“A nosebleed?”

“Yes, she seemed to have overexerted herself recently and got a nosebleed, so she called me to change the blanket.”

Mellin gathered her courage and told Ratius.

“No other problems besides that?”

“She said she couldn’t sleep and asked for tea, so I brought her some warm tea.”

“……She’s not sleeping properly?”

“She seems to be accumulating fatigue. I’ll report occasionally on her progress since I’ll continue making tea for her.”

Though something seemed suspicious, Ratius nodded.

Mellin was known as the most diligent maid in the palace.

She was widely praised for her kind nature and warm heart in taking care of others.

That was why she was assigned as Selvia’s dedicated maid.

Ratius thought Selvia needed warm care in an unfamiliar place.

After all, hadn’t she served Selvia even when she came as part of the delegation?

“If anything comes up that you need to tell me, call Belrocan right away.”

“……Yes, I understand.”

“You may go now.”

Mellin bowed deeply and left the office. Ratius asked Belrocan who had been silently standing by all this time.

“Belrocan, was there really nothing unusual?”

“It seems there wasn’t. I heard there was a small bloodstain on the blanket. It matches what Mellin said.”

“Did you check the bloodstain?”

“I couldn’t verify properly as it was immediately moved to the laundry room and mixed with other items.”

“Keep watching more closely.”

“Yes, understood. I’ll report right away if anything strange comes up.”

But why did it feel so unsettling?

Ratius couldn’t shake off this strange feeling.

“Where is Selvia now?”

“She’s in the library.”

“Since morning?”

“Yes, I heard she asked for breakfast to be brought to the library.”

“I was thinking of seeing her face but I’d just be a disturbance.”

“How about having lunch together? You could also take a walk after.”

In fact, he had planned to do that even without Belrocan’s suggestion.

“Did she arrive on time when she went to the temple?”

“She arrived exactly on time. It seems no one else noticed her either.”

“They must have lent her priest’s robes.”

Belrocan nodded at Ratius’s words.

“Bring me the priest’s robes that were given to Selvia.”

“Now?”

Belrocan asked curiously.

“I need to check something.”

“Understood.”

Belrocan immediately left the office.

Bringing back a separately stored box, Belrocan handed it to Ratius.

Since receiving it back from Selvia last time, it had been kept in another room with Ratius’s belongings.

Belrocan placed the box on the table and took out the priest’s robes.

“I gave her one of the several sets Your Majesty had made before.”

Ratius stood up and spread out the robes.

“……So it was this.”

The unsettling feeling was finally revealed.

When ordering extra priest’s robes, Ratius had small patterns engraved inside the right collar.

It was a kind of trick visible only to his eyes, made invisible to others by infusing holy power.

But the priest’s robes Belrocan handed over didn’t have the mark.

Only then did he realize something he didn’t know about had happened when Selvia went to the temple.

“What should I do about this.”

Selvia had no reason to lie to him.

Then perhaps she had a reason she couldn’t tell him.

For instance, when she said she didn’t want to meet someone.

Tap, tap tap.

He made sounds by tapping his fingers on the armrest of the chair.

Ratius’s contemplation grew longer.

“Your Majesty? Is there a problem?”

“A problem…… There is.”

Depending on her answer, it could become a big problem, or not.

There was a way to get answers without asking Selvia directly.

But if there was a problem, the High Priest who likely met her would obviously give the same answer.

“Ask Selvia if she’d like to have lunch together. The time should be moved up a bit earlier than usual.”

“I thought you didn’t have any schedule after, do you need to go somewhere?”

“Something came up.”

A strange light flickered in Ratius’s blue eyes.

Belrocan gulped nervously at Ratius’s fierce demeanor.

* * *

Selvia only left the library after gathering all the information she wanted.

Though she wished to stay longer, she headed to the dining room with lingering regret when told the Emperor requested her presence for lunch.

Neither Belrocan nor any servants were present there.

Selvia asked with a puzzled expression.

