The Saintess Returned to the Emperor's Arms

What should I do when you’re so weak?

 

Early in the morning, in the lab.

 

Jess, who was flipping through books while preparing for Herhan’s check up like yesterday, suddenly stopped and got lost in thought.

 

‘Why was Riella Blinite looking at that book?’ 

 

The book, Studies in the Myth of Enri and Ann.

 

Jess frowned slightly as he remembered the title of the old book that was on the desk in Riella’s office.

 

‘That’s a treasure. She just gives vague answers.’ 

 

The myth of Enri and Ann was a story about the origins of ‘powerful people’ like Herhan.

 

Many people think it’s just a mysterious legend, but it’s actually a story with clear substance.

 

No, it was more than obvious, it was a tragic story that once caused a war in the world and forced people like Herhan to live in hiding even to this day.

 

‘But was it really a coincidence that Riella suddenly became interested in such a story?’

 

‘Anyway, she knows that His Majesty is a powerful man, so there’s nothing wrong with her reading some of those books….’ 

 

The problem was not with her, but with the man by her side.

 

“You mean the study of the myth of Enri and Ann? ah. yes. you’re right. It’s on Ambassador Liotta’s list of loans. She came with her aide earlier and took out that book.”

 

“Why are you doing that?”

 

Riella’s aide, ‘El Weiss’.

 

Jess was strangely concerned about him. It wasn’t just because El was a little arrogant towards him or his scholarly pride.

 

Jess took out a document he had kept inside his desk drawer.

 

It was a detailed investigation into El Weiss’ personal information, and although Herhan had ordered it, it had not yet been reported.

 

‘The Weiss family. He took his mother’s surname, a commoner, and came from a poor family with two younger sisters. I don’t know any information about his father.’ 

 

In these cases, it was usually one of two things. Either he lost his father at an early age, or he was the illegitimate child of a noble family.

 

Jess frowned with a complex face.

 

He did not want to belittle a bright student who overcame difficult circumstances and achieved great academic achievements. 

 

What bothered him was the other side.

 

‘A family like this wouldn’t have been able to pay his tuition, let alone get a recommendation for admission to the Imperial Academy, so he must have had a guardian, but I have no information on that.’ 

 

That was definitely a suspicious background for someone who was to be placed by Riella Blinite’s side, and by extension, the master’s side.

 

‘Moreover, if such a man is interested in things like the ‘Enri and Ann myth’.’

 

‘I think I have to set up a day and meet the dean of the academy in person.’

 

It was then.

 

The door to Jess’s laboratory burst open, and a small maid came rushing inside.

 

“W-what!? Without knocking?”

 

The maid was struggling to speak even as she felt like she was going to run out of breath.

 

“sorry…sorry. Well, I was in a hurry.…His Majesty…Quick Sir Jess…!”

 

“what? His Majesty?”

 

Jess’s expression immediately turned grim. His chest also started pounding.

 

This wasn’t the first time he’d got an emergency call, but every time, his heart sank.

 

“I get it. Go straight. What is his Majesty’s condition? Is he conscious?”

 

“Well, that….It’s not that His Majesty is unwell….”

 

Jess’s hand, which had been hastily packing his bag, suddenly stopped in response to the hesitant answer.

 

Jess looked up. Only then did he see the face of the maid and asked with a frown on his face.

 

“No way, you. Are you Riella’s maid?”

 

* * * 

 

“She was clearly conscious until dawn. ah. Now that I think about it, she was a little crazy back then. But she was able to speak at least. She sweated a lot. The fever was pretty high at night, but it was okay in the morning. I heard that she took cold medicine last night for body aches. Does that have any effect?”

 

Herhan, wearing only a wrinkled blouse, urgently explained the situation as if it were a war.

 

‘I thought it couldn’t be possible, but it was the same.’

 

“What were you doing until dawn?”

 

“…..”

 

“What on earth were you doing here, until dawn? Who should be quarantined in the inner room now?”

 

Jess’s voice rose.

 

But it would have been nice if it had been possible to kill the emperor’s spirit in that way.

 

“Tell you what I did? If you’re asking because you really don’t know, then I will answer.”

