Why are you guys making a fuss?
Herhan froze, unable to respond.
Riella waited quietly for an answer, but eventually, unable to overcome her impatience, she raised her head again.
“Your majesty….Do you not like it?”
Her eyes, filled with anxiety, sparkled at Herhan.
Herhan reflexively lowered his head and unconsciously met her eyes, then shivered violently without realizing it.
“If it is inconvenient, I will use the bedroom next to the office. But please let me stay in the inner room for the time being. They say that being close to your Majesty will help your Majesty recover. So until you get better,…”
It was then that Herhan, who had been dazed, suddenly came to his senses.
“When I get better, will you go back to the lake palace?”
Herhan, who had been full of expectations, raised his voice in disappointment.
Hearing his voice, which was more of an affirmation than a question, Riella smiled in relief.
“Once you’ve come, you’ve come, what’s the point of going back?”
“Because I am staying close to you to help your Majesty recover.”
“I’m sorry. I won’t be feeling better for a while.”
‘Are there any plans like that?’
Riella held back her laughter at the absurdity.
“Sir Jess said you would recover in three days at the latest.”
“You said it. Jess is a quack. Don’t trust him. I think it’ll take me a while to get better. So I guess I’ll need you to stay with me for a while.”
“For a while, how long?”
“Well…”
‘Should I say a month, a year, or just tell her I’ll never get better?’
Herhan, who was watching Riella’s expression while thinking, chose to change the subject by pretending to be sick instead of answering.
“Ah, my head feels like it’s going to burst.”
In fact, from the moment he met Riella, his headache completely disappeared, but Herhan frowned and pressed his temples for no reason.
As expected, Riella immediately came closer and looked around at Herhan.
“Your Majesty? What should I do? Are you okay?”
As soft hands touched his forehead and caressed his cheeks, Herhan desperately lowered the corners of his lips that were about to go up.
He always knew how to pull Riella into his arms, but he never let her hug him first like that.
‘If I had known this was possible, I would have told her sooner that she was Ann’s descendant.’
That was when.
At the moment when Herhan was satisfied with his plan and was enjoying Riella’s care, Riella tightly shut her eyes, grimaced, and staggered violently.
Herhan was so surprised that he immediately wrapped his arms around Riella’s waist and hugged her.
Riella’s strength weakened even more as she was supported by Herhan’s strong body, and she collapsed into Herhan’s arms.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty.….I suddenly feel a little dizzy…”
“It’s okay. It’s okay. Don’t say anything, Riella.”
Herhan lifted Riella up in his arms.
His face, which had been holding back a smile, had turned pale with worry and guilt.
* * *
A moment later, Jess entered the room.
“Jess, I’m fine, Riella.….”
“Yes, I know.”
Without even having to listen to orders, Jess entered the bedroom and went straight to Riella.
The doctor’s bag, which was always filled with medicine and health records for the lord, was now filled with tools and research materials to check on Riella’s physical condition.
“Miss Riella. Your fatigue level has increased since two hours ago. You were gradually calming down, but it seems that your level has temporarily skyrocketed when His Majesty regained consciousness. Did you take the medicine I gave you today?”
“Yes, I ate it.…I feel a little uneasy. I was fine yesterday.”
“I see. I added a few more ingredients to the medicine today, and it seems like some of them don’t suit Miss Riella’s body. I’ll check again.”
Herhan stood there for a while waiting for Jess to explain, but Jess was busy pressing closer to Riella and asking about her symptoms.
It took a long time for Herhan to realize that he was completely alienated from Jess’s attention.
“Jess?”
“Ah. Yes. Your Majesty.”
It took three calls for Jess to raise his head.
Even then, he only raised his head, and his gaze was still directed towards Riella.
“It looks like you’ve been taking good care of Riella all this time.”
“Yes. I’ve been checking in on her every two or three hours, and I’ve been working on her medication. I’ve also assigned her a servant to watch over her at night.”
‘Should I even praise that as something special?’
It was funny and strange to Herhan to see him, who always bickered with Riella, step forward and take care of her himself.
“So what’s Riella’s condition?”
“Ah. Yes. She’s fine, but…”
Only then did Jess meet Herhan’s eyes.
“Your Majesty. Could you please keep your distance from Miss Riella for the time being?”
“What?”
“It is better for purification to proceed slowly and steadily at a certain level. However, if the two of you are too close, it will cause strain on Miss Riella’s body.”
Herhan was so shocked that he couldn’t continue speaking.
So what Jess meant was that he should be careful because he might be harmful to Riella.
‘I appreciate that he was putting Riella’s health first, but why would Jess say something like that?’
“Don’t misunderstand. I am telling you this because if Miss Riella’s body gets hurt, it will ultimately be a loss for Your Majesty.”
At that moment, Asion opened the door and came running in.
“Your Majesty, I heard you woke up.”
“Yes, Asion. Thank you for coming to see me.…”
“But Miss Riella collapsed! Is Miss Riella okay?”
“…..”
Regardless of whether Herhan was speechless or not, Asion also went straight to Riella who was lying on the bed.
“I’m fine, Captain Asion.”
“Whoa. That’s really a relief. I was interrogating the Igdnis family, but I left them there and came running.”
Asion and Jess. Both of them seemed more affectionate and affectionate with Riella than usual.
Herhan, of course, knew the reason. They must be grateful and proud that Riella used her powers to save him and even took the sickness in her place. Just like how she feels right now.
