The Emperor's Lovesickness
These days, Edwin was even trying to sleep in his office.
It was because the Inspectorate building was most clearly visible from the office windows.
If Kylus hadn’t nagged him until his ears nearly fell off, saying that Carolina had already left work long ago and that the side with Grizel Park was actually closer to the bedroom, it might have actually happened.
Though in the end he only slept in the bedroom and came straight to the office at sunrise to stare out the window, so there didn’t seem to be much difference.
“If anyone saw you, they’d think you’d fallen in love with the Inspectorate building.”
The voice was a little too loud to be a mutter, but it didn’t reach Edwin’s half-dazed ears.
Kylus looked at Edwin, who couldn’t tear his eyes away from the window, and let out a deliberate sigh.
His symptoms are getting worse.
Edwin hadn’t been like this from the beginning.
At first, he had burned with determination, saying he would quickly resolve the issues and go see Lina.
But that resolve had lasted exactly three days.
From the fourth day onward, his efficiency had plummeted dramatically.
He would read the letters he had exchanged with Lina over and over with misty eyes, and while signing documents, he frequently wrote Lina’s name instead of his own—which he must have written tens of thousands of times.
The symptoms had grown so severe that now he didn’t even pretend to work. He simply stared out the window every day, looking utterly pathetic.
“If you’re going to be like this, why don’t you just sneak over and take a look?”
Kylus suggested it to get rid of his boss, who wasn’t working and was only making everyone around him miserable.
“No.”
Whether he genuinely hadn’t heard the rest or was pretending not to, Edwin didn’t respond at first. But the moment the topic involved Lina, an answer came immediately.
It was a firm refusal, as if he were rejecting an incredibly tempting offer through sheer willpower.
Kylus also knew why Edwin refused to meet Lina even while acting so miserably lovesick.
The enemy’s scheme—whether it was the temple, the western faction, or both—was working far too effectively.
Because of the scandal surrounding the Emperor, people were gradually losing interest in the Saintess’s miracles.
Rumors about the Emperor’s hidden lover were spreading like wildfire across a dry winter mountain.
Even the Emperor’s side’s attempts to contain it showed no sign of dying down.
People were dying to know who this lover was—the woman who had captured the heart of an Emperor known for having zero interest in the opposite sex.
Suppressing the rumors too forcefully would only drive the nail deeper, so it was awkward to do anything more.
Any woman who had even the slightest connection to Edwin became the target of prying eyes, from the lowliest cleaning maid in the imperial palace to Sophia, who was around the same age as his mother.
It was still a vague, unspecified crowd, but if even the smallest hint were given, there was a high risk that Edwin’s lover would be revealed to be Lina.
Coward.
Edwin tended to disregard his own safety, but when it came to the people he wanted to protect, he became strangely passive.
It was the defense mechanism of someone who had been born with everything and had lost most of it.
Kylus, who had watched the entire process from Edwin’s side since the day he was born, found him frustrating yet understood him better than anyone.
If Lady Bliss were still alive, he probably wouldn’t even think about revenge.
It was publicly known that Edwin’s father, the former Crown Prince Claude, had given up his right to the throne and stepped down because of a sudden incurable illness.
However, while there was no evidence to make it public, those in the know understood the truth was completely different.
The previous Emperor, who had coveted the throne, had obtained a rare, unknown poison and fed it to his older brother.
Claude had barely survived, but the damage to his health was fatal. He was left with a limited lifespan.
Unfortunately, the Emperor at the time—the father of both Claude and the previous Emperor—was also in poor health due to old age.
On top of that, Edwin was still very young, and the external family of the Crown Princess, who had married for love, held no real power.
In the end, Claude had confronted his younger brother, the previous Emperor, to protect his family.
He offered to quietly withdraw on the condition that his family’s safety would be guaranteed.
Having been born as the Emperor’s eldest son and becoming Crown Prince at a very young age, Claude’s influence had been a threat to the previous Emperor.
Thanks to that, the two reached an agreement easily.
Having received the title of Grand Duke, Claude went into seclusion as promised in order to protect his family.
Not long after, Edwin’s younger sister, Bliss, was born.
With the added weight of responsibility, Claude managed to hold on for quite a long time despite his broken body.
All so he could protect his children even a little longer.
