I swallowed hard and listened to the Emperor’s words.
“Did you hear that I was just unconscious?”
“…Yes.”
“At death’s door, I heard a voice.”
“A voice?”
“Yes. I was surprised, but a familiar name came up, so I listened carefully, and it was your name. The voice said you came from another world, and that if it hadn’t been for you, the Stamili Empire would have been greatly ruined at the hands of the tyrant William.”
Despite hearing what the Emperor knew, my tension didn’t ease—instead, my anxiety only grew.
Why, of all things, would the story he heard on the brink of death be about me?
It was full of questions, but one fortunate thing was that the Emperor’s voice wasn’t hostile toward me. If terrible things had been destined to happen when I didn’t come, it would mean that my coming here had changed the Stamili Empire’s future for the better.
After organizing my thoughts, my tension gradually eased.
“I-I didn’t intend to deceive you on purpose. Please forgive my rudeness.”
When I tried to kneel, the Emperor grabbed my arm and shook his head.
“I’m not trying to blame you, so there’s no need to kneel. I already know about you from what I heard in my dream.”
I felt like I might faint from this unbelievable situation, but I tried to pull myself together. There must be a reason why the Emperor called me aside despite the situation where he could face various misunderstandings.
I straightened my body and politely clasped my hands together. The Emperor opened his mouth with a bitter expression.
“In any case, they said my death cannot be prevented.”
This must be a reproach for not telling him about the Emperor’s fate in advance.
I had nothing to say even with ten mouths.
“There’s nothing more unseemly than an old man who can’t let go of his attachment to life, is there?”
I had nothing to say in response to his joke-like words either. As I kept my mouth tightly shut with an awkward expression, the Emperor tapped my arm.
“Someone who knew everything in advance doesn’t need to pretend to be sad now.”
“This sinner can only bow my head.”
“No. I know that you saved my son and the Stamili Empire. The fact that the seed of a tyrant grew into a crown prince with the qualities of a sage is all thanks to you, isn’t it?”
“You speak too highly of me. His Highness William is naturally wise and intelligent, so he would have grown up splendidly even without me.”
The Emperor, who had paused for a moment, let out a dry cough.
“Your M-Majesty…!”
Becoming anxious, I quickly supported the Emperor’s back and offered him a glass of water that was nearby. The Emperor gestured several times as if to say he was fine, then took the glass and drank the water.
“Don’t be alarmed. Didn’t I say I won’t die right now?”
I took the glass back from the Emperor.
The Emperor continued speaking only after catching his breath several times.
“I wanted to give a longer and more elaborate greeting to the person who saved my empire, but my strength isn’t keeping up.”
While listening to the Emperor’s words, I pondered deeply about why the Emperor was saying these things to me—what his intention was.
A long and elaborate greeting as the purpose? From none other than the Emperor of the Stamili Empire?
That would never happen.
The Emperor wasn’t a bad monarch to the imperial citizens, but he was someone who valued only the empire and bloodline, being cold even to his sons who inherited his blood.
Since I had consistently taught William about the importance of virtuous rule from a young age to prevent him from becoming such an emperor, I wouldn’t be swayed by the Emperor’s honeyed words.
Then what purpose did he have for leaving only me behind? There must be some other hidden intention not apparent on the surface.
I decided to set aside courtesy for a moment to let him know I wasn’t being fooled.
“Your Majesty, do you perhaps have a request for me?”
The Emperor stroked his chin and pondered for a moment, then smiled faintly and brought up the main point.
“One from another world, I would like you to hear my request.”
“What is the request?”
“I don’t know for what purpose you saved the Crown Prince and the empire, but I still cannot completely trust you.”
I completely agreed with the Emperor’s words. Just because he heard some mysterious voice before dying wouldn’t be enough to erase suspicions about someone from a strange world.
“I’m not offended. I think it’s natural for you to judge that way.”
“I’m grateful for your understanding. Even if you were to deceive me, there’s nothing I, who faces my last day today, can do about it, but I must ask this because I feel I can only close my eyes in peace after confirming it.”
“Yes. I will answer wholeheartedly.”
At my words, the Emperor looked straight at me. His eyes, putting all his remaining strength into them, shone brilliantly.
“From what I expect, it seems your fate and the empire’s fate share the same end. Am I wrong?”
The Emperor had shown his hand. Since further hiding seemed meaningless, I also spoke honestly.
