Chapter 36
The emperor’s bedroom was dark. Inside the bed, draped with curtains, it was pitch black.
The atmosphere was quite peaceful, thanks to the faint scent of incense and the open windows. There were no palace attendants lingering around, as they had a private audience. The emperor’s palace was thoroughly under Clyde’s control.
In the tightly closed bedroom, he didn’t say a word to his father.
He only gazed out the window, lost in thought.
As he was about to leave after the visit, he briefly lifted the curtain. It was to ensure that the situation remained unchanged as he had arranged.
A dried-up corpse, preserved and covered in a white cloth, lay there.
After confirming that his father’s body was still intact under the cloth, he stepped back. The room was perfectly cleaned, and the surface, which had turned a dark brown, was just as it had been the previous week.
Though he usually left without saying a word, today he felt compelled to speak to the corpse. Perhaps it was because he was overwhelmed with emotion, now that he had a strong ally in Edith.
“One day, when I have the strength, I will lay Your Majesty to rest in peace.”
He believed that once his position became solidified through the upcoming martial arts tournament, he would be able to overcome the current awkward situation. He could then officially announce the emperor’s passing and await the day when he could ascend the throne without external pressure.
His father’s passing had come too early.
It was a time when Clyde couldn’t say a word against the arrogant nobles. His father hadn’t lasted three months after the assassination.
The reality before him was harsh, more than the sorrow. Faced with the choice of crumbling or hiding the truth, Clyde had to make a tough decision.
“Rest in peace. I will return.”
He let down the curtain and turned away from the mummified body.
More important than anything in the emperor’s palace was keeping everyone quiet. He met with all the palace attendants who knew the secret and listened to their updates. In fact, he visited every week just to go through this process.
Among them, he didn’t miss speaking with the one who resembled the emperor.
This person was a palace attendant kept for the purpose of appearing at public events when necessary. Although his bare face was slightly different from his father’s, with makeup, he could look almost identical even from a few steps away.
In the quiet emperor’s palace, Clyde’s weekly routine ended like this.
* * *
Edith read the neatly written Korean words on the canopy of the bed, having gone to bed earlier than usual.
Her bright eyes followed the notice of the original work, as she couldn’t sleep.
[As he walked away, leaving Adrian behind, his steps were heavy.]
[As he and the attendant Edith turned the corner, hurried footsteps could be heard in the distance. It was him. Adrian seemed to float into his arms, as if his feet didn’t touch the ground.]
Huh, I’ve seen this scene somewhere before.
[“Could you spare a moment? I have something to say.”]
[“Adrian, it’s hard for me to part as well. What should we do?”]
[“Your Highness…”]
This is the incident from when Adrian visited the palace a few days ago.
And from Clyde’s perspective, no less.
The new story includes that event. How could this be?
There is a clear difference between the hologram I saw before and this one. The original work I saw four years ago was later, based on Edith’s timeline. It could help predict and deal with future events.
But this episode is about a past event. Something I’ve already experienced.
If the next chapter also deals with past events, it won’t be of much use to Edith.
Wait a minute… Now that I look at it, there’s a slight sense of strangeness.
Adrian and Clyde did say something similar. I don’t remember every word, but…
But what’s this strange feeling of similarity yet difference?
[Clyde wanted to kiss Adrian’s tearful eyes. If there hadn’t been anyone around, he surely would have.]
[Instead, he wrapped Adrian’s raised arms around his neck. The Omega’s scent, reminiscent of iris flowers, lifted his spirits. Along with the tingling sensation, a sense of satisfaction filled him.]
It’s different! It’s definitely different!
I can pinpoint what this strangeness is in this passage.
The two are pretending to be lovers. There’s no way Clyde felt any excitement towards Adrian.
The text in the original isn’t accurate.
It’s hard to assume that feelings have changed invisibly. Even yesterday, when Edith briefly mentioned Adrian, Clyde grumbled.
‘What on earth is going on?’
Is it a parallel theory or something like that?
Are Clyde and Adrian in another world sweet and affectionate as in the original, while they’re not in this world?
‘With my sharp intuition, it feels like someone who watched from the side wrote it.’
If we assume that this world is the same as the world of the original, that text is seriously strange. The author can’t not know the characters’ emotions. But they seem to misunderstand them.