Eventually, Claude died from the aftereffects of the poison.
A few years later, Talia—the mother of the two siblings, who had always been frail—died one after another.
Only twelve-year-old Edwin and young Bliss were left behind.
The previous Emperor was a man obsessed with pleasure and women, but at that time he still had no children.
He was presumed to be infertile.
It was a fatal flaw for an Emperor who needed to produce an heir.
With no close collateral relatives, even if the previous Emperor wanted to get rid of Edwin and Bliss, he couldn’t.
If he eliminated the only two remaining members of the imperial family, the Empire’s line of succession would be completely cut off.
Edwin grew up diligently amid this delicate political situation.
The more he did, the more anxious the previous Emperor became, falling deeper into madness.
His inferiority complex over being unable to produce an heir manifested as continued jealousy toward his already dead older brother.
Completely insane, the previous Emperor eventually made an irrational decision.
He decided to eliminate Edwin, who was growing more and more like his older brother.
Since women could also become Emperor in the Empire, he judged that he could simply make Bliss—who took after her mother and was more fragile—his heir.
And so the attack was carried out.
Edwin’s assassination failed, but in the process, Bliss was killed.
Now the previous Emperor had only one choice left: Edwin.
To manipulate him, the previous Emperor concealed Bliss’s death.
He toyed with Edwin by pretending to hold his sister hostage.
The truth was only revealed when Duke Camelot, who had been pushed out in a power struggle against Marquis Robertus, informed Edwin of the facts.
Since Marquis Robertus had been the one behind the attack, he had tried to use Edwin’s hand to take revenge.
The previous Emperor’s madness had reached its peak by then, making him difficult for the nobles to control. That was another reason.
Having learned late that he had lost his only remaining family, Edwin was consumed with rage.
Though still young, he already carried the dignity of a ruler.
Edwin rose up from the low posture he had taken to protect his younger sister and ultimately succeeded in eliminating the previous Emperor.
But what was left to him was an Empire thoroughly eaten away by the previous Emperor and his sycophantic ministers—like a nest full of vermin.
This was the hidden story behind the current Emperor Edwin, who had raised a rebellion because he could no longer tolerate the previous Emperor’s tyranny.
After recalling the dark past for the first time in a while, Kylus’s heart softened considerably.
“This is the imperial palace.”
Kylus spoke firmly to the now thoroughly timid Edwin.
Edwin, who had completely missed Kylus’s rapidly shifting expressions—depressed one moment, furious the next—simply gave him a look that said, So what?
It was enough sulkiness to make anyone’s good intentions fly away, but Kylus still had some generosity left.
“Go change your clothes. Among His Majesty’s attendants, Oswell is the tallest, so his clothes should fit you.”
Kylus decided to willingly make the sacrifice for Edwin, who was suffering from lovesickness while his lover was right under his nose.
“In about thirty minutes, Lina is scheduled to pass by the area around the imperial palace.”
“Don’t do anything unnecessary.”
Having caught onto Kylus’s intention, Edwin tried to stop him with words alone.
However, his eyes sparkled—the same eyes that had looked gloomy and refused every time Kylus told him to at least go see her face.
“Sigh.”
Kylus let out a long sigh and left to fetch the special medicine that would cure Edwin’s lovesickness.
As soon as Kylus, who had said he would be at the imperial palace all day, arrived at the office, he came looking for me.
“Lina, I have a favor to ask.”
Kylus acted like someone about to make a very difficult request.
Just how hard of a favor is it?
I waited nervously, completely tense, but the task turned out to be so simple it was almost disappointing.
“Could you deliver this to Oswell at the imperial palace?”
I was about to point out that he had just come from the imperial palace when Kylus dangled a carrot in front of me.
“Since you can’t go inside the imperial palace, Oswell will come out to the entrance. Oh, and you can head straight home after delivering it.”
It was a strange errand that didn’t make much sense, but the bait being waved in front of me was far too sweet for a working adult to refuse.
The imperial palace was a place I wanted to avoid as much as possible, but just near the entrance should be fine, I thought.
“I will deliver it successfully!”
I quickly snatched the documents from Kylus’s hand, afraid he might cancel the early leave—no, the errand.
As if he had just remembered, Kylus added in a loud voice.
“Take your time!”