Rosetta turned his head back toward Puti. The gentle and warm face that had seemed to have a favorable wind blowing disappeared, and Rosetta, who had returned to the indifferent face Puti knew, commanded.
“Tell her I’ll see her separately tomorrow.”
“Yes, then I’ll have a guest room prepared.”
Puti quietly closed the door and left the room so as not to disturb the two. Puti’s footsteps passing through the corridor were much lighter than before.
Was he happy that the Emperor had recovered?
‘Of course that’s good too.’
But what was even better than that was the fact that the Saintess had ultimately been stood up.
‘Hmph.’
Puti moved his steps cheerfully, looking forward to Angel’s face contorting—the face that had been dripping with leisure all day long.
***
Emperor—what an absurd word.
Seoho, who had lived in a country where emperors had disappeared—no, where kings had disappeared—would have been wide-eyed just hearing about European nobility, but an emperor, no less.
Only now did he understand why the room was so spacious, and why the temple had gifted Rosetta the mirror.
‘It’s all because he’s an emperor.’
Seoho glanced at Rosetta, who was keeping his mouth shut to let him organize his thoughts. When their eyes met, Rosetta reflexively curved his eyes and smiled.
Looking at that radiant face, his head naturally nodded.
‘With that face as an emperor, it suits him well.’
To think that such a handsome person was the face of the nation—the people must be quite proud.
‘Right, with that face, he’s more than qualified to be emperor.’
Having finished rationalizing with a mind that wasn’t working properly, Seoho called out to Rosetta, who was still watching him carefully.
“Rosetta.”
“Yes.”
At Seoho’s call, Rosetta’s face brightened as if a light bulb had flashed on above his head. Seoho made an effort not to be captivated by that face and asked.
“You’re an emperor? So you rule a country?”
Rosetta answered quickly.
“That’s right. But if you don’t like it, I’ll step down from the emperor’s position.”
At the absurd statement, Seoho doubted his ears and asked again.
“What?”
“If you want a humble life, I’ll step down from the emperor’s position.”
At his face that seemed to hold not a shred of lie, Seoho was startled.
“No, why are you so extreme?”
The position of emperor probably wasn’t one you could easily step down from just by saying you would, but even if he did step down, that would be too burdensome.
‘The fact that he’s an emperor is already burdensome, but if he stepped down from the emperor’s position because of me, that would be even more burdensome.’
Seoho shook his head vigorously with the meaning of absolutely not.
“Not that, just explain to me.”
“What?”
“About Rosetta. So far we’ve only talked about me, right?”
Thinking about it, until that person came in earlier, Seoho had been captivated by Rosetta’s face and had only rattled on about himself.
So now it was time to hear Rosetta’s story. Seoho added an explanation for Rosetta, who seemed not to get it.
“Who your parents are, how you’ve lived, how you’re living now. Tell me like I told you.”
Rosetta breathed in with a gasp like someone who was moved, then asked happily.
“…Are you curious about me?”
Seoho answered without hiding his bewilderment.
“Isn’t that obvious? You said you summoned me. You’re the person who completely changed my life, so of course I’m curious.”
“Ah.”
How did he take Seoho’s words? Rosetta’s eyes grew moist and his face reddened.
‘He’s crying again? Is it okay for an emperor to be such a crybaby?’
With a just-in-case feeling, Seoho called out to Rosetta.
“Rosetta?”
Fortunately, Rosetta didn’t cry. After catching his breath a few times, Rosetta began talking about himself.
“Then I’ll start with my parents’ story.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“First, my mother Shinshi…”
Seoho sat leaning his back against the headboard and listened to the life Rosetta talked about. Concentrating on the low voice that was pleasant to hear, delivered without great ups and downs, wasn’t boring at all.
***
Seoho’s eyes flew open. He had fallen asleep while listening to Rosetta’s story without even knowing when he’d dozed off.
He’d only closed and opened his eyes once, but the room was filled with sunlight. Seoho blinked vacantly and then marveled anew.
“Wow.”
How long had it been since he’d slept so comfortably and deeply?
He recalled the days when even after opening his eyes he couldn’t easily wake from sleep due to insufficient rest, and yet when he did fall asleep again, he couldn’t sleep properly because of the crying sounds he heard.
‘So a good night’s sleep is this wonderful.’
His body felt light, his mood was good, and his head didn’t hurt. Seoho stretched and rubbed his body against the soft blanket.
Then someone called out to Seoho.
“Seoho?”
