The Saint's Collapse and the Emperor's Secret Rumors
The knight beside Ivetta caught her as she collapsed.
He checked her condition for a moment before signaling to Kylus. It seemed to indicate that no physical abnormalities had been found.
I had been glued to the carriage window, watching the situation outside, and only then did I let out a sigh of relief.
Everett, who had been pushed by me and ended up trapped between the carriage wall and my arm, blinked in apparent confusion.
I didn't have the mental energy to care about that sight or the hot breath brushing against my neck.
It looks like she used too much holy power all at once.
It had been the same during her awakening.
No matter how much favor Ivetta received from the god Minos as the Saintess, it seemed her body couldn't handle releasing such a massive amount of holy power in one go.
Only after confirming that Ivetta was simply exhausted was she carried in the knight's arms and moved to the carriage.
Fortunately, the crowd—excited by the miracle Ivetta had created—accepted even her collapse as a natural part of that miracle.
Using the excuse that the crowd was overly excited, Kylus closed the cover on the parade carriage, concealing the fact that Ivetta had fainted.
However, they could no longer continue with the schedule.
The group returned straight through the city streets to the imperial palace.
Ivetta was moved to the detached palace and woke up just before the imperial physician arrived.
“Are you okay?”
When I asked with concern, Ivetta smiled while carefully reading the room. It was the smile of someone trying to brush off the scolding she knew was coming.
Kylus, who had come to check on her after hearing she was awake, immediately launched into a lecture.
“The second most common mistake among young mages with potential is overexerting themselves without knowing their limits.”
This was the same Kylus who lectured the Emperor without hesitation. He showed no restraint even with Ivetta, the Saintess.
“Didn’t I tell you that no matter how vast the holy power you possess, the human body has limits? You must learn it gradually.”
Ivetta listened to Kylus’s scolding with a downcast expression.
After delivering a long, thorough lecture, Kylus left, saying the cleanup work wasn’t finished yet.
“If he has that much work, he could have just left without the lecture. I shouldn’t have bothered using holy power. It only gave him the energy to scold me,” I whispered to Ivetta once I confirmed Kylus had gone far enough away.
Ivetta, who had been shrinking in on herself, finally smiled.
“You’re right. I did overdo it because I wanted to show everyone something.”
Even so, she still looked deflated.
I encouraged her in a slightly brighter tone than usual.
“You were just trying to do a good job. I’m sure Kylus said all that because he was worried about you in his own way. You may be distant relatives, but you’re still family.”
Since Kylus’s father was a collateral branch of the Robertus family, the two were indeed blood-related. When we had confirmed Ivetta was the illegitimate child of House Robertus, the distance between them was close enough for the magic tool to activate—distant if measured one way, but close in another.
“Oh, that’s right?”
She seemed never to have considered it from that angle. Her gloomy mood lifted as her eyes widened in surprise.
“So I do have at least one decent relative.”
Ivetta cheerfully criticized the Robertus family. After sharing childhood stories with Beth, she had come to dislike them even more.
Once I confirmed that her mood had improved at least a little, I left the detached palace.
“Rest well. Beth should be here soon too.”
I had to help with the remaining cleanup. Fortunately, even without visiting the orphanage, there was more than enough material for an article. In fact, the outcome was even better than we had planned.
Ivetta’s first official public schedule ended with far greater impact than anticipated.
The orphanage visit was postponed indefinitely, replaced by additional lessons on controlling holy power. This time she wouldn’t be practicing alone—the court mages would join her.
Kylus had even brought out academic papers alongside the court mages, scaring Ivetta by claiming that repeatedly using power beyond her limits and fainting would shorten her lifespan.
Until she could handle holy power properly, Ivetta was forbidden from using it outside of class time.
In its place, they began scheduling audiences with nobles eager to meet her. To prevent her activities from being interpreted purely as political moves, the first meetings focused mainly on young noblewomen and ladies of the court.
These days the imperial palace had been unusually noisy.