“You speak correctly. I don’t know well myself, but I thought that my coming to this world was to make His Highness William a sage ruler and stabilize the nation’s fortune.”
“Has that thought still not changed?”
“Yes, that’s right. I will do my best to help His Highness William until he ascends to the emperor’s throne and stabilizes the empire.”
The Emperor, reassured by my words, relaxed his upright upper body and leaned back loosely. He seemed relieved now.
“Then that’s fortunate. I asked out of concern that you might harbor bad intentions and shake William carelessly, causing the empire’s ruin, so please don’t think too poorly of it.”
“I don’t think poorly of it. Of course not.”
While agreeing with the Emperor’s words, I also watched his complexion to see if there might be another meaning. Fortunately, there seemed to be no other purpose besides confirmation.
Since the Emperor has such a cautious personality, it’s natural for him to ask such things. Let’s not think too sensitively about it.
With these thoughts, I reached out to help the Emperor lie down, worried that sitting for too long might be difficult for him. The Emperor grabbed my hand and said:
“Do you have a wish?”
“…A wish?”
“Don’t worry about appearances and tell me. I feel I need to grant you one thing before I go to be at peace.”
“There’s nothing I particularly desire.”
“What if it’s not the Emperor of Stamili asking a favor of one from the future, but commanding his son’s concubine?”
The Emperor wasn’t the type to easily bend his will once he decided on something. William’s stubbornness and Kalroy’s arrogance were evidence of the Emperor’s bloodline. So if I didn’t state a wish to the end, I might have to bear the risk of being forced to accept something I didn’t want.
What would be good? Jewels? Or power?
After placing William on the emperor’s throne, I planned to take only enough of the jewels I had received from William to live on and go live quietly, so all such things were useless.
“I said it’s a command. Speaking quickly is the only way to end this uncomfortable private audience.”
Even his impatience was exactly like William’s. They say blood can’t be deceived, and those words were exactly right. While I was pondering whether to ask for just anything, a good idea suddenly occurred to me.
“Your Majesty, if so, please grant me the rank of baron.”
The Emperor asked back with a surprised face.
“…Baron? If you want a noble rank, there are higher positions available?”
“I am someone who knows my place. I don’t need a higher rank than that.”
“You already have the powerful position of being the Crown Prince’s only concubine, so what’s the reason for wanting the baron title, which isn’t even that high a rank?”
If I had been greedy for noble rank as the Emperor thought, I would have asked for a higher position, but I had a reason for wanting the baron title.
That was precisely the immunity privilege given to nobles who received their noble rank directly from the Emperor. Now that the opportunity arose, securing immunity privileges that would help me when crises befell me later would be the wisest choice I could make.
I calmly conveyed my opinion.
“Your Majesty, just because I know the future doesn’t mean I know everything about my own fate. While assisting His Highness the Crown Prince, I’ve overcome life-threatening situations several times. It was a time when even adapting to a strange world and living day by day through an uncertain future was overwhelming.”
The Emperor nodded, saying “That must have been difficult.”
“To speak honestly…”
When I trailed off, the Emperor caught on and continued:
“You want immunity privileges. The nobles’ checks haven’t been trivial either, so it’s to prepare against political schemes, right?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
The Emperor laughed quietly.
“They said Daniel Lambert isn’t an ordinary concubine but William’s advisor, and that seems to be true. Very wise.”
“Thank you for the praise.”
The Emperor finally buried himself in the bed. Then he gestured dismissively as if telling me to leave. I carefully covered him with the blanket and was about to leave, but stopped because it didn’t seem right to go like this.
And I spoke with as much sincerity as possible:
“Your Majesty may not have been an affectionate father, but you were a sage ruler who saved the Stamili Empire from falling into the whirlpool of war during turbulent times. All the imperial citizens, including myself, will remember Your Majesty’s grace for a long, long time.”
While speaking, an emotion I didn’t recognize welled up inside me.
What is this? Have I now become a citizen of the Stamili Empire? Or have I perhaps grown attached to the Emperor during this time?
“You are a warm and affectionate person.”
My question was answered by the Emperor’s single comment. The emotion I was feeling now wasn’t due to loyalty that an imperial citizen has toward their emperor, but rather compassion for a human being who lived a life as an emperor instead of his own life and was now facing death.
“Thank you. I will assist Crown Prince William well.”
“I’m grateful.”
The Emperor closed his eyes. After confirming that regular breathing sounds could be heard soon after, I left the Emperor’s room.
From now on was the real beginning.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
