Imperial Palace Annex. Marital Counseling Room.
Pastel-toned wallpaper, plush down sofas, and lavender scented candles rising softly from the table. Everything was perfectly calculated to put a couple at emotional ease. Yet the air flowing through that space was eerily still.
“Um…… both of you?”
Benya, a newly appointed priest who had just graduated from the theological academy and been assigned here, swallowed dryly and readjusted his quill pen. Seated across from him was Kirian Eckart, the sun of the empire, and beside him sat Empress Luanisiel Requies, perfectly motionless as though made of wax.
That a fledgling priest like Benya had been saddled with counseling these two towering figures was the result of an epic round of hot potato. No one wanted to conduct the divorce counseling of the empire’s sun and moon. And so, among the approachable junior priests, Benya — who had both the highest marks and the biggest nerve — had been chosen. Though of course, that wasn’t the only reason.
Naturally, Benya had walked into the counseling room wound up with nerves. Since the Emperor and Empress had been joined as spouses through divine power before God, temple intervention was required not only for a divorce but also whenever the relationship between them deteriorated. There was, of course, the minor issue that this counseling room was being used for the first time in nearly thirty years.
The silver lining, if there was one, was that the Emperor’s attitude was unexpectedly cooperative. Even more so than the Empress, who drooped like a waterlogged straw doll.
“I must ask some questions as part of the counseling procedure. Please answer as comfortably as you like.”
“Go ahead. Be comfortable.”
Kirian answered in a low voice, chin propped in his hand. But his gaze was not on the priest — it was fixed on the side of Luan’s face seated beside him. It was a persistent, relentless stare, as though observing a research subject in a laboratory.
“Then…… the first question. Do the two of you converse often on a regular basis?”
“No.”
Before the question had even fully landed, Luan’s lips parted. It was a firm, dry answer.
“I can’t even remember the last time we had a private conversation. His Majesty is busy, and I…… stay only within the Empress’s palace.”
Luan stared blankly at the burning candle and added in a hollow voice.
“The time we spend sharing silence is longer than the time we spend hearing each other’s voices.”
So hurry up and check the boxes for ‘lack of communication’ and ‘irrecoverable relationship’ already. Luan shouted inwardly.
Benya flinched at the answer, which was so mechanical it was almost alarming, and glanced over at Kirian. It was the kind of moment where a rebuttal from the Emperor wouldn’t have been strange at all…… yet Kirian was still doing nothing but staring intently at Luan.
He doesn’t even blink.
Kirian clicked his tongue inwardly. He had felt it since yesterday when Luan had presented the divorce papers — that dry attitude had not a single crack in it. Even with him staring this openly, the man didn’t flush even a shade of pink, didn’t avert his gaze once. Not even a hint of discomfort.
Did the Requies family train him to kill off his emotions?
Kirian heightened the intensity of his observation, determined not to miss even the most subtle shift in Luanisiel’s expression or the slightest tremor of a finger. But to Benya’s eyes, the scene looked entirely different.
My goodness…… His Majesty can’t take his eyes off the Empress.
The Emperor was hanging on the Empress’s every word. That piercing gaze was simply impossible without a deep interest in the other person. Scratch, scratch. The quill pen moved busily.
“Then…… the next question. Could you each share one thing you like about the other?”
“He is alive.”
Luan answered again without a moment’s hesitation.
“That is fortunate for the wellbeing of the empire. He is in good health, and strong.”
That is all. A dry tone that left it unclear whether it was a compliment or a subtle jab. Benya was caught off guard. But the content was, without a doubt, a compliment. And then, Kirian — who had been keeping silent — opened his mouth.
“I agree.”
“……Pardon?”
“I think I know the Empress’s strong point as well.”
Kirian still didn’t take his eyes off Luanisiel, and the corner of his mouth curved upward with a strange, cool edge.
“Remarkably composed. Never loses composure no matter the situation. Quite…… interesting, to say the least.”
It was something he had thrown out half-expecting some degree of flustered reaction. But Luan merely gave an indifferent nod.
“You flatter me. It is simply a virtue befitting an Empress.”
A perfect wall. Kirian’s eyes narrowed. Meanwhile, Luan was privately wondering when this counseling would end so he could go back and lie down in bed.
“Then, what was it that led you both to decide on a divorce?”
It was the most important point of the session. Kirian answered it simply.
“Incompatibility.”
“Ineffi—…… incompatibility.”
There had clearly been an irritating word attached to the front. Kirian’s gaze turned cold. Benya’s quill continued moving at speed.
“Is there anything you think, ‘If only this were different, we could live together?'”
It was a pointless question that required no thought at all. Unlike the other questions that had received immediate answers, this one was met with a long silence. When Kirian offered nothing, Luan answered as though he had no other choice.
“No.”
Benya’s eyes lit up. Unexpectedly…… it might be that the Empress finds everything about the Emperor to his liking. Though of course, what Luan was actually thinking was that people couldn’t be fixed — a return was the only answer.
“Thank you for your cooperation. Then, last one.”
Was this long, drawn-out counseling session finally coming to an end? Since receiving a verdict of irrecoverable from the temple-dispatched priest’s counseling was the necessary first step toward a clean divorce, Luan had endured the time by staring blankly at the ceiling.
“Please hold each other’s hands and look into each other’s eyes for 10 seconds.”
“……?”
“……What?”
“A step of communication is required. It is a mandatory procedure, and the session cannot be concluded without it.”
Does that mean the session gets extended? Beep boop. An alarm sounded in Luan’s head. Telling a worn-down office worker they can’t clock out is nothing short of cruel.
