Chapter 18: 18

Episode 18: I Can Hear Your Voice (4)

 

TL: thursdays 

PR: altacco

 

For some time, Dayeon had been borrowing and reading simple fairy tales and myths meant for children from the imperial palace’s library.

Her language lessons were three times a week for one hour each, and since she didn’t have much enthusiasm to learn, her progress was very slow. How slow? It was slower than young children’s progress. The problem, really, was that there were too many characters she had to recognize.

When she pushed through to reach about 2,500 characters, she realized an enormous truth.

Wow. Do I really not remember what I studied earlier?

Dayeon had memorized things pretty well when she was in school, but she now accepted the reality that her brain didn’t work the same way as it did before.

In the end, all this would be solved by time.

Reaching a state of nirvana, she closed the book with that aloof thought.

In fact, since she came to the empire, she was half-unwillingly fulfilling one of her long-cherished wishes. Her dream of being a salary thief, which she could never achieve in her world, was being realized here in the form of being a tax thief.[1]

She didn’t mean to, but since she didn’t know how to do anything, it turned out like that. Hehe.

Well, the emperor had said that she didn’t need to do things well.

Her conscience hurt a bit at living well on other people’s taxes, but Dayeon pretended not to know and stared at the flowers in the vase. It was exactly the third time the emperor sent flowers to the lateral palace.

He would occasionally send flowers to the palace after his morning training. Then, he also made sure to send a message to tell her to have a good day. It was that message, not the flowers, that the emperor wanted to send to Dayeon.

Somehow feeling emotional, Dayeon gently pulled out some light purple stalks from the vase. Then, she spread them out neatly on the table.

It should be fine to make one of them into a pressed flower and give it back to the emperor, right?

With that thought, she reopened the thick fairytale book.

“Huh?”

Dayeon, who glanced out of the window, stood up in surprise.

It was Samsik. She didn’t know where the puppy got its food to grow this big and chubby since she last saw it.

It was only a few days ago, but not a trace of Dayeon’s wounds remained after the priest at the palace exerted all his efforts. That day, the puppy had been trembling with a pitiful face.

Today, however, it was valiantly crisscrossing the back garden, playing excitedly like it was rejuvenated.

It was cute and spirited.

She was contentedly watching the puppy play from the window when it happened. For a moment, she thought she made eye contact with the puppy.

「Thank you!」

“Huh?”

Dayeon’s eyes looked aside doubtfully at the sound ringing in her ears. Then, she met the dog’s eyes again in disbelief.

「Thank you! Really, thank you!」

“……”

In the past, when she struggled while living the working life, she was prone to hearing the sound of wind and water in her ears. It was scary and uncomfortable, and the hospital she went to said that it was tinnitus caused by overworking and stress.

Putting on a straight face as if nothing had happened, Dayeon closed the curtains. As she did, the voice ringing in her ear disappeared like it was never there.

Darn. She thought she was taking it easy, but she must have studied too hard again.

꘏꘏꘏

Four days ago, the imperial family announced a tax reform plan in a surprising move.

The temple immediately issued a complaint. They seemed to be risking everything to fight it, as if now was the point where they could not back down.

The opposition from the public was fierce. However, the emperor was not discouraged. Public opinion in support of the imperial family was just as strong, mostly because the regional power was divided. Some of the local nobles and landowners, who had firmly stood with the temple until now, turned their backs on the temple and pledged allegiance to the imperial family.

The bill fell flat, knocked down by the opposition in the implementation stage. As expected, their action was premature, but the imperial family couldn’t stop and catch their breath.

“We will choose a few regions in addition to the capital to establish clinics and permanent healing centers. The government will back these centers. Minister of Domestic Affairs?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will make sure to sufficiently contrast it with the temple’s conduct of healing patients and collecting large donations.”

Mikhail smiled with satisfaction.

“Yes, show them that our side is more competent and righteous. I want all the people of the empire to have the impression that the temple enjoys much more than the public functions they provide. I look forward to your results.”

The emperor seemed like someone who had no intention of stopping until he achieved what he wanted, and he always did. Since the day he ascended to the throne, he had been constantly painting pictures, sometimes falling and sometimes making others fall to achieve his goals.

“Commander of the Imperial Guards. As I said before, we need more people in the temple to act as our hands and feet. We’ve stopped at low-ranking priests and administrative workers until now, but they alone will not be enough for our plans.”

“I understand completely.”

The emperor nodded and continued, “My desire is that in the end, they will not have to hide their existence. The greater their numbers, the less discreet they need to be. Continue to recruit and empower the pro-imperial faction in the temple until they cannot be weeded out and grow powerful enough to subdue the temple. Ask for whatever funds you need. I will approve it.”

After that, the emperor listened to some more reports from his subordinates and gave out more commands. The emperor concluded the meeting only after hearing detailed reports about the upcoming rainy season, the damage from last year, and the expected yields.

“That’s it for today’s cabinet meeting.”

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The grand chamberlain, as if he had been waiting, approached the emperor and whispered something in his ear. The ministers pretended like they weren’t looking while watching from the corners of their eyes.

