Chapter 4
In the Emperor’s Bedroom at Dawn
No, impossible.
It wasn’t like he was some mind reader.
Trying to hide my inner panic, I tilted my head with a puzzled expression.
“Is it unusual?”
Could it be that the name Lena was extremely rare in the Empire? Or maybe it was some socially forbidden name?
I tried my best to appear calm, but there was no stopping the cold sweat gathering beneath my palms.
Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—the Marquis soon shook his head slightly.
“No. It’s a very… beautiful name.”
Unlike before, his voice lacked strength.
And the relaxed composure he’d shown while discussing payment had completely vanished.
Even after hearing that my name wasn’t unusual, I still couldn’t shake the strange unease lingering in my chest.
Standing before the visibly anxious Lena, Lucen frowned faintly as he sank into deep thought.
Lena…
Just repeating the name reopened an old wound in his heart.
At the same time, it filled him with unbearable longing.
Though many years had already passed, that voice still remained vivid in his memory.
‘Daddy!’
His youngest daughter, who had been only five years old.
A pitiful child who died from a fever before she had the chance to truly see the world.
To Lucen, the name Lena was something he could never forget—
A time forever beyond his reach.
He quietly studied the girl staring back at him in confusion.
Soft silver hair that flowed like waves.
Purple eyes resembling amethysts.
She looked nothing like his late daughter, who had inherited Sylvia’s jet-black hair and ruby-red eyes perfectly.
And yet, perhaps because they shared the same name and were close in age, memories of his daughter kept surfacing.
“…How old are you this year?”
At that, she tilted her head slightly before answering,
“I’m twenty-two.”
Twenty-two.
If his daughter had survived, she would have been twenty this year.
Two years younger than the girl standing before him.
If she had truly lived…
Would Lena have grown up to look like this girl too?
But the thought didn’t last long.
What was the point?
No matter how tightly he clung to a child who could never return, all that remained was helpless longing.
Suppressing the emotions stirred up by a single name, Lucen quietly returned to reality.
“His Majesty is currently asleep under the effects of sleep incense.”
“Sleep incense?”
“It doesn’t last very long. The moment you enter, immediately begin treating His Majesty with your divine power and leave.”
At that moment, Lena hesitated briefly before carefully speaking.
“Before that… may I know the exact name of the illness His Majesty suffers from?”
Silence settled between them.
Lucen stared at her for a moment before ultimately shaking his head.
“I’m sorry, but even the attending physician cannot be informed of that. It is one of the imperial family’s highest secrets.”
“You only need to know that His Majesty suffers from a madness that inflicts a level of agony ordinary people could never even imagine.”
Aside from the retired former emperor and empress who had already left the palace, only two people knew that the current emperor suffered from partner pain.
Lucen himself—
And the emperor’s closest aide, Alec.
“Since this treatment only involves channeling divine power, knowing the illness itself shouldn’t be necessary.”
Rising from his seat, Lucen headed toward the door.
“Follow me. I’ll guide you to His Majesty’s bedroom.”
Without a word, I followed behind the Marquis through the eerily empty corridors.
By the time we reached the deepest part of the main palace, standing before the emperor’s bedroom—
A young man with blazing red curly hair appeared to greet us.
Dressed neatly in a pressed uniform, he lowered his head immediately upon seeing me.
“My apologies for only greeting you now. I should have escorted you personally, but there was… a slight issue during the process of preparing the sleep incense…”
After apologizing politely, he turned toward the Marquis.
“Thank you for taking care of things. I’ll escort the Saintess from here.”
The Marquis gave a short nod before glancing at me.
Only then did the red-haired man realize his mistake and hurriedly introduce himself properly.
“My apologies for the late introduction. I’m Alec, His Majesty’s direct aide. I look forward to working with you.”
I had already been startled when the Marquis introduced himself as Chancellor earlier.
But honestly, this surprised me just as much.
