For My Derelict Favorite

Before returning to politics in earnest, Kaelus decided to visit a secret library in the imperial palace library.

The secret library was a place where the latest confidential information was stored at home and abroad, and was accessible only to those specially approved by the emperor.

Kaelus was a close aide to the emperor and crown prince and a high-ranking nobleman that attended cabinet meetings since the time when the original novel was in full swing, and naturally had access.

“If you want to go to the Imperial Palace, I’ll go with you.”

“Whatever you want.”

I couldn’t let my favorite go alone, so I decided to go out together with him. I’ll wait around while he’s in the secret library.

Preparations for going out were finished quickly because it wasn’t intended for meeting the royal family. There’s a free pass for the main gate of the palace if it’s Kaelus. I got a taste of a new world where an outing to the imperial palace could be this simple.

The carriage stopped when it reached the front of the library.

“Can I enter the general library?”

Kaelus replied with a tone of utter nonsense.

“Of course, you’re a noble, too.”

“Well, I see….”

It’s obvious that I’ve never been to the library.

I’m embarrassed.

“Oh….”

I followed Kaelus around the interior of the library. As described in the original novel, it had a neat and elegant atmosphere.

However, the library always appears for a different purpose in the original rofan novel. Isn’t the library a regular place where Diana and Helios engaged in affection?

Diana and Helios had such a big love affair in this library. I didn’t study what to do in this situation.

Anyway, I decided to do it like the original characters since I came to this dating spot with my favorite for a long time.

“Then I’ll go to the secret library. You stay here.”

“Oh, yes.”

I failed.

Kaelus drifted away and I was left alone in the middle of the general library.

“Well….”

There’s no hesitation. What a cold guy.

I decided to put aside my regrets for now. Shouldn’t I read something in the library? I’m an aide to the crown prince after all.

I wandered around the bookshelf and skimmed through the title of a book that looked mildly interesting. What did Diana read in the original? From the memory of a passionate reader who binge-read countless times, it was probably a novel.

It’s strange. Given the concerns of a saintess who cares about the people, shouldn’t she be the first to see documents such as social status reports? But in the original novel, she was reading a sweet romance that was perfect for Helios to make fun of.

“Yeah, that’s it..”

I smirked when I found a title that didn’t go with this magnificent palace library. [The Emperor’s Woman.] It’s seems like the title of a novel about a royal battle.

I took out the book with a burst of laughter inside. There happened to be an empty seat nearby.

Now, let’s calm down and read….

“…?”

There is an air of darkness somewhere. A spine-chilling sensation.

“….”

I looked back timidly.

“!”

Damn. Why wasn’t the bad hunch wrong?

A tall man with yellow eyes and black hair came silently and stood like a statue.

“Your expression is worth seeing.”

“…Greetings to your highness.”

I got emotional for a moment, so my greeting came out a beat late. You’d think I’d forgive you because of that face.

Helios opened his mouth indifferently.

“I happened to have something to say, so that’s good. Come out for a second.”

I looked at the book I was about to read, and at the secret library. Then I asked back in my usual confident manner when dealing with him.

“Do I have to go far?”

“What?”

With a grim stare, I pointed in the direction in which Kaelus walked.

“My husband is in the secret library. I was waiting nearby just in case he had a seizure.”

“Kael is here?”

Only then did his eyes soften a little, but his tone was still curt.

“It won’t take long. Are you going to ignore my orders just to read such a popular novel?”

“…I’m sorry.”

Damn it. Did you see it already? Anyway, he has good eyes.

