Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Just Accept It
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The news reaching Eirene was nothing but despair.
The Igugwoden Citadel had been completely seized. There was no longer any escape route.
On top of that, not only were no troops gathering from the surrounding territories, but there were even reports of people accepting Prince Ares as their new leader.
There was no word at all about the two princesses or the vassals who followed her.
The lack of a coronation ceremony for the new emperor was a bit concerning... Was it because they hadn't captured her yet? Or was there another reason?
In any case, the idea that things would sort themselves out quickly if she just hid for a while and escaped safely seemed to have already gone astray.
'It feels like I'm trapped in a nightmare.'
An overwhelming sense of despair she'd never felt before crushed her.
As she let out a natural sigh, wondering if she'd have to live in hiding forever,
"Lady Rinashita, are you alright? You don't look well..."
"...No. It's nothing, so don't worry about it."
Igeon paused to think after hearing her words.
Then, he carefully approached her and spoke.
"If something's weighing on you, you can tell me. Sometimes, just venting that you're struggling can help."
"..."
"I guess if you could say it, you would have already. Sorry about that."
"No. There's no need to apologize..."
Igeon didn't reply and drew closer to Eirene.
"May I sit beside you?"
Eirene didn't answer, but that wasn't a refusal.
Normally, she would have said something like, "You could sit across from me, so why come over here?"
Was it because the trials weighing on her were too heavy?
She needed human warmth—even if it came from someone she couldn't fully trust.
As if reading her heart, Igeon quietly sat down next to her without a word.
This man knows I'm a fugitive, yet he doesn't fear me.
Before she knew it, she found herself asking him a question.
"I have something to ask."
"Go ahead."
"When you've faced trials too hard to bear, how do you overcome them? Do you pray to God?"
Igeon pondered for a moment, then smiled.
"I just accept them."
"What?"
"No matter how tough the trial, if it's something I have to do, I just do it. It's not like I can turn back, right? God only gives trials we can handle, so I just accept it as it is."
"......!!"
"So there is something troubling you, isn't there?"
Without waiting for Eirene's reply, Igeon gave her a kind smile.
"Lady Rinashita. What's done is done, so just accept it. That might be the answer you're looking for."
Hearing Igeon's response snapped her back to reality.
Right. Even if the Imperial Palace had been taken, the rebels hadn't held the coronation yet.
Since a papal endorsement was required for the new emperor's ascension, not everything was lost.
There's no need to despair.
Eirene looked at Igeon with shining eyes.
Foolishly enough, "just accept it" comforted her more than any words could.
Even though the situation was dire, she couldn't understand why she'd despaired at all.
What could she do about what had already happened? She had to accept it and find a way forward.
'I never imagined I'd find solace in someone else's words.'
"...I see. You're right—maybe adopting that attitude of acceptance is what I need."
"Of course. You'll get through this, Lady Rinashita. I'll pray for you."
With that, he closed his eyes and began to pray.
"......"
Eirene stared intently at Igeon's profile as he prayed.
...He's different. He has a different kind of presence from women.
Solid, with a sharp edge. His broad back and shoulders made her feel somehow reliable.
Naturally, his voice echoed in her mind.
"Lady Rinashita, you have such a refined presence. And your face is incredibly beautiful."
"You look elegant and dignified at a glance, so naturally, I couldn't help but notice."
'......'
She'd never heard such words in her life—let alone from a man.
The descriptors people used for Eirene weren't "beautiful," "elegant," or "refined."
They were things like "heartless," "cruel to enemies," "cold and calculating."
Of course, her appearance was objectively stunning... but no vassal had ever been bold enough to evaluate the empress's looks to her face.
What had he been thinking to say such things so casually?
'It was probably just politeness.'
Eirene knew well that her "good years" were long gone.
Youth. Everyone praised their twenties as if it would last forever.
She'd never regretted its passing.
When her sister died and the emperor's coffin was placed before her, Eirene had cast aside the womanly feelings in her heart.
To survive in politics. To stabilize the nation thrown into chaos by the emperor's sudden death.
That was why she'd decided never to have a man in her life. What was the point of bearing children, only to see them fight her sister's for the throne?
She'd vowed to live for the nation alone—and until recently, she'd never once regretted that choice.
So why did she feel this strange flutter now?
Eirene sharply turned her head away.
Maybe praying would calm her mind.
She closed her eyes and cautiously prayed to the Sole God Igugwoden.
—Please grant me the strength to simply accept all these trials.
* * *
Igeon was a deeply devout man.
In his free time, he prayed. When he went out, he helped at the orphanage or did odd jobs at the cathedral.
She'd thought religious folk were all scripture-obsessed lunatics... but seeing him made her realize that wasn't entirely true.
