Chapter 7 – Part 11

“Good morning, Your Majesty.”

When the day dawned, Arlen found the main palace early and greeted Shannua.

But Shannua did not answer; she only stared at her.

“Will you not even accept my greetings now?”

“Have you seen the Marquis of Grit lately?”

The words that came back were not a response to her greeting.

Arlen flinched, surprised at the sudden topic.

“No. Why do you suddenly want to know that?”

“Well, he used to send me news every now and then, but lately I haven’t heard from him at all, and I’ve been worried, and since you were the last person to see Eli, I thought you might know something.”

Shannua had meant to ask if she knew of Eli’s condition, but it sounded to Arlen like he was still thinking about his visit to the Marquis of Grit’s estate.

“I haven’t had any contact with him since we last met.”

“…….”

“If you’re really curious, why don’t you ask him directly?”

“I already sent him a letter, telling him about the wedding and asking him to attend, but he never replied.”

“Then maybe he is busy or doesn’t want to attend.”

“Aren’t you disappointed? ”

“What do you mean?”

“That after all the time we’ve spent together, Eli won’t even show up to our wedding.”

“There must be a reason. He’s been wandering all over the kingdom for years.”

Arlen’s words had grown shorter as the conversation turned to Eli.

“Maybe something happened to him.”

“To Eli?”

Shannua was a little confused at this point, because Arlen’s casual question seemed to indicate that he actually believed her.

“Don’t change the subject to Eli; tell me what I can do to make you feel better.”

The man, who hadn’t moved the entire time, stood up and stepped closer to Arren, his eyes darting from side to side, searching her face.

“Did it look like this?”

Shannua said, as if he had a new realization.

Arlen’s face crumpled as he watched him turn away again without answering.

“Don’t be silly; you asked me what you could do to make me happy.”

It seemed to Arlen that Shannua’s whole behavior was an act to get the upper hand on her.

“I lost, and I’m going to make it up to you!”

Arlen shoved Shannua, who stood close by, releasing all the anger she’d been holding in.

As hard as she pushed, he didn’t budge. His clothes were only slightly disheveled.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

“Your Majesty, the Empress is here.”

It was Brandon’s voice, waiting outside.

“…… Let her in.”

Arlen, who had been looking at the door as Shannua had, heard his command and looked back at him, making a face.

* * *

Katrina had been looking for Shannua since the morning because he had skipped breakfast.

She wondered if he hadn’t visited the Empress’s palace yesterday because he wasn’t feeling well, given that he had never skipped a meal before.

So Katrina went all the way to the Inner Court, only to hear from Brandon that Arlen had met the Emperor before her. Seeing his gaze, she suspected that he might know the reason why Shannua skipped breakfast.

Thank you so much for being patient.

She felt like she could guess the reason for skipping breakfast without even hearing it. A slight disappointment washed over her, and a self-deprecating smile formed on her lips.

Thinking that someone was worrying about him up close now, she decided that she shouldn’t worry about him anymore and turned to leave.

Suddenly, he heard a loud noise from inside.

He had never made such a loud noise after ascending the throne. So, it was probably Arlen who made the noise. Although she couldn’t hear the conversation clearly, she couldn’t leave considering that someone who might be unwell or troubled was being attended to by the Royal Concubine.

The thought of Arlen tending to the Emperor, who had skipped breakfast and might be ill, didn’t sit well with her.

“Please inform His Majesty that I’m here.”

He hesitated for a moment.

“Yes?”

“Go ahead. I’ll take the blame.”

Then Brandon knocked on the door, announcing her arrival.

The door soon opened, and Katrina, stepping into Inner Court, paused for a moment at the distance between them, closer than she’d expected.

She wondered if she had intervened unnecessarily, and she regretted it for a moment. Seeing the slight disarray in the Emperor’s clothes, she wondered if it was just a lover’s quarrel.

As she contemplated whether to just leave, the door closed behind her.

“Good thing you’re here; I’ve been waiting for you.”

It was Shannua who helped Katrina decide.

“I can come back a little later,…”

Katrina took a step back, assuming it was a lover’s quarrel. Perhaps it was best not to get between them.

“No. I have an appointment with the Empress first. If you’ve said everything you wanted, you can leave.”

The conversation wasn’t over yet, but Shannua ordered Arlen.

“…….”

But Arlen had no choice but to obey. With the Empress present, she couldn’t afford to reveal that she was at odds with the Emperor.

After bowing to Shannua as politely as she had ever bowed to him, Arlen exited the Inner Court, greeting Katrina, who was still standing in the doorway.

“Am I interrupting something?”

Katrina asked as the door closed, still standing in the same spot.

“Not at all. On the contrary, you saved my life.”

Shannua said in a tired voice.

“It looked like the conversation wasn’t over.”

“It’s over; it’s just… but more than that, what is the Empress doing here?”

After a moment of hesitation, the Emperor turned the conversation away. He even touched his temples as if he had a headache.

“I heard you skipped breakfast.”

Katrina didn’t ask more, seeing no reason to get involved in the romance between the two.

But Shanua paused at the Empress’s question.

“If you are not feeling well, I would suggest that you have the Imperial Physician examine you……”

“Is that what you came for?”

She looked genuinely curious.

“Because His Majesty has never skipped breakfast…… before.”

Katrina’s voice trailed off at the end as she realized the oddity of her answer. Later, she even avoided eye contact.

After becoming Empress, she had always taken care of him, but it was the first time she had told him directly.

“It’s what an empress is supposed to do.”

Katrina added quickly, not wanting Shannua to think she had developed any feelings for him because they had recently spent a few nights together.

“You need to be healthy for the stability of the Luben Empire.”

“Yes. You were worried about the empire, not me.”

Shannua was surprised for a moment, but then he answered nonchalantly. His tone was one of disbelief.

“Now that I see you’re okay, I’ll leave you to it……”

“Have a drink of tea before you go. I sent Arlen out because I said we had a prior engagement, but it’s unreasonable for that prior engagement to end with just a few words.”

“One moment, then.”

Katrina stopped Shannua as she started to call for Brandon, then stepped closer to him.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

She smoothed down his disheveled clothes. At the very least, she smoothed out the disheveled collar of his robe.

“Although I may overlook such small things as a lover’s quarrel between you two, others might see even these minor details as flaws.”

Katrina explained the reason for tidying him up under Shannua’s gaze.

When she was done, she called Brandon over and ordered him to get the tea.

“I’ll keep …… in mind.”

Shanua mumbled, not taking his eyes off her.

* * *

“Do you really think we’ll get an answer? What if the Emperor says he’s going to go ahead with the marriage?”

Emily asked Ruby. Ruby replied, not taking her eyes off Eli, who was still unable to wake up.

“In that case, we’ll have to stop it. We have all the evidence, and the fact that the Emperor didn’t take the documents means we can do as we please, right?”

If the Emperor had any intention of forgiving Lady Miles, the quickest way to do so would have been to take the evidence Ruby had and destroy it, but the Emperor did not do that.

So his request for time seemed like a request for time to figure out how to handle it.

“Yes, I suppose that’s true.”

Emily’s gaze shifted to Eli as she answered.

Ever since they’d returned to the capital, Emily and Leton had been coming to the temple. To keep Ruby from being lonely by the side of her brother, who never woke up.

TL NOTE: More advanced chapter of this story is already up to the site. Visit dusk blossoms for more advanced chapters and stories