“Hello, I’m here!”

Sirha entered the office of Ishin and Dagon with a bright voice. Her face, having just come up from the south, was slightly tanned by the strong southern sun.

After Ir became Emperor, Sirha had returned to the capital. But she soon had to go back to the south.

“My siblings don’t like the capital. They have bad memories here, so there’s nothing I can do about it.”

After Shulat’s death, due to memories of being bullied by the villagers, even after returning to their old neighborhood, her siblings couldn’t adapt and suffered from nightmares. 

Moreover, those who had bullied them in the past now acted friendly, knowing that Sirha was under the Emperor’s care. Seeing this, Sirha lost what little affection she had left and declared she would return to the south.

Not only that, but the south had also sought Sirha back.

“Please return our southern saint to us!”

The southern revolutionaries who came to find Ir grabbed onto her robes and pleaded.

“Southern saint? Who’s that?”

“Who else could it be? Miss Sirha!”

“Sirha? Since when did you become a saint?”

When Ir asked in confusion, Sirha also looked at the revolutionaries with wide eyes, seemingly hearing this for the first time.

It turned out that during the war, there were so many injured people that Sirha had created new medicine by mixing southern herbs with existing remedies. The medicine, which helped stop bleeding and heal wounds quickly, was more effective than expected and spread throughout the south.

People began seeking out that medicine everywhere, and somehow rumors spread that a saint who cared for the sick had created it.

“Honestly, it was good for boosting morale, so we did embellish the saint story a bit more… Anyway, for that reason, Miss Sirha is now called the saint of the south. So please, we hope Miss Sirha will come back to the south!”

Though Sirha held her forehead upon learning the full story, she went back to the south anyway.

After that, she would visit the palace like this once every few months, bringing news from the south and giving plenty of gifts to her close friends.

She entered with a face full of smiles and immediately approached Ishin’s desk, placing one of the bags she had brought.

“This is a gift for you, Ishin.”

At those words, Ishin hurriedly opened the bag.

“Oh, this is!”

Ishin’s expression brightened when he pulled out the dried fruit from inside the bag.

“Yes, you seemed to enjoy it so much last time, so I brought quite a lot. And this is something new I brought…”

Sirha took out items from the bag one by one, explaining in detail what each was.

“Only Miss Sirha would do this!”

When Ishin approached Sirha with a face full of emotion, Dagon, who had been sitting, shot up and blocked Ishin’s path.

“Lord Ishin, consider your age.”

At Dagon’s wary gaze, Ishin held his forehead in disbelief and said.

“Look, Miss Sirha is like a niece to me. And not everyone in the world looks at Miss Sirha as lewdly as you do, Lord Dagon.”

“Wh-wh-who looked lewdly!”

When Dagon stammered, the other advisors in the office chuckled.

That Dagon liked Sirha was something everyone had noticed from the day he first came to the palace. Whenever Sirha came, he would hover around her anxiously, caring about everything – how could they not know?

Of course, Dagon wasn’t looking lewdly or being annoyingly clingy like Ishin said. There was a freshness about him that reminded everyone of their first love.

So people would tease Dagon mischievously. Perhaps it was even more fun to tease him because he was a young chancellor. Wasn’t he a more enjoyable target than Nergal, who wouldn’t bat an eye no matter what you said? Of course, they couldn’t tease Nergal because he was scary.

Dagon desperately pretended not to notice people’s laughter and extended his hand to Sirha.

“It must be heavy, give it here.”

Sirha handed him the heavy bag without hesitation. Unlike how she had explained everything to Ishin one by one, she gave no explanation to Dagon. When Dagon looked a bit dejected while rummaging through the bag, Sirha approached and whispered softly.

“I’ll explain when we get home.”

“…!”

At those words, Dagon’s face lit up. Those words meant Sirha would be staying at his house tonight.

Actually, Dagon had planned to propose to Sirha as soon as the war ended. But it was Ir who stopped him.

“What’s this thief bastard saying? Marriage is forbidden until Sirha turns 25.”

“Where is there such a thing! Even if you’re His Majesty the Emperor, this is unreasonable!”

Though Dagon shouted in protest, Ir was firm.

“That’s what Shulat, who was Sirha’s brother, always said. As Sirha’s guardian replacing Shulat, I must uphold his wishes. If you’re upset, go get permission from Shulat.”

How could he get permission from a dead person?

