A Fleeting Touch and a Calculated Proposal
After a long moment of hesitation, Edwin finally changed into a servant’s uniform.
Longing was not something that could be conquered by willpower alone.
Just a quick look at her face. Then I’ll leave.
But by the time he had firmed his resolve, so much time had passed in agonizing that most of the thirty minutes Kylus had given him were already gone.
When Edwin checked the time, he was already running.
He was terrified Lina might pass by and vanish again.
Fortunately, when he reached the entrance to the Emperor’s Palace, Lina was there, clutching a document envelope and glancing around.
Edwin glanced once at the guards stationed at the gate before walking slowly toward her.
“Lina.”
The Cognition Disruption Artifact Edwin carried did not block sound.
That was why his voice, when he called her name, was soft enough to reach only the person standing directly before him.
After all, the palace guards could never fail to recognize their Emperor’s voice.
At the familiar tone, Lina turned.
The artifact had been designed from the start to prevent recognition by everyone except her.
Lina recognized Edwin instantly despite the servant’s clothes.
“Ed!”
Startled by the unexpected meeting, her voice came out rather loud.
The guards turned their heads toward them.
Edwin shifted his body to block their view of Lina.
The moment she was hidden, the artifact’s effect reactivated and the guards’ gazes returned to the front.
“Shh.”
I came out in Oswell’s place.
Edwin mouthed the words silently.
Lina’s eyes widened. She pressed her lips together and nodded.
Her violet eyes traveled from his servant’s uniform to his face and back again.
She gave him a quick wink, then cleared her throat.
“I thought it was someone I knew. Hello, Mister Oswell. Count Seymour asked me to deliver these documents.”
The envelope she had been cradling so carefully must have been the excuse Kylus had cooked up.
Lina behaved with perfect detachment, exactly like a maid running a simple errand.
For some reason, Edwin felt a sting of disappointment.
What am I even doing?
Every single day was precious, yet he had gone several days without seeing her.
And now that they had finally met, he was being addressed as “Mister Oswell.”
The moment he saw her, the motivation he had lost to lovesickness flickered back to life, but that motivation was veering sharply in the wrong direction.
The Edwin who had been gentle and perfectly in step with his soft-hearted lover began to twist.
This won’t do.
He decided to stop fighting the urge he had been suppressing for days.
The fastest way to kill a rumor is to remove the mouths that spread it so lightly.
Once the rumor of the Emperor’s secret lover died down, he would no longer have to suffer like this, unable to meet her.
And to make sure this never happens again, I’ll remove the ones who amplified the rumor as well.
Whether it was the temple or the western nobles—who cared who had started it?
I’ll just sweep them both away.
Both the temple and the western aristocracy had more than a few rotten corners.
He had simply been waiting for suitable justification.
But do I really need justification?
He had never placed much importance on his reputation.
Even if Lina learned the truth later, once she heard about the crimes they had committed, she would have nothing to say.
Once again, it was Lina who stopped Edwin as he strode smoothly down the path of a warmongering tyrant.
She held out the document envelope.
“Here.”
Edwin reached out reflexively to take it.
Their fingertips brushed.
Lina beamed, a smile that said everything had gone exactly as planned.
And then—
In the instant their hands parted, she drew a small heart on the back of his hand.
The soft touch felt as though it had brushed his heart instead of his skin, sending a ticklish shiver through him.
Edwin poured every possible meaning into that little heart and interpreted it.
Oh. I love you too.
Suddenly the colorless world looked beautiful again.
Reputation doesn’t matter.
Edwin wanted to become a good man for Lina.
The lifespans of the temple and the western nobles had just been granted a small extension.
The Crown Princess of Bellot, Peony, was meeting her fifth prospective husband.
In a charming suburban teahouse that seemed more suited to lovers who genuinely adored each other.
“The Emperor of the Empire is quite the romantic, isn’t he?”
Peony, who had arrived first at the empty establishment, looked around and let out a soft, mocking laugh.
A single table had been prepared in the center, as if to say sit here.
The moment she took her seat, Everett arrived.
“I apologize for being late.”
He was a man with black hair and deep golden eyes—strong eastern blood, clearly.
“It’s fine.”
Peony answered carelessly while studying his face.
“The portrait was better.”
“It seems the painter looked upon me kindly.”
At the honest remark, Everett gave an awkward smile.
It was common for courtship portraits to be somewhat idealized, so Peony had not said it to reproach him.
In truth, she preferred this slightly different impression to the portrait.
In her personal taste, Everett suited her far more than the Emperor of the Empire.
Even with similar features, the expression a person wore and the disposition they carried could change their entire aura.
“I did wonder how the Emperor of the Empire could appear on two distant battlefields at the same time.”
Peony spoke loudly and clearly enough for Everett to hear, as though talking to herself.
It was her way of saying she had realized he was the Shadow Knight.
Everett’s hometown lay near the border between the eastern territories and Bellot.
Perhaps that was why his culture and customs resembled Bellot’s far more than those of other imperial regions.
It was also why Peony knew about the “Shadow Knight,” a title not widely known elsewhere.
“The tea will get cold.”
Everett simply smiled and offered her the cup.
She had expected the man the Emperor kept at his side to be formidable.
Yet Peony had judged Everett—who somehow managed to look like an innocent country boy despite that face—as rather soft.
The Emperor had promised Everett a dowry on the condition that “if the two hearts connect.”
Therefore Peony had every intention of making their hearts connect.
But her earlier words seemed to have only raised his guard.
I miscalculated.
The usual fate of a Shadow Knight was not a happy one.
They were only needed when the situation was unstable, which meant they frequently lost their lives during missions.
Even those who survived knew too many important secrets; once their usefulness ran out, they were often silenced permanently.
Everett Rohas had survived the battlefield.
The next danger awaiting him was being eliminated to keep those secrets buried.
Peony believed that being pushed into the role of her husband was the Emperor’s mercy toward him.
She simply wanted to show that she understood his position and help him make a swift decision.
Peony viewed her own country with considerable objectivity.
It was a poor nation that possessed nothing but monsters.
The position of Bellot’s royal consort was an empty title—perfect for giving away under the pretense of generosity.
It was still summer, so conditions were bearable, but winter would arrive in a few months.
Peony wanted to finish the marriage before then and return to Bellot.
The remaining candidates were men who wished to ride the Empire’s coattails and play king in her country, so she now had only one real choice.
After a brief hesitation, Peony extended her hand first.
“The war is already over. What does any of that matter now?”
At her words, Everett’s expression softened slightly.
“I have no intention of opposing the Empire. His Majesty the Emperor must already know that.”
Peony considered her greatest strength to be insight.
Among Bellot’s royalty, everyone except her was an unrealistic fool.
She was no great talent herself, but in the current state of Bellot, she was the best option available.
At the very least, I understand that Bellot cannot possibly rival the Empire for the next hundred years.
The Emperor who had left them as a breakwater against the Monster Wave would know that fact as well.
“In that case, someone like me should be more than sufficient as your bride. So marry me.”
It was an exceedingly dry proposal.
Yet Everett—who had virtually no experience with women despite his age—turned bright red.
Peony found she liked him a little more.
Above all, unlike the other four candidates, he showed no sign of looking down on Bellot.
Everett Rohas mumbled that they should probably meet a few more times.
There was no hint that he disliked the idea of marrying her.
It seemed the Emperor’s condition of “if the two hearts connect” had been meant literally.
The people of the Empire appeared to be far more romantic than Peony had assumed, but she didn’t entirely dislike it.
It was the moment Everett Rohas was chosen in her heart as the definitive candidate for Bellot’s royal consort.