exist?”
Even to Dianu, who was an outsider, it sounded nearly impossible.
One was a great noble beyond even the emperor’s full control, and the other a foreign ambassador beyond imperial law.
Evidence strong enough to publicly judge such people felt unimaginable.
As Dianu frowned in thought, Rision looked down at her and smiled faintly.
“The duke seems to believe that drawing Nixandor into his camp is a great triumph.”
“…Is it not?”
“Even Your Majesty cannot treat an Arasas ambassador lightly.”
Arasas also had a distant relative of Rision’s serving as the Catalos ambassador there.
If Rision punished Nixandor by force, the Catalos ambassador’s life would also be endangered.
In the worst case, it could even lead to war.
“Generally speaking, that is true.”
“But if the duke has Nixandor, then I have an even better weapon.”
Dianu’s eyes widened.
Rision looked down at her with eyes full of affection.
“The Crown Prince of Arasas, Ravelan Arasas, is on our side.”
“Therefore, Nixandor’s presence will actually benefit us.”
Dianu pouted slightly.
She was glad he had said “our,” but she could not help feeling a little deflated.
“So everything I did was pointless after all.”
“Just because it is not sufficient right now does not mean it is useless.”
Rision tapped the pocket where he had put the paper she gave him.
His expression as he looked down at her was complicated, part impressed and part bittersweet.
“Honestly, I was impressed.”
“I knew you were intelligent, but…”
Rision glanced up at the ceiling briefly.
Dianu watched him struggle internally, her heart pounding.
When he finally met her eyes, resignation and expectation were evenly mixed in his gaze.
“Do you want to help dig into the Belua Duke’s case?”
Dianu grabbed his hand eagerly.
“Yes!”
“There is a condition.”
Just from his voice, Dianu knew this was a condition she could never refuse.
“I will increase your escort.”
“One Loisen alone cannot guard you twenty-four hours a day, so I will assign additional knights to rotate.”
“If you are not directly in my sight, you must be with them at all times, even inside the Imperial Palace.”
She did not like it, but it was a condition she could accept.
Adelaisa Belua warned me, after all…
For a moment, Dianu wondered whether she should tell Rision about that warning.
But she feared that telling him Adelaisa’s words would make him withdraw his permission entirely.
“I will do that.”
“And it would be best if you refrained from going outside the Imperial Palace whenever possible.”
“If there is someone you must meet, call them to the Oak Palace instead.”
That suggestion startled her.
Calling her father, who had never even been to the capital, to the Imperial Palace was unimaginable.
As she sighed while imagining a reunion with him, Rision pulled her tightly into his arms.
The way he held her, as if he could not endure even a moment apart, melted the last sharp edge in her heart.
With his lips pressed to the crown of her head, Rision murmured softly in a strangely natural, coaxing tone.
“Then will you forgive my foolish words?”
“…Yes.”
His hand slid down along her ear to the nape of her neck.
Though the touch was gentle, goosebumps rose all over her body.
A tension she had never felt before washed over her.
The fact that this was her bedroom, and that she was alone with Rision, suddenly became very real.
Suppressing her racing heart, Dianu swallowed dryly.
Um… is this… that kind of mood?
They were lovers, so of course, something like this would happen someday…
She was not mentally prepared, but if Rision wanted to…
Still, it felt a little too fast.
After hesitating, Dianu carefully grabbed the hem of his clothes.
Even a slight push would make her intentions clear.
But Rision spoke first.
“Then I should be going now.”
After kissing her forehead with a soft sound, he stepped back so lightly it felt unreal.
