Gulp.
I swallowed. Should I tell him? I can, right? I hesitated, subtly glancing at the Marquis of Ruwendif. I know he’s all in for me, but the person I need to investigate is Noten, and that might be a different story.
“Well, it’s…”
“Yes. Just tell me, Your Highness.”
Am I really going to do it? My mouth was dry. Seeing me, the Marquis of Ruwendif nodded twice in a row, as if to say, go ahead, I can handle anything.
“It’s the Marchen Duke.”
“Pardon?”
“Noten Marchen.”
“Ah…”
Hey! You said you’d do anything I asked! Where did that loyal look from a moment ago go?
I frowned without realizing it. The Marquis of Ruwendif, seeing my displeased face, quickly ran his hands over his face and said, “I was wondering why you were so hesitant, but he is a high-ranking official.”
His lukewarm response shows he’s not confident. Damn it. I shouldn’t have said anything. Still, I have to try until the very end, right? It’s for Killian, after all!
“Yeah. It would be difficult, wouldn’t it?”
I asked timidly, but the Marquis smiled broadly and answered, “If it’s not me, no one else can do it.”
“You’ll do it?”
“Of course, Your Highness. Believe it or not, I’m the only person who has ever won a duel against the Marchen Duke.”
“Really? I didn’t know that.”
“Ahem. It was when we were children, but…”
“So what if you were kids? A win is a win.”
I praised him a lot because he seemed a little embarrassed…
“I was eighteen, and the Marchen Duke was twelve. And even then, I barely won.”
“Oh… come on…”
He’s so unnecessarily honest. I was a bit flustered, but I held it in and patted the Marquis on the shoulder. It’s not like there was anything else I could do.
“The Marchens are famous for their swordsmanship and are the guardian family of the Empire, so that’s understandable. You’re stronger now, aren’t you, Marquis?”
“Hahaha. Of course, Your Highness. But if I may ask, what is the reason for investigating the Marchen Duke…?”
I wondered when he was going to ask. But I have no intention of answering. Not yet.
“I can’t tell you that yet.”
“Is it perhaps related to young Master Killian Marchen?”
I gulped. He’s quite sharp. It is related, but I can’t tell him that either. I waved my hand and yelled loudly.
“Ugh! I told you not to be curious! You said you’d do it, so just do it without asking or questioning me!”
“Without… a… what?”
“Don’t ask or question anything! A. M. T. T. A.!” (A-mu-t-ta, a Korean acronym)
“Wow… I’ve learned something from you, Your Highness. I really can’t keep up with you! Hahaha! I’ll have to come up with a phrase like that next time. You can count on it, Your Highness!”
Try all you want. You won’t be able to keep up. I came from the land of abbreviations.
“Anyway, Marquis, I’m counting on you. I’ll tell you the reason when the time is right, so dig up everything on the Marchen Duke. Where he goes, what he does, who he meets, even what he eats. If possible, I’d like you to find out what’s happening in his estate and mansion as well.”
The Marquis of Ruwendif nodded at my words. A moment ago, he was joking about winning and losing against the Marchen Duke, but now he has a very serious expression.
“Do not worry, Your Highness. I will do my best.”
“Thank you, Marquis. But as I said before, if it gets dangerous, you have to back out. Value your life. You have to live happily with the daughter I found for you, you know. Got it?”
“Yes, Your Highness. I will.”
“Good. Then you can go now.”
“What? Already? I have so many things to tell you, Your Highness… It would take too long to write it all down in a letter. You see, yesterday, Adele…”
Yawn.
I must have fallen asleep while listening to his non-stop chatter. When I opened my eyes, I was wrapped in a blanket in bed, and the Marquis of Ruwendif was nowhere to be seen. Wow, he was a great talker. My energy is drained.
“Alright. Now, shall we move on to the next step?”
Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Riz around. Where is she and what is she doing?
The Emperor of the Salian Empire, Robis, opened a small door hidden by a thick curtain in his office. He then walked down a dark passage. Every time he opened this door, just once a year, his breathing became heavy, and his heart felt tight. Was it a habit?
He finally reached the door, and beyond it, people who were waiting for him, each with their own memories, filled the small room.
“Thank you all for coming.”
“Your Majesty, we are humbled.”