 

At the emperor’s confident and shameless answer, the innocent Lou next to him blushed and began to hiccup.

 

Jess sighed and closed his eyes.

 

It wasn’t just that he hated his lord, who didn’t even listen to what he said.

 

A pillow fell on the floor. Clothes scattered around the bed. Even the candle wax spilled down the table because it couldn’t even burn to the roots.

 

In every corner, there was circumstantial evidence that straightened out what happened last night.

 

Riella was even lying on the bed with her pure white neck clearly exposed.

 

“Where are you looking? Look away.”

 

“no! You told me to check on Miss Riella.”

 

Herhan still blocked Jess’s path with a disapproving gaze.

 

Jess was able to examine Riella only after Lou, the maid who had crawled under the blanket and finished dressing Riella.

 

Meanwhile, Asion came running inside, sweating profusely.

 

Herhan immediately covered Asion’s mouth before he could scream and spoke in a threatening tone.

 

“I’ll listen to the nagging later. I know what you’re trying to say. Now, as you can see, I’m not in my right mind, so if you try, nothing good will come out of it. Asion.”

 

Asion, who was about to point a finger at his lord, quickly rolled his eyes a few times before he realized what was happening.

 

Lou guards the front of the bedroom door as if it were a secret society. 

 

Riella lying on the bed. Next to him was Jess, who had a stiff expression, and his lord, who had a creepy expression looking down at him.

 

Asion showed an expression of understanding and raised the white flag.

 

It was at that time that Jess, who had been examining Riella’s condition for a while, tilted his head.

 

“I felt it last time too, but her test result was a bit strange. There are definitely no external injuries or internal injuries, but the fatigue is very high. If you’re this tired, you should have vomited blood a long time ago.”

 

“What? vomiting blood?”

 

Herhan, who had been holding Asion so tightly that his face turned blue, let go of him and turned to Jess.

 

“Is Riella’s condition that bad? Wasn’t it just a simple fainting reaction?”

 

“The fatigue level is too high for that. The numbers temporarily skyrocketed before any other symptoms occurred.”

 

“Then, I mean…”

 

Herhan, who had rushed at Jess as if he were going to eat him, hesitated for a long time before continuing his next words.

 

“Well, is it possible….. because I pushed her too hard?”

 

Herhan’s question was vaguely worded and left out of context, but it was enough to send Jess into a panic.

 

‘What and how badly did you push her?’

 

“It’s not that I pushed her too hard. I’m just saying that it might have been too much for her.”

 

“ah. Yes, yes. It could be so…”

 

For some reason, he really hates conversations like that. 

 

Jess wasn’t about to give a cursory reply when he suddenly opened his eyes wide.

 

“Your majesty. But what now? Can you hear my inner thoughts? You didn’t even touch me. Could it be that something abnormal has occurred again?”

 

“….”

 

Jess was dying to hate Herhan, who remained silent the whole time, only looking down at Riella worriedly.

 

‘He didn’t even know that his body was getting weak. no. He deliberately pretended not to know, ignored him, and left this woman to himself, his personal doctor.’

 

“Jess. I’m fine. It’s not what you’re worried about. I know how I feel—”

 

“I don’t. I’ve had enough of this. I’m going to have you examined right now, and I won’t even see Riella Blinite until then. Either you do as I say, or you let Riella Blinite die as she is.”

 

Jess, determined, glared at Herhan.

 

Herhan pressed his temple as if in pain, then quietly leaned down and smoothed the blanket over Riella’s head.

 

* * *

 

His Majesty was here, wasn’t he, with sir Jess and Captain Asion, and it was quite a scene this morning, wasn’t it?”

 

“Oh, no…..”

 

“Ah. No! Lou, come on, let’s talk about it. Did His Majesty really come to Riella’s bed last night, is that true?”

 

“No, it’s not like that!”

 

Lou scrambled to her feet, shoving aside the Lake Palace maids who had gathered around her

 

‘My heart was pounding, but I had to get through it.’

 

She had been given special orders by the Emperor to take charge of Riella and keep an eye on her until he returned.

 

“His Majesty had to stop by early this morning on some urgent business, and Miss Riella’s cold is so bad that she’s going to have to stay in bed for the next few days.”

