IMHMF 20

Chapter 20

“Everything is audible.”

“Oh my.”

At Eden’s cold reply, the emperor raised both hands in surrender and took a step back.

“You are far too cold toward me.”

“Hardly.”

“I wish you would treat me as warmly as you do the Duchess of Hylus.”

“I would rather not.”

“How cold.”

The emperor, who had been wearing a playful expression with a cane in one hand, swept his fingers across the corner of his eye as though wiping away tears at Eden’s firm reply.

Even at his performance of tears, Eden did not so much as blink and stepped past the emperor toward the prepared chairs. His hand remained on my shoulder the entire time.

“Let us have a cup of tea.”

“I am fine, thank you.”

Just as I was wondering whether I should decline as Eden had, the emperor put on a pitiful expression once more.

“Surely the Duchess of Hylus would not make me a poor, lonely emperor drinking tea by himself?”

“…I would be grateful to accept.”

“A fine answer. Garnet.”

“Yes.”

“My usual tea, if you please. And for the young lady?”

“The same for me, please.”

Before long, elaborate desserts and tea with a deep violet hue were placed on the neatly set table.

“Now then. So, where and how did the two of you meet and fall in love?”

Just as I was deliberating over what to say, Eden opened his mouth faster than I could.

“We met as any couple would.”

“I am not familiar with how any couple meets, so I would appreciate it if you could explain in detail.”

The desserts and tea had not yet been prepared, so beneath the empty table I was doing something childish, pulling at my gloves and letting them go repeatedly.

Leaving Eden, who was staring down the emperor with a firm expression, the emperor seemed to have decided on me as his new target and redirected his aim.

“So where did you first meet and fall into such a grand love, Duchess?”

I could not easily answer the emperor’s question.

It was partly because of his sharp insight, and partly because he was the emperor, but the real reason was that I genuinely could not decide where to say Eden and I had first met.

The first time I had seen Eden was at the imperial palace party, but he had seen me at the hunting competition, so should I say the hunting competition?

“It was…”

“We met in a forest.”

“A forest?”

“Mangila Forest.”

“Mangila Forest, you say…”

“It is exactly the day you are thinking of.”

The emperor, having heard Eden’s clear answer, burst into a hearty laugh once more.

“Hahaha! How intriguing.”

Was the ‘that day’ Eden was referring to the day I had saved him in the forest? Since I had not yet heard the truth of that day, it was an answer that only deepened the mystery for me.

Before I knew it, Garnet approached and placed the refreshments the maid had prepared at each person’s place.

Garnet, who had neatly arranged the refreshments on the table, addressed me as ‘Lady Rumania’ right to the end.

The emperor had clearly told her to address me accordingly.

I had said I would not let it go, but as someone who was merely a duke’s fiancée, I could not reprimand the emperor’s lady-in-waiting. Yet telling Eden about it felt like tattling when we were not even in a real relationship, and I was reluctant to do so.

Letting it pass quietly did not sit right with my nature, but getting angry was not something I could do either, and it was simply frustrating.

Before I even had time to think about how to deal with Garnet, the emperor opened his mouth without pause.

“A problem has recently come to light regarding the conduct of certain priests.”

It was something I was hearing for the first time, but Eden nodded as though he already knew.

“I have already spoken with my retainers, but I would also like to hear the opinion of the Duchess, who would be closer to the perspective of the common people.”

“I would be glad to be of help to the Sun of the Empire, but I am not well acquainted with the details of the situation.”

“Yes, that is understandable.”

The account I heard from the emperor was as follows.

A small number of priests had been treating the common people with unkindness. In truth, if one thought of priests as being in a service role similar to counselors in our country, one could understand how worn down they might become, but these were different.

They had been categorizing those who came to the temple by their own standards, treating the wealthy with kindness while turning the poor away at the door. The temple was a place where all were equal regardless of status or wealth. It was clearly something that should never have happened in such a place.

Listening to the emperor’s account, I stared into the air for a moment as though deep in thought.

Then I met the emperor’s eyes.

“I believe it is something that must absolutely never occur in a temple, where all should be equal regardless of status or wealth.”

“Indeed.”

“However…”

“However?”

“If the majority of the common people are already aware of this matter, I believe it would be right to bring it to public discourse, impose appropriate punishment on the priests, and hold the temple accountable for failing to properly oversee them… but if that is not the case, I think it should not be made public unnecessarily.”

The emperor made an expression I had not seen from him until that moment. His eyebrows rose considerably, and his eyes widened in all directions, giving him the look of someone who found something extremely interesting.

“And the reason you think so?”

“The first reason is that it could cause further harm to those who have already been hurt. When an incident occurs and there are perpetrators and victims, people become curious not only about the perpetrators but also about who the victims are. In that case, those who have already been sufficiently wounded by discrimination at the temple would suffer yet another injury.”

“……”

“The second reason is that with diplomatic relations with the Western Kingdom approaching, making the priests’ misconduct a matter of public discourse would be no different from revealing the turbulent state of affairs within the empire to the Western Kingdom.”

Even after I had finished speaking, the emperor did not open his mouth. Since he had been addressing me without a moment’s pause, his reaction was not a little surprising. In the silence, I hastily added.

“…It is merely my humble opinion.”

“Do you read my thoughts?”

“Pardon?”

“All of my retainers said it should be made public, but I was opposed. And the one person who thinks as I do turns out to be you, Eloa Rumania.”

“……”

“Hearing your words makes me all the more certain that my thinking was correct.”

“Those who serve something noble sometimes fall into a certain misconception.”

“……”

“They begin to believe they have become that noble thing themselves. When in truth, they would not resemble it in character or virtue in the slightest.”

These words were directed at Garnet. I offered her a faint smile.

Are you listening? This is about you.

“But I understand. When one serves something noble for long enough, one would naturally want to believe one has become noble as well.”

After that, idle conversation passed back and forth. The one thing I remember is how exhausting it was to laugh and react like a machine to the emperor’s trivial jokes.

It felt exactly like dining out with a deeply uncomfortable company superior.

Ah, if I were to be precise, perhaps more like a company president… a useless thought drifted through my mind.

The emperor’s heavy presence, which had shown no sign of rising from his chair, finally stood.

At last, he is leaving! Home…

Before I could even properly rejoice, the emperor reverted to his earlier energy at a rapid pace.

“Let us take a short walk.”

“I have matters to attend to…”

“Ah, Hylus, not you.”

Just as Eden moved to stop the emperor, who had stepped out of the reception room suggesting a walk in the garden, the emperor spoke first.

“There are many people waiting for you.”

“……”

“Herrmann has been waiting ever since you arrived at the palace, so go and meet with them and come back.”

Eden, having heard the emperor’s words, wore an expression as though deliberating briefly, then drew close to me. And no sooner had he approached than he whispered quietly, so only the two of us could hear.

“Please come back quickly. You promised.”

The expression on Eden’s face upon hearing my answer was quite a sight to behold.

As if I would have forgotten.

“Did you not say you could not remember?”

“When did I say that?”

“Before we came in…”

When I looked at him with an expression of complete innocence, he promptly changed his answer.

“I will return shortly.”