Afterstory: The Warmest Winter in the World (8)

Meanwhile, Benelia was walking through the imperial palace gardens.

Stars crowded the night sky. Beneath them, the emperor crossed beds of sleeping flowers, her steps unhurried in the cool air. A few blossoms that had survived the winter brushed against her ankles.

Any gardener watching would have been horrified to see someone trampling through the flowerbeds. Benelia gave it little thought. The garden belonged to her. So did the palace, and the gardener who tended its grounds. She was emperor of the realm; everything she could see was under her authority.

But she had not come out to indulge some capricious desire to ruin the flowers.

“Where have you gone, you little troublemaker…?”

She was searching for a puppy.

On an inspection tour through the provinces, she had found the animal abandoned beside the road and brought it home. The imperial household fed it well and cared for it. Because everyone knew the emperor was fond of it, even the servants let the puppy roam wherever it pleased.

“Ted! If you're anywhere near here, come out! Are you determined to destroy my whole garden?”

A little head rose from a bed of cineraria.

Ted panted at her, his tongue hanging out and a leaf stuck to his nose. The sight was charming enough to make her suspicious.

Sure enough, the ground around him was torn up where he had been digging.

“You incorrigible little beast…”

Benelia had come prepared to scold him. She even considered striking him once, but his round, innocent eyes defeated her resolve, just as they always did.

She sighed, half laughing, and knelt.

“You may be the only creature alive who dares look the emperor in the eyes without permission.”

“Haah, haah…”

“Honestly, you're impossible.”

She pinched his cheeks and tugged them gently, amused by the way they stretched.

“Taking advantage of your standing to behave however you please—aren't you ashamed? Dig in my flowerbeds one more time and I'll put you on a leash. Do you understand?”

“Whine, whine…”

“Oh? Defying an imperial command? Then I'll have to punish you by pinching your cheeks a little more—”

“Your Majesty?”

Benelia flinched.

Someone had come up behind her. Embarrassed at being caught playing with the dog, she released his cheeks and cleared her throat.

“…Roylen. What brings you here?”

She avoided looking directly at the visitor. Roylen evidently understood and offered a respectful greeting with a restrained smile.

“I was writing an academic research report and came out for some fresh air. Meeting Your Majesty here is a great honor.”

“An honor? Nonsense. Don't make such a fuss.”

Benelia grumbled and scratched Ted beneath the chin. His tail wagged furiously.

Seeing her like this brought an involuntary smile to Roylen's face.

“It suits you, Your Majesty.”

“…What does?”

“Having an ordinary life.”

An ordinary life.

Roylen had a point. In earlier years, Benelia would never have tolerated herself wasting an hour playing with a dog. She had scarcely allowed herself time to eat or rest, let alone to care for another creature. Everything had been devoted to claiming the imperial throne.

After her coronation, she had worked just as fiercely to stabilize the empire. She had attacked corruption and drawn the country's powers into a stronger central government.

She reorganized the army, strengthened special units and rebuilt the military system. She also stepped away from the first emperor's rigid approach to foreign affairs. Trade revived, and ships from many countries crowded the port at Palengar.

Magic-stone mines were developed one after another, adding fresh wealth to the imperial treasury.

Even the national debt had been paid. The empire had grown prosperous and powerful enough to deserve its name again.

Many people called Benelia a saint. Her subjects spoke of her with genuine respect, holding her up as an example of what a monarch should be.

“Hmph…”

Benelia cared little for their praise. She believed she had merely carried out the duties that came with the throne.

Indeed, she was inclined to call her predecessor an incompetent fool for failing to accomplish things she considered obvious. The palace staff took even that as a sign of humility and praised her all the more, much to her annoyance.

Still, she was glad the country had finally settled down. There was less work to do now.

She rested a hand on Ted's head.

“I didn't become emperor just so I could work until the day I die. It's time I lived a little for myself.”

“What sort of life do you hope for, Your Majesty?”

