Chapter 12 – Part 1

It was time to end the day’s work.

One by one, the officials in the office rose as it was time to leave.

Leonard acknowledged their farewells and picked up his pen again.

“You may leave now too.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will finish shortly.”

His loyal aide, Delus Cyan, said so politely and flipped through the remaining papers.

Leonard let out a short sigh and looked out the window.

Tenere hadn’t stepped out of the Rose Palace since last night.

It reminded him of the first time she had been angry with him, back at the Castle of Travell.

‘You know why I’m telling you this, don’t you?

Of course, he knew. The child’s story was just an excuse; she wanted him to tell her more about the issue with Marquis Salvatore.

As the Empress and Joshua’s mother, she must have been anxious about the uncertain waiting.

It was just his selfish desire.

Worrying about getting hurt was just an excuse; he didn’t want to show his flaws to her, didn’t want her to think he wasn’t a perfect Emperor, and didn’t want her to be disappointed in him.

Even though she never demanded that he be a perfect emperor in the first place,.

“At least in the north… I never thought I was worthless.”

She was a comforting person just to be around.

She was someone who brought comfort just by being there, someone who gave strength just by holding his hand and smiling, yet he never thought about what she might be thinking as she held his hand…

‘……Nothing has changed.’

It was no different than at the Duke’s castle.

Just as he had been relieved then, without knowing why she had apologized, without deeply considering what anxieties she might be hiding, just hastily concealing them.

He spoke of love with his mouth, but in the end, he was so selfish.

How could love be so meaningless when he wouldn’t let her leave his side and never gave her the assurance she needed?

“Shall we go to the Rose Palace?”

Leonard looked up at the voice.

His loyal aide, Delus Cyan, was staring at him, his face full of concern.

Leonard spat out a wry smile.

“Have I been too obvious?”

“Well… a little…”

“It’s okay, just tell me the truth.”

The words were spoken softly, and Delus hesitated, as if finding it difficult to speak.

But only for a moment, and then he squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

“……You’ve been looking toward the Rose Palace the whole time.”

“…….”

“You’ve been so unfocused today; we’ve all been worried that you might have gotten into a fight with the Empress…….”

“……I suppose so.”

Leonard replied briefly. Delus glanced at the young emperor.

“Your Majesty, do you want me to send someone to the Rose Palace?”

Leonard nodded slowly at the cautious question, glad to have such a perceptive aide.

He couldn’t keep it a secret forever, not if he wanted her to know.

Rather than continuing to hide, it would be better to be honest now.

With Leonard’s permission, Delus rose to his feet and moved to the door to summon the servant.

The moment he reached for the doorknob.

“Your Majesty?”

Delus’s eyes widened in surprise at the figure that appeared through the open door.

Leonard jumped to his feet at the sound of Tenere’s voice.

As Delus quickly stepped aside, Tenere stepped into the throne room, clutching a large box to her chest.

“……Tenere.”

Tenere looked up at the panic in his voice.

Breathing heavily as if she’d been rushed, she cringed and turned away as her eyes locked with Leonard’s.

Seeing her wide-open eyes, Leonard rushed to her, panicking.

“Tenere, what’s wrong?”

Someone was bothering her. The maids of the Rose Palace, perhaps, or the nanny. Why does she look like that…….

The thought didn’t last long. Tenere, who had set the box down, suddenly hugged him.

“…….”

Leonard’s body stiffened.

‘She said she didn’t love me. She couldn’t have hugged me like this if……..’

But the warmth was too real to be a dream.

Leonard hugged Tenere’s back without speaking. He stroked her back slowly, and her heaving shoulders and chest slowly subsided.

“I… I suddenly have urgent business to attend to, Your Majesty.”

Delus, standing in the doorway, glanced at him, then bowed hastily, gathered his things, and left the office.

Leonard gave him a quick glance, then turned back to Tenere.

He heard the door close behind him.

“Who troubled you?”

He asked gently, but Tenere remained silent.

Leonard waited patiently for her to speak. It was a long time before a voice spoke.

“…It’s you, Your Majesty.”

“…?”

“I asked you to tell me anything, but why…”

Leonard was silenced by the voice in his arms.

Taking a deep breath, Tenere spoke.

“Why didn’t you tell me anything until now, and why did you endure it alone…….”

Tenere was speechless. The hand that had been caressing her stopped.

How? Why? 

Amidst the murky uncertainty, one certainty stood out clearly.

‘You finally knew all about it even before I could tell you.’

Leonard’s gaze shifted to the box she’d brought.

“….Is this something Mother left behind?”

Although unfamiliar, he knew that boxes of that size were a trend from some time ago.

He wondered if she’d found his mother’s things because she lived in her palace.

