It all started a few months ago.
“Do you really have no intention of getting married?
Even a little bit?”
The grandmother for whom I often made medicine asked me.
'It's almost time to leave this place.'
I looked at the calendar and packed my medications.
“Now, Grandma, don’t take your illness lightly, and make sure to take all your medicines on time, okay?”
“Eh, won't you ever get married?”
"no-."
“Ay, come on, why don’t you meet my grandson?”
“He must be handsome.”
Then grandma laughed.
“He's very handsome, is that okay?”
“He must have a lot of money.”
“He's been working since he was a kid, so he must have made a lot of money.
Are you sure this is all you want?”
“Sorry, I'm not really looking to get married.”
I refused, and put the bottle aside.
"Tsk tsk.
This is too bad.
Why don't you get married?
I like you very much."
“But, grandma.”
I quickly interrupted her.
“You pretended to take the medicine I gave you last time and secretly threw it into the field, right?”
“Whenever I did that, I remembered I left something at home.
Thanks!”
Grandma ran away quickly after threatening me.
Maybe you won't take the medicine properly this time, but my work is done here.
“It's already evening.”
I thought as I cleaned out the store.
Three years to the day.
For the past three years, I have lived as a wanderer, all over the continent.
And now it's time to leave this village as well.
There was only one reason why I was running away, not settling anywhere.
Because I'm a criminal?
no.
“This damn emperor…….”
I looked at the newspaper.
The newspapers were full of praise for the emperor's policies and achievements, such as his success in suppressing the aristocracy and successfully exterminating monsters.
There's no scoop like <His Majesty the Emperor fell in love with a mysterious woman!> that I want.
The reason I ran away for three years.
It was to avoid marrying the emperor.
“Enya, the Emperor has issued a decree that he wishes to make you empress.”
Three years ago, I learned that I would marry the Emperor.
Why, long before the novel begins?
Then I realized.
This is a sign that my future is heading towards destruction faster than the original.
As soon as I received the notice, I ran away from home and moved from one place to another.
Fortunately, my escape was successful.
But now that's the end of it.
The Emperor has instituted many policies since his accession to the throne, and this was one of them.
Recent reform of residency laws.
The Emperor began taking an accurate census of the empire's people - and for good reason.
The truth is that during the reign of the previous emperor, the nobles had gained too much power and he was cutting off their base to restrain them.
The Emperor himself, not the lords, took it upon himself to begin a census of the empire.
That is, counting the members of each family.
He started in the capital, so he will be coming east soon.
“I'll go south before then.”
The south is the least populated, so it would be the last place.
The tenth time already?
Eleven?
I couldn't remember exactly how many times I moved, so I used to pack my bags.
Bam!
I burned all my traces and only took one thing.
“The magic bag that contains an endless amount of herbs, as well as my fake ID.”
That's enough.
“Next destination, Count Grunwald’s lands in the south.”
I went on a long trip again.
* * *
After two weeks of traveling by carriage, I finally reached Grunwald.
Grunwald, with its large territory and small population, was quieter than expected.
This was the southernmost region of the empire, and was a region of unique character in that the land was large but barren and the population was severely aging due to lack of employment opportunities for young people.
“I think it will rain soon.”
I looked up at the cloudy sky.
“The address…there.”
The address was written on a piece of paper.
Grunwald was sparsely populated, so houses were widely spaced.
I headed to the place the real estate agent directed me to.
“Is this it?”
Light yellow brick house built on a low hill.
It was a small house, well kept, with a red roof sticking out and a white fence.
Including the attic, the house appears to be approximately three stories high, and the size of the house is perfect for two people to live in rather than one.
“But there is a problem.”
When I asked, the real estate agent said, ‘It’s an unusual house.’
But I said it was the only house I could move into now, so I had no other choice.
“I thought it would be a strange house, but it's really beautiful.”
I stood at the door and pulled out my heavy bag.
“He said the key was in the mailbox.”
I stuck my hand into the old mailbox next to the tree, and there was a little key stuck in it.
I want you!!
Just then I heard a sound of thunder that seemed to pierce the sky.
I rushed into the house and closed the door forcefully.
“Great……!
All the furniture is here!”
It was a strange house, but far from being strange, it had all the furniture I needed: sofas, tables, chairs.
The furniture is shiny and very clean.
“Who left home in such a hurry?”
He appears to have left almost all of his possessions behind.
I sat carefully on the sofa.
“There is no firewood.”
This house had a fireplace, and all it was missing was firewood.
Was this really a haunted house?
If not, how can it be sold for half the price of a regular home?
If the house is well furnished, I can ignore the fact that there are a lot of bugs or that someone's dead body is in the house.
Best of all, it was the perfect place to hide from the eyes of the Emperor.
I lay down and stared at the stairs.
The wooden staircase leading to the second floor was immaculately polished.
'I thought, 'The real estate agent must have been looking after the house.'
I was very happy with the way things were.
It was much better than the dozens of homes I stayed in while traveling.
Now all that remained was for the Emperor to marry quickly.
“Why is he waiting for me?”
I think he has his reasons
In the “original” novel, I was supposed to marry the male protagonist, who was also the Emperor.
However, in the original novel, I was married to the male protagonist without love.
In the novel, I was destined to die because of my marriage to the Emperor.
I thought that if I held out for a while, the Emperor would find a woman to marry, but that was not the case.
For some reason, he was waiting for me for three years after I ran away.
Why is the Emperor waiting for me?
Bajjik!
Just then, thunder boomed again.
This time it was accompanied by a bolt of lightning so hot it made my eyes turn white.
'I'd better get some firewood before it rains more, I think there's a warehouse back there.'
But the moment I opened the door.
Boom.
“Ahhh!”
Something jumped.
“Big insect!!!!!, no, man……?”
I doubted my eyes.
Why is a man I've never seen before lying in front of my house?