Whoa!
Startled, his eyes widened as Blueny’s face suddenly appeared right in front of him.
“I really think I need to say this clearly right now.”
With a determined look, she faced Delight and began to speak.
“I’m not forcing myself to act like an empress that I have no memory of.”
She clenched her fists and continued with conviction.
“Sure, everything feels unfamiliar and strange, so I am trying to adapt! But it’s different from doing it by force. I’m doing it because I want to. It’s my own choice.”
“………”
“Or… am I making you uncomfortable? Is that why it’s annoying and bothersome for you to pay attention to me?”
Her words were filled with mixed emotions – sadness, disappointment, and worry. Yet, in her eyes, there was an unwavering look of hope as she continued to stare directly at Delight, leaving him unable to clear his mind.
“Well, it’s okay if you pay a little less attention to me. Maybe… not by half, because that would make me feel a bit neglected, but maybe just half as much?”
She murmured to herself, seemingly trying to convince herself, but her voice was loud enough for Delight to hear.
“Is that not okay either?”
Then, looking straight into Delight’s eyes again, she boldly demanded. This was a side of her he had never seen before.
How should I respond to this? He was at a loss for words, overwhelmed by confusion.
“I guess it’s a no.”
The tone of her voice made him feel as though he had committed a terrible crime.
“No… that’s not it.”
The words slipped out of Delight’s mouth without him even realizing it.
“Alright, then please continue to care for me a lot from now on!”
At the same time, Blueny eagerly accepted Delight’s response.
“I will also keep making an effort to pay attention to you.”
She further emphasized her intentions, even more eagerly than before.
How did it come to this?
Delight was left speechless, unsure of what to make of the situation.
“Our talk went well, didn’t it?”
“……..…”
As Delight observed Blueny’s relieved and refreshing smile.
He suddenly realized: somehow, he had been thoroughly wrapped around her finger.*
Her actions kept defying his expectations.
***
“What’s the empress’s condition? Is there any possibility of her memory returning?”
Delight had called in the doctor in charge of Blueny’s care for an update.
Since returning to the palace, Blueny had been receiving constant check-ups from her doctor.
The doctor had mentioned that there was no medication that could restore lost memories, leaving Delight contemplating the best approach to take.
The doctor provided a summary of his findings so far.
“Memory issues are complicated. What we’re most concerned about is when the patient feels anxious due to memory loss. Thankfully, Her Majesty the Empress does not display any such symptoms.”
He added that she seemed to be in a stable condition overall.
“So, are you saying her memories aren’t absolutely necessary?”
Noticing Delight’s deepening frown, the doctor cautiously spoke again.
“At the moment, it doesn’t seem necessary to push her to recover her memories.”
“……Understood. You may go.”
After the doctor left, Delight, now alone, let out a deep sigh.
“……Haaa.”
Even as he tugged at his shirt’s buttons, he still felt as if something was tightly constricting his throat.
The doctor had said the empress was stable, that there were no issues.
But, in truth, the real problem wasn’t her—it was Delight’s own instability.
How did things end up like this?
Images of moments from his first encounter with Blueny until now flashed through his mind.
Delight had lied to her on impulse.
If she were the person he once knew…
If she hadn’t lost her memory…
She would never have followed him here.
Perhaps, if that had been the case, he himself wouldn’t have tried to bring her back to the palace.
After much deliberation, he created a believable story about their relationship to satisfy her curiosity.
He told her that they had married due to an alliance but lived well together, relying on and respecting each other.
That they had been, in a way, a reasonably happy couple.
He persuaded her to come back to the palace with him.
He thought that nothing much would change.
With no memories, she would probably feel distant towards him. He assumed they would maintain a polite distance, as they had in the past, within the palace.
However, she acted in complete contrast to his expectations.
She made an active effort to show interest in Delight and to grow closer to him.
‘She must be trying to follow my lie, thinking we lived together with respect and consideration for one another.’
The more she trusted and depended on him without suspicion, the heavier Delight’s heart grew.
‘If she had behaved as she used to, I wouldn’t be so bothered by this.’
The harder she tried, the more he felt like he was deceiving and manipulating her.
He began to worry that once her memories returned, she would feel betrayed, realizing she had been made a fool of by him.
Delight covered his eyes with both hands, recalling the day their relationship had officially fallen apart. Her voice from that day still echoed vividly in his ears.
“What do you want me to do? Do you want me to exist here like a picture on the wall, nothing more than a decoration as empress?”
“I am the empress. I am the only one who can stand beside Your Majesty. Don’t ignore me again. I won’t stay silent next time.”
The empress had always been a proud woman.
She never held back. While she usually acted indifferent as if everything was a nuisance, she would explode in fiery anger when provoked.
Now, he found himself deceiving and betraying that very same woman.
He should never have lied to her in the first place. It was his mistake.
