SIDE STORY 03……………………………………
The two houses where Enya and Dale had lived in Grünwald had been transformed into educational facilities for the locals.
The goal was to train a small, focused group of people who could contribute to the development of the territory and the empire, rather than maintaining the previous, larger facilities.
Since Enya had become Empress and Dale’s duties as Emperor had increased, they could no longer occasionally visit Grünwald together like before.
Enya thought it would be a waste to leave the space unused, and Dale had listened to her suggestion.
“This was about the spot.”
Enya rubbed the floor of their first house with her foot, drawing a large circle.
Dale tilted his head, unsure why, and Enya smiled playfully.
“This is where you appeared. Right here. This big.”
Enya looked down, chuckling quietly, then glanced up at Dale. He turned slightly red, a bit embarrassed.
He remembered clearly. Dale avoided her gaze, smiling faintly.
“It was the best course of action for me.”
“You really startled me back then. I thought someone sent by the Emperor had come.”
Enya continued teasing him mischievously.
“But it wasn’t someone sent by the Emperor—it was the Emperor himself! A far greater person came!”
“….”
Dale’s face turned bright red, and he absentmindedly rubbed the wall.
“Shall I stop teasing you?”
“Please do.”
He muttered, unable to hide his embarrassment, but then remembered a fact that could be turned into a comeback.
“I also remember something. That day.”
“Hmm?”
Dale spoke with a hint of confidence.
“The day I was offered a deal I’d never get anywhere else, I can never forget it.”
Enya recalled the past. She thought she had been offered a daily sum of money by the Emperor. She had confronted him boldly.
“Ha ha, ha… the deal for hundreds of crobats?”
“That’s right.”
At the time, when she thought he was just a mercenary, Enya had boldly proposed a massive transaction. Not only that, she had examined the top of Dale’s collapsed head and even held his eyelids open.
Fortunately, Dale didn’t remember the details—perhaps he was truly asleep then.
“Let’s agree we were both desperate.”
“Agreed.”
Enya extended her hand as a sign of truce, and Dale took it gently.
Years had passed since then.
Some things had changed; some remained the same.
Back then, Dale had come alone to find her. Now, they were together.
And to be precise, including the child yet to be born, there were three of them.
“This was about the spot?”
Enya opened the closed door upstairs. It had been converted into a classroom for mathematics but had once been her dressing room.
“Right? This is where Dale filled the room with dresses and shoes. This was the room.”
“That’s right.”
Dale smiled shyly, as if remembering immediately.
“I believed your lies back then. Looking back, it was strange. That’s why a handsome man’s lies are dangerous…”
All the dresses hanging in the room had been made exclusively for Enya—not for any non-existent younger sister.
Dale held Enya within his broad arms. Enya, pressing her hands over his, smiled mischievously.
“But Dale, how did you know my exact measurements?”
“That’s…”
“You did research, didn’t you?”
“No… yes.”
“Don’t be embarrassed. Who told you? Emma?”
Dale answered honestly, no longer trying to lie. At that point, any attempt to deceive would have been pointless in Enya’s hands.
He had done everything possible to win her favor. The word “acted” could barely describe it—it was closer to “committed.”
“I expected you would ask other things after recruiting Emma, but you were thorough to an extreme degree.”
“Thank you.”
“Not a compliment, though.”
Blushing and shy, Dale received Enya’s words quietly.
It was fortunate this wasn’t a story. If Dale had really possessed the cruel character of the emperor from the original novel…
Then…
‘I would have had to risk my life to escape.’
How terrifying and relentless would he have been as an enemy? Enya stroked her belly, pondering.
The longer she stared at him, the redder Dale’s face became.
“Is there something on my face?”
“You still radiate handsomeness, Dale.”
“….”
“Our child must be as thorough and meticulous as you.”
“…Is that a compliment?”
Enya lightly tapped her belly. She sincerely wished their child would take after Dale.
“I sincerely hope the child resembles you.”
“I prefer a child who resembles you, Enya.”
“If the child looks like me, they might run away whenever things go wrong.”
“That would be…”
Dale paused, thinking seriously about the future and character of a child not yet born.
“If this child refuses to become emperor and runs away, that would be problematic.”
“Then we can have another one, right?”
“Enya.”
Dale cupped her head gently, speaking softly but firmly.
“I am not raising a child as a parent. I am living as your husband.”
His voice carried determination and possessiveness.
“The child should become independent quickly, and one is enough.”
“But it’s our child, isn’t it?”
Enya looked up at him, smiling slyly.
“What if the child inherits both my initiative and Dale’s stubbornness?”
At that moment, Dale recalled a long-ago memory—long before their reunion—when he had formally granted her the imperial edict of Empress.
“…Your Majesty!”
The Emperor’s attendant burst into the office, pale as a sheet. Behind him, all the other attendants were lined up.
Their expressions were uniformly grim.
“An urgent letter has arrived from the Lockhart household.”
“A reply?”
For once, Dale looked tense as he turned to the attendants. From his back came an unusual mixture of fear, trembling, and… excitement.
The last emotion was the problem: excitement.
The attendants’ jaws dropped. They knew how absurd it was for the Emperor to feel excitement.
“What did the household say?”
“You must see it yourself.”
The attendant handed over the letter. Dale read it slowly, letter by letter. His expression stiffened, and his eyes finally froze.
Crumple.
The high-quality paper was mercilessly crushed in his hands.
“Ran away…”
A low, hollow voice escaped Dale’s mouth.
“Ran away.”
The imperial edict, declaring that the eldest daughter of the Lockhart family would become the Emperor’s wife, had only been issued yesterday.
For Enya’s protection, and under the pretext of acting for her, Dale now realized the truth: much of his intent had been selfish—he desired her for himself.
<…I did not expect Enya to run away. I will search the entire empire to find her.>
Even the Duke of Lockhart hadn’t anticipated this.
“She hated it that much?”
His chest ached strangely. Dale didn’t realize it, but his face had gone completely pale.
“Yet, it’s too soon to give up, Your Majesty!”
A loyal attendant opened a notebook.
“I have a good plan. Could the young lady have really done such a massive thing alone? There must be a source of information. The young lady has a cherished maid. We can approach the maid to obtain information. Capturing the young lady is only a matter of time.”
The attendants gave the disheartened Emperor the power to act.
And a few years later, the plan finally began.
‘Project: Approach Lady Enya Lockhart Naturally.’
The first hurdle.
For half a year, Dale traveled back and forth between Grünwald and the capital, becoming acquainted with the locals.
“Lad, don’t you want to marry? I know a really fine young lady…”
“No, thank you.”
Dale, helping to till the field, declined politely.
The locals of Grünwald, impressed with him, clicked their tongues in disappointment.
“Really? Still? Could it be… you already have a lover hidden somewhere?”
Dale removed his hat and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The midday sun blazed, reminiscent of Enya’s radiant smile.
Squinting briefly under the strong sunlight, he murmured:
“I do have a lover.”
He whispered the name etched deeply in his heart.
“Enya.”