“One in which the person I love tells me they love me too.”

She pressed Ted's nose gently. The puppy sneezed, and Benelia smiled at him with almost girlish affection.

“It won't be easy. But I'd like that more than anything.”

Roylen hesitated, uncertain how to answer such an intimate wish.

“I'm sure Your Majesty will achieve it.”

“On what grounds?”

“You are the emperor. There is nothing beyond your reach, nothing you cannot claim. Surely—”

“You're being foolish. Wealth and power cannot obtain everything.”

Benelia stood, brushing herself off.

Roylen was struck again by the emperor's beauty and presence. What sort of man could possibly refuse her?

Unless…

There was one obvious possibility: a nobleman as handsome as the emperor was beautiful, with a gentle heart and a gift for speaking kindly.

That man already had two wives. One was Count Ashley of Pelgaroin, ruler of the central county. The other was the Grand Master dearly regarded by the elves of the Great Forest.

Roylen lowered his gaze. The conversation suddenly felt like an intrusion.

“Obtaining someone is easy,” Benelia said after a while.

She looked toward the stars.

“Making that person want to be with you is the difficult part.”

For a moment, her gaze grew distant, as though she were revisiting years long past. She closed her eyes and smiled bitterly.

“But…”

The bitterness faded. When she opened her eyes, her old confidence had returned.

“I can't give up just because it's difficult, can I?”

Benelia had always refused to yield to adversity. That fierce determination was one of the reasons Roylen had sworn loyalty to her.

Roylen placed a hand against his chest and bowed, silently wishing that the emperor might find the happiness she sought.

“A wise resolve, Your Majesty.”

---

“So… neither of you was willing to give way?”

Theorad looked from Ashley to Linea. The two stood near his bedchamber door and nodded awkwardly, both blushing too hard to meet his eyes.

He put down the report he'd been reading and sighed.

How had a dispute over who would spend the evening with him become a proposal that all three of them spend the night together?

Ashley had burst into the room with the suggestion so suddenly that he'd cut his finger on the edge of the paper. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped away the blood.

I have neglected them both lately…

His duties had multiplied, keeping him out late and sometimes away on journeys lasting several days. He hadn't been able to devote much time to either marriage.

Even so, he hadn't expected his wives to arrive together, dressed for the bedchamber.

Ashley wore a light one-piece nightdress with a lower neckline than usual. Linea had made a much more daring choice: sheer lingerie and stockings held up by garters, with nothing beneath the transparent fabric to conceal her.

Dremes must have had a hand in that.

Theorad couldn't imagine Linea choosing such an outfit entirely on her own. Perhaps Dremes had won her over and given it to her. That was only his guess, but it was easy to believe.

The whole situation made him uncomfortable.

He had imagined, from time to time, what it might be like to be intimate with two women at once. Yet he had never acted on the thought. His idea of proper conduct between spouses had always restrained him.

Now both wives were proposing exactly that, and he could hardly decide whether to be pleased or alarmed.

“I understand how you feel, but…”

He couldn't bear to remain seated while they stood there waiting for him. Folding the handkerchief, he approached them.

“There's no need to compete over this. If you'll just give me a little time—”

“I can't wait,” Linea said.

Her voice shook. She had come all this way despite her embarrassment, and she could not bear to retreat now. If he sent her away, she felt as though she might die of shame.

“So… you must take responsibility.”

Her red eyes were determined even as her cheeks burned.

Theorad doubted he could persuade her. He turned toward Ashley instead, but she caught his hand.

She drew his injured finger to her lips, then gently took it into her mouth. When she released it, she breathed out softly.

“…I'm sorry. You're bleeding.”

She touched her lips, her expression uncharacteristically bold, then rested her hand against his chest.

“Theorad. We're going to be honest with you now.”

Ashley moved close enough that he could feel her warmth. She rose onto her toes and murmured beside his ear:

“You… want this too.”