Chapter 8: 8

Episode 8: It’s Dangerous Outside the Blanket (3)

TL: thursdays 
PR: altacco

However, as expected, the emperor was not someone with a history of giving up easily.

As a crown prince, he had been evaluated as having no talent for swordsmanship; but despite what others said, he tenaciously refined his skill for over 25 years.

This was possible because Mikhail was an earnest person with a persevering disposition and because he did not care at all about others’ appraisals of him. He didn’t become discouraged and quit at their evaluations.

The crown prince who proceeded like this grew up to be an emperor with an even more upright personality than when he was young, and now, he applied his tenacity in a strange place.

“To think that she’s still in bed. Even a newborn puppy doesn’t sleep as much as she does.”

The emperor clicked his tongue.

Marie, contrite for daring to keep the emperor waiting, fidgeted in front of the bedroom door. 

It seemed that she too would become another person who needed to buy and take antacid.[1]

꘏꘏꘏

After completing his morning training, Mikhail sent word to the lateral palace for Dayeon to be brought out. 

He seriously had to make her exercise.

However, Dayeon was a formidable person as well. 

The emperor couldn’t believe it as her sleep continued until it was noon, to the point that it should have been called a hibernation instead.

 

So, he went to the lateral palace to check for himself.

“You have to get up now. The sun has risen to its peak.”

The emperor lectured Dayeon, who had just woken up but kept lingering in bed.

Who was worse, Dayeon or the emperor? The emperor’s attendants and the lateral palace’s maids’ opinions on this argument flip-flopped each day.

Dayeon only ate, slept, and breathed. 

She shut herself in, so she didn’t go out often.

It was as if she was someone who decided not to do a single productive or meaningful thing in her life, as if she was only living because she had been born.

The servants had first thought that she was being unreasonable, but what of the emperor?

He was the embodiment of single-mindedness, painstakingly created by the goddess herself.

The slightly workaholic emperor, who had not been able to finish off his political work vigorously, was now expertly attacking Dayeon with facts.

The servants, seeing the emperor shaking Dayeon up as if she was a rehabilitation project, thought he was being too extreme.

Anybody who listened to his passion and the varied scolding would get sick of it; not even a headstrong mother-in-law could nag that much.

But then again, when the servants watched Dayeon only breathing normally at the beratement, they thought that yes, Dayeon was the one with the bigger problem.

Both of them were just outrageous and too different.

That was the tentative conclusion that all of their minds had drawn.

 

Still, as a result of the emperor’s fervor, Dayeon at least ate more-or-less regular meals now.

Her well-fed face had a better complexion and expression than before. But the emperor was someone who set higher goals than others, to Dayeon’s misfortune and the grand chamberlain’s predicament.

“If you don’t get up by the count of three, I’ll kick your butt.”

The maids and the grand chamberlain’s faces paled.

If you keep teasing and bullying her, you might be hated. Women are sensitive, Your Majesty! the grand chamberlain thought dejectedly.

“That sounds like sexual harassment,” Dayeon said, totally unperturbed.

“But I didn’t do it for real?” replied the emperor with a shameless face. “Go and wash, and we’ll eat after that.”

The emperor glanced at Marie, who hurriedly led Dayeon out.

“…Are you eating at the lateral palace?” the grand chamberlain asked, making an odd face.

The emperor nodded.

At this moment, the grand chamberlain felt pity for the chef of the lateral palace, who suddenly had to prepare a meal for the emperor.

“Is there a suitable spot to eat in the back garden? The day is nice, so we’ll eat outside. I need to expose her to some sunlight,” said the emperor.

Then, the grand chamberlain also felt pity for the maids of the lateral palace.

“Since the weather is pleasant, come out often for a walk. When it gets hotter, it’ll be impractical for you to have excursions with that weak body. Do you get hot easily?”

“No. It’s fine. Are the summers in Altius very hot?”

“Perhaps. I don’t know your point of reference. On severe days, you would start to sweat if you are outside for long.”

It seemed that the summers weren’t too intense.

“Starting tomorrow, I’ll oversee you for a bit as you learn the sword.”

At the emperor’s words, Dayeon, who had been chewing her food, grimaced.

“Didn’t we end that conversation yesterday?”

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“You said it’s impossible for you to do it at dawn. Then, it doesn’t matter, so long as it isn’t at dawn.”

Dayeon looked at the emperor with an intensely pitiful face.

