The Saintess Returned to the Emperor's Arms

A dazzling place, a dazzling person

 

After the emperor’s visit in the morning, the maid’s actions to get Riella’s attention became more blatant. 

 

Thanks to this, Riella had to suffer from the maids’ flattery all day.

 

Even during that time, Lou continued to be invisible.

 

No matter how many times she asked the maid about Lou’s whereabouts, only insincere replies came back that they didn’t know.

 

“Miss Riella. Take a closer look. This is the catalog of the most popular dress shop in Bahavorden these days…”

 

Riella sighed deeply at the sight of the maid laying all sorts of brochures in front of her, but then a sudden thought struck her, so she changed her attitude.

 

“How pretty is this dress…”

 

“Oh, do you like it? You’ve got a good eye, Riella, to recognize a new dress right away!”

 

“Wouldn’t it be great if I could try on something like this myself?”

 

“Right, Riella has a thin waist, so wearing it yourself would be even more beautiful! Shall I make an appointment? Actually, this place is run by my aunt, so if you want it, we can get it for you!”

 

Then it is.

 

Riella tried hard to hold back a laugh and raised the tone of her voice pretending to be excited.

 

“Wow. Thank you. Lady Nia is from Bahavorden, so she knows a lot and has good personal connections. Maybe it’s because Lou came from the kingdom, so she didn’t know about this.”

 

“Oh, can I be compared to that kid? Let that girl do her laundry in the laundromat all the time. Tell me anything you need in the future.”

 

“I see. Lou was in the laundry room.”

 

Riella got up from her seat. It was to that extent that he forced a friendly expression.

 

“Ah, Miss Riella. I mean….”

 

“Did you guys send Lou to the laundry room?”

 

The maid named Nia immediately realized her mistake and tried to rectify it, but she couldn’t even answer Riella’s question and kept her mouth shut.

 

Riella also stopped questioning at that point and kept her mouth shut. She didn’t mean to start a fight with her maids.

 

“I’ll go for a walk by myself.”

 

Anyone could see that Riella was not going for a walk, but rather going to the laundry room to find Lou.

 

The maids, who would have insisted on going out together a little while ago, kept their mouths shut and bowed their heads. Somehow while hiding their hot face, they Looked at Nia who made a mistake.

 

And so it was that Riella found herself alone, wandering through the West Palace, a beautiful but unfamiliar place.

 

As she passed through the hallway with luxurious chandeliers and went outside, the sun beating down on her head was quite hot.

 

Each of the lush greenery in the garden glistened, reflecting sunlight, but no one was walking around.

 

‘I came out now, but I don’t know where the laundry room is. I don’t have anyone to ask….’ 

 

‘Should I go back to my room and ask the maids?’

 

When she hesitated at the thought, she saw a man approaching her around the fence in the distance.

 

Riella recognized him and smiled.

 

Carnel. A man who served as the temporary personal Doctor in place of Jess when the emperor came to stay in the kingdom.

 

Although he was the emperor’s doctor, he was a person who spent more time taking care of her, so she was grateful to him.

 

“Sir Carnell! Long time no see.”

 

When Carnel approached, Riella greeted her warmly, lifting the hem of her skirt as per the etiquette she hastily learned from Lou.

 

‘Come to think of it, it reminded me of the day I passed out at the border and slept in the emperor’s carriage, and that I hadn’t properly conveyed my gratitude for taking care of me all night.’

 

“Sir Carnell. How are you? I really wanted to say hello… ”

 

However, Riella’s ambition to express her gratitude and ask for the way to the laundry room stopped there.

 

It was because Carnel just left without even looking at Riella.

 

If he’d even glanced at her, she would have thought that there would be some busy situation that he couldn’t talk about right away, but it wasn’t like that.

 

Carnel passed right by her shoulder enough to brush her shoulder but didn’t even make eye contact with Liella, as if she were invisible.

 

Riella remained stiffly behind Carnel, who had gone coldly away.

 

‘Are you deliberately ignoring me?’ 

 

‘There is no reason for everyone to be kind to me, but apart from that bitterness, I had my doubts.’

 

She wouldn’t know If he was the first person she met after arriving in the Empire, but Carnell had been kind to her all the way from the Kingdom of Liotta to here.

