My vision was blurry. Everything was dark and hazy, and I wanted to see more clearly and vividly.

Kaella tried hard to focus her eyes. Her body felt limp and powerless, like heavy wet cloth soaked in water, but she still needed to see properly. As she kept her eyes open, the dark vision gradually became clearer.

The familiar canopy of the duke’s four-poster bed and the draped curtains, the light from the slightly lit fireplace, the smell of dried wood.

Kaella blankly stared at the scene before her eyes without thinking. At the end of that scene was a man sitting by the bed, staring intently at her.

‘Ah, again.’

He appears again. Kaella closed her eyes, which she had barely managed to keep open. She closed them, then opened them again.

The fireplace light cast shadows on his handsome face, while on the opposite side, the pale dawn light coming through the window competed with the fireplace light, occupying half of that face.

His clear purple eyes, not tinged with black, stared at her without blinking.

Even when she closed her eyes and opened them again, he was still there. The man who had left the biggest mark on her entire life sat there like an apparition.

“Kaella.”

He rarely called her name before, but now he calls it so well. He called her name, not a title, affectionately and intimately.

“Can you hear my voice?”

His cautious voice was almost like a whisper. Why was he being so careful? She was just Kaella. Not worth treating so carefully. She was really nothing to that man.

“Can you see me? Do you recognize who I am?”

Why wouldn’t she know? Kaella was rather puzzled that he would ask such a question.

“Yes.”

Though she hadn’t answered, he seemed to know exactly what she had said.

“That’s good then. I’m relieved.”

Peon barely nodded. He nodded several times, either in relief or self-conviction.

“That’s enough.”

What did he mean by that? Kaella just stared at Peon, not understanding what he meant.

“I’m sorry.”

He apologized without being able to look at her.

“I’m really sorry, Kaella.”

What was he sorry for? She couldn’t understand, but even keeping her eyes open was too much. Her eyelids were too heavy. Kaella fell asleep again before she knew it.

And when she opened her eyes again, she felt her eyelids were much lighter. But the man who had been by the bed was gone.

“It’s been 25 days. Nearly a month. It’s really fortunate.”

Instead, there was Darinka, and there were maids in tears seeing her awake.

This was still Lüsenford. For the third time. She couldn’t die properly. Why should she live a life with no hope even if she survived? Or how should she live through it? She didn’t have the strength for that.

“Many flowers have bloomed, Your Highness. There are many pretty flowers here too, and many flowers I’ve never seen before.”

Marie sniffled and promised to show her all those flowers. It was Marie’s way of asking her not to have any wrong thoughts.

“Don’t worry about anything, Your Highness. There’s nothing to be concerned about. Absolutely nothing.”

The spirited Denise spoke exaggeratedly and told her what had happened in the meantime.

“The Duke, his eyes just rolled back, I tell you. I was so scared and my legs were shaking so much I could barely stand.”

The butler was reportedly taken out and killed in a ‘way too terrifying to speak of.’ Denise shuddered, saying she got goosebumps just thinking about it.

“The people here will curse the loyal butler who was killed because of the Duchess.”

“Oh my, Your Highness. How can you say such things? How dare they curse Your Highness? They all curse that dead man. Well, the Duke confiscated all his property and completely emptied the house he lived in. My goodness, they say the money from that is enough to repair the Fueten Fortress over there and more!”

It wasn’t just the Fueten Fortress repairs. The news that they could also finish the ongoing kitchen construction in the castle with the latest equipment had already swept through the castle long ago.

No one was interested anymore in the sinner who emphasized frugality while only focused on filling his own stomach behind closed doors. Rolf Anderson had literally become a shameful name.

“He kept nagging to save this and that for the military fund, save water, save candles, and what do you know, there were five beeswax candles in his house. A jewelry box was found too.”

That was extremely wealthy for Lüsenford. Denise shook her head while brushing Kaella’s hair and carefully applying fragrant oil to the ends.

“The Duke disposed of it all and is using it for fortress repairs, so the knights are very pleased. I actually don’t understand why they’re happy. Sir Wilberk said it was a wise decision, that the fortress costs a lot, but I’m much happier that the kitchen construction is cleanly finished. How do you like the smell of this fragrant oil? I tried changing it.”