The emperor’s personal aide looked far younger than I’d expected.
Still hiding my surprise, I politely greeted him.
“I’m Lena. Today is my first day serving as His Majesty’s attending physician.”
As the two of us exchanged introductions, the Marquis quietly stepped back.
With an expressionless face, he checked the watch on his wrist before gazing somewhere far beyond the window.
“It’s gotten quite late. My wife is probably waiting at the estate, so I should be going.”
“Oh dear. I’ve carelessly kept the famous devoted husband occupied for too long.”
Alec immediately nodded in agreement and added another expression of gratitude.
“Please continue taking good care of His Majesty.”
Leaving only those words behind, the Marquis quietly departed.
As the sound of his footsteps faded away, I slowly took a deep breath.
My fingertips unconsciously reached toward the necklace hidden beneath my saintess robes.
At the end of the thin chain hung a cold ring.
A sacred artifact that sealed away part of my divine power.
I had worn it constantly ever since my days in the Holy Kingdom.
The immense holy power overflowing within me was still not fully under control.
Even the slightest lapse in concentration caused too much power to leak out.
That was dangerous for both myself and my patients.
This necklace functioned as both a restraint and a shield.
“Saintess, are you ready?”
Alec’s expression looked as solemn as though we were marching onto a battlefield.
I lightly touched the necklace again, almost like a good luck charm.
“I’m ready.”
Creak—
The moment I answered, Alec carefully pushed open the heavy doors leading into the emperor’s bedroom.
A chilly air flowed from within.
As the doors fully opened, the first thing that struck my senses was a strong scent.
No, rather than a scent…
It was closer to thick, suffocating smoke.
I immediately frowned deeply and covered my nose with my hand.
“My apologies, Saintess.”
“What exactly is this smell?”
“His Majesty doesn’t respond well to sleep incense, so…”
“We had no choice but to keep burning more and more of it.”
Only then did I understand what Alec had meant earlier by a “slight issue.”
No matter what, this is excessive.
I’d only been inside the room a few minutes, yet my head already throbbed painfully.
Holding my breath as much as possible, I slowly walked deeper into the room.
Though it was still dawn, the bedroom wasn’t as dark as I’d expected.
Moonlight softly streamed through the tall windows stretching from floor to ceiling.
Is it because this is the emperor’s bedroom? This place is absurdly huge.
But as my gaze swept across the enormous room, it suddenly froze on one spot.
At the center of the bedroom stood a space completely enclosed by dark green curtains on all four sides, hiding whatever lay within.
No sound came from beyond the curtains.
And yet, that very silence only made the presence inside feel even more distinct.
As expected, Alec stopped walking directly in front of it.
“This is where His Majesty is resting.”
Rustle—
The moment he finished speaking, Alec slowly pulled back one side of the curtain.
Moonlight slipped through the opening, gradually revealing the scene within.
The emperor lying silently upon the bed looked nothing like I had imagined.
Monster.
Madman.
Cursed by the gods.
All the rumors circulating through the temple had been nothing but illusions.
Soft black hair brushed against lightly tanned bronze skin.
Though his eyes were closed beneath thick lashes, the shape of them still looked sharp.
His nose was straight.
His jawline smooth yet firm.
His features were so perfectly sculpted they seemed less human and more like something crafted by the hands of a god.
Beautiful.
No other word came to mind.
Like someone entranced, I stared blankly at the emperor for several long moments.
“S-Saintess?”
Only after Alec called out to me did I finally snap back to reality.
“The effects of the sleep incense don’t last long for His Majesty. If he wakes in the middle of treatment, it could become dangerous…”
“Ah. Right.”
I hurriedly nodded.
Without hesitation, I reached out and placed my hand over the emperor’s arm.
At first, the sensation felt familiar, as always.
Warm energy flowed from my fingertips, spreading gradually throughout the other person’s body.
But the problem was—
“…Ugh. What is this?”
