Chapter 9.5: Quiet Night
It was a quiet night.
In the secret garden, where only the emperor could enter, Fabian breathed for a moment under the tree. He was the supreme ruler of the world, but he could never be at ease anywhere.
“Serus.”
Fabian spoke low. And in the shadow, a man appeared silently and bent his one knee.
“Yes.”
He was none other than the Commander of the Black Hawks, a secret corps devoted to the emperor from generation to generation. They were a very highly secure unit, which replaced each member every time the new emperor was crowned.
“I checked as you instructed Your Highness. Recently , the trend of rising Demons has been in suspicious flow. You have the power to look behind the scenes, I think you already suspect that.”
“As expected.”
It was common for Demons to appear on the territory’s borders, but their recent move was suspicious. But there was an interesting fact that, when those Demons appeared and made a fuss, a group of Vatican priests would appear and kill them and gain public sympathy.
“They’re up to something cunning.”
“The Vatican has infiltrated the people and won their trust.”
Fabian nodded.
“And one more thing … The Kingdom of Felice doesn’t seem to be under attack.”
“Because it’s the main source of income for the Vatican, so there can’t be any Demons there.” Fabian said it in a slightly sarcastic tone.
Serus nodded quietly. Even after the Empress had left, the Knights of the Black Hawk monitored the situation of the Felice Kingdom under Fabian’s command.
“The royal family of Felice is more lively than ever before. Recently, it is said that the King finally got a son and held a big festival and gave it to the people.”
Serus said to ease Fabian ‘s anxiety, but one of Fabian’s eyebrows wriggled.
“At that age?”
“He’s not a queen’s child, but a son born outside, and it seems that he was admitted as a Queen’s child with the approval of Vatican.”
“They feel at ease, huh.”
Fabian spat out annoyingly. He was the one who asked Serus to look after them, but he was annoyed to hear that they were doing too well.
“Yes. You don’t have to worry about the Felice Kingdom.”
Fabian shook his hand. It meant to getaway. However, he didn’t order Serus to monitor Felice’s Kingdom.
“A festival.”
It was a strange word for him.
Fabian, who was left alone in the dark, recalled Evelyn, who asked for a divorce right here.
“That’s what you wanted.”
It was a bitter end somewhere.
‘I want to go back. Even if I live here, I don’t live… I really think I’m going to die.’
Fabian remembered the voice he once heard in front of Evelyn’s residence. That day, Fabian couldn’t get into the Empress’s chamber. It was inconceivable to him that the Empress wanted to leave the imperial family.
‘Stop, ·····.’
After that, there was another day when Fabian visited the Empress without any news, which was unusual. It was when she suffered from fever, not long before Evelyn announced her divorce. Evelyn, who was unconscious of high fever, spat out nonsense with her cracked lips.
‘Now stop… I want to be sick. Majesty, it hurts so much. ····I’m so sick that I’d rather die.’
He often heard that she had blamed him, and the lingering silence caused her to get a high fever. But Fabian knew it. That was the truth revealed in Evelyn’s nightmare.
“How come….” Fabian spoke to himself.
Only
He never thought of making Evelyn very happy, but he never thought it would have made her so unhappy.
But Evelyn, who had a high fever and lost her mind, cried out in such a painful voice.
“I still don’t understand you.”
The wind blew.
After Evelyn left the imperial family, several seasons changed heartlessly.
**
(T/N : (It seemed, Fabian didn’t know that Evelyn loved him))