Emperor's Alternate - Chapter 45
It’s the time to rest, yet here I am awake.
‘I really hate this.’
The Empress was enthusiastically talking about how I must attend the hunting competition that she organized. She had sent invitations only to handsome knights based on their looks and figures, claiming it would be a feast for the eyes.
I wanted to tell her that this was ridiculous, but I managed to hold it in. I was dragged to the hunt like I was dragged to the ball. It was an event I had no interest in. Being awake at a time when I should be sleeping was already troublesome, but wasting time with something unproductive was even worse.
Imagine the workload that just kept piling up…The Empress these days wore fashionable dresses and had a radiant expression, enjoying herself among the noble ladies.
“Surely, even if she was a former courtesan, she wouldn’t dare forsake her vows.”
Ever since she became the Empress Regent, she gained the authority of the previous emperor’s lawful wife. And as Empress, she had certain duties to fulfill. The most fundamental duty, of course, was fidelity. Wasn’t it obvious? Even if the Emperor was dead, the Empress would be criticized if she had an affair with a man outside of her family.
There was historical precedent of an Empress who was deposed for having multiple lovers and indiscriminately involving them in politics. However, those invited to the hunting competition were, as the Empress said, individuals chosen solely based on their looks. There were far more commoners than noble youths among them.
Some greeted the Empress half-naked, having already disrobed their upper bodies before setting off on horseback. There was no sign of the dignified traditions or grandeur of the Empire in their lighthearted attitude. Nevertheless, the Empress seemed to relish it, her eyes sparkling with delight.
‘Why is my protector so immature?’
I detested these unscheduled hours. It was my job to please the Empress by making a hundred concessions, so it made no sense to waste my time on such a low-priority task.
The prize money for the winner of the hunting competition, tailored to the Empress’s extravagant tastes, was also the highest ever. She treated the national treasury as her personal wallet. Did money spring up from the ground? To fill the treasury, the country must be well managed to generate revenue through taxes.
All the money that the Empress lavishly spent had to be replenished by me through sustainable and legitimate means.
‘I’m sure there will be gossip… How should I package this? Perhaps portray it as a policy that focuses on recruiting talents based on abilities rather than discriminating by social status…’
I desperately tried to utilize this outrageously unproductive time. I must have dozed off while brainstorming ways to improve the Empress’s public image.
Mmm.
In the distance, a voice seemed to reach me—like someone whispering through a thick glass window.
It wasn’t clear, echoing faintly nearby, but I knew someone was talking. The warm sunlight tickled my cheek. It was far too bright for my liking…
“…Why has the Knight Commander come all the way here?”
My eyes snapped open at the sound of the Empress’s gentle voice.
Knight Commander?
Lecan?
I blinked.
While the Empress enjoyed the hunting competition sitting in a splendid chair, I stood behind her, nodding off. Unlike her, I had no place to lean on, so even the slightest stimulus brought me back to consciousness.
The man standing in front of the Empress, who had just stepped onto the dais, was unmistakably Lecan.
Why was he here?
As an adversary I needed to eliminate, I had studied Lecan more deeply than anyone else. Lecan had planted spies to monitor me, but I, too, received daily reports about him. As the greatest threat to the imperial family, it was only right that I should be sensitive to his every move.
‘I thought he was supposed to be having lunch with the Princess around this time?’
Lecan was an even bigger workaholic than I was. If my pursuit of perfection was akin to self-flagellation, Lecan was simply someone who enjoyed his work from the very core of his being.
‘Why was he at a hunting tournament…’
After repeating similar thoughts several times, I suddenly realized. It was the same feeling when Lecan had inexplicably appeared as an examiner at Persi Academy. And when he attended the ball.
I’d felt a similar sense of awkwardness.
Would I be deluded to think that he was using the hunt as an excuse to meet me? Was I being overly self-conscious if I felt him glancing briefly at me before shifting his gaze back to the Empress as he bowed?
“I happened to be dining with Her Highness the Princess when I heard that Her Majesty the Empress was holding a hunting tournament. The Princess graciously offered me a handkerchief, and I couldn’t refuse.”
Lecan’s face was calm as he revealed the handkerchief, as if that was indeed the reason. The Empress, who had been surprisingly lighthearted when dealing with the other handsome commoner huntsmen, now assumed a dignified air in front of Lecan. She raised her chin, elegantly nodding her head after casually examining his expression.
“It’s an insignificant little contest, but since you personally offered to grace us with your participation, I have no reason to refuse. Welcome.”
‘A handkerchief?’
However, my attention was elsewhere. I stared at the handkerchief tied to Lecan’s sword hilt. Despite being tired to the point of dozing off, my mind was strangely fixated on the embroidery on that handkerchief.
It was pretty and delicate. It was so intricate that one wouldn’t think it could be completed in just a day or two. It seemed to be made of carefully chosen gold and silver threads, likely quite valuable. The emblems of Lecan’s family and the imperial family were embroidered together, and embroidering the emblems of both households in this way was usually done when they were to be joined through marriage…
“…!”
Somehow, our eyes met.