After glaring at the innocent book for no reason, I followed Helios.

~~~~

As soon as I got to the quiet place, I mentioned the bomb I detonated in the chamber.

“I apologize if you found it unpleasant for me to ask for the promotion of the duke that day.”

“Well, what can I do if you don’t believe even the memorandum written by the crown prince’s seal?”

It was very sarcastic, but I honestly wondered. Didn’t you want me to explain or apologize? You’re going to end it like this? I didn’t think it would end like this because of how Helios was that day. 

I looked at Helios’ face. It certainly felt more sober and serious than angry.

His mouth opened again.

“Diana said you advised her to hide it for as long as possible.”

“!”

Oh, I guess the couple finally had a candid conversation.

That’s too bad. I wish it lasted a little longer. You should’ve done it until the relationship got awkward.

I strained my neck and pulled the tip of my lips at an angle.

“What do you mean advice? Am I a fool to give advice to the crown princess? Her highness who doesn’t trust me, and she doesn’t listen to my advice.”

Actually, I didn’t give her any advice, but I did throw a little fishing line. However, it was Diana’s own choice to be caught lying like this.

Anyway, I’m not the one who would naively say, “Yes, I did,” to Helios’ inquisitive question. What a human thing to ask.

His neat brows were distorted by my answer.

“Diana does not believe in your prophecies.”

“Oh, my lord, if she really didn’t believe in my prophecy, she would have told you earlier. Why did you ask me when you know that?”

Helios’ complexion grew darker and darker, as if I had hit the nail on the head.

By the way, this guy, it seems like there’s a hole every day by day. How are you going to be a politician if you show your face like this?

I nailed it once again.

“Your highness the crown prince, As I’ve told you before, the moment you doubt it, the prophecy is meaningless. The solution is simple. You can just leave my words and dismiss me from the position of an aide and that’s it. Why are you hesitating?”

“…that’s true. That’s why it’s more annoying.”

“….”

You’re being honest about this. It makes me feel bad.

Helios raised his chin.

“Is the next prophecy ready yet?”

“Oh….”

It’s ridiculous. He said he’d call me to a quiet place, but he meant for me to give another prophecy.

He said with a shrug.

“It’s not big enough to determine the fate of the country, but there are small things.”

“I’ll judge whether it’s a big deal or not. Your arrogance hits the sky.”

“Oh, that’s right. I beg you to forgive me for making such an arbitrary decision with my narrow opinion.”

The prophecy, which will be devoted in moderate, is extensively written in my fanatic notebook. The threat of war that Kaelus was informed of will not yet be revealed to Helios. If I tell him now, we’ll get less credit for my favorite.

As soon as Helios’ lips were about to twist violently, I cleared my throat and mentioned another prophecy.

“The fashion of dresses will change soon. In a way that emphasizes the feminine curve.”

“….”

That ridiculous expression. I know. What did I say? I warned you beforehand that it was trivial.

I shook my head.

“Your Highness, it’s not a good habit to cling to my prophecies. If you just wait for me, you’ll miss what you can see by analyzing the phenomenon.”

“Huh, you’re going to educate me?”

“You seemed impatient, so I said something presumptuous. I’m sorry to upset you.”

“….”

Why is it so quiet? I thought you’d be sarcastic right away. Even his eyes are sinking.

“Your highness…”

“…do I look impatient?”

“Oh, that’s….”

Helios muttered, expressionless.

“You said I looked tired and depressed before.”

Did I say that? A cold sweat broke out for a moment.

“Did I…??”

 “It was the first time you checked to see if my father was feeling better.”

“Aha….”

Come to think of it, I think I vaguely remember it.

The bitterness slowly spread across his face. In the end, he turned his head away.

What’s wrong with him?

“…If you don’t have anything else to say, may I go see my husband now? He’s recovered a lot, but I’m still worried.”

In the meantime, the emotion that was neatly settled on his face was slowly coming back to him.

“Did you say he was in the secret library?”

“Yes. Are you going to go?”

Helios strode away without answering my question. Wow, what kind of person is that?!

I followed him with a startled air.

“Your Highness! If you suddenly head towards him like this…!”

No way! Kaelus would not have been prepared at all to meet Helios! What if he’s the reason my favorite has a seizure and collapses?

“Your Highness Helios!”

The double-sleeve curse came up to my throat. At the same time I held back my teeth, I reached for his hem desperately.

“…!”

At that moment, Helios jerked around. The wind caused me to lose my balance and tilt forward.

“Ugh…!”

“!”

As soon as I was about to fall, his firm grasp held my arms tightly. Nevertheless, according to the law of inertia, I hit my face on the chest in front of me.

“Huh…!”

I jumped back with almost animal reflexes. The hand that was holding my arm also shook me off instinctively.

A double humiliation rang out in my head.

Damn. I haven’t even hugged my favorite yet, but I can’t believe he hugged me first.

~~~~

“…”

“…”

Neither of us could say anything for a moment.

But it’s a damned situation where I have to apologize first. I dared to bump into the body of the heavenly prince!

“…Sorry….”

“….”

That tight-lipped guy, Helios.

If I gritted my teeth and apologized, at least accept it. This personality wrecker.

“My husband will not be ready to see you yet.”

The words were cut off here and there to quell the rising anger.

But this is not the time to get angry, but to put my feet down.

“Please….”

I bent down deeply and begged. My heart thumped.

“….”

A silence that feels as if it were a bombshell.

How long has it been?

“…you.”

A barely audible voice.

“Do you really love him?”

“…?”

At a sudden question, I unknowingly straightened out my bent body.

“Yes, I love him.”

I don’t know what he’s thinking. Why do you check my love all of a sudden? No, it’s crazy.

“…is that so?”

I’m answering him, but I feel a bit lonely?

Oh, my God. Lonely. How must I look in Kaelus’ eyes? By the man who must have fallen in love because of the endless love that the heroine poured.

Helios spoke again in a rather subdued tone.

 “Alright. I’ll quit because you begged me so much.”

“Thank you, your highness!”

“….”

In spite of my intense appreciation, he turned away without any response. Then he walked straight away.

Little by little, the male lead moved away.

“…What, really.”

Anyway, that’s a relief. Helios was prevented from entering the secret library.

“Phew….”

I rubbed my chest. The tension was relieved suddenly.

Then, this time, I remembered the moment when I almost hugged him a little while ago.

“Ugh…!”

