[CHAPTER 59]
Dianu Ortensa sometimes wondered whether Neyron Berdian had secretly set up living quarters somewhere in the ceiling of the Imperial Palace.
Neyron arrived earlier than anyone else and left later than anyone else.
When evening came and Dianu cautiously rose from her seat, he would wave his hand as if telling her not to worry about him.
Feeling sorry for the deepening shadows under his eyes, Dianu finally stepped in one day.
“Your Majesty, doesn’t Secretary Berdian look especially exhausted these days?”
Rision looked as though her concern did not quite register with him.
“He always looks like that.”
“There’s no such thing as someone who always looks like that. Miss Contar and I try to lighten his workload, but he still seems far too busy.”
“That is why he is compensated accordingly. Excluding the Chancellor, Neyron receives the highest salary among the officials of the Imperial Palace.”
Seeing Dianu’s expression, Rision hurriedly added more.
“His name is also explicitly listed in my will. Even if something were to happen, Neyron’s family will be able to maintain their current standard of living.”
“Your will…? No, that’s not what I meant. Wouldn’t he need rest right now, or a vacation, or time with his family?”
Rision narrowed his brows.
“If he needed a vacation, he would have requested one.”
“But Secretary Berdian is loyal. Even if he needs one, he might not dare to ask.”
She phrased it as a possibility, but in truth, Dianu would have wagered the check Rision had given her that this was exactly the case.
The Rision Dianu had observed so far possessed a truly inexhaustible level of stamina.
He began work earlier than she did and finished later, and whenever he had spare time, he trained his body through swordsmanship or horseback riding.
No secretary could possibly bring themselves to ask for a vacation when serving an Emperor who handled even more work with a perfectly composed face.
No matter how much Dianu tried to explain the mindset of subordinates, Rision merely tilted his head.
“Then I suppose Neyron will simply have to continue working as I command until he finds the courage to request a vacation.”
“To be honest, I am not even sure I could grant it. I need Neyron.”
It felt like talking to a wall.
From the eyes looking down at her as if asking what the problem was, Dianu felt the insurmountable gap between herself and him.
That conversation left her with nothing more than the realization that a ruler’s way of thinking was fundamentally different from that of ordinary people.
At least, that was what she thought.
* * *
“I received a vacation.”
Neyron spoke as though he himself could not quite believe the words coming out of his mouth.
“He said that since preparations to welcome the Arasas Crown Prince are complete, I do not need to come to work until he departs.”
Dianu clapped her hands in delight.
Neyron, however, seemed in no state to accept her congratulations.
His face was half-stricken with terror.
“What did I do wrong?”
“Wrong…? His Majesty must have granted this vacation as a reward.”
Neyron shook his head violently.
“Miss Ortensa, do you know that His Majesty personally attended my wedding to honor the occasion?”
Dianu looked deeply moved, but Neyron continued in a gloomy voice, as if he had been waiting to say it.
“And on the final day of my honeymoon, he sent a courier to remind me not to forget that the next day was a workday.”
The swelling emotion shrank in an instant.
With Dianu slumping her shoulders in front of him, Neyron grabbed at his hair.
“I must have truly offended him. Otherwise, there is no way His Majesty would let me go. After this vacation, I will surely be demoted.”
“Secretary…”
“I will spend the rest of my life organizing ledgers in some lightless basement room of the Imperial Palace. In that case, I would rather end things honorably—”
“I, I asked him!”
Dianu hurriedly cut him off.
Before his downward spiral became pitiful, she was more afraid of what he might say next.
Neyron stopped spinning in place and looked at her.
“You asked His Majesty? For my vacation?”
“I’m sorry if it was presumptuous. You just looked so tired that I was worried…”
“……”
“…Should I ask him to cancel it?”
Neyron blinked.
The face that always carried a faint trace of pessimism looked as though its soul had completely left it.
Perhaps it really had been a mistake.
Dianu murmured while staring at the tip of her shoe.
“I honestly didn’t think he would actually grant a vacation. When I asked, he reacted negatively…”
“……”
“I know how important your work is, but you seem to be tied to the Imperial Palace for too long. You’ve even dozed off and made mistakes a few times. I thought that if you rested and spent time with your family, your efficiency might actually improve.”
As Dianu bowed her head to apologize, Neyron raised one hand to stop her.
He muttered with the expression of a philosopher who had just solved the riddle of a lifetime.
“His Majesty truly trusts you, Miss Ortensa.”
“Pardon?”
“It is fortunate that you are wise and thoughtful. Otherwise, I dread to imagine what might have happened.”
His words made no sense to her.
Regardless of Dianu’s reaction, Neyron turned his gaze away.
“Then I shall take my leave. I feel like taking a walk by the river with my daughter right away.”
“……”
“Please take care of the remaining work. Even if someone dies, do not contact me.”
Neyron dashed out of the Imperial Palace like an arrow.
For someone who had never once requested a vacation in six years since Rision’s accession, his movements were astonishingly quick.
Left alone, Dianu could only stare blankly at his empty seat.
* * *
The person who commanded the secretarial office had gone on vacation, but the workload remained unchanged.
Dianu explained Neyron’s absence to Obina, who arrived at the usual time, and immediately got to work.
Lunch was also taken by just Dianu and Obina.