He prepared meals for her every day, gave up his bed for her, and slept on the floor. She wanted to do something for him in return.
And the next day.
"You're up early today? More importantly, what's that in your hand...?"
"Yes. A mop. You know what this is, right?"
"Of course. I use it for cleaning... but why all of a sudden?"
"Well, I've been freeloading here for days thanks to your kindness. If I don't do anything, won't you get tired of me?"
She was staying here purely out of Igeon's goodwill, but taking it for granted wasn't her way.
Above all, receiving without giving back made her uncomfortable.
After his advice to "just do it" no matter the trial, she felt a strange surge of motivation.
"Are you sure you can handle it? It might not be easy if you're not used to it..."
"What do you take me for?"
"A delicately raised young lady."
"Wh-what...!"
"?"
Unable to meet Igeon's puzzled gaze, Eirene quickly turned her head.
Young lady...?
'I'm... 36 years old?'
Eirene barely managed to squeeze out the words.
"Th-that kind of joke... I'd rather you didn't..."
"Joke? I haven't made any jokes..."
"But calling me... that... y-young... la..."
"?"
"Young lady."
The moment she said it, he curved his lips into a charming smile again.
"Yes. Lady Rinashita. Isn't that right?"
"!!!"
Even if it was just flattery, wasn't it too much? But...
His eyes were so pure.
He truly seemed to believe she was a young lady.
Thump, thump.
Just hearing "young lady" made her heart pound fiercely.
Everything was new. Living in the same house as a man, talking to him this much, and... being called "young lady" by one.
Eirene cleared her throat awkwardly a few times and changed the subject.
"A-anyway! I'll handle the cleaning from now on. You're busy with the cathedral and all outside, so you can rest at home, right?"
"You don't have to..."
"No refusing. Shall we start right away?"
She'd never done it herself, but she'd seen maids clean the Imperial Palace dozens of times.
How hard could it be?
With a confident expression, Eirene picked up the worn mop.
And...
* * *
...Cleaning was far harder than she'd imagined.
"Ow...! It hurts, so be gentle...!"
"Sorry, Lady Rinashita. But I have to disinfect it."
While mopping the floor, she'd caught her foot on the wooden boards and fallen, scraping her pale knee.
Igeon was skillfully tending to her wound with various herbs.
"Don't you use white magic?"
"I can't sense mana."
He wrapped the bandage around it while saying he was disqualified as a priest.
The gentle touch of a man's hands—something she'd never felt before—made her feel oddly strange.
"All done. Don't push yourself too hard. Rest today, okay?"
"...Sorry for the trouble."
"No, it's fine."
Seeing Igeon smile as he said that, Eirene turned her head away again.
The whole time he bandaged her, she could smell his manly scent.
A body odor clearly different from hers.
Something she'd let slip by unknowingly since deciding to become empress shook her heart.
Why?
He was just treating her wound.
It was no different from what the imperial physician did.
So why was her heart shaking like this?
Like a girl discovering spring breeze for the first time, the brush of his arm against her knee and leg made her stomach tickle.
Eirene didn't notice her ears turning bright red.
* * *
From that day on.
She'd been full of mistakes at first, but now she handled the housework quite competently.
Eirene was fundamentally quick on the uptake.
She wasn't used to it, but if she put her mind to it, she could do anything—and that fact helped pull her from the shock of the rebellion, even if just a little.
Of course, the news she heard was still bad.
Yet she could live day by day thanks to the comfort and stability from deciding to "just do it" no matter the trial.
And—
"Here."
That evening.
A warm beef stew was placed on the table.
"This is...?"
"I got some meat from the cathedral. I felt bad making you eat hard bread every day while you work so hard alone at home."
He sat and prayed.
—May Plain Fact be with you.
Eirene slowly lifted a spoonful and took a sip.
The taste... was crude. It couldn't meet the standards of someone who'd only eaten the continent's finest cuisine.
Yet.
'It's warm...'
Strangely, she felt she'd never forget this taste.
"How is it? To your liking?"
"Not bad."
She wanted to say thank you more honestly, but it wouldn't come out. Glancing at him slyly—
He was gazing at her with an incredibly warm smile.
"I'm glad. Seeing you enjoy it makes me happy too, Lady Rinashita."
'......'
The reasons she could endure day by day.
Fulfillment and stability. And... curiosity about the man before her, a type she'd never met in her life.
She hadn't realized it herself—
But the more time she spent with him each day, the more curious she became about who he was.
How could he help people so selflessly?
How did he think so differently from her, with different ideas, and... a different scent?
A being she'd never once been interested in during her 36 years— a man.
For the first time in her life, Eirene wanted to know one.
* * *
How many days passed like that?
That day, a drizzling rain fell late into the night.