“Huh?”
I raised my head to look at Dale, who was staring at me with dark eyes.
I couldn't understand the meaning behind that look.
'Was he angry?
No, did he want to cry?
Not that either.
Was he handsome?
It always has been.'
Just looking at him seemed to fill the air with a profound presence, making him appear even more mysterious and handsome.
'Can his face get more handsome?'
I couldn't help but admire Dale's beauty without resistance.
“…Enya, do you perhaps wish the Emperor dead?”
"Emperor?
Why?"
“Do you wish him dead?”
"I?"
I looked around nervously.
I never thought about betrayal.
"No?
Absolutely not?"
I shook my head violently, and Dale covered his face and let out a sigh.
He seemed relieved.
“This is convenient.”
“Are you relieved that I am not secretly planning to betray?
Of course not.
If such a misunderstanding occurs, I will beg the Emperor!
Especially since Dale is innocent.”
“……”
There was no sign of happiness on Del's face after hearing my words.
Doesn't he trust me?
....
Maybe I seemed untrustworthy.
"I swear.
I'll keep you out of it, Dale."
“...!”
As I placed my hand on Dale's hand, he froze.
"Ah.
Unnecessary touch.
Breach of contract, right?
Did that upset you?
I'm sorry."
I quickly raised both my hands to show that I meant no harm.
“Anyway, the Emperor should live a long and healthy life.”
But he couldn't marry me, of course.
“I really hope the Emperor lives well.
I don’t want to marry him, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love the Emperor.”
It may seem similar, but it is necessary for the Emperor to be sane and alive for the safety of our family.
"I may wish him to overwork but not to die because of it.
I'm just an ordinary citizen of the Empire wishing the Emperor to be healthy!"
“…….”
“Since there are so many cases in a row, he will not have to attend to minor matters that do not require his direct intervention.”
Dale's face, which seemed to be immersed in deep thought, gradually relaxed.
He returned to his pale but clear face and smiled faintly.
There seemed to still be a hint of stiffness.
“May I ask something else?”
"naturally."
I nodded, smiling.
“I would like to know the real reason why you don’t like the idea of marrying the Emperor.”
His expression became incredibly serious.
“If you understood the Emperor more, could your opinion change?”
“No, I think life as an empress would be boring.”
Dale's face turned pale.
It was an expression that indicated that it was something he had never thought about.
“So, does that mean it's okay if it's fun?”
Is this it?
I nodded.
The position of Empress is not something to be taken lightly for fun, so it was not appropriate to answer.
“It's not to my taste.”
“What exactly doesn't suit your taste?”
Dale asked, almost worried.
Was he always this talkative?
Today seemed a little strange.
“It's just that the salad is not to my taste.”
“Power?”
“Is the throne the problem?”
“It's a reason.”
If the male hero had been, for example, a prince from another country, or someone from the Hexagon Duchy, or even just a count, I would have gotten rid of him right away, but he was a very powerful Emperor.
I was well aware of the power dynamics of a hierarchical society.
And how useless it is to stand against it.
“Then, if the Emperor abdicated and proposed to you, would you accept it?”
"This will put the Emperor's life in danger, right?
This man needs to firmly grasp the authority of leadership.
There are a lot of villains targeting the Emperor."
Dale nodded quietly, apparently agreeing.
He opened his mouth slowly.
“So, you mean that while the Emperor must not leave his position, and while you do not like the idea of becoming Empress, the person himself is not disliked by you?”
“I guess it's kinda similar… to that?”
Somehow, I felt that saying more might put me at risk of being charged with royal libel.
Even though it was just me and Dale here.
I explained again.
“Being the Empress means living almost cut off from the outside world.
Living under the strict rules of the Imperial Palace would be stifling, and also...”
The protagonist will be obsessed with me.
Just remembering what the protagonist did in the original novel was terrifying.
He held the Empress and made her look only at him.
This love was unthinkable.
“The Empress is not allowed to interfere in state affairs, is she?”
“…”
“There's nothing I can do but live trapped in the Empress's palace and get bored.”
I made a reasonable excuse.
About 60 years ago, a kin rebellion nearly destabilized the empire.
From then on, a law was enacted prohibiting the Empress from interfering in politics, economics, and even minor matters of the Imperial Palace without special reason or the Emperor's permission.
“So, I don't want to be the Empress!”
“...!”
“I want to help His Majesty from a very, very, very far away!
So far away that even if I wandered around the empire for a year, I wouldn’t come close to the imperial palace, just an ordinary, quiet imperial citizen… this kind of hidden help!
That’s enough for me already.”
“The restrictions that bind the Empress are indeed too many… I agree with you.”
Dale mumbled quietly.
He seemed to be seriously considering my words.
“That's it.”
Dale nodded, as if he understood.
“Plus, how frustrating would it be?
Empress is the second highest rank after Emperor, but having power and not being able to use it would be even more stifling.”
“Enya’s words are true.”
He rubbed his chin with a look of realization.
“The empire’s defective customs are the problem.”
* * *
[These days, His Majesty is gathering ministers to prepare reforms to the imperial laws.]
I received a letter from a secret source inside the Imperial Palace, and I broke out in a cold sweat of terror.
'Why suddenly?'
The newspapers were filled with constant coverage of his actions.
There have been a series of stories written about things like the reduction of port taxes through treaties with other nations, and the return of the Emperor's Knights after successfully subduing the monsters.
The Emperor was doing his work as usual, so why was my heart beating so fast?
Maybe I'm feeling this way because of the conversation I had with Dale a few days ago?
Or is it a troubling coincidence of timing?
I shook the newspaper.
I've thought about it occasionally in the past; His news in the newspapers, or the Emperor's personality as my father portrayed it at home, seemed similar to my personality.
I definitely didn't want to get involved, but there was this weird feeling of not hating him because we looked alike?
'No, I hate the Emperor.'
I tied my hair and quickly headed to the Lord's castle.
"How are you today?"
I went up to the lord's room with the medicine I had prepared.
After administering the medicine continuously for about a week, the lord's previously pale face regained some normal color.
“Ah, here you come, Anne.”
"Are you well?"
“Your medicine seems to be very effective.
Ha ha ha.”
The Lord chuckled as he straightened his hair.
He could now walk briskly around the castle.
He was poisoned slowly, not with a poison that killed him all at once but with a poison that spreads gradually – a method that requires constant exposure to the poison.
It was something that couldn't happen naturally.
'Who did this to the lord?'
Someone who could approach the Lord closely and naturally.
“….”
We were not alone in this room.
Adeline was there too, standing silently.