“…Why did you do that? Just use what we have.”

“The Duke specifically instructed us. He said to replace all the items Your Highness uses with even more expensive and better ones than the latest fashion in Klein. He says we don’t need to worry about finances at all now. The butler must have embezzled quite a bit.”

Lüsenford has always been a poor place. Is Peon trying to make up for it financially because he feels sorry? There’s no need for that.

“So I tried changing the fragrant oil this time. It’s not that expensive, Your Highness. Even if we order all of it, it’s only about 200 dinars. Please try using it. This one too, ah, there’s more here. How is it?”

That was Denise’s way of asking, like Marie. It was also a hope that if Your Highness keeps seeing new things, she might find them interesting and forget about bad thoughts.

Of course, everyone had different ways of caring, so not everyone was like that.

“You almost crossed the river of death, but the Duke brought you back.”

Darinka spoke gruffly as she flung open the windows. Slightly cool but rather warm air entered the bedroom, and the stale air went out.

“It’s a miracle.”

The Duke didn’t hesitate to obtain medicine said to be in the evil dragon’s domain and fed it to the Duchess. Thanks to that, the Duchess barely regained consciousness.

The Duke silently nodded to the fact that there could be fatal side effects from the poison. After all, the fact that the Duchess opened her eyes was very important to him.

Fortunately, no side effects had been seen yet, but Darinka couldn’t forget the Duke’s gruff face mixed with self-blame and pain as he heard those words.

“You’re speaking quite well now, so you should be able to take walks outside soon.”

Whether it was Darinka’s instruction or not, Kaella hardly had any time alone. She was always surrounded by maids, and the head maid Mrs. Sirenster also came regularly to report on various matters in the castle and tell interesting stories.

But even when Kaella could barely get up from her bed and take a few steps, Peon did not come to visit.

*

The report on the attempted poisoning of the Duchess of Lüsenford, submitted by Sir Isidore Dakiten, went up to the Emperor. The Emperor snatched the report very irritably and read it meticulously, not missing a single character, with his eyes wide open.

“Such impudence…!”

He didn’t forget to constantly express his anger while reading.

“A place that knows nothing of manners and proper conduct! I must go and strictly re-establish proper conduct!”

“Your Majesty, please calm down.”

“Calm down, what! How dare they ignore the words of my niece, who is clearly a royal bloodline recognized by our late emperor! What is Hyperion doing!”

The servants, knights, and doctor watched the Emperor anxiously, worried about what if his blood pressure rises, or if he collapses holding the back of his neck.

These days, the Emperor had noticeably aged and showed signs of weakness due to decreased physical strength. At the same time, he hated to admit that he was not as healthy as when he was young. So he tended to overexert himself.

“Was proper punishment given?”

The target of the Emperor’s outpouring anger kept changing.

The entire Lüsenford turned into a den of ill-mannered bandits, then Peon became an incompetent and uneducated fool who failed to properly teach and set an example for the ignorant, and later even Kaella was criticized for being frustrating for showing mercy and sparing the head maid’s life.

“In cases like this, you need to set a proper example! You should kill them decisively and clearly, how frustrating. Being kind isn’t always the answer.”

“She said she couldn’t stain the beginning of the marriage Your Majesty arranged with blood.”

Isidore answered cautiously. Then the Emperor also grumbled and calmed his anger. Did Kaella leave such an answer on record knowing the Emperor would react like this?

“How can someone who can’t even protect his own wife properly protect the border…”

As the Emperor was jumping up and down so much, Isidore couldn’t even mention the dire situation in Lüsenford. That’s when it happened. There was a commotion in the Soleil Palace where the Emperor was staying.

“Why is it so noisy again?”

The Emperor reprimanded with a voice hoarse from all the raging.

“We apologize, Your Majesty. Knights have arrived from Lüsenford with a war report and items to present to Your Majesty.”

“War? Ah, yes. The barbarians invaded, didn’t they.”

It seems people have come from Lüsenford to report on what happened afterwards as well.

“They’ve probably brought something useless again.”

