Arkan, who had been silent in response to Sophia’s words, chimed in with a sarcastic voice.
“I didn’t know you would say something like that, Sophia. I thought you would prioritize the Queen above all else.”
“Of course, that’s true, Your Majesty. At first, I tried to be loyal to Her Majesty as a way to atone for the foolish mistake my mother made. However, as time passed, I learned that there was no need for any reason to help Her Majesty. If you are sincere, she will treat you with sincerity.”
Sophia paused for a moment and lowered her chin slightly.
Arkan realized for the first time that her gaze was very sharp.
Usually, Sophia was always indifferent and unpredictable, but now it was different.
Even though he knew it was an absurd thought, Arkan couldn’t shake the feeling that he had stepped onto one side of the scale Sophia had set.
“However, me being loyal to Her Majesty the Queen and Your Majesty taking risks are completely different things. If Your Majesty is truly a wise King, then leave the palace right now. Until Your Majesty has a chance.”
Yes, that would be a wise King, Arkan thought. Sophia was absolutely right.
He had many things to worry about and deal with besides Erdene.
Just the rude letter that arrived from Kensilom this morning was enough. He had not yet thought of a single word to reply to it.
The events of the day were enough to make his head explode.
He just had to get out of there and wait for that stubborn, stubborn bone to wake up.
After all, in a day or two, he would shake off his seat and get up as if nothing had happened.
Arkan said,
“You said that you thought that was the way a wise King should behave. But Sophia, that was not my question.”
Sophia’s eyes blinked silently.
Arkan continued.
“I asked if that was the behavior of a good companion. Now tell me. If I just go back and wait for the Queen to wake up, can I call that a good companion? A trustworthy and reliable partner?”
“Not at all.”
Arkan looked momentarily bewildered at such a short and blunt answer.
Sophia said,
“If you were to die right here and now, I would think of you as a wise man, bright in discernment, but I would never think of you as a true companion of the Queen.”
“I didn’t know you would say something like that, Sophia. I thought you would prioritize the Queen above all else.”
“Of course, that’s true, Your Majesty. At first, I tried to be loyal to Her Majesty as a way to atone for the foolish mistake my mother made. However, as time passed, I learned that there was no need for any reason to help Her Majesty. If you are sincere, she will treat you with sincerity.”
Sophia paused for a moment and lowered her chin slightly.
Arkan realized for the first time that her gaze was very sharp.
Usually, Sophia was always indifferent and unpredictable, but now it was different.
Even though he knew it was an absurd thought, Arkan couldn’t shake the feeling that he had stepped onto one side of the scale Sophia had set.
“However, me being loyal to Her Majesty the Queen and Your Majesty taking risks are completely different things. If Your Majesty is truly a wise King, then leave the palace right now. Until Your Majesty has a chance.”
Yes, that would be a wise King, Arkan thought. Sophia was absolutely right.
He had many things to worry about and deal with besides Erdene.
Just the rude letter that arrived from Kensilom this morning was enough. He had not yet thought of a single word to reply to it.
The events of the day were enough to make his head explode.
He just had to get out of there and wait for that stubborn, stubborn bone to wake up.
After all, in a day or two, he would shake off his seat and get up as if nothing had happened.
Arkan said,
“You said that you thought that was the way a wise King should behave. But Sophia, that was not my question.”
Sophia’s eyes blinked silently.
Arkan continued.
“I asked if that was the behavior of a good companion. Now tell me. If I just go back and wait for the Queen to wake up, can I call that a good companion? A trustworthy and reliable partner?”
“Not at all.”
Arkan looked momentarily bewildered at such a short and blunt answer.
Sophia said,
“If you were to die right here and now, I would think of you as a wise man, bright in discernment, but I would never think of you as a true companion of the Queen.”
Arkan laughed in vain.
“Do you have ten lives?”
“I know my words are rude, but I also know that Your Majesty would not take my life like this. As you know, my mother once praised Your Majesty’s character so much that it was drilled into my ears.”
That may not have been entirely true, though.
Sophia muttered in a small voice, but clearly enough for Arkan to hear.
The astonished Arkan made a strange expression as if he didn’t know whether to be angry or laugh.
But soon his eyes were immersed in a pitiful and bleak shadow.
“Get out of the way. And you and the other maids should rest for a while. I will be staying with the Queen all night today.”
“It must be hard.”
“If you can’t do it, I will call you.”
Sophia knew that Arkan would never call her by mistake. If Erdene woke up miraculously during the night, that would be different.
But so what. She hoped Arkan would be a good companion for Erdene more than a wise King for all his people. She would have been truly disappointed if he had said, “Okay,” and turned around. For Erdene’s sake.
“Anne, Sabnake. Come out here. And you guys, go inside and rest. There will be much to do tomorrow.”
