Chapter 12. Red Stone
“Hmm… It’s quite far. If you drove a carriage non-stop… let’s see. Even if you rushed and slept only five hours a day, it would still take about two months. You’d have to cross a mountain range along the way too.”
Two months. That was how long it would take to reach Dellarta.
“That’s really far. If just getting there takes two months…”
Including the return trip, the distance felt even more daunting.
Rasillia glanced at the Emperor’s expression. Her hand had been tightly held by him since the moment she brought up going to Dellarta.
Since she was the one making a request, she couldn’t rudely yank her hand away. Her hand had been growing warm from the heat of his ever-hot skin.
“Two months. That’s not bad.”
“But why do you ask about that place? There’s no exchange with Eliahdin at all.”
“The Empress said she needs something from there.”
Rasillia had expected him to reject it, saying the distance was too far, so she felt secretly relieved.
“Then maybe… I really can go back.”
Going back to Dellarta wouldn’t resolve everything. She had no idea what condition the place was in, or whether Crown Prince Ricardo had left the High Temple intact.
Still, just the thought of escaping this unfamiliar place lifted a weight from her heart. If the High Priest still believed in her, perhaps there was still a way forward.
“Now it’s my turn.”
The Emperor whispered low in her ear, gently tightening his grip on her hand.
“Since I’ve agreed to your request, I hope you’ll agree to mine.”
If it meant she could go to Dellarta, she was willing to do it.
“Please speak.”
The Emperor wasn’t about to ask for physical intimacy. He had firmly stated it would only happen once her memories returned.
But still, she couldn’t take his words lightly.
“For those two months, I wish to stay by your side.”
“…What?”
She blinked, unsure of what she’d just heard.
“What exactly do you mean by ‘stay by my side,’ Your Majesty?”
“Exactly what it sounds like.”
“Exactly…?”
“To be with you. Always.”
“Always…?”
“So you won’t misremember the past again, like today.”
Reskal lifted the hand he had been holding and placed a kiss on it.
“I’ll teach you everything. One by one.”
That was strange enough—but the part about two months was even stranger.
“Are you saying… Your Majesty plans to go to Dellarta with me?”
“No.”
“Then…?”
Reskal tilted his head, confused.
“Why would I go to Dellarta?”
“…What?”
“I’ll summon the priest here.”
“…”
Rasillia’s face froze.
Of course.
That had been far too easy. There was no way it would actually go that smoothly.
“You look incredibly disappointed.”
Liyan approached quietly and whispered.
They were currently preparing a room in the Empress’s palace for the Emperor. They weren’t building an entirely new space, but there was still an overwhelming amount to do.
While the adjoining rooms bustled with palace staff and attendants, Liyan remained behind in the Empress’s chambers—not as the Emperor’s shadow, but as her own choice.
“It’s as if you had some real reason you needed to go to Dellarta.”
“…I was just touched by His Majesty’s generosity.”
That was why Rasillia couldn’t insist on going to Dellarta any further.
It was extremely rare for royalty to visit foreign lands for months at a time. There had to be a war or some comparable reason.
When she mentioned it might be a special prayer that could only be performed at the temple, the Emperor responded by saying he would simply build a Dellarta-style temple inside the imperial palace.
Then, the Emperor’s head chamberlain sprang into action.
As if it had all been prepared in advance, one item after another was swiftly moved into the Empress’s palace.
“Hmph… So that’s how he’s playing it. Well, fine.”
Liyan flicked a still-fresh gardenia bloom irritably.
“So Her Majesty the Empress is just fine with the Emperor sticking to her side constantly—day and night, always?”
Of course she wasn’t fine with it.
Even thinking about it again made her furious at Count Pershon, the chamberlain.
But there was no changing it now. Rasillia forced herself to focus on the positives.
At least the priest would be coming here, which meant she could get news from Dellarta. If she was lucky, she might even establish contact with the High Priest.
That was the best she could hope for right now.
“That’s how things turned out, so I’ve decided to accept it.”
“My, my. When did you become so composed? Before, if something annoyed you, you’d have the heads of your ladies-in-waiting rolling in an instant.”
She had heard that the Empress had officially punished palace staff on many occasions. The reasons varied, but most believed accusations like theft or insult were just excuses for execution.
Rasillia now thought perhaps those acts were to cover up the markings on her body.
“What a shame. I deserve the criticism, yet I remember none of it.”
“We all know you weren’t exactly burdened with a guilty conscience.”
Liyan didn’t hesitate to speak harshly.
It was clear now. The shadow knights hated the Empress. The Emperor’s claim that they had been on good terms was clearly false.
“That vow was ridiculous, too. She says she’ll only engage in contact once her memories return. But what if a Blue Moon rises tomorrow? His Majesty will lock himself in his room again and endure that unbearable pain, won’t he?”
“…”
Rasillia didn’t fully understand what kind of pain the Emperor endured.
