Maybe he is a good person
“Sorry. your majesty.”
Riella rose from her seat and stood in front of Herhan, hands clasped together.
In a situation where the emperor openly said he was upset, she couldn’t just lower her head and remain silent.
Only then did Herhan nod his head in satisfaction while narrowly squinting his eyes as if playfully scolding Riella.
Seeing that gaze, Riella slightly bit her lips.
This is a reprimand. How dare she hurt the emperor’s heart?
‘I feel like he knows everything about my situation. It’s like he’s telling me not to worry because he’s not going to misunderstand me.’
“I came to make sure that your luggage was unpacked. I was busy with a meeting yesterday. But…”
After confirming that Riella had slept well, Herhan looked around the room for the second time, and the maids who filled the room for the third time and continued.
“I didn’t know there were so many workers here.”
When Herhan asked his attendants who were lined up behind him, one of his ministers explained the situation.
“These are the people who have volunteered to assist us while His Majesty was away on a tour. All of them are from noble families with a good reputation, and they are well-educated in many ways.…”
“Really?”
Anyone would notice that Herhan’s questioning voice had some undesirable light on it.
The minister sensed it too and hastily added another word.
“Of course, everyone entered the palace after receiving permission from Countess Tessel and following official procedures.”
Countess Tessel was the head maid of the west palace.
Hiring and arranging maids or servants was originally handled by the head maid unless there was a special order from the superiors.
This was even more frequent in the case of the West Palace, which was not the main palace, but rather a villa for guests and ambassadors.
In this place, the officer in charge tended to finish miscellaneous tasks on their own, without having to submit approval documents to the emperor.
“I see. It would be trustworthy if the head maid at the West Palace Personally appointed them.”
Fortunately, the new emperor also seemed to accept the imperial custom well.
The minister rubbed his chest, and one by one, the maids, who had been nervous all along, lifted their heads and began to bow before the emperor.
“Greetings, Your Majesty. I am Lorielle Igdnis. I am the second daughter of Count Igdnis, who served as a public affairs officer here in the imperial palace….”
“Meet Your Majesty. I am the cousin of Liam Tio, the Lord of Leiden, and my grandfather told me to be sure to greet Your Majesty…”
“It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty. I wonder if you remember me? My mother has been delivering flowers to the imperial family for generations, and since childhood, Her Majesty has loved my mother’s tulips so much…”
For a while, the young ladies introduced themselves endlessly.
Rather than greeting the emperor as a maid, they seemed intent on telling the emperor one more line of her family name and one line of her father’s name.
The Emperor’s entourage frowned at her openly insincere demeanor. Asion even closed his eyes and made a sullen face.
But the emperor was different. He listened to every one of the young ladies lined up in earnest and nodded.
After hearing the greeting from a confident young lady whose aunt once worked as a dessert manager in the imperial dining room and expressed her desire to serve the emperor with the recipes she had inherited from her aunt, the emperor opened his mouth again.
“I’m grateful that everyone applied here on purpose. I will remember all your names. Riella Blinite is a very precious person to me. So, I hope you will help her a lot in the future.”
If it’s shameless, it’s shameless. So, all the ladies widened their eyes and smiled at the emperor’s words, which would be more romantic if he were more romantic.
Of course, it was a shy smile on the outside, but many among them were hiding their sinister thoughts.
They had heard rumors that the emperor was infatuated with this woman, so they had taken it upon themselves to try and make some sort of connection, but they hadn’t expected it to be this easy.
‘Why do you have to do this?’
Among such young ladies, Riella was the only one who was confused because she didn’t know the emperor’s intentions.
‘Come to think of it, he had been like that since arriving at the imperial palace. ‘
The Emperor had always been considerate of her, but after arriving at the palace, he had become even more exaggerated and favored her.
By all means…..Like he was putting on a show to impress someone.
“Riella.”
As expected, the emperor approached Riella at that time.
He didn’t just come closer, he lowered his gaze affectionately, ran his hand through her hair, and even brought his lips close to Riella’s ear.
’30 people are watching.…!’
There are many eyes.
That’s why she should resist the emperor. Or that’s why she shouldn’t.
While Riella struggled, unable to find an answer, Herhan whispered. His lips were tickling her earlobe.
“I just memorized all the names of the maids, so if there’s someone bothering you, feel free to tell me.”
From the touch of Herhan’s breath, Riella’s face grew hot.
‘What the hell is this? I know for sure that the emperor has some ulterior motive for doing this.’
But to say something like this in a whisper that no one else can hear….
“I’m sure you’re still recovering, so get some more rest. I guess I have a busy schedule today. Instead, Jess will stay here to look after you.”
As he straightened his back again, there was a hint of a smile, a very wicked smile, at the corners of his lips.
‘Is it revenge? For being angry in front of everyone and saying I never do anything to be your favorite?’
Another man approached Riella, who still couldn’t solve her suspicious expression toward the emperor.
“Oh, hello. Doctor Jess.”
“yes. Have you had breakfast? I’m thinking of going ahead with the test I told you about yesterday.”
Today is just like yesterday. No, she swallowed hard at the sight of Jess staring down at her with eyes even harder than yesterday.
