“These are essence dumplings made from ptarmigan that survived the northern cold season. Nothing better for restoring your strength.”
Luan stared at the spoon in front of him with dead eyes. The one holding that spoon was a man built like a bear — Harkan, Commander of the Northern Knight Order. He was pushing the food forward with the utmost devotion, like a mother bird tending to her chick.
“……Harkan. I ate the spirit herb stew ten minutes ago. I feel like I’m going to burst.”
“Just one more bite! Look how gaunt your face has gotten!”
Harkan’s eyes were brimming with tears. After Luan had declared he would “do nothing and lie here as if dead,” Harkan had volunteered to attend to the Empress personally, as penance for his sins. The problem was that his dedication had gone so far it was practically force-feeding.
“And please take this fur off me. It’s the middle of summer. Are you trying to cook me alive?”
“No, no! Patients need to stay warm. This bear hide has been magically treated, so the breathability——”
“It’s hot!!”
Luan kicked the blanket off. His fever was raging. It felt like his veins were swelling to the point of bursting. It wasn’t just the fur. With the imperial palace’s powerful barrier in place, at this rate he was going to literally explode.
I’ve hit my limit.
Luan drew in a ragged breath. He had to escape this prison. Somehow, he needed to get to the temple and request a repair. To do that, he first had to deal with that irritating barnacle clinging to his side.
“Harkan.”
Luan called his name with a deliberately grave expression.
“Yes, Your Highness! Just say the word!”
“Go back to the North. Now.”
“……Pardon?”
The spoon slipped from Harkan’s hand. His face crumpled as though the world had ended.
“You — you’re casting me away? Am I a burden to you? I truly am an unforgivable sinner……”
“It’s nothing like that.”
Luan scrambled to come up with something. Why is this bear of a man so sensitive? If he burst into tears here, there’d be no recovering from it.
“You are the sword of the empire and the shield of the North. If you stay here waiting on me, who guards the northern border?”
“But…… if I leave it to my subordinates……”
“They’ll just embezzle again.”
Harkan flinched at that.
“Go back and restore discipline. And…… make the North the safest place it can be, for my sake. That way I can rest easy, can’t I.”
In truth, he meant you’re driving me absolutely mad so please just leave — but filtered through Harkan’s loyalty-filled, misreading ears, it landed differently. As: Guard your post for me. I trust you with my back.
“……Aah!”
Harkan clenched his fist, overcome with emotion.
“To think I didn’t understand the depth of Your Highness’s intentions…… I was a fool! As you command, I will fortify the North like iron and make it a sanctuary for you!”
“Yes, yes. Off you go. Right now.”
“I swear it — I will return as a Knight Commander worthy of your pride!”
Harkan dropped into a deep bow so forceful it seemed to shake the floor, then left the bedchamber with a look of solemn resolve. Like a hero setting off on an epic journey. Luan watched his retreating figure and exhaled a long breath of relief. He bit back the urge to say don’t bother coming back.
Phew. One down.
Now what remained was the boss monster. That is to say — the Emperor.
A short while later, Kirian came in. His expression was complex. He must have seen Harkan leaving.
“You sent Harkan off.”
“Yes. The Knight Commander can’t be away from his post for too long.”
“……I see.”
Kirian pulled a chair over and sat beside the bed. Get rid of one, another shows up — it’s maddening. At least Kael came as part of a set with Kirian, so he didn’t show up separately, which was marginally better.
Kirian’s gaze settled on Luan’s pale face. A brow damp with cold sweat, labored breathing. No matter how good the medicine, there was no improvement. If anything, since he’d declared he would “lie here as if dead,” he seemed to be withering further — and it was eating Kirian alive inside.
“Your Highness.”
Luan opened his mouth with effort.
“I have a request.”
“Say it. I’ll grant anything.”
Kirian answered reflexively. At this point, if Luan asked him to reach up and pluck the moon from the sky, he’d be out looking for a ladder.
“I need to go to the temple.”
“The temple?”
Kirian’s brow furrowed slightly.
“Your body is in no condition for that. Why insist on going to the temple? If you need something, I can summon a priest.”
