CH 77

Who is the Fake Bride? (19)

“I’ve already removed all the toxins from the medicine, so she’ll feel much better if she sleeps it out.”

The doctor reported to Kergel without wiping the sweat off her forehead. Kergel looked at Roelin lying on the bed with a stiff look on her face.

It was absolutely pitiful to see her sleeping with that blue face. How dared they use such medicine on this thin, soft person. He couldn’t control his anger as he clenched his fist. But after taking a deep breath, Kergel soon managed to contain his wrath.

It was because he thought that he shouldn’t be disturbing that poor woman’s sleep.

How frightening and terrifying everything must have been.

“Sleep well and wake up later. I’ll make sure you won’t get sick ever again, Roelin.”

Roelin’s eyelids twitched slightly as if she had noticed that he was calling her name even in her sleep. He made a strange expression like he was about to cry before he bent down and kissed her eyelids.

Even Lucy and Silloa who were standing behind them had stopped their breath at such a careful kiss.

Kergel slowly withdrew his lips and straightened his back. Then, he spoke to Lucy and Silloa.

“Take good care of the Empress.”

“I will do my best, Your Majesty.”

Lucy responded with a bow while Silloa also bowed down with courtesy. He looked at them, nodded and began heading out of the bedroom.

Heinez and Bert, who had already been waiting in the hallway, approached Kergel as soon as he opened the door and came out.

“How is the Empress doing?”

“The doctor said that she’ll be all right when she wakes up soon.”

“I’m so glad, Your Majesty. But…”

Heinez breathed a sigh of relief before he soon looked at him with a complex expression. Kergel merely shook his hand and proceeded to move onwards.

“Don’t do this right in front of the bedroom. I’ll talk to you in my office.”

To be honest, he had roughly guessed what Heinez was trying to say. So, it was rather expected how he would react to those words.

Kergel didn’t want to make a scene in front of her bedroom while she was fast asleep inside.

Heinez sighed softly as if he had noticed Kergel’s intentions and followed him. Bert trailed after them as well while  he still remained to be unusually silent.

“Where are they?”

“……at the Second Outer Palace. After Your Majesty left like that, there was a moment of disturbance when Princess Erita suddenly tried to walk away.”

There was no need to ask the people whom Kergel had talked about. So, Heinez was able to answer him instantly with a calm manner. Burt, who had kept his mouth shut until then, eventually crept in.

“As expected, it was that Princess. The same goes for what happened two years ago. It was really crazy. She couldn’t even hold back her anger and she turned red before fainting. On top of that, just by looking at it, she has gotten enough of her own temper…”

“Well, Bert.”

Heinez interrupted Bert with a cough, as if he thought that he was going a tad too far. Kergel stopped walking towards the office and pointed his head to the garden instead.

“It’s frustrating to talk about this inside, so let’s just talk over there.”

“Yes.”

Heinez bowed to his words in return. Then, the three of them gradually walked into the garden.

It had been a warm midday. It was such a day that the sound of birds could be heard to be friendly and peaceful. It was just unbelievable to say that something unimaginable had already swept everyone away.

“Now, say what you need to say.”

Kergel did not look back until he entered deep into the garden. Heinez looked a little embarrassed before he slowly opened his mouth.

“I think we need to check again on who is really in that ‘revelation’.”

“I’m sure you’ve already confirmed that she is truly my companion through the companion ceremony anyway.”

“Of course, we had confirmed it at that time as well.”

It couldn’t be forgotten that wolves had already welcomed the Emperor’s companion by presenting themselves in droves during the companion ceremony itself. However, once he found out that there was one more person who looked exactly the same as the person in the revelation, Heinez eventually judged that the reconfirmation process was definitely essential.

“My partner is only her. It’s not that other woman from Rakain.”

Kergel understood Heinez’s train of thoughts, but flatly responded. Then, Heinez frowned before he started to speak repeatedly in a persuasive tone.

“Your Majesty, you shouldn’t be making such an emotional decision. In case the seal is broken, as well as in order to see the successor, wouldn’t it be necessary to welcome a ‘real’ companion then? If you happen to make the wrong choice……”

“In that case, the wolves will disappear from my battalion. Even if it’s not a matter of protecting the seal, there will be no one left to follow me.”

Kergel calmly said what Heinez was about to say. Then, he looked at him once again and continued.

“But that doesn’t mean Seroif will be all destroyed still.”

“Your Majesty! That’s not true at all. If the lineage of the Wolves, which had always been the foundation of this Empire, were to disappear, it would also be flawed as well.”

Heinez listened to Kergel before he spoke out in frustration. Nevertheless, Kergel merely looked at Heinez and smirked.

“The foundation of the Empire is never the wolves, Heinez. The orthodoxy is not simply proven by that kind of blood.”

“……”

“Seroif is not a country led by wolves alone. It’s not such a weak country. Rather, it was you who have led this country and all those brave Serofites as well. It wasn’t the very few who merely inherited the blood of the wolves.”

What Kergel said wasn’t just about Heinez or even Bert. Rather, it was what he truly wanted to say to himself.

He shook off his past that had blindly complied with the Revelation and started to welcome Roelin as his companion accordingly. He opened his mouth again with a more refreshed look this time.

“My companion, my own choice.”

“……!”

“Whether she’s the woman who Cainbert had chosen or not, it doesn’t matter at all. What’s important is that she’s my chosen companion.”

“……”