The Saintess Returned to the Emperor's Arms

This is what I look like but you are still beautiful.

 

Riella, who was running forward without knowing where she was going, bumped into someone near the garden of the main palace.

 

“Ouch…Oh, miss Riella?”

 

Riella barely raised her head when the other person recognized her first and spoke to her. The person she bumped into was the palace maid.

 

“Are you okay? I’m Miss Riella.”

 

“No, I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

 

Riella’s apology ended there.

 

The shock from the emperor’s words could not go away, so she tried to turn away, but suddenly the maid grabbed Riella.

 

“Miss Riella. Excuse me, are you busy right now? The princess is urgently looking for Sir El, but he is not at the embassy.”

 

“What’s going on?”

 

“Currently, the condition of the princess’s fiance is very critical. He can’t breathe and no medicine is working!”

 

“What?”

 

Only then did my dazed mind come back.

 

Riella ordered an attendant who happened to be passing nearby to call a doctor to the West Palace and then left for the West Palace with her maid.

 

The West Palace was a mess. 

 

People were gathered in front of Greta’s room, and Greta’s loud voice was echoing in the hallway.

 

“Bring the doctor quickly! Are you going to make my fiance die?”

 

Riella pushed through the crowd and entered.

 

As soon as she took a step, she stepped on the fragments of the vase that Greta had thrown and shattered.

 

Another glass flew toward Riella, who entered the room.

 

“What? You think you can just walk in here?”

 

–Craang. 

 

The glass that Greta threw fell to the floor and broke without even reaching Riella.

 

Riella answered resolutely while pushing away a piece of glass with her toe.

 

“A guest from the kingdom is sick, so of course an ambassador should come.”

 

“I’ve never called someone like you before. Get out now. Get me a doctor!”

 

Greta was panicking.

 

‘Not long ago, she was busy trying to save face in front of people, and to see her lose her temper to that extent, it was clear that Fabian was in critical condition.’

 

Instead of dealing with Greta, Riella just passed by and went straight to the bedroom where Fabian was lying.

 

‘Fabian…’ 

 

The moment she saw Fabian lying on the bed like a corpse, Riella’s heart sank.

 

‘I had heard that he was sick, and I thought it didn’t matter whether he died or not, but when I saw his pale face in person, I couldn’t help but feel agitated…’

 

“Get out, get out!”

 

At that time, Fabian opened his eyes.

The moment when Greta pulls Riella away, telling her not to look at her fiance carelessly.

 

“Riella…”

 

Fabian called her name in a raspy voice

 

“Riella. It’s really you, Riella…?”

 

Fabian’s first words after miraculously regaining consciousness.

 

At his first words and first glance, which were directed not at Greta but at Riella, Greta’s hand, which had been holding Riella’s arm so tightly that it left fingernail marks, let go of Riella.

 

Yes, it’s me. Why are you like this?”

 

Riella stood upright and answered.

 

Then, tears welled up at the corners of Fabian’s eyes.

 

“Yes. This is what I look like, but….you are still beautiful.”

 

* * * 

 

Herhan, who heard the whole story from Lou, was so shocked and aggrieved that he couldn’t speak properly because his throat was so tight.

 

“When did I…. When did I ever say I am sick of Riella….. When did I ever ignore her….I didn’t even hear that she asked to have a meal together!”

 

‘Could it be that the timing is so perfect?’

 

Lou was the visitor he kicked out earlier, and Riella only heard the ‘I’m sick of it’ part and ran away.

 

Those words were spoken to Jess and Asion, who were questioning his decision to marry her, not to Riella, not ever.

 

“We will come to find Miss Riella right away.”

 

“I will go too.”

 

“No. You must stay here, Your Majesty. I’ll be right back.”

 

Perhaps feeling bad for unintentionally becoming an accomplice in misleading Riella, Asion suddenly ran outside, taking Jess with him.

 

They followed Lou, and Herhan was left alone.

 

He had already spent a night of terrible regret due to the guilt of sending Riella away in a cold manner yesterday.

 

‘I was going to ask her to marry me tonight, in a nice way. But how could I even apologize, let alone propose?’

 

It was about thirty minutes later that Asion returned to the office, breathing heavily.

 

“Why? What about Riella?”

 

Even after Herhan said that Asion was alone. Moreover, considering that he came in in a hurry and was panting, Asion muttered his words and could hardly open his mouth.

 

“That… I think you should see Miss Riella later.”

 

“Why? What’s going on with Riella? You couldn’t find her?”

 

“No, I found her…”

 

“Where Is she? I feel like I’m going to die of frustration, so tell me quickly.”

 

In response to Herhan’s harsh words, Asion closed his eyes tightly and told the truth.

 

“The West Palace, in the room of the princess’s fiance.”

 

Herhan’s body, which seemed as if it was going to jump toward Riella’s direction at any moment, stopped at an awkward height.

 

Herhan opened his mouth but couldn’t say anything.

 

When his legs soon gave out and he slumped back into his chair, he remembered the conversation he’d had with Asion yesterday.

 

“And what if Miss Riella goes to see Fabian to soothe her aching heart?”

 

“If she wants to do that, she can do it that way.”

 

* * * 

 

Riella ordered the servants of the West Palace to clean up the messy drawing room.

 

When they finished cleaning up all the broken items, the doctor who finished the treatment in the bedroom came out. 

 

Through the crack in the door, Riella could see Greta sitting at the head of Fabian’s bed.

 

“I think he has passed the critical point. Now he has regained his stability.”