When Clyde was putting on a show that day, it feels like a spy saw it and wrote it down. Like an audience rather than the creator of the world.
And not seeing the whole picture, just a part of it.
Did the author not see the moment when Adrian gave Edith a heads-up?
That’s impossible!
It’s all impossible, and yet the hologram floating before me is equally impossible.
The Korean text was gradually disappearing. There was so much to uncover, yet the hint was already over.
Edith reached out into the air in vain. She knew it was futile, but she acted on her lingering disappointment.
How would the next part of the story unfold? She was incredibly curious, yet she had no choice but to wait for the original hologram to appear, which could happen at any time in any form.
With her mind full of thoughts and unable to sleep, she tossed and turned in her bed.
There was no one beside her. It was a rare success for her to return home today.
Earlier, Edith had strongly requested Clyde to let her go back home, arguing that all she needed to do was practice for the tournament, so there was no need to stay in a separate room. He couldn’t find any reason to refuse and reluctantly let her go.
At this rate, she would probably be able to return home early more regularly. They had agreed that aside from official duties, she would focus solely on shooting practice.
She pulled the chilly, worn-out blanket up to her chin and tried to force herself to sleep. All she had to do was go to the shooting range at dawn for training. She had asked several maids to wake her up early and had checked that her clock was set correctly.
Was it because she was in a different bed? Or because she had read the original novel?
Lost in countless thoughts and concerns, Edith fell asleep much later than she would have in the crown prince’s bed.
* * *
“Lady Ketzmorris?”
The voice of a young man echoed charmingly in the bedroom of an unmarried woman.
“Lady, do you know what time it is?”
He called her unfamiliar title for a while, and then, seemingly irritated, his tone turned brusque.
The touch on her shoulder was familiar. The same hand had woken her up yesterday, and the day before that.
“Ugh.”
“Wake up, or you’ll be late for your schedule.”
The man’s grip on her hand was oddly tight, as if he was holding back his irritation by squeezing her hand.
The scratchy blanket rubbed against her neck, reminding her that she was in a different bed than yesterday. She had fallen asleep at home after a long time.
But why was this man here?
“Clyde?”
He was dressed smartly in his morning workout clothes, as if he had just finished a dawn training session. He raised one eyebrow, showing his displeasure.
“I waited for a long time, but you didn’t show up.”
“Huh, what time is it?”
“The sun has been up for a while. Even if we leave right now, we’ll barely make it in time for your meeting with the officials.”
Through his shoulder, she saw the anxious maids peeking in. Whether they had overslept or she had just not woken up, she couldn’t tell. But one thing was certain: she was extremely late.
“Oh no…”
She jumped out of bed as if a spring had been attached to her back.
As she hurriedly prepared for the morning, Clyde stood by the door, waiting. He folded his arms and tapped his forearm, silently urging her to hurry. As soon as she came out of the dressing room, having changed her clothes, he gave a nod, signaling her to move.
“I waited at the shooting range all morning.”
“I’m sorry.”
“There’s still plenty of time before the tournament, but Edith, you’re not in a position to be so relaxed, having just started practicing shooting.”
“……”
“I was worried from the moment you said you’d commute from Ketzmorris to the shooting range. The journey isn’t easy.”
“……”
The distance from the Pillar of the Earth Hill to the Imperial Palace wasn’t that far, but Edith had to keep her mouth shut, feeling guilty for standing up the crown prince.
“If you can’t wake up, you might as well leave it to me.”
Of course, this was bound to come up.
“I promise I won’t be late tomorrow.”
“No, don’t push yourself. Just sleep comfortably in my room, and we can start together.”
Clyde’s horse led the way as they hurried back to the palace. There was no time to argue.
Thus, after successfully returning home for just one day, Edith was back in the daily grind of living and working at her job.
* * *
Edith received the news that her sample test results were out.
As she waited for the doctor, her mind was in turmoil. She had considered various causes for her change in temperament but couldn’t figure it out.
The best guess she could make was that her other self from another world had become Edith.
Many events, different from the original story, were unfolding around her. Given these similarities, she wondered if the reason for the suspicion that she might be an Omega and the subsequent temperament test was because another entity had entered her body.
But this was just speculation without any evidence. Omega traits are physical characteristics, and it didn’t seem like a change in soul would alter the body.
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