 

While Riella was lost in her thoughts, an attendant just came out of the building.

 

Riella looked at Carnel for some reason, but she soon shook off her thoughts and reluctantly moved her gaze to the attendant.

 

“Excuse me, if you’re not busy, could you give me directions to the laundry room?”

 

* * * 

 

The laundry room was located in the northern corner of the imperial palace, quite far from the west palace.

 

Compared to the West Palace, which was quiet without people, the laundry room was lively and busy. Servants in overalls were busy carrying baskets of laundry, and in the springs to the right, people with rolled-up sleeves were wrestling with the laundry.

 

Lou was right there.

 

“What are you doing here?”

 

“yes? Oh!”

 

Recognizing that it was Riella casting a shadow over her head, Lou froze in place. Unlike the comfortable smocks worn by the other servants, the hem of Lou’s baggy skirt was heavily soaked. Even on a sunny day, the spring water was quite chilly, and her fingertips were frozen red.

 

“There are many intelligent and elegant maids in the West Palace, so… I think my presence would just disturb you and…. Also, a lady told me to go and see if I could use a hand at the laundry”

 

Lu was in tears and timid, like someone who had committed a big mistake.

 

“Sorry, Miss Riella…”

 

“What are you sorry about? I’m not scolding you.”

 

Looking at Lou’s small shoulder, which was so trembling, a part of Riella’s heart felt heavy.

 

‘It was a look I had seen a lot somewhere, and I felt like I could understand it without further explanation.’

 

“Uncle Hank, Uncle Carl! Please give me all the laundry. I’ll do it all. Do not worry. I’m good at this. Also, from now on, I will prepare all the meals for our mercenaries,…so please don’t throw me away. Please take me with you.”

 

There were days when she cowered in fear of being abandoned if she became a nuisance, while desperately trying to prove her usefulness somehow.

 

It was tiring, so there were definitely days when she had to hide even the tears flowing in her tiredness.

 

“Lou. Your hands hurt, right? Stop and get up.”

 

“Oh, no, Miss Riella. I have to finish this laundry…”

 

“Then I will help you. So take my hand and get up.”

 

Riella reached out and took Lou’s small, cold hand.

 

Obviously, she is still very weak, and in this empire, like Lou, she is a stranger who is unfamiliar with everything.

 

Still, she felt that she could be strong enough to hold this small child and help her up.

 

* * * 

 

“Your majesty. Give us time and we will investigate closely.”

 

The voice of Asion, who followed him closely, was unusually dark, but Herhan did not slow down.

 

“Nothing is certain. It’s still unclear whether someone changed the medication or if it was a simple mistake.”

 

Asion’s words were almost begging.

 

‘We will solve this situation somehow, so my lord, please calm down and preserve your health.’

 

By the time he rushed out of the bedroom, Herhan’s symptoms had subsided, so he could no longer hear Asion’s words, but he knew Asion was worried about him.

 

He knew how genuine that concern was.

 

Herhan felt even more dizzy. The fact that Asion and Jess came out so carefully meant that there was a high probability that Riella was a spy.

 

“The medicine you were taking was fake. I only found out after Your Majesty returned from a tour.”

 

When Herhan asked about the spy, Jess answered that.

 

When the emperor’s envoys left the empire, Jess, who had to remain in the empire due to urgent research, said that he had packed and loaded Herhan’s medicine on the carriage to the kingdom. The medicine was real back then.

 

However, after returning from a tour of the Kingdom of Liotta, he checked and found that Herhan’s medicine had changed. On the surface, it was a “fake medicine” with exactly the same form and color.

 

It was a clever switch. Of course, it was not something that could have happened accidentally. It was something someone did intentionally.

 

The problem was that there was little chance of that happening.

 

Only a small part of Herhan’s entourage was aware of the fact that Herhan was seriously ill and was taking medicine for it. Even the aides were all ‘verified’ by Herhan himself.

 

They were those who were qualified to give their lives to Herhan by showing him all the memories of yesterday, the sincerity of today, and the loyalty of tomorrow. There couldn’t be a spy among them.