Again, my mind suddenly got hot.

Someday I’ll kill that male lead, no, get rid of him. Damn.

~~~~

“Have you waited long?”

After a long time, Kaelus, who had entered the secret library, returned. I was reading a book-actually pretending to be reading. Honestly, I was so angry that I couldn’t see the letters.

“No, you came out earlier than I expected.”

“Hmm…”

His eyes narrowed as he thought it was empty talk. I slipped away from the gaze.

“Let’s go back now.”

“Yes.”

I followed him outside. The sun was setting before I knew it.

I thought about whether to say it or not, but I finally decided to confess.

“The crown prince stopped by the library earlier. He was going to go to the secret library, so I begged him not to.”

It’s a secret that the catastrophe happened.

Kaelus’ eyebrows curled up.

“Oh, I see. It wouldn’t have been a problem if he came in.”

“But don’t let your guard down.”

I responded lightly. Then I shifted the subject to something else.

“Did you find the data you needed?”

“I got everything I needed. I had to memorize everything because of security.”

“Wow….”

Of course, documents in the secret library can’t be taken out, and in principle, it is prohibited to transcribe and leak them.

For that reason, Kaelus must have just memorized it. My favorite is so smart.

I should hurry home before he forgets what he memorized. I opened the window towards the coachman.

“Ride as fast as you can. Of course, be careful.”

“Alright, ma’am.”

The coachman, who heard my urging, waved the reins lightly. The carriage soon ran briskly.

~~~~

Late at night, I reflected on the day in the quiet room.

It’s definitely upsetting that Helios grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into his chest, but I have to put that aside and cool down.

“Diana was caught in her secret…”

I wrote this phrase in the blank space of my fanatic notebook and circled it.

Did she confide it herself? Or did she fail to overcome the interrogation and confess? Whatever it was, Helios would have made her stop treating with the meaningless divine power. Wasn’t it Helios who hated unnecessary pretense to the point where he often omits etiquette?

The part to focus on is elsewhere.

According to Helios, Diana excused herself by saying ‘She advised me to keep it secret’. Of course it didn’t work on the foxy bastard.

“In terms of timing, it was just a while ago….”

Perhaps the two shared the prophecy after Kaelus’s audience, which means that Diana kept her mouth shut even though she was suffering alone.

The truth must already be spreading in secret, seeing that Erinnis tipped off about the emperor’s condition at the concert. While stupid Diana was dragging her feet.

Helios didn’t understand the situation. No, it’s the other way around. He must also have noticed that the secret was slowly slipping away.

Nevertheless, they waited for each other. Until Diana was honest.

“It’s a tearful love. Hmph.”

Anyway, Diana gave Helios a lame excuse. You took my advice? Oh, my God, this is horse shit*.

*TN: it was a bad lie 

The whole empire knows that the person who hates me the most in the world is Diana. Rumors have spread about how I stepped on Diana’s toes at her tea party, and so she couldn’t have followed my advice so thoroughly. Even a passing dog would laugh.

Helios must have found it ridiculous too. Nevertheless, I was prepared to watch their love be destroyed.

And here too, his true feelings were revealed. Now Helios didn’t believe Diana’s words. The balance of trust between me and Diana leaned a little more towards me.

“Should I like this or not?”

I giggled.

Love and trust are one thing and another. You may love but not trust, and even if you trust, you may not have the feeling of love. Helios will still love Diana, but he will no longer trust her.

This is not a bad harvest compared to what I worked on. I couldn’t break the heart of love, but I broke the bond of trust.

In any case, due to the setting of the original novel, the only woman who the male lead loves is Diana. That’s not within my reach.

And Diana said she didn’t believe in the prophecies, but by now it’s not a matter of believing or not. She’s already feeling it day by day. The fact that she’s losing her power.

“It’s time for the temple to step up.”

When there is nothing to be done with one’s own ability alone, people usually attract the forces who will be on their side. Diana, who has a steady relationship with the temple, will be the first to open her hands to the priests.

The sooner the temple’s political intervention becomes visible, the better. That way, the public opinion that I’m collecting through Harmonia will be even more powerful.

The disclosure of the properties of the temple.

Basically, the images of priests who serve God are ‘integrity’ and ‘clean poverty’. Based on this image, Diana also performed her role as a heroine as a so-called “absolute good.”

But what if that’s not the case? What if the temple, which was thought to be saving the poor by using all of its wealth, was actually building up a huge fortune and expanding its control?

The betrayal of the common people will be indescribable. It turns out that those who are a ‘servant of God’ are no different from a greedy nobleman.

If soap is popular like Illion in the capital at the right time, the synergy effect will be excellent.

“I think I’ll have to extend my modeling contract. Hehe…”

Leave it to Helen and Pollux, and they will do well. These are models that make advertisers laugh.

Feel the tightening of the leash, Diana.

I hope you’ll be desperately lonely without anyone believing in your true feelings.

Taste even a fraction of Kaelus’ despair.

I’ll make sure you do.