If it was a suffering no human body could bear, there was a limit to what she could comprehend.
Which was why, more than ever, she needed to return to where she belonged. Once the imposter disappeared, the Emperor could find his true partner.
“You may not believe it, but I am doing my best in my own way.”
“Oh, so your best is amnesia?”
“You can mock me all you like, but it doesn’t make hearing it any easier. If you have no business here, then please leave.”
“Well, since I’m being kicked out, I suppose I must.”
Liyan turned on her heel.
But before she opened the door, she glanced back at Rasillia.
“I trust you remember what I told you before, Your Majesty. Just as well as the vow you made His Majesty.”
“…Of course I remember.”
“You had better.”
Thud!
Liyan shut the door and left.
Screech, chirp!
Coo!
As soon as Liyan left, birds began pecking at the window, crying out.
Rasillia checked the door once more, then opened the window.
“What is it? I didn’t call you.”
—That woman, that woman!
—Mean, mean!
—She bullies, she bullies!
Rasillia chuckled.
“So you came to chase her out again? Don’t worry, she’s already gone.”
—Gone already?
—Oh no, oh no!
This time, the black bird stepped forward.
—She bullies, bullies!
Flap!
Before Rasillia could stop it, the black bird flew off.
“No! Don’t!”
She called out, but it was too late.
“She didn’t even bully me that badly. It was just some harsh words… for now.”
For now. In other words, until they found out she was a fake.
What would happen after that was anyone’s guess.
Rasillia let out a crooked smile and shook her head.
“This won’t do. You guys need to go stop it.”
The remaining birds flapped their wings, protesting loudly.
—Why, why?
—That woman, mean woman!
“No, not really. She’s just extremely loyal to the Emperor. That’s her job. It wouldn’t be fair to punish someone for doing their job too well. Go stop the black bird.”
—Strange, strange!
—Fair, fair!
Though the birds complained, once Rasillia gently stroked their heads and asked again, they eventually flew off to chase the black bird.
She picked up a few feathers that had fallen on the windowsill and shook her head again.
“They say they like me, but they’re kind of blindly loyal, aren’t they? I wonder why that is.”
This place was still full of mysteries.
The true nature of the birds was one of them.
Still, there was one thing she thought she understood.
“…They’re similar.”
That blind loyalty reminded her of the Emperor.
The kind of man who, when told they needed a temple, simply replied, “Then I’ll build one.”
“What’s that, Liyan?”
“This?”
Whoosh!
Outside the Empress’s palace, Liyan tossed something up into the air and caught it.
“I don’t know.”
“What? Then why are you gripping it so tightly?”
“It belongs to Her Majesty.”
Liyan grinned and opened her hand.
“…A rock?”
“It looks like one, doesn’t it? Which is weird. She’s not exactly the sentimental type to keep something like this. Not our ruthless Empress.”
Serven suddenly looked serious.
“There’s no way she gave that to you… Don’t tell me you stole it?”
“More like I found it.”
“That’s the same thing.”
“No, it’s not.”
Whoosh!
Liyan tossed the stone up again playfully. It shot so high it was barely visible, and when it finally came down, she caught it without looking.
“I was with Her Majesty for a bit. Opened a vanity drawer and saw this. Took it out, and she didn’t say anything. That’s basically permission, right?”
“Still… wait. Did you do that to test if the memory loss is real?”
“Partly.”
Whoosh!
She threw the stone again.
“She’s really changed. Weirdly sensible and refined. I even mocked her to her face, and she responded gracefully. Can you believe that? Our spiteful, vicious Empress?”
“She’s always been good at putting on a show.”
“She wouldn’t waste that talent alone with just me.”
“Fair point.”
“So now I’m confused. Can memory loss actually make someone completely change?”
“Beats me.”
“What’s going on? It’s not just Her Majesty. His Majesty too. Did you see him kick Viscount Pielion earlier? Even for him, kicking a noble is a huge breach of etiquette.”
“Massively.”
“He knows better. So why do it? Like a jealous husband catching his wife with another man… Wait, my rock! Where’s my rock? It should’ve fallen by now…”
Liyan scanned the sky.
Caw!
Suddenly, a black bird swooped in and snatched the red stone with its beak.
“Ah! That crazy bird again! Are you going to eat a rock, you lunatic?!”
She drew her sword and gave chase.
Caw!
The bird soared high, as if laughing.
“Stop right there! If I catch you, I’m plucking every feather you’ve got!”
Soon, Liyan disappeared into the distance.
Left alone, Serven shook his head.
“…Seriously though, why would she keep a rock? Doesn’t suit her at all.”
A queen cherishing a rock like it were a jewel? Nonsense.
“Maybe it’s not just any rock.”
They’d only find out if Liyan managed to get it back.
But she never did.
And the black bird never returned it to Rasillia either.
Because just at that moment, the Emperor had finished his brief relocation—and returned to the Empress.
That’s Ominous~