 

‘Among the people I met during my tour of the kingdom, who knew about my illness and could have gotten close enough to me to switch medications, but whose intentions I couldn’t read.’ 

 

When the thought reached that point, Herhan closed his eyes.

 

Riella Blinite.

 

Thinking of that name, he never thought that a painful and unpleasant moment would come.

 

“She is not to be trusted yet, and you must stay away from her, Your Majesty.”

 

When Jess spoke calmly, Herhan raised his eyes and looked at Asion.

 

“Do you think so too, Asion?”

 

Asion looked as distressed as Herhan.

 

It was Asion who knew better than anyone else how Herhan felt that Riella was special.

 

He liked that the emperor, who had always fought desperately on the edge of the cliff, stayed with Riella even in a small way.

 

It was good to see him act out of character, to see him make selfish choices to get what he wanted instead of what was right.

 

“I hope that Miss Riella is not a spy.”

 

“So I think we should check more clearly.”

 

Asion answered like that.

 

Hearing that, Herhan got up from his seat and immediately headed for the West Palace.

 

Asion said that he would investigate if he left it to them, didn’t work.

 

Herhan’s head was full of thoughts that he had to meet Liella right away.

 

He didn’t even know what to say when he met her. It wasn’t like he could read her mind this way.

 

“Your Majesty. West Palace is empty. I heard from the servants that Miss Riella went out alone.”

 

“Where?”

 

“I don’t know exactly, but they say it’s somewhere north of the palace.”

 

‘Why north? If it’s a walkway, the garden path in front of the West Palace would suffice.’

 

“Could she have gone to the barracks or library in the north?”

 

Asion’s blurry question increased Herhan’s confusion.

 

Whether it was the barracks or the library, she didn’t like it. The north side of the palace was the domain of palace insiders, and there was nothing of interest to Riella there.

 

‘But why? What the hell are you doing out of sight of me?’ 

 

Asion’s face was the same. He ordered the nearby knights to find Riella somewhere in the north immediately.

 

While the knights were running at the command, Herhan also took a firm step toward the north.

 

Though he thought he needed to quickly check Riella’s whereabouts, for some reason, his steps kept slowing down. When he started to see the buildings of the North Palace, he couldn’t tell whether he wanted to go forward or backward.

 

“Captain. I found Miss Riella.”

 

“Really? Where is it? What is she doing?”

 

“That’s… I’m sorry to tell you, but…”

 

The knight looked at the emperor while hesitant to answer. Herhan felt as if those eyes were strangling him.

 

“Hurry up and report,” at Asion’s urging, the knight finally opened his mouth.

 

“She’s at the laundry.”

 

“A laundry? Why is Miss Riella in the laundry?”

 

Asion asked back as if it was absurd, but the knight looked as if he was at a loss to answer in front of the emperor.

 

Herhan did not bother to wait for an explanation and immediately moved to the laundry area next to the barn in the north.

 

It certainly seemed like something was going on there.

 

All the workers had left their seats and gathered in a muffled voice. Among them, standing in a circle as if there were a great spectacle, Herrhan finally found Riella.

 

“Miss Riella, come out here, it’s something I have to do.”

 

“Lou, you’ve hurt your hand, you fell, so your knee hurts, I’ll help you, it’s okay, I’m good at this!”

 

In front of the water springs, where the glittering summer sun shone brightest.

 

Riella, holding the hem of her skirt up a handful, stepping on the laundry barefoot, was splashing water droplets.

 

“But if His Majesty finds out—!”

 

“No way. I won’t get caught and who cares if I get caught again?”

 

Lou, stomped her feet and not knowing what to do, and Riella, smiling at the sight of such Lou, clearer than the waters of that spring.

 

Seeing this, Herhan’s pulse melted away.

 

Somehow, in another sense, Herhan hated Liella so much, as the energy that had been filling his chest drifted away.

 

“Riella.”

 

The call Herhan managed to spit out was a mixture of emotions he couldn’t quite put into words.

 

“Ah…your majesty.”

 

However, Riella, who opened her eyes wide and recognized Herhan, was just as innocent as a child.

 

Riella smiled at Herhan.

 

With a shy face, as if she had revealed something that shouldn’t have been discovered. But with a lovely face full of joy toward him.

 

* * *