It was Rosetta’s voice. Seoho sat up in bed and answered.
“Yes.”
He didn’t know what time it was, but judging by the sunlight coming in from the window, he’d definitely overslept. Rosetta approached the bed where Seoho was lying and smiled gently as he arranged Seoho’s hair.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, I slept well.”
Rosetta said while arranging Seoho’s hair.
“It seems you had too much accumulated fatigue until now. I’m sorry.”
Seoho grabbed Rosetta’s hand that was naturally descending from his hair to his ear and brought it down, answering firmly.
“You should apologize for that.”
After realizing how precious sleep was, he felt like he wouldn’t be able to endure it if such a thing happened again. Rosetta nodded slightly.
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
Having received Rosetta’s apology, Seoho examined his glowing face and asked.
“So did Rosetta sleep well?”
Judging by his face, it seemed he’d slept very well, but still Seoho returned the greeting he’d received. Since his parents had passed away, he hadn’t had anyone to exchange such conversations with, so it was a bit awkward, but the feeling wasn’t bad.
At Seoho’s question, Rosetta’s smile deepened. He curved his lips prettily upward.
“I slept well.”
“That’s good.”
Rosetta, who had been smiling gently, soon lowered the corners of his eyes apologetically and said.
“Seoho, as soon as you’re ready, I’d like to meet the Saintess. Of course, if you don’t want to meet her, we don’t have to.”
“You brought it up because we need to meet, right?”
At Seoho’s question, Rosetta chuckled and answered.
“Just, I thought I’d have you get a checkup to see if your body is okay.”
“Then I’ll meet her. It’s not a difficult situation, right?”
“Right, it’s a comfortable situation.”
The Saintess—someone he’d heard of and someone he’d actually seen while half-asleep. The silver-haired woman.
“The Saintess is the one who gifted the mirror, right?”
“Yes, she’s the one who conveys the words of God.”
Seoho struggled to hide his doubt as he asked with difficulty.
“So she really conveys God’s words? She’s not lying?”
“Hm?”
“No, in our world there are people who lie.”
“They’re really God’s words.”
“Wow, then she must be an incredibly amazing person.”
It really hit home that this was a different world. He’d heard that this place had not only magic but also holy power used by those who served God.
It was surprising that this was a place where evidence of God’s existence was more visible, but to have someone who conveyed God’s words—it sounded very mysterious and amazing.
When Seoho’s eyes sparkled, Rosetta grabbed Seoho’s hand and said with a serious face.
“…I am a human who receives God’s love.”
Seoho stared at Rosetta blankly and then soon understood.
‘Come to think of it, kings or emperors are usually called sons of God or have at least one myth attached to them, right?’
Thinking about the history of the world he’d lived in, that was definitely the case. Rosetta probably meant it in that sense too.
“I see. That’s amazing, Rosetta.”
At his more indifferent reaction than before, Rosetta said once more.
“I’m more amazing.”
Seoho let out a small laugh. He was like a five-year-old kindergartener shouting that my dad is more amazing.
Rosetta was cuter than expected.
“Of course. I know. So where’s the bathroom? You said I need to get ready.”
Even if it wasn’t just because of meeting the Saintess, Rosetta was standing there with such a neat face that he was starting to worry about his own appearance.
‘I just woke up. I must look a mess.’
Seoho let out an embarrassed laugh and scratched his head when Rosetta said.
“I’ll call a servant.”
“A servant?”
“Yes.”
A servant—he really was an emperor, being an emperor.
“A real servant?”
Rosetta looked at Seoho as if asking what the problem was. At Rosetta’s reaction, Seoho shook his head and corrected himself.
“No, it’s not that. But I don’t really need a servant. I can wash up by myself.”
“Of course I know. You wash well on your own.”
Seoho frowned and said.
“How do you know… Did you watch me wash too?”
At Seoho’s slightly sharp tone, Rosetta immediately apologized.
“I’m sorry.”
Just as he’d received an apology for the act of preventing him from sleeping, the act of watching him wash also deserved an apology.
“Yes, you should be sorry for that. Anyway, if you know I can wash by myself, why are you calling a servant?”
Rosetta observed Seoho’s mood and answered.
“You won’t know where things are, and there might be things that are used differently there and here.”
It was a valid point.
“That’s true.”
When Seoho didn’t get particularly angry anymore, Rosetta rang a bell.
“The servant you saw the other day will come.”
Seoho recalled the good-natured man who had informed him that Rosetta was the emperor.