As soon as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Robis found someone. It was someone he couldn’t even miss freely out of a sense of guilt.
“Marquis, you’ve come.”
“I hope you are well, Your Majesty. It’s been a year.”
“I asked you to come more often, but you just stay in your estate… The Marquis’s stubbornness is something else.”
The Marquis Austin Donovan, who greeted Robis with a bitter smile, had more gray hair than a year ago. Robis wanted to say a little more to the Marquis, who had been secluded in his estate for seven years, but Riz, who checked the clock, spoke respectfully.
“It is time, Your Majesty.”
At her words, everyone’s eyes gathered in one place: on the wall where the portrait of the Empress, Sheryl Donovan Monde, whom Robis and everyone in the room loved so dearly, hung.
“Empress.”
The lone portrait hanging on the wall was the only thing she had left behind. Robis forced his lips, which were reluctant to move, to open. The voice that came out of his bitter mouth was sweet. It felt so contradictory.
“It’s been a while. You’ve been waiting for a long time, haven’t you? I’m sorry. I had to make you wait alone in this small, dark room. As a husband who failed to protect his wife, I, as the Emperor, had a lot of work to do and couldn’t help it.”
Robis spoke to the portrait. His beloved wife, whom he wanted to reach out and hold, was just smiling without a word.
“Tia is growing up well. I’m trying my best so that she doesn’t feel your absence… But Riz, whom you cherished, is helping a lot, so don’t worry.”
“That’s right, Empress. Her Highness the Princess looks just like you. She’s very cheerful. And her language is so foul… Oops! My mistake!”
Riz chimed in. The atmosphere, which had been solemn, lightened a bit with her cheerful voice. Robis continued.
“I was always worried she would go astray, so even though I knew I shouldn’t, I would give in to her… But now that she’s seven, she seems to have matured a little. She even bought me a gift recently. Soon, I’m going to tell her about you. I hope Tia takes it well.”
The Marquis of Donovan nodded, hissing.
Celestia was a child who had everything everyone didn’t have, but didn’t have the one thing everyone had.
Robis couldn’t tell his daughter the truth. At the time, he didn’t want to. He felt that if he said it out loud, he wouldn’t be able to bear Sheryl’s absence. He felt that his daughter would even take away his right to miss her. So he kept his mouth shut. He shut everyone else’s mouths. He thought it was the best thing to do for Celestia, who was born with a sensitive nature.
Now, he was afraid of the aftermath of revealing the truth, but… it was time to set things right. For the sake of Sheryl, who only existed in a frame.
“I’ve been talking too much. Her father is giving me the look, so I’ll pass the turn to him.”
Robis gently grabbed Austin’s shoulder. He stood in front of his daughter’s portrait, his eyes reddened.
“Sheryl, my one and only daughter. As much as I miss you, I’m sure you miss me too. So I won’t cry today. I won’t say I miss you either.”
But contrary to his words, Austin’s voice was trembling.
“What was the rush when I couldn’t even be a father to you…”
The whole Empire knew how much the Marquis Austin Donovan cherished his daughter, or more accurately, his adopted daughter, Sheryl, who was not related by blood. When Sheryl became the Empress, no one could speak of her unclear background, partly thanks to the henpecked and doting Emperor Robis, but also thanks to Austin.
“You went away to a place where I can’t even hold on to you, so this father is very lonely.”
Hehehe, Austin gave a weak laugh and looked at Robis once before saying, “If Your Majesty permits, I will take good care of the Princess in your place. Don’t be envious when you see it from there.”
After Austin finished his greeting, Riz went next, and then the knight who had been Sheryl’s escort… After the few people present finished their turns, Robis stood in front of the wall again.
“Empress. Sheryl… I’m sure you were sad that Tia wasn’t here today, but please bear with it a little longer. It’s my fault that Tia doesn’t remember the mother she never got to call. Our daughter is not at fault. I believe you will understand.”
Robis gazed at Sheryl in the portrait as if waiting for an answer. Then he turned his gaze to the others in the room.
“Until then, we will remember you more and miss you more.”
Everyone nodded. With smiles that shone brightly even in the darkness. It was a day when the sky poured rain all over the world, as if to cry for Robis, Austin, Riz, and all the others who loved Sheryl.