But Herhan wasn’t entirely pleased with that.
‘It’s my job to take care of Riella, so why are you guys making a fuss?’
‘I don’t know if I’m jealous of my adjutants now.’
“If that’s the case, why don’t you change your positions altogether? To Riella’s personal doctor and Riella’s captain of the guard.”
“Huh? No, why did we do that? Are you upset?”
“I am doing this all for Your Majesty, so why are you upset?”
At that moment, Riella opened her mouth towards the three people who were bickering.
“Isn’t this the wrong time for you three to be arguing?”
Herhan, who had his arms crossed with a grumpy expression, Asion, who was holding back laughter, and Jess, who was indifferent, all looked at Riella.
“It seems like everyone is just trying to let it slide.”
Riella lifted her upper body slightly from the bed with a determined expression.
“I haven’t heard any apology or explanation from you guys for keeping the information you knew about me a secret. Because of that, I had to hear from Sir El that I am Ann’s descendant.”
A moment of silence fell. In a situation where everyone except Riella was a criminal, the first one to attempt to escape was Jess.
“I see you are speaking so well, so I guess you are in good health. I have to go back to researching the new medicine, so I will take my leave now.”
“Ah. I should go investigate again. It won’t be easy since Loriell’s side keeps insisting on their innocence.”
So the two adjutants shamelessly ran away, leaving only Herhan and Riella behind.
“Your Majesty, are you trying to run away too?”
“Jess just told me to keep my distance from you as much as possible.…”
“Okay, go ahead.”
Riella glanced at Herhan and then just lay back down on the bed.
Then, Herhan, who Riella thought would just run away out the door, slowly approached the bed.
After hesitating for a while at the bedside, he soon made up his mind and climbed onto the bed, hugging Riella, who was lying next to him, from behind.
“You said you were keeping your distance?”
“I wrapped you in a blanket. As long as it doesn’t touch your bare skin, it’ll be fine. Why? Are you dizzy again? Should I move away a little?”
Riella simply smiled to indicate that it was okay.
Herhan’s voice was heavy and languid.
It was understandable. Even though he recovered faster than expected, he was still a patient who had not completely recovered from the poison.
“What if you get hurt because of me, Riella…?”
But even so, she likes him because he worries about her more than he cares about himself.
Riella let go of her promise to hear Herhan’s apology and buried her sanity in his sweet scent.
* * *
The first to fall asleep was Riella, and Herhan quietly got up and moved to his office.
Jess and Asion, who were summoned before their lord again, were strangely lacking in courage, perhaps because of what happened earlier.
“Your Majesty. What happened earlier—”
“Good job, both of you.”
Herhan continued speaking with a smile.
“I’m serious. You did the right thing. Please continue to take good care of Riella. She’ll be staying with me in the inner room for a while, so bring more maids here.”
Jess nodded and turned his attention back to his master.
“It would be best not to move yet, Your Majesty.”
“I’ll just briefly hear the situation and then go back and rest. What happened? Did Riella hear the truth from El Weiss?”
That was the reason why he came with his heavy body and insisted on having his adjutants sit down.
It was not that he was unaware of his master’s feelings, but instead of dissuading Herhan, Asion told him everything he was curious about.
What Loriell Igdnis had done, and what El Weiss had done.
Although he was suspicious of how Loriell could have obtained such a deadly poison and used it to undermine the Emperor, Herhan’s interest was still focused on El.
“He decided to come back on his own two feet?”
“Strictly speaking, he didn’t come back on his own. Miss Riella had done some preliminary work.”
“Pre-work?”
“Apparently, she had ordered the Knights to rescue and capture the family of El Weiss, who was being threatened. They are currently being secretly protected in the barrack’s east wing.”
Herhan gritted his teeth.
Even if the two of them were beheaded immediately, it would not be satisfying.
‘Is there a main body behind Loriell and behind El?’
Herhan’s fists clenched on the desk, his eyes shone coldly.
“I have to look into both of them myself.”
“You can’t use your power right now. You need to recover a little more.”
Herhan didn’t bother to reject Jess’s persuasion.
He didn’t mean to kill them quickly; they do not deserve such consideration.
“I’ll come out last. Until then, I’ll leave the investigation up to you. Just torment them viciously enough that they don’t die. Can I count on you?”
“Of course. It’s my specialty.”
“We’ll do our best.”
Jess and Asion answered in turn.
At that point, Herhan got up and left.
* * *
He thought he’d gotten back from the meeting quickly, but Riella was gone.
The place where Herhan felt the presence was the bathroom.
He thought she had gone to take a bath again after washing up earlier, but he could hear Lou’s voice through the crack in the door.
“I’m sorry, Miss Riella. It’s all my fault. I didn’t even know that Miss Riella was going through something like that. I am truly unfit to be a maid.”
“Loriel confessed. She said she had been giving sleeping pills to Lou all this time. Lou is also a victim. So don’t cry like that.”
“But…how could I not cry? Because of me, Riella’s body became like this.…With such a beautiful and lovely body….”
“Stop it. This isn’t Lou’s fault.”
The sound of water splashing. And the sound of Lou sobbing.
Above all, the self-reproachful words, ‘Riella’s body became like this.’
Herhan couldn’t stand it anymore and opened the bathroom door. He clenched his teeth when he saw Riella’s naked body revealed in the smoky steam.
When Lou noticed the emperor coming in, she was startled and covered Riella’s body with a towel.
* * *
