How Are You?
It was a long journey that took two weeks to travel from the royal palace to the imperial palace of the Elschweig Empire without a break.
The large-scale march under the imperial flag reached the eastern border of the kingdom after a full week had passed since its departure.
During that time, they had stopped three times.
The house, which had been extensively renovated for the emperor’s visit, was quite well-equipped, offering a place to change horses as well as other facilities for people to stay and rest.
The problem was that the imperial entourage was so large that not all of them could be accommodated in the house.
For this reason, most attendants and coachmen stayed in carriages or tents, except for the emperor, staff, ministers, and a few senior attendants.
However, Riella was given a room at the house. Also, a room with large windows and lots of sunlight.
“Miss Riella Blinite. I will guide you to the bedroom where you will be staying tonight. Come this way.”
With no proper title and no role, just ‘Miss Riella Blinite.’ She wondered if it was okay for her to occupy one of the rooms.
Feeling uncomfortable and apologetic, she tried to decline, but the answer that came back to Riella was always the same. It was the will of His Majesty the Emperor and should be followed.
‘The will of His Majesty…what does that mean?’
Arriving in the bedroom lit by the sunset, Riella thought of the emperor. He is like the sun that shines out of the sunset, which is as strong as burning and sometimes far away from reach.
“I…I brought you a meal.”
It was then that a young voice shook Riella’s mind and woke her up.
Turning her head, a short brown-haired girl was hesitating in the doorway, holding a small tray of some food.
“Oh, sorry. I should have gone out and picked it up myself.”
“No! There were some workers left, and there were also orders to take care of Lady Riella’s meals..…”
“I’m not ‘Lady’.”
“yes?”
“You just said ‘Lady Riella’. You don’t have to call me that much. It’s okay if you just call me by name.”
“Oh, no. How dare I…”
The girl blushed in a creeping voice.
Riella looked at the girl lovingly and gave a small smile. Come to think of it, the girl was the only one smaller and weaker than her that Riella had met since in the royal palace.
“Lou…is my name.”
“Lou… It’s a pretty name. Are you from the kingdom of Liotta?”
“Oh, How do you know that?”
The girl who introduced herself as ‘Lou’ widened her eyes and smiled shyly.
The Liotta Kingdom and the Elschweig Empire used the same language and writing, but there were subtle differences in accents.
So Riella would have recognized her immediately. Besides, Riella was from the same kingdom as her.
“Actually, I went to the Empire for the first time along with this delegation. Before that, I worked at the royal warehouse in Liotta.”
“What? You’ve been working for the royal family, so why the empire now?”
“Well, by order of His Majesty the King.…”
Riela frowned the moment when she heard about Lou’s situation. She knew that the king had offered all sorts of tributes to the empire to ask for forgiveness and flatter them, but she could never have thought that he would send people as he pleases like objects.
Recognizing the meaning, Lou suddenly started waving her hands.
“Oh, it’s not as you think! Well, it’s true that I was transferred as part of the tributes. But His Majesty the Emperor of the Empire promised us a very generous reward….”
“Really?”
She said that the emperor made such a promise to those whom the royal family sent out as an apology.
“yes! That’s why we were all clamoring to go! There were so many applicants, so I’m lucky. I am also very grateful to His Majesty the Emperor.”
“I see. Thanks to His Majesty’s kindness, I wasn’t alone in visiting the Empire for the first time.”
Lou blushed again at Riella’s kind words. So the two of them continued their awkward but friendly conversation.
After shaking off his shyness, Lou started chatting in a rather cute way.
So, my family.…, If I make money…, When I go to the imperial palace…
Lou’s chatter, which continued without a moment to get bored, Finally turned to questions for Riella.
Riella, who had been listening to Lou with a smile the whole time, thought she would answer any questions as brightly as Lou.
“So what is Riella planning to do? Are you going to live in the imperial palace? Are you going to stay with His Majesty?”
“….”
“Yes…I think.”
“yes?”
‘Yeah. What will happen to me from now on?’
In Riella’s troubled mind, the words of the emperor, which she heard once, came to mind.
“Don’t regret it. I don’t know how far I’ll take you.”
Those were the last words she heard from him. Riella never saw the emperor after that. He’s too busy getting ready to leave the kingdom, too busy coming back.
At the end of the long procession, Riella, who was following them, stretched her neck, but all she could see was the red Imperial flag waving in the distance. The emperor was probably around there, and of course, he couldn’t see it with her eye.
“I’m curious…”
Riella unknowingly spewed out her inner feelings. She forgot that Lou was listening right next to her.
“What? What are you curious about?”
“Oh, no. just…”
‘What did he mean by those words, what would he do with me in the future, why he didn’t show his face these days, and why he was so busy. So in other words…’
‘How are you?’
Just as he once wondered about her, Riella wondered about him.
* * *
It was a few hours later, around sunset, when Lou got a stomach ache.
“Argh!”
“Oh, Lou. Are you okay?”
Lou was rolling on the dirt floor vomiting up what she had eaten. Riella, who found Lou while taking a night walk, immediately ran to the medical room with Lou on her back.
The on-duty officer’s eyes widened as he recognized Lou.
