***
Delight and Blueny were still not coming out of the room.
However, the atmosphere was different from what everyone had imagined.
“The laboratory in the Kingdom of Soren, as well as the mine producing counterfeit magic stones, will never be restored.”
Delight declared firmly.
From the moment he learned of its existence, he had no intention of leaving it as it was.
When he realized that the Kingdom of Soren might be producing counterfeit magic stones, Delight made a plan.
His plan was to infiltrate Radon and his fellow beastmen to deal with it.
“Are you just going to let Jayren go like that?”
“I only let him go because it’s better to use him for now. It’s not because of you.”
“I handed him over to you on purpose, you know.”
“I know. You were trying to end it with that fool king of Soren along with me.”
Delight looked at her quietly and spoke.
“Did you really think I would harm you?”
“……….”
“Rather than harm you, I would just let Jayren live.”
“Stop doing things like that because of me!”
“Then you should also give up on such thoughts.”
For the first time, Delight’s tone turned harsh.
As if warning her that he wouldn’t forgive her if she did it again.
“Then what’s the point of me coming back? I came back for you…”
She mumbled with a downcast look.
“Didn’t you come back because you missed me?”
“What?”
“Jayren and the counterfeit magic stones were just excuses. The truth is, you missed me, right?”
“What are you talking about?! Do you know how worried I was about you?! I thought something might have happened to you… so I thought I had to protect you somehow!”
She became agitated and raised her voice in frustration.
Delight, watching her like that, instead smiled.
“See, that means you missed me.”
“………..”
“…… I understand now.”
The emotions embedded in her words were fully conveyed.
Perhaps that was why he started to like her.
“I know someone who expresses their affection just like you.”
“Don’t tell me it’s that teacher you keep mentioning?”
Blueny, flustered by Delight’s pointed comment, cautiously asked.
She didn’t know much about his teacher.
Still, even from the few passing remarks, she could tell how much he missed him.
“That’s right. My teacher always got angry, worrying about me and caring for me.”
So she understood.
That the worries that come out roughly, rather than sweet words, are often filled with more affection. It means a heart so big that it can’t be contained.
“Is that why you’re glad when I get angry?”
Seeing her like that, he felt at ease.
In fact, until he understood her feelings, he had been anxious all along.
“When I realized you were pretending to have lost your memory, I was worried that it was because you didn’t want to be involved with the imperial palace.”
Blueny’s eyes widened slightly as if she hadn’t expected him to think that way.
Then, she calmly opened her mouth to speak.
“Just seeing you and Violyana when I returned to the imperial palace was more than enough for me.”
To the point where she didn’t wish for anything more.
When she returned to the imperial palace, she was grateful for everything.
“I regretted it.”
But Delight’s heart was different.
For the past 20 years, he had known nothing but war.
It was the only thing he could see in front of him.
His only focus was on defeating Ilnord.
He had no energy to spare for anything else.
Naturally, he had no interest in marriage.
He always preferred to work alone, as it was more convenient. To him, having a family was nothing more than an additional burden.
But in the end, he did get married, and even then, he believed that nothing would change.
He thought marriage was just a formality.
‘That’s what I believed.’
When she passed away, leaving only the child behind, he realized painfully what he had been missing.
That’s why he wanted to be a father to Ollia.
He tried to fill that empty space as much as possible, wondering many times what she would have done if she were still alive.
“I took the place where you should have been.”
If only he had come to his senses a little earlier.
She wouldn’t have left, and Olila would have had a mother from the start.
Delight blamed his foolish self from the past.
At that moment—
Thud!
Blueny smacked Delight on the head.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“W-why did you do that all of a sudden?”
“Who took whose place?”
“That’s…”
“If you put it that way, then I didn’t trust you either.”
“I didn’t act in a way that deserved trust.”
“I already knew that when we got married. It’s not your fault.”
“……….”
Somehow, it felt like she was insulting him, and it didn’t seem like it was just his imagination.
“Don’t belittle my resolve. I’ve never once regretted marrying you.”
She spoke firmly, clearly stating that her feelings had never wavered.
“Thank you for loving someone like me. Thanks to you, we were able to be together.”
Delight burst into light laughter. He was in a good mood.
Blueny watched him quietly and then spoke.
“Doesn’t it make you feel resentful that Soren deceived you?”
That part had been weighing on her mind.
“I didn’t trust Soren. I trusted you. So, I never felt betrayed.”
When they first got married, he calculated the benefits of the alliance.
But at some point, the presence of the empress grew more significant. By then, the Kingdom of Soren had already lost its value as an ally.
It only held meaning as the empress’s homeland.
For a long time now, Blueny had taken priority over the alliance.
Foolishly, he had failed to realize it clearly.
“Just as it has been until now, from here on out, you alone will be my wife and Ollia’s mother.”
Before being emperor and empress, they were husband and wife — a family…
As he thought that far, Delight blinked slowly.
“Now that I think about it, how long have we been in here?”
“……Well, that’s…”
Before they knew it, a week had passed.
Caught up in their time together, they hadn’t bothered counting the days.
They only realized it when they noticed that the meals had been left at the door by the attendants, revealing how long they had been alone.
“When did so much time pass?”
“Hasn’t anyone come looking for us all this time?”
“Ever since I ran to you, we’ve been here…”
Everyone must be worried.
And there were still unresolved issues too.
“Don’t tell me…”
Both of them had the same thought at the same time.
“Everyone must be chattering about us by now.”
“This isn’t the time for this. We have to get out of here quickly.”
Blueny, flustered, checked her clothes and tried to open the door.
“Wait. Are you just going to walk out like that?”
“What? Are you embarrassed?”
“It’s not that, but…”
“It’s not like we did anything wrong.”
With a relaxed smile, Blueny grabbed the doorknob.
***
Finally, the door opened.
The news that the two had come out spread throughout the entire imperial palace in an instant.
Everyone had been keeping an eye on the emperor’s room while pretending not to care.
I had been waiting for them and greeted them.
Their faces seemed to turn a little red.
But that made it all the more entertaining to watch.
“Mom and Dad made up, right?”
So, I asked them outright on purpose.
What would a child know, anyway?
I was just a child worried about my parents fighting.
When I asked, they exchanged glances. Then, Delight awkwardly smiled and opened his arms as he approached me.
“Ollia, were you waiting for Daddy?”
“No way! I had so much fun with Monia and Serdin! I didn’t wait for you at all!”
“……Really? You didn’t miss Daddy at all?”
“Huh?”
Is he sulking right now?
He should be proud that I said I was fine like a mature child.
Honestly, getting upset over something like this.
“I missed you. Both Daddy and Mommy!”
“……Did you just call me that?”
“Yes! From now on, please, please, please take good care of me, Mommy!”
“Of course! Then, can I call you O-Ollia too?”
“Of course! Until now, only Daddy and Serdin could call me that, but I’ll allow Mommy to call me that too!”
“……Thank you so much.”
Blueny, overwhelmed with emotion, was trembling as she reached out her hand.
Meanwhile, Delight muttered in a small voice, complaining about why Serdin’s name was included, but I decided to pretend I didn’t hear it.
And for the first time in a week, they sat together as a complete family to share a meal.
But as I watched them during the meal—
‘It wasn’t just a simple argument caused by a misunderstanding between them, was it?’
The two of them were now proving that fact with their actions.