 

“That’s good to hear. Do you still not know the exact name of the disease?”

 

“Yes…”

 

“That’s strange. Fabian has never had a cold since he was young.”

 

The doctor and servants all raised their heads at Riella’s casual words.

 

Greta, who heard the conversation in the bedroom, immediately shot a fierce look.

 

“Ah, I’ve been friends with Fabian since I was young.”

 

At that time, Greta came out of the room and shouted back.

 

Greta couldn’t just sit back and listen as Riella pretended to know her fiance.

 

“She’s right, she and my fiancé are old friends. It’s almost like the ambassador introduced the two of us.”

 

Her tone of voice returned to a noble tone as if she had been using evil words for some time.

 

“Riella. I’m sorry about earlier. I was so scared that I lost my temper. You know how I feel, right?”

 

Riella looked away without answering, but again, Greta took it as a favorable answer.

 

“Thank you for understanding. Your presence must have cheered Fabian up. The power of friendship?

 

“I’m glad it helped, and now that I’ve finished cleaning up, so I’ll just leave.”

 

“Wait, Ambassador.”

 

Greta grabbed Riella as she started to leave.

 

“Now that I think about it, it’s been a few days since I came to the imperial palace, and I still haven’t received a proper meal. Now that Fabian is awake, I think we should have an official meal with His Majesty. How about dinner tonight?”

 

“Is Fabian going to be okay tonight?”

 

“Of course, I know my man.”

 

Greta grinned.

 

“He’s fine, and he’ll be more cheerful if he’s invited to something nice.”

 

“Then I will tell His Majesty so.”

 

“And the ambassador…”

 

“……”

 

“The four of us will have dinner together.”

 

‘I wondered why she kept a smiling face when she was obviously rotten inside, but apparently, she had her own agenda.’

 

Riella answered that she understood and then went straight to the Lake Palace bedroom.

 

Even though it was still midday, her whole body felt heavy and tired.

 

She didn’t want to think about Fabian or the princess anymore, but she didn’t want to think about Herhan either.

 

Riella just wanted to be alone and bury herself in the blanket. She desperately hoped that no one would talk to her on the way to the lake palace bedroom.

 

But when she reached the bedroom, there was Herhan.

 

“Riella…”

 

He was walking nervously back and forth in the middle of the living room, but stopped as soon as he spotted Riella.

 

“You must be going somewhere.”

 

‘You know I’ve seen Fabian.’

 

Riella had even exchanged greetings with Asion, who had visited her at the West Palace earlier.

 

“I’ve been waiting for you because I wanted to talk to you.”

 

“What? You seemed busy, so just tell me.”

 

“That….”

 

Herhan seemed momentarily taken aback by Riella’s cold response.

 

“It’s a misunderstanding, Riella.”

 

“The guard told me to go back because you didn’t want to meet me. Isn’t that what Your Majesty said?”

 

“That…That’s right…”

 

That’s right. Only that one thing was correct, but Riella had to ask about it. She regretted even that and everything else was just a misunderstanding.

 

Herhan was anxious at the thought of having to quickly explain things to Riella.

 

But on the other hand, he was so jealous that Riella had been taking care of Fabian that he felt like he was going crazy.

 

“I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

 

Even Riella looked so exhausted.

 

‘Had she worked so hard to care for Fabian, did seeing him in pain bring back old feelings?’

 

“Okay. Then rest. We’ll talk later.”

 

In the end, Herhan could not overcome his jealousy, and his earnest wait for Riella to come was meaningless and he turned away.

 

Riella’s eyes widened in disbelief when she saw his back.

 

‘I’ve been looking for you so many times, and you just turn around like this?’

 

Riella said any word that came to mind to catch Herhan.

 

“Can we have dinner together tonight?”

 

“Yes. later—”

 

“With the princess and Fabian too.”

 

Herhan paused.

 

“Will that be difficult?”

 

“Not at all. Get ready. I’ll send someone later.”

 

* * * 

 

That evening, a tall candlestick glowed for the first time in the banquet hall of the imperial palace.

 

Since it had been a long time since the emperor received guests at a banquet hall, all the servants were in high spirits and prepared a sumptuous dinner.

 

Princess Greta and Fabian appeared exactly at the appointed time, arm in arm.

 

“It’s an honor. Your majesty. Now I finally feel like I’m in the imperial palace.”

 

“Sorry is late.”

 

“There was nothing we could do about it. There were circumstances on my side too.”

 

It meant that Fabian was sick.

 

Herhan cast a stern glance at Fabian.

 

“You look fine, considering you were seriously ill until this morning.”

 

Fabian lowered his gaze slightly.

 

Greta was still hanging on one of his arms.

 

“He is recovering quickly. Thank you for your concern.”

 

“Never mind, I never really cared.”

 

“……”

 

The corners of Greta’s mouth twitched slightly at Herhan’s blatant disregard.

 

Greta rolled her dark eyes, looked for someone to pour out her anger on, and asked the emperor.

 

“Is Riella not here yet?”

 

“she is still getting ready.”

 

“It seems that Elschweig’s laws are different from our Liotta’s. The lowest person makes everyone wait.”

 

“No. Our laws are also the same as Liotta’s. The most precious person arrives last.”

 

While Greta was gritted her teeth, unable to find a suitable response to Herhan’s words, Riella arrived.

 

“Sorry, I’m late.”

 

Fabian and Herhan opened their mouths at the same time towards Riella.

 

“You look beautiful, Riel—”

 

“Riella. This way.”

 

Riella raised her eyes and looked back and forth between the two men.

 

* * *