Without hesitation, Luan reached out and placed his hand over the back of Kirian’s hand resting on the table. Tap. A dry, mechanical contact.
“……!”
Kirian looked down at Luan’s hand with an odd expression. It was merely resting there, but it was a strangely lifeless and cold hand. Kirian felt something peculiar.
One. Two. Three……
Luan wasn’t looking at him either. He simply stared blankly at Benya’s clock, counting down silently in his head.
Ten.
The moment ten seconds passed, Luan withdrew his hand with surgical precision and leaned back against the chair. A perfectly businesslike physical contact with not a trace of lingering attachment or reluctance. Kirian slowly rubbed the back of his own hand with his thumb and stared at Luan with an unreadable expression.
And even in that moment, Benya’s quill pen was moving swiftly.
***
“The counseling…… has concluded.”
After over an hour of suffocating questions and answers, Priest Benya set down his quill. Luan exhaled a quiet sigh of relief inwardly.
He had kept every answer to a bare minimum. He had described the relationship with the Emperor using words that could only be read as ‘labor,’ ‘obligation,’ and ‘indifference.’ It was a relationship anyone would see as completely broken down. All that was left now was to receive the verdict of irrecoverable and walk out of this wretched counseling room.
“The result document has been prepared immediately. Here……”
Benya extended the papers respectfully with both hands. Luan rose from his seat without hesitation and took the result document with dry, unhurried hands.
“Thank you for your efforts. Then if you would please write the dissolution confirmation in accordance with the procedure……”
But before the sentence could finish, Luan’s indifferent eyes shook as though struck by an earthquake. He doubted his own vision and checked the result document again. It was Benya’s overall assessment.
[Overall Assessment]
— Client 1 (Empress): Tends toward shyness, concealing true feelings and deflecting affection through a cold, cynical attitude
— Client 2 (Emperor): Observes the Empress’s every move and demonstrates deep interest
Conclusion: Client 1 and Client 2 appear to be deeply aware of each other but to have lacked the occasion to face that directly, and it is believed this situation led to the decision to divorce. The high level of mutual interest is a positive sign. Based on the counselor’s observations, the possibility of relationship recovery is very high given external intervention.
“……What is this?”
For the first time, an embarrassed voice slipped out of Luan’s mouth. But Benya smiled brightly and drove the nail in deeper. Had the man swallowed his common sense whole?
“Congratulations. The two of you have been diagnosed with a recovery possibility of ‘Very High.’ Although this decision has been made, sufficient relationship recovery is possible with intervention — and therefore, Article 7, Clause 3 of Temple Law applies.”
“……Article 7, Clause 3?”
“It is the clause stating that during the six-month divorce deliberation period, one regular counseling session per month must be conducted! Until your love burns bright again, I will support you to the very end!”
Luan was left speechless. Of course, having counseling added to the deliberation period didn’t cause any problem with the divorce procedure itself. But this…… he had to do this every month for six months?
“Brother, there seems to be some kind of mistake……”
Luan suppressed the urge to grab the back of his neck in exasperation. Were that priest’s eyes decorative? How did he look at all of this and see love? At that moment, a long shadow fell from beside him.
“Let me see.”
Kirian snatched the result document from Luan’s hand. As his eyes swept down the contents, the corner of Kirian’s mouth twisted in a peculiar way.
Amusing.
He had been about to laugh at the priest’s foolishness — and then stopped himself. This result. Not bad at all.
No — in fact, it was perfect. In order to uncover what the Requies family was scheming, he needed a justification to keep the Empress bound in place. And now the temple was offering to shackle him of its own accord.
“Priest Benya, was it.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“I am quite pleased with this prescription. ‘Monthly regular counseling,’ indeed.”
Kirian fluttered the result document and turned to look at Luan. His face appeared calm — but his eyes were already dead with the longing of a man who just wanted to go home and sleep.
“You heard, Empress? That is the temple’s will.”
“Your Majesty. This is a clear misdiagnosis on the part of this priest. I request a re-evaluation.”
“A servant of God denying a priest’s verdict. How lacking in faith.”
Kirian cut off Luan’s words and stepped one pace closer. By instinct, Luan stepped one pace back under the weight of that imposing presence.
“The results have come out this way, so they cannot be ignored. For the next six months, attendance once a month without exception.”
“……Ha.”
Without quite meaning to, Luan let out a small sigh. It was a sigh so saturated with the deep, bone-weary exasperation of an office worker that he had forgotten he was standing before the Emperor. But Kirian did not miss that reaction.
“And.”
Kirian’s eyes gleamed coldly.
“In a month, I will need to report ‘progress in the relationship’ — and in our current state of living separately, there would be nothing to say.”
“……What are you intending to do?”
“The Empress’s palace is too far.”
He declared quietly, like a predator cornering its prey.
“Starting today, you will move your quarters to the Main Palace. I need you within my line of sight.”
“……!”
“That way, the two of us will…… have something to say at the next counseling session, won’t we?”
For the first time, unmistakable dismay crossed Luan’s previously indifferent face. Not only was going to bed nowhere in sight — it seemed he was about to walk straight into the tiger’s den with his own two feet.
“I’ll give you time to pack. Have yourself moved into the Main Palace by evening.”
Kirian left the frozen Empress where he stood and walked out of the counseling room at a leisurely pace, result document in hand. As Luan stood there in a daze, Benya cheerfully called out a farewell as he gathered his own things to leave.
“Then I’ll see you in four weeks!”
Benya’s bright voice echoed through the now-empty counseling room. See you in four weeks. To Luan’s ears, those words sounded less like a farewell and more like a curse — I’ll see you again in hell in four weeks.
……This was a disaster. A genuine one.
oh dear XDDD