“Well, Your Majesty, they’ve brought an enormous gold nugget. It’s so heavy that four knights had to carry it on their shoulders.”

Gold? The Emperor’s eyes lit up. Isidore was surprised too. What gold did they bring?

“Tell them to bring it in quickly.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Usually, the Emperor made those sent by the Duke of Lüsenford wait for a very long time before meeting them, or didn’t even grant an audience and roughly sent them to report to someone else.

But if it was gold, that was a different story. As soon as the Emperor gave permission, the disciplined Lüsenford knights entered through the wide open doors, carrying poles on their shoulders.

Between those two long poles was placed a large, thick board, and on top of it was a gold nugget of obviously enormous size.

Seeing such a large pure gold nugget for the first time, Isidore’s jaw dropped, and the Emperor unconsciously widened his eyes and leaned forward.

“Eternal sun illuminating the empire, may you live long and prosper!”

Isidore flinched at the knights’ disciplined greeting. Though they were all knights, the Lüsenford knights had a spirit that could only be obtained through actual combat experience.

Perhaps that’s why the Emperor was wary of Lüsenford knights, especially those trained by Peon. While Peon was struggling to protect the border, the Emperor was living comfortably in the rear without seeing any hardships.

“Oh, yes.”

The Emperor, who had been slouching, was already just staring at the gold.

“I heard there was a war. But you came earlier than expected.”

The inflexible Lüsenford knights did not answer the Emperor’s words without permission.

“Report. Is that something you took from the barbarians?”

The Emperor gestured dismissively, but didn’t take his eyes off the gold nugget. It was a huge gold nugget about the size of a 3-4 year old boy.

“No, it is not. The combined forces of three tribes – Bainland, Volga, and Delgard – invaded, but were repelled at Fueten Fortress.”

“Then where did that come from?”

For the people of Lüsenford who constantly suffer from foreign invasions, the Emperor’s attitude was truly disheartening.

It was most important for the Emperor to pay attention and receive a general report on the invaders, but the Emperor pushed all that onto the Duke and was only interested in the gold nugget. It was always like this.

“The Duke said he feels very sorry for relying on Your Majesty, who always looks after us kindly.”

But now was the time to say exactly what Peon had put in their mouths. They had to.

“He also said that Lüsenford must strive to stand on its own feet, even a little, in order to repay Your Majesty. As the environment is too barren for farming, we searched mountains and caves, and discovered a gold vein. The Duke said all of this is thanks to Your Majesty’s virtue, and he has offered the largest gold nugget from the discovered gold to Your Majesty.”

“Is that so?”

The Emperor’s mouth stretched to his ears as he asked again.

“You discovered a gold mine?”

“Yes. The Duke said he would try to reduce the precious taxes Your Majesty sends us, even a little, with this gold mine. As the fortress and castle conditions are poor, it was decided to use all the gold mined from the gold mine for repairing the castle and preparing for invasions.”

“That’s very good news indeed, but I have never begrudged the support funds going to Lüsenford. I should continue to support you in the future too. How difficult it must be in the cold north?”

The Emperor, completely enchanted by the gold nugget, swept aside Isidore’s report that he had been holding until just now.

“So Hyperion is managing to do his job properly in his own way. Isidore, you saw that too, didn’t you?”

“Yes, they were doing their best in Lüsenford. I was worried because the fortress conditions were so poor, but this is fortunate.”

“Is it that poor?”

“Yes. They are still using weapons from decades ago. The castle walls are on the verge of collapse. It’s such a harsh place that I was very worried, as was the Duchess of Ostein.”

The Emperor clicked his tongue, and the Lüsenford knights stood rigidly, not reacting to the unexpected concern for Lüsenford expressed by the Emperor’s investigator.

“Yes, it should be used for repairs. Now that he’s even married, shouldn’t he take good care of his domain? Kaella will have a hard time. A husband should look after his wife. How difficult it must be for a child who lived in a warm place to now live in a cold place.”

The Emperor, his heart now quite generous, rested his chin on his hand and gazed contentedly at the gold nugget.

“There hasn’t been a single joyous occasion, but Hyperion is making me happy.”