The emperor rose from his seat and immediately exited the meeting room, but for some reason, his steps were quicker than usual.

The door opened, and those inside could clearly see Dayeon through the gap.

The ministers’ gazes stayed on the door as the emperor exited first, followed by his knight and lastly the chamberlain, who quietly closed the door behind him.

As the door closed, those who had seemed tired suddenly began to chatter.

“His Majesty seems to be more at ease these days.”

When the commander of the imperial knights mentioned it indirectly, the minister of foreign affairs replied, “As His Majesty grows older, isn’t it that his temperament is getting softer?”

“Rather than that, this change is all because of love.”

The oldest of the ministers, the minister of justice, said what everyone had wanted to say with a wizened voice.

Rumors of a relationship between the emperor and Dayeon were already widespread in the imperial palace. The emperor had treated the guest in the lateral palace like a child, taking care of her every meal and clothes, and in the end, word came out that their relationship was that of love.

Actually, that rumor was half true and half false. Their start was clearly not that romantic. In fact, many of the maids of the lateral palace heard the rumors before looking someplace distant, recalling the past.

Rather than treating her like a cherished child, the emperor had looked more to be begrudgingly taking care of a patient…

At times the emperor almost kicked Dayeon’s ass because he felt sickened, but it was true that he eventually came to treasure and like Dayeon. So, in the end, the rumors were right.

“To be honest, I didn’t think His Majesty was the kind of person to fall for someone like that. There’s nothing special about her, is there?”

“That’s right. I secretly thought a more competent and dignified woman would be His Majesty’s match.”

“Really? I’m just pleased to see two young people together like them. Like a pair of pretty rabbits.”

The story of the emperor and Dayeon was currently the hottest news in the imperial palace.

The reasons that the rumors became so widespread was largely because of the emperor’s enthusiastic attitude. He was following the typical behaviors of a man who wanted the favor of the woman he liked. And this side of him, different to how he had acted before, was very unfamiliar to everyone.

The emperor’s relationship history was not much in terms of time, depth, emotion—on all sides.

Of course, it wasn’t that he had never dated; he was a young, handsome member of the imperial family. The emperor was always at the center of the aristocratic society, and women his age gave him attention and yearned for him.

Because he was getting older, because it was time to get married, because their families’ classes were right. For these reasons and more, Mikhail met and went out with the noble ladies around him. But he never met with them for long, and they parted ways quickly.

Everyone was busy trying to deduce why.

There were probably many reasons, but the overwhelming public opinion in the imperial palace was that the emperor was too busy, that his personality was too fussy, or that he wasn’t as interested in relationships as he was in his work.

Everyone paid close attention to the private life of the only member of the imperial family in the palace, and actually, they all thought about it.

Really, what perfect noble lady would match with His Majesty’s exacting personality?

However, since no one met his standards, the emperor seemed to have decided to date someone creative who transcended the concept of standards completely.

The impact of the news on the imperial palace was great because of this long history.

The ministers, who knew how much of a perfectionist the emperor usually was, were somewhat shocked to see him fall in love with a woman who looked faint and frail.

There is something called love in this world. True love really exists.

And our emperor turned out to have a heart, too. Until now, they thought His Majesty only had a brain and a tongue.

But apart from the shock, they prayed earnestly for the emperor’s love to succeed.

No one wanted the emperor to feel uncomfortable, and it wasn’t just one or two people who were happy when he was generous.

So, they hoped that the emperor’s relationship would continue to sail smoothly.

“Dayeon.”

The emperor, who had left the meeting room, called out to Dayeon standing in the hall.

In that short moment as he walked out and called her name, the emperor’s expression bloomed so brightly that those watching him were blinded.

Did he like her that much?

The emperor was the busiest man in the empire. He was even busier than the healing priests in the temple’s healing centers, which were crowded with patients. He had been busy ever since he was born into the imperial family, but he was particularly busy nowadays.

As it became more difficult to find time to visit the lateral palace, Mikhail once asked Dayeon to come meet him where he was. However, Dayeon continued to match the emperor’s movements several times after that instance.

“Did you wait long?”

“No. I just arrived, too.”

It seemed that the maids had worked especially hard to dress Dayeon up today. Unlike when the emperor suddenly visited the lateral palace, her hair, makeup, and clothes were immaculate.

When the emperor asked Dayeon to eat with him in the back garden, it seemed that the maids were more excited than Dayeon herself.

“Shall we go?”

The emperor held out his left hand to Dayeon, palm up.

Dayeon, understanding his intent, paused for a moment before placing her right hand on his. The emperor grinned and squeezed that hand, and they began to walk.

A vivid aura of happiness surged from the emperor’s back.

The attendants followed behind quietly with warm eyes, and behind them, the maids followed too, squealing very quietly.

꘏꘏꘏

[1]: The term used is “월급 루팡” or salary “lupin,” as in Arsene Lupin, the famous fictional thief. Not that important to know, but I love Lupin so I wanted to share a fun term.

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