Rision had sent a note saying he could not join them due to increased busyness and secrecy surrounding the visit of Ravelan Arasas.
The palace attendants prepared the meal at a table in one corner of the office and disappeared without a sound.
Sitting across from each other, the two chatted about old school friends and social circles.
With a gloomy face, Obina said she had already attended four weddings this year alone.
“When will I meet someone suitable? I come and go from the Imperial Palace like this, yet there’s nothing to show for it.”
“Hmm… Was there not a single gentleman you liked?”
“Everyone is too busy to even talk to me. They just stare as if I’m something curious.”
Dianu felt a twinge of guilt.
Wasn’t she the one who had coaxed Obina by saying she might find a good match?
Like many ladies of the Catalos Empire, Obina had a strong desire for marriage and family.
Back in school, she used to worry that she might never marry because of her ‘illness.’
Would His Majesty perhaps be able to introduce a suitable man?
Yet a match arranged by the Emperor would be difficult to refuse.
The other party would have virtually no freedom to decline Obina.
Before Dianu could offer a proper answer, the meal ended.
As they sipped tea to cleanse their palate, Obina spoke with a serious expression.
“Miss Dianu. I think of us as friends.”
Dianu readily agreed.
Among the many friends she had at Sirene Girls’ Academy, only a handful remained in close contact after graduation.
Aside from the ladies she had grown up with in the Erbinjel Grand Duchy, Obina was one of the very few she considered close.
That was why she did not take offense at the hesitant question that followed.
“Which came first? Catching His Majesty’s eye, or entering the Imperial Palace?”
It felt like the inevitable had arrived.
Working together so closely, it was hard not to notice the air between two people who had just begun a romance.
They also did not hide it much because Dianu trusted that Obina would not spread palace gossip elsewhere.
She was neither bold nor reckless enough to do such a thing.
“Entering the palace came first. At the beginning, I was truly just the Imperial Princess’s private tutor.”
“I see…”
Obina took a sip of tea, as if organizing her thoughts.
Dianu maintained as calm an expression as possible.
She expected the next question to be about future plans.
Anyone who had known her for over ten years would know she was not suited to playing the role of the Emperor’s lover.
However, Obina’s next question completely missed her expectations.
“But Miss Dianu… aren’t you afraid of His Majesty?”
“What?”
She had planned to remain composed no matter what, but that question drew an involuntary response.
Obina waved her hands awkwardly.
“Please don’t misunderstand. I don’t mean any disrespect. It’s just that I have met His Majesty before, right after his accession.”
Obina’s father, Sir Contar, was a judge at the High Court of the capital.
Aside from the Grand Trials convened by imperial command, the High Court was the most authoritative court in the Catalos Empire.
Rision would have met all the empire’s key figures and high officials after inheriting the crown.
It was not strange that Obina’s father had been among them.
A subtle unease showed at the tips of Obina’s fingers as she fidgeted with her teacup.
“Back then, with a child’s heart, I remember being terribly afraid. Even after being introduced, I couldn’t say a single proper word. My father scolded me harshly for embarrassing myself in front of His Majesty.”
Obina gave an awkward smile.
“So when I greeted His Majesty again this time, I was honestly relieved that he didn’t remember me.”
Dianu recalled the first meeting between Obina and Rision after Obina accepted the role of assistant secretary.
Despite Dianu’s reassurance, Obina had been as tense as a mouse before a cat.
“Y-Your Majesty… I am Obina Contar.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Contar. Are you the daughter of Sir Contar of the High Court?”
When Obina answered yes, Rision said nothing further and simply kissed her trembling right hand.
That was the entirety of their interaction.
Since Rision did not mention it again, Obina seemed to believe that he had forgotten her.
Dianu, however, thought otherwise.
Rision had an excellent memory for people.
He even remembered the names and faces of palace attendants and guards in detail.
Yet telling Obina that he had spared her feelings would only deepen her embarrassment.
So Dianu chose a different answer.
“His Majesty is gentle and kind. Of course, he possesses more than enough dignity as a ruler, but neither Obina nor I have any reason to fear him.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes. I myself committed countless unbelievable blunders at first.”
Dianu smiled brightly to reassure her friend.
Obina, however, merely parted her lips again and again without speaking.
Dianu patiently waited as she struggled internally.
“I was just… curious. He’s someone so far above us. My heart sinks just from crossing paths with him, so how do you…”
Obina trailed off.
“Of course, if His Majesty wished it, you wouldn’t be able to refuse…”
That kind of misunderstanding, above all else, could not be allowed.
Dianu set her teacup down with a clink.
She looked straight into Obina’s startled eyes and spoke firmly.
“His Majesty has never forced anything upon me.”
“……”
“Being by his side is my own choice.”
And whatever consequences came of that choice, Dianu would accept them fully.
Rision had already tried once to let her go.
She had rejected his consideration and reached out her hand instead.
The responsibility for this relationship lay entirely with her.
She had no intention of hiding in Rision’s shadow and shifting the risk onto him.
Whatever Obina read in Dianu’s eyes, she finally nodded.
“I’ll support you. I don’t know how much my support will help, but…”
“It helps far more than you think.”
The world would surely condemn her love.
Facing it alone would be exhausting, but having even a few people on her side might make it easier to endure.
“Thank you.”
Dianu spoke from the heart.