“……Why did it turn out like this?”
The woman who had lost her memories was so different from the one Delight once knew.
Perhaps because she accepted his words too easily, without a hint of suspicion.
He knew he couldn’t let things continue this way.
“It would be better to be honest with her.”
As Delight was about to go find Blueny…
“Your Majesty, an unexpected guest has arrived.”
Zaire rushed in, reporting with a complicated look on his face.
“The king of the Soren Kingdom has come in person.”
“What?”
The king of Soren was Blueny’s older brother.
***
“Master, master. You have to protect me! How can you ignore me like that! I was really scared. A grown Delight is too scary!”
“Haha. But you’re alright?”
“But I got permission! From now on, I don’t have to go through the window anymore! Haha!”
Hiel, who had been complaining, suddenly switched and boasted confidently.
While listening to Hiel bragging about something, I was enthusiastically praising him, saying he did a good job and that I was proud of him.
“Oh? It seems like there’s a visitor?”
“Huh? All of a sudden?”
Hiel perked up his ears, focusing on the sounds from afar.
“It seems they came to see Delight, but they might also be here for Empress Blueny.”
“…They came to see the empress?”
“That’s what it seems like.”
She still hadn’t figured out the empress’s true intentions.
Sometimes, she wondered if she genuinely had no memory, yet other times, she saw her handle nobles like Lianne with such ease, as if she was entirely at home in her role.
And now, a visitor had come specifically to see the empress.
“Let’s go.”
There was definitely something going on. She needed to accompany Hiel to the location to confirm the situation.
Following Hiel, she made her way to where the guest was waiting.
“Ollia. What are you doing here?”
Waiting in the corridor leading to the drawing room, she encountered Delight.
By the time she got here, she had learned who the guest was from the attendants’ conversations along the way.
So, I waited on purpose for Delight.
“This isn’t the kind of place you should be in right now. Dad can’t take you along…”
As expected, when Delight noticed me, he was surprised and tried to send me back.
“Dad, I want to go too.”
I stated my intention bluntly, so as not to be pushed aside. Of course, Delight looked troubled.
“Right now, Dad is going to meet a guest.”
Delight signaled Hiel to take me away.
Squeak.
Hiel avoided his gaze, resisting the instruction as best he could. During that moment, I grabbed Delight’s arm and spoke.
“The guest is the empress’s brother, right? So, it’s a family matter. I want to go along.”
“………”
“I’m family too, so I want to be there.”
I emphasized the word ‘family’ with all the strength I could muster.
At this, Delight fell silent for a moment, clearly torn. It seemed he couldn’t completely dismiss the word ‘family.’
Finally, after some hesitation, Delight opened his mouth to speak.
“That’s right. Ollia, you’re family too. Alright, let’s go together.”
Delight took my hand, and we headed to the drawing room.
From the moment I first entered the drawing room with Delight, a cold atmosphere had lingered in the air.
Quietly observing from beside Delight, I clutched Hiel’s tail tightly.
“Thank you for welcoming me like this.”
Jayren, the king of Soren, smiled boldly as he greeted us.
“I don’t see any reason to turn away someone who willingly walked into the lion’s den.”
Delight responded coolly.
After Soren’s betrayal, breaking their alliance, they were practically an enemy nation.
The king’s personal visit was, in essence, a provocation.
“Haha. I understand how reckless it is for me to come here like this. I’ve come here with my life on the line.”
Jayren chuckled, feigning ease, as he addressed Delight.
“Nonetheless, the reason I’ve come directly to the Empire is because of Blueny.”
At that moment…
“My brother came to see me?”
Blueny entered, having heard the news.
Without any memory of her family, her gaze drifted around the room until it settled on Jayren.
“Blueny!”
Jayren leapt to his feet and embraced her.
“You’re alive. You don’t know how shocked and happy I was to hear that you’d returned.”
“….……”
“To think I’d see you again like this… I missed you so much, sister.”
Unlike Jayren’s overwhelming emotions, Blueny seemed flustered and unsure of what to do.
In fact, she appeared rather uncomfortable, gently pushing Jayren away as he held her.
But he didn’t react with disappointment; instead, he composed himself and respectfully stepped back, showing consideration for her discomfort.
“That’s right. They told me you don’t remember.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright. Just because you don’t remember doesn’t mean we’re not family. For me, the fact that you’re back is more than enough.”
Jayren was genuinely moved to be reunited with his cherished sister, Blueny.
“I knew coming here was the right decision.”
Unable to conceal his emotion, he turned to Delight and spoke again.
“I’ve come to take Blueny with me.”
That was the very purpose of his journey to the Empire.
🍓; *He was completely under the woman’s control or influence. It implies that she could easily persuade him or get him to do whatever she wanted because of his strong feelings for her, whether affection, admiration, or infatuation.