“I found it while playing hide-and-seek with Josie.”

In a faint response, Leonard couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

Hide and seek is such a small child’s game.

“I thought you had to be at least six to play that.”

“If you blindfold him, he thinks he’s hidden, and if you pretend to look long enough…… he’ll poke his head out to ask you to find him.”

“That would be cute.”

Tenere nodded at that. She hesitated, then spoke again.

“It’s… letters and diaries.”

With that, she put her arm around him. As if to comfort him.

For some reason, the sight made him feel unnecessarily relieved.

“Is that why you came?”

“…….”

“You said you don’t love me.”

“…Do I have to love you to come here?”

Tenere snapped back. Her voice was unusually blunt.

But contrary to her words, her touch remained gentle. Leonard chuckled softly.

“If you embrace me so affectionately, I might misunderstand.”

“…….”

“Is it alright if I misunderstand?”

The words made Tenere look up. A flicker of resentment flashed across her flushed face.

But only for a moment, and then she buried her face in his chest again, as if she didn’t want to look at him.

“Your Majesty did the same thing. You told me not to even ask for love, yet you unnecessarily treat me well.”

Resentment was buried in her blunt voice. But compared to forced laughter, this was much better.

“I’ve never unnecessarily treated you well.”

“…….”

“If I treated you like I treated you like Lady Salvatore, you’d ask what’s wrong, wouldn’t you?”

He said it with a low laugh, but Tenere didn’t answer.

‘Why is this small warmth so comforting?  ’

Even though she said she didn’t love him, he can’t help but hope after seeing her hug him like this.

“I’ve always loved you, Tenere. I was afraid to admit it, but…”

The way he kept thinking of her while talking to others at the party, the way he couldn’t help but respond to her short bursts of laughter.

Deciding to send a proposal letter to this person as he received a handkerchief,

Why didn’t he realize it was because he wanted to keep her by his side?

No, if he had known, he might have pushed her away instead. He thought it would be better to distance himself before his feelings deepened.

“I don’t know if you’ll believe me… but I was about to come and tell you about this matter just now.”

“…….”

“I didn’t want to show you my flaws; I wanted to hide them from you, but it seemed to make you more uneasy.”

Tenere didn’t answer. Leonard continued.

“I have never not loved you. Even when I told you not to hope for love.”

“…….”

“Can’t you give me one last chance?  I’ll never do anything stupid like that again.”

Still, seeing her rush into his arms like this, couldn’t there be hope?

Leonard held her tightly in his arms again, embracing hope once more.

Even if she were to refuse again, things could change over time.

Maybe it would be a lifetime of expectation and disappointment, but…….

“……later.”

Tenere said it in a small voice.

“Right now… there’s something we have to do first.”

‘Your heart is most important to me. The most important thing is whether you love me and whether you accept my heart.’

But how comforting it is to know that what comes out of her mouth isn’t rejection. Worried about him, she rushed to him like this.

As Leonard nodded, Tenere slowly withdrew from him.

She spread out the box she had placed on the floor onto the table. Inside were old letters, a small jewelry box, and a notebook scattered.

Tenere opened her mouth, a little embarrassed.

“I brought it after organizing it, but… I came in a hurry, so…”

“That’s okay; I wouldn’t have found it if it weren’t for you.”

“This is a letter from Marquis Salvator, and this…… is Her Majesty’s journal.”

Tenere opened the journal with the Marquis’s letter tucked inside. It was the part about Emperor Heinrich’s deathbed.

Leonard’s gaze carefully scanned the neat handwriting. Looking at his calm face, Tenere spoke.

“The Emperor has allowed the Empress to have the Duke as her consort.”

“…….”

“And even after he realized the Marquis hadn’t taken his contraceptive medicine , he didn’t say anything about abdicating you as prince; he just said to break off the engagement with the Lady Alaina, so…… the Emperor didn’t deny you were the heir to the throne.”

The empress’s diary was proof of her affair with Marquis Salvatore, but it was also proof that the emperor had accepted Leonard as crown prince despite his knowledge of the affair.

If anyone ever tried to dismiss him on the grounds of blood, her handwritten diary would be a shield.

“If the Emperor condoned the Empress’s behavior, surely some of our people know about it, so we might as well admit that the Marquis was the Empress’s consort.”

Tenere spoke cautiously. Leonard flipped through the journal slowly, then opened his mouth.

“……I didn’t know that.”

“…….”

“I had heard of the relationship between my mother and the Marquis, but I didn’t know Father knew about it.”

“Did the Empress never tell you?”

It was something we agreed to overlook… I also didn’t ask for the details.”

It was a story he didn’t want to hear.

What could he ask of his mother, who had grown tired of his father and looked away for a moment.