But Mikhail was determined.

“You’ll change your mind once you do it. Nothing helps your spirits more than doing something that makes you sweat. So just try it first. Do you think your mood can improve when your body is unhealthy?”

The emperor continued to natter about how her gloominess was because she didn’t move or exercise.

There was nothing erroneous in his words, so Dayeon could not refute him, but her face as she nodded was melancholy.

“Did you hear that someone from the temple is coming to meet you tomorrow?”

“Yes, Marie told me.”

“There shouldn’t be any incidents, but always be cautious.”

At the emperor’s considerably warmly-worded concern, the accompanying knight sent a questioning glance to the grand chamberlain, asking, Why is His Majesty acting like this?

The grand chamberlain shook his head. That knight only knew how to use the sword and nothing of tact.

“Is a dangerous person coming?” Dayeon asked with a puzzled expression.

“I don’t know who’s coming, but in general, those from the temple are cunning.”

Though, in general, the emperor was even more cunning than the temple’s people.

When the emperor, who was just as sly in regard to politics and schemes, said such a thing, everyone looked like they didn’t know how to react. 

“Even if the temple’s envoy asks for a private audience and tells everyone else to leave, you can’t say yes. I’ll assign some knights to you, so make sure to bring them along to the meeting.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Dayeon thought that his concern was excessive, but since even she knew that the emperor’s relationship with the temple was bad, she meekly nodded her head.

Dayeon had also heard that her existence was a fuse in the already sensitive emotional dispute between the temple and the imperial family. 

When she left the temple to enter the palace, the clergy had reacted poorly, as if she was being sent off to a warzone. They had to temper their words in front of Dayeon, but their sentiment toward the current emperor was negative.

She remembered how on the day she left, the elderly high priest told her with a sorrowful face that they would meet again one day.

“Why is the temple trying to contact me again?” she asked.

“To use you, most likely. In whatever way they can.”

“Um, but I won’t be of any use.”

“……”

For the first time in a while, Mikhail made an expression of deep revulsion at Dayeon. He seemed to be flabbergasted by her frank self-criticism.

“Well, your arrival itself is helpful to the temple. Did you know that immediately after the revelation, worshippers and donations to the temple have increased?”

Dayeon had not heard this before.

“Humans are constantly skeptical by nature. Do you think there wouldn’t be people who become doubtful after 32 years without a word or response from their god? The number of believers had been on the decline, and the temple’s authority had been weakening. Left as is, the temple may have ended up perishing on its own. How gratified would they have been to receive an oracle during that situation? The number of temple goers increased, and donations must have grown explosively.”

The emperor, who had stopped eating, spoke seriously.

“The problem would have been complicated further if you had a strong holy power. It would have been really difficult if you had a healing ability.”

“How come?” Dayeon asked.

“Because it’s hard for commoners to receive treatment for their ails due to the cost. A holy maiden who appears after a divine revelation, touring the continent while performing miracles of healing—isn’t this scenario too touching? Even I may have donated to the temple. There is no doubt that the temple thought of this, too.”

Dayeon couldn’t respond.

Actually, the temple did initially try to see if Dayeon had the same divine powers as the priests of healing. Though, of course, Dayeon was unsurpassed on the continent as an incompetent dreg of a human being.

“It seems fortunate that I don’t have any abilities,” said Dayeon.

The emperor shook his head.

“You’re a symbol in your own right, and the temple would have found some method to use you to increase its influence. In other words, it would have been a threat to the imperial family.”

“……”

“I had to bring you here, even if it burdened me politically.”

Why was he suddenly saying this to her?

When Mikhail saw her uncertain expression, his own expression became a little playful. However, his tone remained firm.

“Don’t go over to them.”

“What?”

“I mean that you shouldn’t follow that path, even if the people from the temple tempt you and say they’ll treat you well.”

The accompanying knight’s expression now changed, as if he had seen something bizarre.

Dayeon didn’t know what kind of answer she should give to the emperor, who smiled like he was in a good mood.

So she just wordlessly picked up and ate the fruit in front of her.

 

[1] This is referring to how the emperor’s people need to take medicine because he gives them stomach problems.

T/N: Hello! If you noticed the sudden change in style, that’s my fault, I’m afraid. I’m thursdays, and I’m picking up Your Meaning with the permission of the previous translator. Altacco (our proofreader) and I will be releasing one chapter a week. Please treat us kindly!

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