“It’s just an upset stomach. People with weak physical strength often felt this after a long journey. You’ll feel better if you eat something and rest.”
“It still hurts a lot, don’t you have any painkillers?”
“no.”
Riela bit her lips.
There was a large first-aid kit behind the on-duty officer who was yawning in boredom. On the journey of hundreds of people, and a full medical team, it was hard to believe they didn’t have basic medicine supplies.
‘It’s not that there’s no medicine, it’s that there’s no medicine to give to Lou.’
She’s young, a mere servant, and she was not even an imperial citizen.
Riella considered arguing with the officer on duty but decided against it and walked into the medical room.
“Wait. What are you doing?”
“I want to put the child in the bed. You said she needs to get some rest.”
“There are no beds here.”
When Riella looked at the empty beds in the barracks with an absurd expression, the officer moved a few steps and blocked Riella’s gaze with his body.
“That is an emergency bed. Other than that, I don’t have any bed. so just go out and lay her on the floor. I’ll lend you a blanket.”
“No.”
When Riella was about to lose her temper, Lou on her back muttered in a weak voice. “Riella, I’m fine, really, don’t fight because of me…”
She was upset, but Lou was right. Even if she argued with the officer on duty here, there would be no benefit to Lou, who had to work in the imperial family from now on.
Riella looked at the officer with resentment, and as if she had made up her mind, she carried Lou on her back and headed to her bedroom.
“Oh, no. How dare I lie in Riella’s bed…”
“It’s okay, lie down. I’ll bring you some water. If I ask the manager of the house, I should be able to get some medicine.”
“Hmph…Still… I’m sorry.”
Lou’s eyes were filled with tears.
Riella gently stroked Lou’s forehead, where her hair was tangled in a cold sweat.
Riella could fully understand Lou’s feelings. She knew how much it meant to have someone reach out to you when you were alone and scared.
“Sleep now.”
As Riella patted Lou on the back, she thought of Herhan, who had once comforted her like this.
‘Did he do this to me too? Did he look at me with such affection?’
* * *
“The horse has been replaced. The wheel check has also been completed, and everything is fine.”
After the house manager’s report, Herhan hesitated as if he had something to say before opening his mouth.
“Is there any particular problem in the guest room?”
“What room…. any particular problem?”
The question was asked innocently, and Herhan looked away, unable to explain. Instead, it was Asion who rephrased the question, very specifically and kindly.
“What is the condition of the guest in room 201? Did she not run away, did she unpack safely, did she have a good dinner and slept well, etc.”
“Ah. That’s what you meant.”
Asion, who sighed deeply, held back what he wanted to add.
At each house, Herhan always called the manager like this to check on Riella’s current situation. It wasn’t just when he stopped to rest in the house. Even while on the march, Riella’s coachman was summoned before the emperor at least twice, morning and evening.
However, after asking the people, Herhan couldn’t even spy on her that much.
At best, he only asked if Riella was eating well and whether she was sick.
‘If that’s the case, you could have just summoned me to check on her. Did you even argue with your lover?’
While Asion looked at His lord, Herhan looked only at the manager.
The manager was sweating and flipping through the guest list, and then his face lit up.
“Room 201… Riella Blinite……. Ah, the red-haired lady, of course, I recognize her but don’t worry. By now, the medicine has worked, so she must have gotten a lot better.”
“what? medicine?”
At the unexpected report, Herhan asked reflexively and immediately frowned.
The manager was also taken aback by the emperor’s reaction.
‘Isn’t this right or what did I do wrong?’
“yes. I have given her the most effective painkiller we’ve ever had.….”
“Is the guest in room 201 sick?”
“Oh, didn’t you know and ask? She came to the management office in a hurry and said that she had a stomach upset and body aches, so I gave her medicine.”
The emperor’s complexion turned pale in an instant. It was as if he was the one with the upset stomach, not the woman in room 201.
Instead of the emperor who shut his mouth with a grim expression, Asion asked the manager a few more questions and sent him back.
Finally, in the room where only the two of them were left, Asion cautiously opened his mouth.
“It won’t be serious. I’ll send someone right now to check on Miss Riella’s condition.”
“Yes.”
He said that, but both the speaker and the listener knew that was a very poor answer.
“Or would you like to go by yourself?”
Herhan flinched at the suggestion as if he’d finally gotten over the atmosphere.
“If it’s room 201, it’s right next door, so it’s close.”
“….”
“If you’re worried about people’s eyes, I’ll bring you a robe that can cover your face.”
“….”
Even after saying that, the emperor remained silent.
‘You still haven’t made up your mind.’
Asion turned to leave, not wanting to ask his lord any further.
“Plum wine too…”
Then an answer full of hesitation flew at the back of Asion’s head.
Asion turned around with an absurd expression. It was the first time he had ever seen the lord talk so hesitantly.
“They say plums are good for the stomach.”
“I didn’t ask.”
Embarrassed, Herhan immediately made up his mind and stood up.
Then he shamelessly gave additional missions to Asion.
“Bring some fresh water and some good food for energy recovery.”
Asion was wondering if he could say something to his lord.
It was funny, but he was more used to the emperor being brazen than to see him constantly being nervous like a puppy with his owner off.
* * *
