The Emperor's Sword and a Garden Full of Roses
Edwin rose from the throne and drew the sword from the scabbard of the knight standing guard behind him.
The momentum radiating from him was utterly ferocious. He had spent the entire meeting quietly stockpiling his rage.
In an instant, an unnatural silence fell over the conference hall filled with nearly a hundred people.
Glances darted toward the razor-sharp blade, as if afraid of it. Yet at the same time, a subtle complacency lingered in their eyes—the belief that nothing serious could possibly come from simply voicing an opinion in the grand assembly hall.
After all, this was how they had always understood politics to work.
But Edwin was not a politician. He was closer to a soldier.
Accustomed to absolute obedience, he was not the type to listen patiently to others. Everything up until now had been the exception.
“In the military, insubordination is punishable by immediate execution.”
In that moment, several figures who could serve as perfect examples flashed through Edwin’s mind.
Illegal slave trade, tax evasion, murder of free citizens. Who else was there again?
The corruption Kylus had gathered on the nobles remaining in the capital over the past several years was extensive. Using up a few cards to establish discipline was hardly a big deal.
Yet the one who lingered longest in Edwin’s thoughts was, of course, Count Harkan.
True to his title as the second-in-command of the West, the man had an overwhelming number of dirty secrets.
Which means I can’t kill him too easily.
Edwin lifted only the corners of his lips in a chilling smile and lightly swung his sword.
With a sharp crack, the table in front of him was sliced cleanly in two.
It was a demonstration of what immediate execution looked like.
The nobles’ eyes bulged at the blatant display of force.
“Do not make me repeat myself.”
Edwin met the eyes of the most aggressive mediators one by one, issuing his warning once more. The golden aura wrapped around his blade flickered in sync with his words.
“I remembered today that this is a conference hall, not a battlefield. But I cannot guarantee the same next time.”
A middle-aged man, terrified out of his wits, silently wept with tears and snot streaming down his face.
Edwin turned away from the unsightly sight and jerked his chin toward the chancellor, who had been quietly observing the mood.
Perhaps it hadn’t been a fluke that the man had risen to his position—the chancellor was quick on the uptake.
“Th-this concludes today’s meeting.”
Even the voice of the chancellor, a veteran bureaucrat of the pro-emperor faction, trembled.
Edwin left the hall as if he had been waiting for exactly that. The knight’s sword remained firmly in his hand.
He didn’t see the middle-aged noble collapse the moment he disappeared through the door, nor did he know that the man had a weak heart.
And he certainly had no idea that the rumors of that day would swell dramatically as they spread beyond the inner palace walls.
After ending the grand assembly in a rather rough manner, he had been far too busy processing documents without a moment’s rest.
Still, thanks to that, he had somehow managed to finish everything before the weekend.
After stamping the imperial seal on the very last document, Edwin hurriedly changed his clothes and headed to the appointed meeting place.
His face, which had been as cold as frost all day, grew brighter the closer he got to the Summer Rose Garden.
“Sir Rohas. Over here!”
Carolina, who had arrived first at the entrance leading from the outer palace into the Summer Rose Garden, spotted him and waved.
Feeling guilty for making her wait, he quickened his steps. Carolina reached out first, taking his hand with a soft smile.
Her monochrome, easy-to-move-in dress was a refreshing change from her usual style.
“I came straight from work, so…”
When his gaze lingered a little too long on her unusual outfit, Carolina self-consciously smoothed out her perfectly unwrinkled skirt.
Apparently dissatisfied with doing it one-handed, she even tried to subtly pull away the left hand she had offered him.
Edwin tightened his grip on her hand and said,
“Gray looks good on you.”
In truth, he wanted to pour out a long, passionate speech: The gray dress really highlights your intelligent and elegant side.
But for Edwin, who had zero interest in clothing—especially women’s fashion—that single blunt compliment was the best he could manage.
Even so, the sincerity packed into those words made Carolina smile shyly.
“Really? Is it because of my hair color?”
She looked like a spring flower blooming in summer.
Edwin stared at her as if enchanted and mumbled,
“I, uh… I also thought sky blue, yellow, pink, and lavender suited you well.”
The colors of the carefully chosen date outfits she had worn every time they met flowed out in chronological order.
Her spring-flower face flushed red, nourished by his praise.
Carolina, who didn’t want to show how excited she was by the compliments, pressed down on the corners of her mouth that kept trying to rise.
Then, deliberately adopting a slightly pouty tone, she asked him,
“What about blue? Was that one bad?”
Edwin pondered for a moment before answering seriously,
“That suited you too. They were all so pretty, I couldn’t possibly rank them.”
Apparently unaware of the concept of push-and-pull, Carolina finally burst into laughter at the flood of praise.
“If other people heard you, they’d laugh.”
She gave their joined hands a light shake, as if scolding a flatterer.
It sounded like empty flattery, but Edwin couldn’t protest.
His vision was completely filled with Carolina’s smile, leaving no room for words.
Between day and night, the slowly setting sunset dyed her silver hair in warm light. Her eyes, still carrying traces of laughter like lingering heat, turned toward him.
Thump. Thump.
The moment Carolina entered his sight, his heart pounded fiercely, making its presence known.
Edwin’s ears also turned red—whether from the sunset or something else, it was hard to tell.
His mind only partially returned when he heard Carolina’s voice beside his ear.
“Did you come straight from work too, Sir Rohas?”
“That’s right.”
Edwin nodded reflexively. Since it wasn’t a particularly deep question, his eyes remained hazy.
“If you’re busy, we could have postponed our meeting.”
Carolina assumed the dreaminess in his eyes came from exhaustion.
It was a misunderstanding born entirely from worry for him, but it was more than enough to snap Edwin out of his daze.
“It wasn’t that busy.”
Edwin hurriedly made an excuse.
But Carolina didn’t look convinced.
After all, he had already changed their meeting place once.
Originally, they were supposed to meet at a scenic lakeside just outside the capital.
Not at the Summer Rose Garden attached to the imperial palace.
With work piling up relentlessly, he simply couldn’t spare half a day to travel to the outskirts.
The Summer Rose Garden was certainly a famous tourist spot within the capital, known for its diverse rose varieties and beautiful layout.
Still, Edwin had felt a quiet pang of disappointment.
Even if it meant cutting more sleep, time simply wouldn’t allow it.
But he couldn’t postpone their meeting either.
And when Carolina’s worried expression—looking as though she might tell him to go back and rest immediately—joined the mix, Edwin’s eyes drooped slightly.
Am I the only one who’s been looking forward to today?
Carolina wasn’t particularly sharp-eyed.
Yet she always noticed whenever he was even slightly tired.
She says I look exhausted and tells me to rest without worrying about her…
For a moment, Edwin felt a twinge of hurt, wondering if she found him bothersome.
His mood sank rapidly.
At just the right moment, Carolina gently shook their joined hands as if to soothe him.
Her violet eyes, filled with tender concern, softly caressed him.
“They say the lights in the Emperor’s palace never go out from sunset until sunrise… Are you really okay?”
There was no way a gaze could have a physical touch, yet somehow it tickled.
“I’m fine. Really.”
Just one look from her made him feel as if he had received a saint’s blessing—his bloodshot, overworked eyes clearing up and his fatigue vanishing.
The biggest reason was that she wasn’t trying to send him away because she found him annoying.
Edwin forgot all about feeling hurt just moments ago and smiled at her with beautifully curved eyes.
So sweetly that the nobles currently being torn apart by him in every meeting would have been shocked beyond words.
All while completely unaware that, in her heart, Carolina was cursing the emperor as a wicked employer.