“Young lady, you can’t do it all by yourself... Oh my!”
Sabnake, who had raised her head with a worried expression, bowed hurriedly when she saw Arkan belatedly.
Anne was the same, and Arkan smiled faintly when he saw the hollows under their eyes from fatigue.
“You all worked hard. I will be checking on the Queen’s physical condition, so you can go and close your eyes.”
When Sophia nodded, Anne and Sabnake, who had been watching her, carefully stepped back.
“Her fever has gone down a lot now, so there is no need to dry her body. I was preparing a medicinal bath because they said it would be good for her to regain consciousness, but let’s postpone it until tomorrow morning.”
“No, if you’re ready, leave it as it is. I will do it.”
At Arkan’s answer, Sophia opened her eyes wide as if she was wondering if that made sense.
“Your Majesty, a medicinal bath is different from a simple bath. It’s in water steeped in herbs...”
“I know. I saw it when I was young.”
“You saw it?”
“Yes. When my brother got a fever and the fever wouldn’t go down, my mother told me to prepare a medicinal bath. I saw it then, so it’s okay.”
If Prince Iris was alive, how long ago could this have happened? It must have happened when Arkan was only six or seven years old.
However, Arkan kept his lips tightly shut as if telling her not to say anything more. Sophia had no choice but to take a step back.
“Then I’ll just finish preparing the bathroom and leave.”
She crossed the bedroom and the small hallway and disappeared into the Queen’s bathroom.
Amidst the sound of pouring water and rustling sounds, Arkan stared blankly down at Erdene, who had her eyes closed as if she were asleep, and sat down next to her.
“Can’t you hear me?”
He tried to speak quietly.
He thought that if he did, Erdene would flinch at any moment and eventually wake up laughing.
That didn’t happen. It was all just Arkan’s wish. It was vain and pointless.
“I thought you were trying to turn my stomach inside out by pretending to faint. If you had, I wouldn’t have seen you this time. For about a week.”
As he said that, Arkan turned his head completely toward Erdene for the first time.
He waited for a long time, looking straight at her face, but Erdene didn’t move at all.
If it weren’t for the very slight movement of her rib cage, he would have thought she was dead.
“You’re making me talk to myself now. It really seems like there’s nothing I won’t do because of you. Do you know that? When I promised the Emperor of Hirschsten and your brother food support and made you the Queen of Vetor, that was the first trick I planned after becoming King. You might think I was struck by lightning, but in fact, this was something I had planned for a long time.”
Arkan’s monologue continued, seemingly empty and as if it would end, but it didn’t seem to end.
He sighed into the air and smiled faintly.
“No matter how hard you tried, you would never have become the Emperor of Hirschsten. Because I wouldn’t have let you. I knew you would resent me. In fact, I wonder why you didn’t try to kill me earlier. I thought you would still be able to do that.”
He turned his head to Erdene again.
For a moment, he wished that her eyes would open wide and glare at him with poisonous blue eyes, but that didn’t happen this time either.
Arkan said.
“You had to marry me. You had to. I’m sorry. But I won’t change my decision or regret it. Even if you end up hating me for the rest of your life.”
Erdene’s calm face seemed to sink far into the distance.
He feared that if he tried to hold onto it, he would drown along with it, that a large hole with widening edges would form, and that she would sink beneath it.
Arkan unconsciously grabbed Erdene’s hand. The fever had subsided, and now her hand was cold.
“Your Majesty, preparations are complete.”
Sophia, who had appeared just then, said quietly. She, like Arkan, had expected Erdene to wake up, and she looked somewhat disappointed at the sight of her still unconscious appearance.
“Thank you for your hard work. You too, go back and rest.”
“I will stay in the palace until Her Majesty wakes up. I have already contacted my father.”
Arkan nodded.
When he turned his gaze as if telling her to leave, Sophia looked back at Erdene one last time and quietly closed the door before leaving.
Arkan and Erdene were the only two left in the spacious Queen’s bedroom.
As the candles lit here and there flickered and burned, Arkan briefly thought of the first night of their wedding.
Erdene had left him and gone to another room.
There had been several opportunities to visit her bedroom since then, but they had never been successful.
Unexpected problems had occurred as if someone was watching and interfering.
“I shouldn’t have done that. Don’t you think so too? To be honest?”
Arkan, speaking jokingly, removed the sheet from Erdene’s body and carefully picked her up.
She was wearing only a very thin slip gown as he wiped her body to reduce her fever.
Her skin was covered in scars under the translucent fabric. Arkan had never seen these scars before.
How did she survive? He stared blankly at a deep scar on Erdene’s side and thought.
It looked like an arrow, spear tip, or something similar had torn through her flesh.
The bleeding must have been significant. If it had gone any deeper, she would have lost her life.
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