Chapter 25: 25

The emperor kept his promise.

Since morning, the lateral and inner palaces had been hectic. The reason for this was that the emperor decided to go outside the imperial palace, to Arzenia Forest. They were planning to dine by the long river that crossed the forest.

The number of people mobilized for the emperor’s outing was tremendous. There were also many things to prepare. Marie had been extremely high-strung for the past four days, and now the dark circles below her eyes were black.

Dayeon stared at the lateral palace, which seemed to have all of the objects pulled out of it, with an overwhelmed expression.

Thanks to the capable attendants and maids, the preparations were perfect. But, as always, a problem arose from an unpredictable source.

“Dayeon. You don’t know how to ride a horse?”

The emperor looked at Dayeon like he was seeing some very strange creature. The knights and courtiers had similar expressions, for the most part.

“Yes. I can’t.”

When she came to the imperial palace from the temple, she rode in the temple’s carriage, so she didn’t expect this response.

Was it that shocking that she didn’t know how to ride horseback?

“How is it that you never learned how to ride horseback?”

How should Dayeon explain this, now?

It was difficult to explain that a world existed where there wasn’t much need to ride a horse or that such a world would come to be someday. So, she remained silent.

“You did say you don’t know how to do anything but doing the laundry and cleaning, but you also meant that you didn’t know how to ride?”

The emperor began to mutter and nag about her words from their first meeting.

Jeez, how tiring.

As Dayeon pretended to block her ears, the emperor glared at her while smiling. He was so talented that he could smile so handsomely even while glaring.

The emperor clicked his tongue and placed Dayeon on his horse first. Then, he immediately climbed up behind her.

Dayeon, with the emperor suddenly right behind her, stiffened. But the emperor did not pay attention to that and held the reins in his hands. Like that, he whispered in her ear.

“It’s a clear fact that you don’t know how to do anything, but when you said you were sturdier than you looked, that was a red-hot lie. How dare you lie to me?”

She tried to refute him, but he didn’t listen to her answer and instead immediately flicked the reins to make the horse run.

Dayeon forgot what she was about to say, shrieking at the sudden speed, and the emperor burst into laughter.

 

Dayeon realized anew how big the imperial palace was.

After they passed by the somewhat familiar scenery, a lush forest spread out before her eyes. It was Arzenia, the imperial land surrounding the palace.

As the green forest began, they rode for a long time toward the center of the forest. Dayeon fell into thought, thinking about how big the palace was and how vast the empire would be as well.

Eventually, after riding for about half an hour at a quick pace, they saw the river that crossed the middle of the forest. It was the river that the emperor said he would show her one day.

She wasn’t conscious of it, but Dayeon had been stuck in the imperial palace for half a year since she came to the empire. Of course, the palace was so huge that the expression “stuck in” was an overstatement. However, the only places she really stayed within the palace were her bedroom, the western palace annex, and the training field.

Because of this, Dayeon was deeply moved by the beautiful scene of nature in front of her. But apart from that, she was resolved.

Next time, I’ll definitely say that we shouldn’t come out.

The number of people mobilized for the emperor’s movements was enormous. Already, a huge number of escort knights on horses rushed forward to surround Dayeon and the emperor.

She was troubling all these people just because she wanted to have a meal outside.

When later the carriages with the luggage began to arrive, Dayeon’s guilt became almost somber.

The old chef with a stout body stepped off first, and the cart that arrived last was loaded with various cooking utensils and ingredients. It was almost like they had ripped out the whole kitchen.

The beautiful landscape now just seemed scary. There could be no greater nuisance than this. Dayeon didn’t think she could ask to come out again.

“Aren’t you busy now?” Dayeon asked, sitting on a fluffy rug prepared in advance.

“It’s fine. I’m always busy, but shouldn’t I also take time to rest?” the emperor answered, sitting across from Dayeon. Dayeon’s eyes widened.

“Oh… Then, shouldn’t you take a proper rest at times like this?”

“Are you drunk?” the emperor asked, as if asking what nonsense she was spouting.

It was already a famous story in the imperial palace that the emperor carefully pieced together what free time he had to spend with Dayeon. He picked up the seconds like little seeds to the extent that he could be called a fairy of time.

And there was nothing false in the emperor’s words. It really was to rest properly that he came to see Dayeon.

“Let’s put that aside. Tell me about something else. Do you like this place?”

“Ah, yes. It’s pretty. This is the river you mentioned, right?”

“That’s right. People call this place, collectively, Arzenia. They say that Arzenia is to the imperial family what Hergonia is to the temple, although those are impertinent words.”

The emperor seemed not to like the comparison, but as someone who saw both of the locations from outside the political standpoint, Dayeon couldn’t help but agree with the public’s sentiment.