 

‘oh….Really? Then maybe she should get some nutritional food now—”

 

“Oh, no, it’s a highly contagious flu, and Sir Jess told me never to let anyone in the bedroom!”

 

After calming the maids down, as the Emperor had ordered, Lu’s next stop was Riella’s office.

 

She knocked and entered, finding him quietly poring over papers in the corner.

 

“Excuse me…His Majesty asked me to deliver this to you.”

 

“His Majesty?”

 

El’s low voice echoed through the silent office.

 

The chamber office sat in, guarded by himself, was vast and seemingly deserted. 

 

‘It seemed quite noisy and full when Miss Riella was here.’

 

Lou thought quietly, glancing over at El.

 

A handwritten note from the Emperor himself had ordered that Riella had taken sick leave, and her aide would be handling her duties for the time being.

 

“Is the ambassador very sick?’

 

“What? Oh, no, It’s just a mild cold.”

 

“The fever hasn’t gone away yet? What about the other symptoms? Has the doctor been in?”

 

Lou couldn’t look El in the eye.

 

It was Lou, who was well aware that Riella usually trusted and relied on El a lot. So she thought it would be good to let El know the truth.

 

“You don’t have to worry about anything. Well, then I’ll get going!”

 

Still, nothing was more important than keeping the emperor’s orders.

 

* * *

 

Later that evening, Lou, unaware of the secret passage, dozed off at Riella’s bedside, only to wake up with a start when the Emperor appeared out of nowhere.

 

“Ahh—”

 

“Shhh. Are you trying to gather people?”

 

“No, I’m sorry. Your Majesty.”

 

“And Riella, is she still sleeping?”

 

“Yes. She’s been sleeping all day, but sir Jess says her fatigue levels are much lower than they were this morning, and it would be more dangerous to rush her with another medication, so let’s wait and see how things go….”

 

At Lou’s explanation, Herhan swallowed back a laugh.

 

‘You threatened me as if you were going to throw Riella out, then you came back in to check on her.’

 

“Then I’ll stay outside!”

 

While Lu gave Riella’s side to Herhan and retreated valiantly, Herhan stared down Riella, who was still lying flat on the bed and asleep like a doll.

 

“Riella.”

 

Riella was at peace, as if she would answer affectionately, “yes, Your Majesty,” at any moment.

 

But there was no answer. Even her lips, red and tempting as they were, remained closed. 

 

“How can she be so weak?”

 

Herhan lay down beside her and gently pulled her into his arms.

 

“So weak, what can I do for you now?”

 

He was treating her with the utmost care and tenderness, like nurturing the first petals of a spring flower.

 

Herhan was dizzy with guilt to think that he would have been too much for Riella. 

 

‘You should have told me if it was hard.’

 

Or maybe she did, but it fell on deaf ears when he let go of his senses.

 

In the end, it was all his fault. He was willing to get down on his knees and beg if he could get Riella to wake up.

 

“Wake up, huh, Riella?”

 

A whine. Pleading. Herhan looked at her.

 

When she still didn’t answer, he kissed her tenderly on the eyes. Hoping it would wake her sleeping eyelids.

 

“I’ve done wrong, so from now on, I’m going to make you the most precious thing in the world, so wake up and look at me.”

 

Just as Herhan’s insides were burning black at the sight of Riella, who did not move, Lou called Herhan outside the door

 

“Your Majesty. I beg your pardon, but Miss Riella’s aide has come to see her.”

 

“What? At this hour?”

 

One of Herhan’s arms tightened around Riella. Lou, sensing the mood without looking in, answered.

 

“I’ll take care of it.”

 

Herhan frowned for a moment, then pushed himself off the bed.

 

“No, no. Open the door.”

 

Lou looked puzzled, but said ‘yes’ in the end.

 

Herhan deliberately dug into his collar and pulled it open as he moved toward the door.

 

“Ambassador. I know it’s rude at this late hour, but—”

 

“Yes, sir. El.”

 

The door swung open. Herhan leaned against the threshold and stared intently into the dark eyes that stared back at him.

 

“Riella went to sleep a little while ago. What do you want?”

 

* * *