Chapter 27

“Hello, Senior Aide.”

“Hello, Senior Aide! Looks like your vacation is over.”

“Yes. I arrived in the capital yesterday.”

As Diana walked through the corridors of the Imperial Palace, the staff who recognized her greeted her. Receiving their greetings naturally, Diana finally felt her vacation had ended.

“Senior Aide!”

And there was someone who was happier than anyone else about Diana’s return. Neil, upon seeing Diana, energetically approached her.

“How…! Didn’t you say you’d be back tomorrow?”

“I planned to, but I just came a day early. Why, should I go back?”

“No, no! I’m just so glad!”

Now that she was in the capital, Diana knew she couldn’t truly rest with palace work on her mind. Still, she had managed to relax at her family home. With that, Diana naturally returned to work.

“At this hour, I should’ve already paid my respects to His Majesty… Hasn’t he come out yet?”

“No. He hasn’t opened the door yet.”

It was already past the time for Evan to be up, but his door remained closed. To have this happen as soon as she returned—Diana sighed softly, as if she was used to it, and moved on.

“He’s probably in the garden again. Anyway, I’ll go check. I should let him know I’m back.”

Most of the time, Evan’s tardiness was due to the garden. Morning or night, he often spent time there alone. Diana, well aware of this, soon arrived at the garden, where flowers were in full bloom.

He’d usually be looking at the flowers at this time in the morning.

In the morning, he’d admire flowers; in the afternoon, he’d nap; in the evening or at night, he’d stroll—that was Evan’s usual garden routine. Looking toward the flower beds, Diana called out to Evan.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty. Where are you?”

She was sure he’d be somewhere nearby. Diana scanned the countless flowers, searching for a glimpse of Evan’s hair among them. For a moment, Diana was distracted by the sight of so many blooming flowers before her.

When did there get to be so many flowers?

She almost forgot she was supposed to be looking for Evan, mesmerized by the radiant scene. She’d visited the palace since childhood, but had never seen so many flowers in bloom.

It used to feel bleak. There weren’t so many flowers back then. She remembered crying once as a child, scared of how gloomy the palace seemed….

Just then, the bushes near Diana rustled. Startled, she turned her head.

“……!”

Golden hair appeared from the thicket, followed by familiar red eyes staring at her. Realizing it was Evan emerging from the bushes, Diana finally calmed her pounding heart.

“My goodness, Your Majesty. Why are you in the bushes again today?”

“…….”

Evan only gazed at her silently, despite Diana’s question. He must have pushed through the bushes quickly, as his hair was covered with dangling bits of grass.

“You really are an aide.”

“Of course. I’m not a fake.”

Was he still half-asleep? What was he talking about? As Diana stared at him in disbelief, Evan finally stepped out of the bushes.

“Didn’t you say you’d come tomorrow?”

“I planned to, but I just came back a day early.”

“Really?”

“…Shouldn’t you be reacting differently, Your Majesty? You personally sent Neil to my house, after all.”

He was the one who’d hurried her to return.

“Why were you in the bushes? I thought you’d be in the flower beds.”

“I was lying down.”

So it wasn’t flower-watching, but oversleeping. It was rare for him to sleep in so late in the morning.

“I heard your voice and thought I was dreaming.”

“…….”

“But I guess I wasn’t.”

As always, Evan’s indifferent lips curled into a smile. Diana’s eyes widened at his smile.

“Well… I just got caught up in palace matters again. Anyway, let’s go. People might see you, so hurry and get that grass out of your hair.”

Evan’s mysterious smile made Diana turn her head abruptly and hurry him along.

“Anyway, as Emperor of the Empire, you shouldn’t be sleeping in the garden like this in the morning.”

“Mm.”

“So please, no more climbing out the window into the garden… You’re listening to me, right, Your Majesty?”

“Mm.”

Was he really listening? Seeing Evan back to his usual self, Diana felt even more that she’d truly returned to the palace.

“Will you take the grass out for me?”

“How could I dare touch your hair, Your Majesty? You should do it yourself.”

“Then I’ll just go.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll do it!”

I really can’t live with this Emperor.

When Evan obediently lowered his head, Diana quickly removed the grass from his hair.

“It’s done, so please raise your head now, Your Majesty. Someone might see you.”

“No one can come in here anyway.”

“There are always eyes watching in the palace. You never know when or where someone might be watching.”

After their exchange, Evan and Diana walked through the garden. As they walked, Diana glanced at the flower beds and asked Evan,

“By the way, Your Majesty.”

“Mm.”

“Did you plant all these flowers yourself?”

“Mm.”

Evan pointed at the flowers in response to Diana’s question.

“If you want to take some, you can.”

“It’s alright. They’re beautiful, but I prefer just looking at them. But you really planted a lot. I’ve never seen so many flowers in the palace before.”

“Mm. They’re pretty now, aren’t they?”

“Yes. They’re pretty, but you can’t stay in the garden forever, right? So let’s go start your schedule, Your Majesty. You can come back to the garden when you want to rest.”

Diana’s voice echoed softly through the garden. The flowers swayed in the breeze ahead of the two walking side by side.

*   *   *

“Neil, bring me a summary of what needs to be done. And the documents you processed while I was away.”

“The ones I processed too?”

“Yes, I need to see what’s been happening.”

After meeting Evan, Diana returned to work. The documents that had piled up on Diana’s desk arrived. As expected, there were quite a lot. Diana, a bit overwhelmed, picked up the ones in front.

“There’s so much to look at. Neil, give me a brief report. Is there anything I need to know urgently in the palace?”

“Well, not really… Oh! There is one thing I should mention.”

“What is it?”

“Grand Duke Kahil has come to the capital.”

Grand Duke Kahil?

He was the very man mentioned in the documents Evan had sent. Now that Neil knew, it seemed news of Kahil’s arrival had spread everywhere.

“He’s come to the capital?”

“Yes. He’s so famous, you know. The whole palace is talking about it.”

“Famous?”

“Of course! You might not know, but among the young nobles, he’s been talked about for ages. ‘Monster of the Battlefield,’ ‘Lord of the North,’ ‘Warrior of Carnage’—so many nicknames! He lives in the north, but his reputation reaches even the capital.”

Neil’s enthusiastic explanation continued.

“He looks so intimidating that enemies flee at the sight of him on the battlefield. That’s why the northern region ruled by Grand Duke Kahil is called an impenetrable fortress.”

“So that’s how it is. I didn’t know.”

“Well, you wouldn’t. But among the young nobles, he’s an object of admiration.”

Of course, Diana wasn’t entirely unaware of Kahil’s influence. She was just surprised that his achievements and stories had such an impact even in the capital.

“So where is His Highness the Grand Duke staying now? He’s already in the capital?”

“He’s staying at the Daian ducal residence.”

“The Daian ducal residence? Why there?”

“Well, only a few people know this so far, but….”

Neil glanced around and whispered quietly to Diana.