The strictly controlled forests where people did not step exuded natural beauty that had been accumulated for a long time.

Such beautiful nature had the power to awe people.

It was when Dayeon was long enthralled by the scenery that it happened. The emperor spoke, sounding uncaring though internally he cared a lot.

“I heard that you’re close to the Sarman prince.”

Were they close? Dayeon tilted her head.

Puzzled by the emperor’s odd gaze, Dayeon replied, “Well, rather than being close, we just met each other a few times in passing.”

“He is a decent human being, but he is royalty from an enemy land. You’ll have to keep a certain distance from him,” the emperor warned lightly but sternly.

The emperor had been telling her not to do things often these days. Dayeon, being accepting, nodded easily at his words, but the courtiers were as sly as foxes were not fooled.

Because he’s a prince from an enemy land? That was a total lie.

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Just tell her you don’t want him to be so close! they criticized inwardly.

That was when it happened. Strange things began to happen around Dayeon.

At first, it was the brilliantly colored butterflies. The number of lovely butterflies flying around Dayeon increased from one, to two, and then to five.

“Dayeon. Butterflies are gathering around you,” the emperor whispered quietly, to not spook the butterfly. He found it hard to take his eyes off the scene, beautiful and mysterious as it was.

The sight of Dayeon in the middle of a cool, shady forest, surrounded by fluttering butterflies, was somehow like a memorable watercolor painting.

But the marvels did not end there.

A gray rabbit peeked out from behind a large wooden pole at the mouth of the river. The rabbit, who looked wary of the humans, narrowed the distance bit by bit until it was at the far end of the carpet where Dayeon sat.

The knights did not stop the harmless-looking herbivore from approaching. Instead, the knights stared at this strange sight too.

The emperor watched with curiosity as the wild rabbit loitered around Dayeon like it had a request.

However, Dayeon who was actually hearing the rabbit’s request found it increasingly difficult to keep a straight face.

「 Is that strong-looking human your buck? 」

“……”

「 That buck there is the strongest here!」

“……”

「 Hey, won’t you help me? There’s a really nasty boar on this mountain, so why don’t you ask him to catch it for you? You guys came here to play, right? Boar meat will be really tender and tasty! 」

“……”

「 That boar keeps trampling on my carrots! I’ve got nothing to eat because of him!」

Who could’ve known that nature’s food chain was this organized? But why was a rabbit at the bottom of that food chain so much more terrifying than a boar at the top?

Mikhail looked at Dayeon’s stunned, embarrassed expression toward the rabbit with a happy mind.

Recently, the emperor was experiencing what it felt like to be joyful and happy just by looking. He put his hands behind his back, the posture of someone appreciating or observing something, and without him realizing it, a smile appeared on his mouth.

The emperor originally liked and valued competent people.

He always needed useful people who could do their parts.

He placed talented people around him no matter what it took, and he treasured those who had more passion than he did. He placed those people in the right place and always gave them enough compensation.

Those who were incompetent, did not develop themselves, or show their value were outside the emperor’s interests. Whether it was people or objects, there were possible substitutes everywhere, and the emperor had no time to wait for anything.

Strictly speaking, Dayeon stood at the complete opposite of Mikhail’s standards for people.

So he knew. He knew that this emotion wasn’t objective.

Nevertheless…

Nevertheless, his eyes kept going to her. Looking at her made his heart joyful and warm. She was lovely.

Why was this?

He also knew the reason.

It was because love was not a matter of utility.

Love didn’t care about being useful.

The emperor was a wise man, and he already knew that feelings like that existed in the world. He just never thought it would happen to him, too.

“……”

Dayeon, who had been looking at the rabbit with an awkward expression, burst into laughter for some reason.

Mikhail had been watching her, lost in thought, but now he couldn’t hold his emotions back.

Like he was being pulled by some force, he spoke.

“Dayeon.”

“Yes?”

“…I’m in love with you.”

At his sudden words, Dayeon turned to him with a surprised look.

This time, Mikhail did not give her a chance to blush. Pressing down the billowing emotions in his heart, Michael continued calmly,

“But I know your heart. I know the type of person you are now. I know that you’re a cautious person, that you move slowly, and that the size of your feelings is not the same as mine.”

Dayeon’s surprised face was uncertain and faint.

The emperor could feel the swaying emotions in her eyes. She looked sad, as if she was about to cry.

So, he thought this was the right direction.

“I’ve already made up my mind.”

“……”

“I mean that I’m prepared.”

“……”

“So I’ll wait.”

The emperor smiled warmly, his face full of confidence.

“And when your mind is ready, come to me.”

It was a confession.

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