In the meantime, the emperor left first, and even the maids in the room rushed outside to see him off.
In a room where only Jess and Riella are left.
Today, when all sorts of things have been going on since morning, Liella closed and opened her eyes several times to keep her mind clear.
* * *
“Your fatigue level is pretty high, but nothing serious, I don’t see anything wrong with you right now. Have you ever been like this before?”
“No. I’ve fainted a few times, but last year was the first time I’ve lost my memories.”
Inside Riella’s room.
Riella and Jess pushed aside the refreshments aggressively prepared by the maid and sat down to finish a few tests.
The result was the same as when Carnel had examined her on the way to the Empire. She has high fatigue and weak physical strength, but no abnormalities in her body were found so serious that she lost consciousness and collapsed.
“Aren’t you faking it?”
“What?”
“Just to be sure, since you lost your memory the first time you slept with His Majesty last year, I’m wondering if it’s a habitual excuse you use whenever you want to avoid something…”
While saying that, Jess’s eyes didn’t even flicker as she said it, this meant that it wasn’t even an attack with much effort.
“No….”
Still, Riella didn’t get angry and answered calmly.
Maybe it’s because the hostility Jess shows toward her is so obvious that it’s pure. Or did she even get used to his insincerity in just one day? She wasn’t too upset.
“Yes. All right. Then, this is the end of the examination.”
It was the same with Jess who didn’t bother asking more or showing emotion.
He checked a few papers one last time and stood up. As for the result, he said he would organize it separately and deliver it to the emperor.
Riella looked at him blankly and said.
“Since you’ve come this far, please eat some of this and go.”
What Riella pointed out was the refreshments and snacks he had put aside.
It was said that the emperor’s doctor had come, and the maid brought over four kinds of food, one menu for each person.
“There are too many. I can’t eat it all by myself, so you can throw it away.”
“You must be feeling uncomfortable with me.”
“Yeah, I am uncomfortable.”
Compared to the maid who only flattered others, it was Jess who was transparent in dealing with others.
At least he’s not lying.
“I don’t like it because I’m uncomfortable.”
okay. Just like this.
Riella was so happy with the obvious reaction that she almost burst into laughter.
“If you don’t mind, may I ask why?”
“Excuse me. So don’t ask.”
Apart from her curiosity and regret, Riella didn’t hold back Jess as he turned around.
It was because he thought it was not polite to hold someone who said he was uncomfortable, but rather, that kind of compliant reaction seemed to be rat poison to Jess.
As if leaving, he returned and stood in front of Riella. That too, with a very displeased expression.
“Because I haven’t judged you yet.”
Riella looked up at Jess, not bothering to ask what he meant.
Just calmly waited, and once again, it was Jess who spoke first.
“The maids here are busy flattering you. Rumor has it that you are His Majesty’s woman. They will do it because they think that being good to you will help their life.”
That was right.
Riella was also aware of that, so the maid’s blatant favor has always been uncomfortable.
“On the other hand, some ministers are already looking for an opportunity to get you out of His Majesty. They had a hard time figuring out all the connections of the new emperor and establishing connections, but suddenly an unknown person appeared. They judged that you were blocking their path.”
Riella only knew that the staring eyes of those she often encountered since yesterday were simply out of curiosity and wariness toward strangers.
She hadn’t even thought about the impact of her appearance on the political situation around the emperor.
“But I haven’t judged you yet. I am a scholar. I need to know things for sure to be at ease. What I don’t know is uncomfortable. That’s why I’m uncomfortable with you.”
“I will not bother you or get in your way.”
“I am not interested. No matter where you bother me, no matter what you do.”
“then….”
‘Isn’t it strange? He said he was keeping his distance because he hadn’t judged me yet.’
‘So if you say you have to judge, why are you saying you’re not interested?’
“That’s not my standard of judgment. It doesn’t matter if you’re a good person or a bad person.”
“Then, Mr. Jess, how do you judge me?”
“…..”
At that point, Jess shut up.
But Riella knew the answer from his silence, from the way his eyes looked at her. She was also able to find his answer through all the books and documents thickly laid under his examination papers.
‘Whether the existence of me will benefit or harm His Majesty.’
‘That’s how this guy categorizes people.’
Riella’s eyes turned to the documents on the table.
The one on top was her checkup, but everything below it was about Herhan.
She knew it because she saw Carnel, who was the temporary doctor during her stay in the kingdom, organizing the emperor’s health records in a document with the same cover.
“What are you looking at, this is top secret.”
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
“Why are you smiling?”
“Just…”
Riella looked up at Jess, who frowned.
‘Yesterday, I thought he had such a ferocious impression that it was hard to keep eye contact with him, but today, it didn’t seem like that.’
“just want. I think there are many really good people by His Majesty’s side.”
Jess laughed at Riella’s meaningful words. ‘What do you think you know?’
“Anyway, I’ll wait patiently, so you can see who I am and how you’ll treat me. When you’ve made your judgment, Mr. Jess, be sure to let me know.”
‘Because I want to know more than anyone else whether I am a person who will benefit or harm His Majesty.’
Riella didn’t add that.
He saw through his standard of judgment, so she hoped that he would see through her true feelings, even though she hadn’t said so.
* * *