“No. A priest won’t do. I need to go myself.”
Luan clutched at the front of his shirt as if trying to tear the fabric. It wasn’t acting. His heart genuinely felt like it was going to burst.
“It’s…… suffocating here.”
“……”
“It’s also time for the purification rite.”
Suffocating. That word made Kirian’s chest lurch. He took it in a psychological sense. The pain of the past five years, and this very bedchamber where he had tried to keep him confined — it was strangling him.
“……The purification rite.”
Leaving. That again. Divorce. Separation.
Kirian’s red eyes darkened with something dangerous. A destructive urge surged up — to silence that mouth right now and bind him to this bed forever. But he had to restrain himself. If he indulged his own desires now, the person in his grasp would truly have the life choked out of him.
“……Understood.”
Kirian answered in a hoarse voice.
“I permit it.”
“Thank you. Then I’ll start preparing——”
“However.”
Kirian cut him off. His gaze held Luan’s without wavering.
“Not alone.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m coming too. Sending you alone…… I can’t bear the anxiety.”
Luan’s expression turned reluctant.
“No, Your Highness. The purification rite requires going alone——”
“There is no room for compromise.”
Kirian was firm. Luan looked into his eyes and clicked his tongue inwardly.
Ah, this is going to be a nuisance. But right now was not the time to be picky. His blood felt like it could reverse course at any moment.
“……Do as you please.”
Luan gave a resigned nod.
“Then I’ll have preparations made at once.”
Kirian rang the bell to summon the Head Chamberlain — but for some reason, the one who came bursting in from just outside the door was Kael.
“Kael! Prepare the Empress’s procession. Destination — the Grand Temple.”
“Yes, sir! How many escort knights shall accompany?”
“All of them.”
“All of them, sir?”
“Every last one. Clear the path so that not so much as a pebble gets in the Empress’s way.”
Is he out of his mind? Luan thought — and then Kirian swept him up into his arms in one motion. Yep. Definitely out of his mind.
“Let’s go. Wherever you wish.”
Carried in Kirian’s arms, Luan swallowed a sigh. Something is definitely wrong with the lot of them.
***
A short while later, at the imperial palace’s main gates, Luan felt dizzy at the sight before him. He had wanted to slip out quietly. He really had.
But spread out in front of him was the Emperor’s personal carriage adorned in gold, and behind it, hundreds of palace guard knights lined up in formation. Kael was at the head, holding a banner with the energy of someone about to shout “Long live the Empress!”
“……Your Highness. Isn’t this a bit excessive?”
“What is?”
“I’m just going to pray. This isn’t a military campaign.”
“My Empress is on the move. This much is the bare minimum. Get in.”
Kirian climbed into the carriage with Luan still in his arms. The moment they settled into the plush velvet seats, the carriage began to move smoothly.
Something is off about this. The goodwill was excessive. This called for caution. Goodwill only went as far as pork — if someone started offering beef, suspicion came first. But this wasn’t just any beef. This was prime Hanwoo and Wagyu.
“Are you in pain?”
Kirian asked with a look of worry, wrapping an arm around Luan’s shoulder. Warm body heat. But even that felt like too much right now. What’s gone so wrong?
“……Your Highness. Please make me a promise when we reach the temple.”
“What promise?”
“I’ll be entering the rite alone. You absolutely must not come inside until the rite is finished.”
“Why not?”
“It’ll corrupt the sanctity of the rite.”
Kirian hesitated for a moment, but seeing the earnest look on Luan’s face, he eventually gave a nod.
“……Understood. I’ll stand guard at the door.”
“Thank you.”
Luan sank deep into the carriage seat. We’ll arrive soon. Kirian acting like this toward him was probably because he hadn’t been able to see Aiden yet. All that misplaced devotion had nowhere to go and was just landing on him instead. Thinking of it that way, maybe following the Emperor here wasn’t such a bad call after all. Once Kirian met Aiden, he’d come back to his senses.
But he didn’t know. That Aiden, too, had already been buttoned up wrong from the very start.