“Your Majesty, you don’t look well. Has something happened?”

Ratius pulled out a chair for Selvia as he spoke.

“I do have something on my mind.”

“……Is it a serious concern?”

“To me, it’s a very serious one.”

Though he smiled, Selvia immediately noticed something different about Ratius’s expression. She composed her face.

‘Could Mellin have told him?’

Otherwise, there would be no reason for Ratius to be in such low spirits.

Hadn’t Mellin warned her beforehand? That she would have to answer if Ratius asked.

Selvia understood this too. That’s why she had claimed her coughing up blood was just a nosebleed, knowing this would happen.

Suppressing her slight disappointment, Selvia acted normally as if nothing was wrong.

She finished preparing for the meal unhurriedly and looked at Ratius.

“Do you have something to say?”

“Does it seem that way?”

“Yes, your expression has been like this since earlier.”

She immediately narrowed her eyes and made a straight line with her finger on her lips, imitating Ratius.

“You look sullen.”

“……Is it that obvious?”

“Didn’t you want me to notice?”

“You’re right.”

Ratius answered immediately.

Could he be angry because she had hidden her illness?

Well, marrying someone destined to die was no different from fraud.

Finally, Selvia parted her lips to speak first.

“Ratius.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I thought it would be better if Your Majesty didn’t know.”

They would part ways after the prophecy was fulfilled. She had no obligation to tell him everything about herself.

“You should have told me anyway.”

“I don’t understand why Your Majesty is so angry.”

Her illness wouldn’t affect their contract.

She would live until the prophecy was fulfilled, so there would be no problem completing her task.

But Ratius spoke with a coldly subdued expression.

“Are you asking because you really don’t know?”

“Yes, I don’t understand.”

Selvia answered while looking straight at him.

But feeling anxious and uneasy, she lowered her hands under the table and tightly gripped her dress.

Mellin probably only told Ratius about her nosebleed.

But it was unlikely he would have guessed this meant she was dying, and the chances he suspected there was another reason were also low.

Ratius slightly bit his lip at her defiant attitude.

Suddenly, Selvia’s golden eyes caught the light and sparkled. They were almost too bright to look at.

Yet he always felt anxious, as if they might vanish like an illusion.

“Who did you meet when you went to the temple?”

Selvia’s heart sank at these unexpected words from Ratius.

She would have preferred if Mellin had told him about the nosebleed instead.

“Don’t think about lying anymore.”

“Your Majesty.”

“If you hide this too, I think I’ll be terribly disappointed in you.”

He stood up and immediately moved to stand in front of Selvia.

Ratius leaned down and trapped Selvia in her chair with both arms.

“I’ll ask one more time.”

Ratius’s blue eyes, usually calm like a clear sky, now seemed like fierce storming waves.

“……Who did you meet at the temple that day?”

This was the first time Selvia had faced his anger.

Though she was quite shocked, his low voice sounded sad, as if wet with tears.

He was acting violently, like someone hurt by her actions.

It was clearly different from his usual gentlemanly demeanor.

Selvia’s eyes shook violently at this unfamiliar side of him.

After her momentary confusion, Selvia gathered herself.

‘I can’t keep deceiving him.’

Being honest would be the way to maintain trust.

Even now, Ratius was angry that she had deceived him. Red flames seemed to flicker in his blue eyes.

Selvia reached out and lightly stroked Ratius’s cheek.

His anger seemed to gradually subside at her soothing touch.

As his distorted expression softened, Selvia slowly spoke.

“Your Majesty, please listen without getting angry. By chance, I met the High Priest.”

“……”

Selvia held Ratius’s face with both hands and looked straight into his eyes.

“At first I was going to tell you, but I couldn’t because Your Majesty seemed to hate the High Priest.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me the truth afterward?”

“I needed time to think.”

Looking back, even worrying about it was funny.

If no one else, at least Ratius should know. He was the only one who had acknowledged her existence.

Selvia decided to tell him everything.

“……I am dying.”