Because Ir had firmly declared that both proposals and engagements were forbidden until Sirha turned 25, Dagon had no choice but to wait until then. So he was very anxious. Though he and Sirha were already lovers who had confirmed each other’s feelings, with him in the capital and Sirha staying in the south, they were apart for long periods.

‘How many guys will be clinging to Sirha while I’m away?’

Sirha was lovely in ability, personality, and even appearance. With the nickname “Saint of the South” added to that, how many people would hover around her wagging their tails?

So whenever Sirha came to the capital, Dagon would stick right by her side. The same when she went back to the south.

Ir would tease such a Dagon with giggles.

“A man who clings and frets like that isn’t attractive. What if Sirha gets tired of you?”

At Ir’s teasing, Dagon would fidget anxiously and shout.

“I’ll quit being chancellor!”

“Who gave you permission?”

“Exactly.”

The ones who held onto Dagon when he said he’d quit were Nergal and Ishin. Would they let go of a capable southern lord who had rolled in on his own? Dagon had to continue working while being anxious like this.

When Sirha visited the capital, she stayed at the mansion in the capital that Ir had prepared for her. Then an incident happened last year. Someone who had been bothering Sirha from the south tried to forcibly drag her away in the capital. Naturally, those nearby called the security force and he was immediately caught. But the startled Sirha showed fear and anxiety about being alone.

Then Dagon suggested that if it was alright, she could stay at his mansion and go to the palace together. Though Ir offered to give her a secondary palace instead, Sirha politely declined and decided to stay at Dagon’s house.

After that, Sirha naturally came to stay at Dagon’s mansion whenever she came to the capital. At her words that she would stay at his house this time too, Dagon looked satisfied, like he had gained the whole world.

Leaving the grinning Dagon behind, Sirha turned around.

“Lord Nergal is in his office, right? I brought a gift for him too.”

Just when Sirha was about to go to Nergal’s office saying that.

“No!”

“You can’t!”

Ishin and Dagon simultaneously grabbed Sirha. With both arms suddenly held, Sirha looked at the two with a surprised face.

“Why? Is something wrong?”

“Well, actually…”

Dagon took Sirha to a quiet place and told her everything that had happened so far.

“What? Really? His Majesty with Prince Serid?”

“That’s right. Most importantly, yesterday His Majesty brought Prince Serid to the tower… and they came out in the morning…”

Dagon glanced at Nergal’s office door and spoke carefully.

Since Prince Serid’s arrival, there hadn’t been a single day when Nergal was in a good mood. The worst was today.

Everyone understood Nergal’s feelings. For three years after the Emperor’s ascension, the Emperor’s favor had been directed only at Nergal. But now that love was turning toward someone else – how could he be comfortable?

“So the palace is in an uproar too. The ministers are openly pleased, so Chancellor Nergal’s heart can’t be at ease…”

Dagon trailed off, unable to take his eyes off the office door. Sirha’s gaze also turned toward the office door. The door that was usually always open being tightly shut seemed to represent Nergal’s current state of mind.

“…Everyone’s worrying about really pointless things.”

“Miss Sirha?”

He thought she might feel sorry for Nergal, but Sirha let out a short sigh like she found it pathetic, then took Dagon’s hand.

“Well, that’s Lord Nergal’s business, so I can’t say much more about it. Though I do find it somewhat satisfying. More importantly, when do you finish work today? Since I’m in the capital after a long time, I’d like to buy some gifts for my siblings – would you like to come with me if it’s okay?”

At Sirha’s suggestion, the corners of Dagon’s mouth turned up.

“I’ll finish quickly. If I can’t finish fast enough, I’ll just leave it to Lord Ishin and go.”

“What? What did you say? Me?”

Ishin, who had been munching on dried fruit, jumped up in surprise at Dagon’s words. Dagon pushed Ishin back and laughed.

“Lord Ishin will do it gladly. Just wait a little.”

“When did I ever!”

Except for Nergal’s office, laughter overflowed everywhere again.

***

Even with the door tightly shut, the noisy sounds seeped through the cracks and reached inside. Normally, Nergal would have opened the door and gone out to scold them, asking if they thought this was a marketplace. But now he just stared blankly into space with his chin propped up.

In his mind, the image of Prince Serid heading to the tower with Ir appeared. Also the image of ministers already chattering happily about who would be good as the heir’s tutor.

“Sigh…”

Nergal let out a long sigh and picked up the documents he needed to process with an expressionless face. No matter what anyone did, his work wouldn’t disappear.

“…It’s something I was prepared for anyway.”

Nergal smiled bitterly.

Ir having someone else. That was Nergal’s very old nightmare.