“Hmm, really? Got it. You may go now.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The woman bowed to me and hurriedly walked away.

Watching her fading away in the distance, I squinted at her. At first, I stopped her because her hair looked silvery, but the problem was she really looked like Lady Jena. I would have given it a pass if she just looked like her. Except for her hair color, she almost exactly resembled Lady Jena in terms of her height, figure, and voice.

However, it would be problematic for me to conclude that she was Lady Jena. I heard that Lady Jena committed suicide. Of course, I could assume that they disguised her as dead and let her escape, but who would have dared to do so? Could the noble faction bent on protecting their own interests do so? Or the pro-emperor faction who regarded her as a pain in the ass? Or the emperor who got rid of the core members of the noble faction all at once?

After touring the capital with mixed feelings, I changed my plan to go back to my lodging and headed to see Marquis Monique. Anyway, she had a hair color close to silver, so I thought it would be better to inform the marquis about her, just in case she might be a relative of the Monique family.

“How are you, Sir Carsein? I heard you headed out to the capital for some business. How come you came to see me as soon as you came back? Did you notice anything unusual during your outing here?”

He looked at me curiously as I asked to see him immediately. It seemed that he was worried about the possible diplomatic friction while I was moving around in the capital of the Lisa kingdom.

Slightly glancing at his shining silvery hair, I said, “Well, it’s not something you need to be concerned about, but I discovered a woman with silvery hair while I went out to the capital.

Her hair was not that deeply silvery like yours or the empress’s, but I just wonder if you had any relatives in the Lisa kingdom.”

“Relatives? I don’t officially, but I’ve one woman that I keep an eye on. I think you have met her.”

“Oh, really?”

When I smiled awkwardly because I felt I was meddling with his affairs, he said with a smile after watching me silently, “So, did you come here to let me know about her? Thanks for going to the trouble of caring about my family.”

“Oh you’re welcome, marquis.”

“Can I ask you a favor? I’d like you to keep mum about the woman that looks like my relative until I find out her identity. As you know, there are lots of enemies targeting my family.”

“Ah yes. I will keep it in mind. ”

I felt a bit strange because he didn’t mention the woman’s appearance, but I nodded gladly. Anyway, it was rude for me to get deeply involved in another family’s matter. Besides, I would not have cared at all if Lady Monique’s grandmother had not been from the Jena family.

So, I completely forgot about the woman until I left the Lisa kingdom after carrying out my mission in the Lisa kingdom as part of the delegation.

“Then, I wish you a safe return, everyone. May God protect you until you return to the empire.”

“We had a very good time here. May God bless your kingdom.”

After exchanging pleasantries with them, the marquis turned the horses’ head homewards. Although he pretended to be calm, he was obviously satisfied because he achieved his diplomatic goal.

After relatively long hours of negotiations, the delegation led by Marquis Monique achieved quite a bit. We solved the problem of hostages that King Kryans III had been dragging his feet on and agreed to solve other pending issues to mutual satisfaction. If we came back next year to resolve the details of the agreements, it seemed that we would not have to worry about the matter of the Lisa kingdom for the next ten years.

After bowing to the top official of the Lisa kingdom who came out to see us off, the members of our delegation turned the heads of their horses one by one. I also pulled the reins after bowing to him slightly.

The sunlight that hit the high wall was beaming in gold and silver. When I saw the sparkling light, I suddenly recalled the woman with silver hair that I met here, who closely resembled Lady Jena with silver hair and black eyes.

What happened to the woman?

I shrugged while briefly thinking about her. Why should I care about another family’s matter or what happened to her? The real problem was another silver-haired woman that I was supposed to meet after returning to the capital. I clearly asked her to wait for me a little more, telling her I would come back as a mere friend of hers without any romantic feelings.

I slowly closed my eyes. My memories of her, who I missed and thought about every day in the past, flashed through my mind.

Memories like me stroking her wavy silver hair, her soft touch on that day, so many days when she and I cried and laughed, standing back to back during a battle, and the delicate fragrance of tea surrounding her.

When I closed my eyes, I could vividly remember such memories. Leaving the capital, I vowed that I would erase such memories gradually.

At some point, my recollection of her began to change into a distant memory. And now my memories of her that came to my mind were definitely different from mine in the past.

Can I treat her like a friend from now on? Like I told her and vowed to her when I left the capital, can I make an impish smile at her when I see him again? Can I come back to her with a genuine sense of friendship instead of a cheesy grin on my face?

I thought again and again in agony. Honestly, I didn’t know yet. I think I could do it, on the one hand, but I felt I could not, on the other.

Nevertheless, there was one thing I knew certainly. Namely, as time went by, the day would come when I could smile at her comfortably and reminisce about the bitterness of the broken heart as part of my good old memories.

That was enough for me because I still had a lot of time, and I actually discovered that my intense memories of her were turning into a distant memory.

Looking back once again, I put my spurs to the horse with the members of our delegation. The bright sunlight was shattering amid the clattering of hoofs.

***

“I, Alendis de Verita, am honored to greet Your Majesty, the Sun of the empire.”

“Welcome back, Verita Jr. It looks like I am seeing you after a very long time. Has it been already 13 years since I saw you last?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

While hiding his feelings deep down, Allendis replied, bowing to the man in front of him. Strictly speaking, it had been eleven years since he last saw an emperor, but Rublis had been absent and the crown prince at the time, so it had been 13 years that he’d seen Rublis.

“Well, I heard about you. Your father said he decided to bequeath his title to you. As he said he didn’t need any ceremony, I gave him oral approval. Did you also agree?”

“Yes, I decided to skip the ceremony because it might hurt my sister-in-law.”

“I see. Then, let me give you the final approval as you also agreed. Then, when are you going to take over the position of the premier that your father currently has? I hear you have almost taken over his job. Is one week enough for you to prepare?”

“Yes, that’s good enough, Your Majesty. Thank you for your consideration. ”

“Good. I’ll see you at the political meeting a week from now. I look forward to your great debut.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Then let me leave now.”

Allendis slowly bowed to the emperor who already began to review the documents again.

As he was not a pushover, Allendis did his best not to let him notice how he felt toward the empress, and he seemed to have made it this time.

However, when he was about to step back with a sigh, he suddenly heard the emperor calling him coldly, “By the way, Verita Jr!”

As he stopped to look back, the emperor, who still fixed his eyes on the documents, said, writing something down, “Since you have returned to the capital, the empress seems to be waiting for you. Why don’t you go and see her?”

He yelled for delight deep down, ‘Yes, yes, yes! That’s what I have been waiting for,’

Allendis broke into a smile at his casual remarks, but he changed his expression and looked at the emperor.