Surprisingly, in a good way.
The Emperor—who by now should have been descending into tyranny—was behaving as if he had resolved to become a wise and benevolent ruler.
Yet according to Ivetta, she still hadn’t even met the Emperor, so this wasn’t the original story’s progression where he grew kinder through the Saintess.
And every time the Emperor did something noteworthy, the Blue Hawks made sure to report it to me, always praising him in the process.
“Wow, His Majesty is founding a boarding school for war orphans.”
“For someone so benevolent, those awful rumors really can’t be trusted.”
They spoke in such stiff, awkward tones it was like they were reciting lines from a play.
Eventually I couldn’t stand it anymore and asked.
“Are we being monitored?”
They had to be using a listening magic tool. As I mentally reviewed everything I’d said recently for anything incriminating, the Blue Hawks gave me looks of utter disbelief.
So that’s not it.
But the awkward praise for the Emperor continued.
It lasted right up until the rumor that the Emperor had a hidden lover flooded the entire palace.
“What is the source of the rumor?”
Edwin’s voice was ice-cold as he interrogated Kylus.
It had been a long time since Edwin had been this genuinely furious. After meeting Lina he had grown remarkably gentle, but now he seemed to have reverted to his former self.
Edwin knew it was only very recently that he had begun paying proper attention to how others perceived him. It was after several Blue Hawks had caught him.
Even before that, however, he had never met her completely openly. The Emperor’s private life was supposed to remain secret by default. He had never kept loose-lipped people as close aides in the first place.
Having spent most of his time on the battlefield after ascending the throne, he hadn’t fully secured control over the palace interior and therefore surrounded himself only with those he could trust completely.
If a rat spreading rumors existed among those near him, Edwin had no intention of showing mercy. He was more than capable of becoming utterly ruthless when necessary.
Kylus answered while visibly tightening the nerves that had grown lax over the past months.
“It is still only speculation, but…”
Kylus didn’t want to voice his theory either. But when Edwin’s eyes ordered him to speak, he reported the findings of the investigation so far.
“It appears the rumor began when I removed artifacts from the imperial treasure vault. That seems to be the cause.”
Though he called it speculation, the circumstances made it highly credible. Every artifact Kylus had taken out had been in the form of women’s jewelry.
With his exceptional aesthetic sense, he had carefully chosen only pieces that would suit Lina, even considering designs that would let her wear them daily without drawing attention.
As a result, it was believed that the Emperor had ordered Kylus to open the imperial treasure vault in order to give gifts to his lover.
The minor gossip that had begun in gatherings of lower nobles had, as it spread into mainstream high society, transformed from conjecture into apparent fact.
Thanks to that, identifying the rumor’s origin had been easy.
“Perhaps that is why there is much talk of His Majesty having a lover, but the identity of that lover remains unknown.”
Kylus added what little silver lining there was.
Edwin’s expression eased—just slightly.
“Find them and clean it up.”
Yet the command that followed was still frigid.
Working in the imperial palace and wagging one’s tongue carelessly was a grave offense. Especially for those who worked in the treasure vault.
“And the rumor itself…”
Edwin felt a headache coming on. The speed at which the rumor was spreading was unnaturally fast. It was as if someone was orchestrating it from behind the scenes.
Edwin had many enemies, so there were several possible culprits. But given the current political climate, the list could be narrowed.
With the Saintess under the Emperor’s protection causing a sensation by performing a miracle during her outing, this was likely an attempt to bury the story under gossip. The Emperor’s romantic affairs had always been the most tantalizing subject for scandal.
It must be the temple or the western faction.
Both were equally nauseating to deal with.
It was fortunate they had not yet discovered Lina’s identity, but the situation was still dangerous.
“For now, assign a guard knight to Lina. Make certain they never take their eyes off her. Without letting Lina notice.”
Having secured his lover’s safety first, Edwin spoke as if the words pained him.
“For the time being… I’ll have to refrain from meeting Lina.”