The Saintess Returned to the Emperor’s Arms Chapter 146

Potion of Forgetfulness

 

The next morning, even when Riela opened her eyes, Herhan was still fast asleep.

 

It seemed the painkillers and sleeping pills he had taken the night before were stronger than expected.

 

Careful not to wake him, Riela slightly raised only her upper body and quietly gazed at his neat face.

 

Lost in a calm dream, he finally looked a little at ease.

 

“Your Majesty. Please don’t be in too much pain. The one who attacked you was Kyle, not your soldiers.”

 

“I know.”

 

Last night, Herhan’s body had been hotter than usual because of his inflamed wounds.

 

Riela had been unable to fall asleep at all, and all night long she gently stroked his restless body with warm hands, soothing him.

 

“Still, if you really hate the soldiers, should I scold them for you? I’ll even call Captain Asion and give him a proper talking-to.”

 

“Then I should be the first to be scolded. I cut down my own soldiers too.”

 

“Your Majesty….”

 

Herhan slowly opened his palm.

 

It looked like he wanted to see the hand that had cut down his own soldiers, so before he could look, Riela quickly grabbed his hand tightly.

 

“…To live. If you don’t fight back, you die. That’s why you did it.”

 

“Well. The soldiers were being controlled, but I wasn’t. And yet, can I still call myself their lord?”

 

So that meant he was in a position where he could neither punish them nor forgive them.

 

That self-mocking, pitiful look in his eyes made her heart ache so much.

 

‘You’re afraid that your soldiers’ loyalty toward you might have faded, aren’t you?’

 

Riela gently stroked Herhan’s hair as he slept soundly beside her.

 

‘Even though you know very well that could never happen. Your Majesty is secretly a coward too.’

 

Even as she thought that, Riela understood why Herhan feared seeing their true feelings.

 

Because he had always lived bearing such things due to his special power.

 

Hidden feelings different from what’s shown on the outside. Subtle distrust and betrayal directed at him.

 

Things that ordinary people would never notice and pass by peacefully—Herhan must have always had to face them in full.

 

But now.

 

‘You don’t have to bear it alone anymore. I’m here with you now. So today, sleep deeply without any worries.’

 

Riela lightly kissed his neatly closed eyelids and stepped outside first.

 

After quickly finishing her morning preparations, the first person she encountered upon entering the reception room was a minister holding the emperor’s morning schedule.

 

“I greet Her Majesty the Empress.”

 

“Ah. Where is Captain Asion?”

 

Riela was a little flustered. It had always been Asion who brought the schedule every morning.

 

“Well… the captain of the guard hasn’t come to work yet.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

At Riela’s question, the minister also looked troubled.

 

He said that even after waiting a long time, the captain didn’t show up, and even the barracks didn’t know of his whereabouts, so he had hurriedly brought the schedule himself.

 

‘That’s strange. Asion isn’t the type to be late without saying anything.’

 

Unable to shake off her worry, Riela paced around before calling Lou and preparing to go out.

 

‘He didn’t make some foolish choice, did he?’

 

Thinking she would search the entire imperial palace herself if needed, Riela left the main palace, then suddenly changed direction instead of heading to the barracks.

 

* * *

 

“…As expected.”

 

Riela’s guess was right.

 

The place she headed to was Jess’s laboratory.

 

Asion was right here, sprawled out asleep on a bed in the duty room.

 

“I’m sorry. I forgot to inform the barracks. He kept causing a scene all night, saying he’d bite his tongue and kill himself, so I’m completely exhausted too….”

 

Jess, who explained the situation, looked just as worn out.

 

It seemed he had overexerted himself dealing with Asion all night.

 

“Is His Majesty looking for him? I’ll wake Asion right away—”

 

“No. Leave him. His Majesty is still asleep too.”

 

At those words, Jess, who had been about to kick Asion awake, suddenly froze.

 

The irritation on his sleep-deprived face was replaced with deep concern.

 

Herhan and Asion.

 

It was obvious that the two, unusually sleeping in, had both spent a painful night with the same feelings.

 

“Shall we get some fresh air?”

 

They stepped out into the laboratory hallway and opened a window, and the cold air instantly cleared their minds.

 

Outside, the winter sunlight was warm.

 

The garden, shedding its faded leaves and quietly turning monochrome, and the servants busily moving around it—at a glance, everything seemed peaceful.

 

“There are so many injured people.”

 

The battle was already over, and they had even won.

 

But so many of her precious “people” were still hurting.

 

“Time heals all wounds. After a while, everything will get better on its own.”

 

“A doctor saying time is the cure? Isn’t there any other medicine? For example… Ah!”

 

As if something came to mind, Riela clapped her hands, then lowered her voice and whispered something to Jess.

 

Jess, who had been listening seriously, thinking it was something confidential, suddenly frowned deeply.

 

“What? Where in the world would such a medicine even exist?”

 

“There isn’t?”

 

“There isn’t.”

 

“You’re not saying there is one, but you just don’t know how to make it, Sir Jess?”

 

“No, seriously, what do you take me for? If something like that were possible, do you think I’d be suffering here like this? I’d be out there making a fortune selling medicine.”

 

“Hmm… Alright. It’s fine. I don’t think it has to be real anyway.”

 

Even then, Jess couldn’t quite understand what Riela meant.

 

First she suddenly asked for some strange medicine no one had ever heard of, and now she was saying it didn’t matter if it didn’t exist.

 

“Take good care of Captain Asion when he wakes up.”

“Where are you going?”

“I think I’m going to be a bit busy from now on.”

 

With that, Riela disappeared.

 

A few hours later.

Even after waking up in the duty room, Asion just lay on the bed without any motivation.

After being nagged by Jess, he took a few bites of food and lay back down again, when a soldier came looking for him.

 

“Captain Asion. Please get dressed and come with me.”

 

Asion raised his body, his face pale.

 

“His Majesty has issued the official punishment for the soldiers regarding the garden battle.”

 

* * *

 

The place Asion arrived at, following the soldier, was the meeting room of the barracks.

 

Along the long table, soldiers were already seated with grim expressions.

 

All of them had been present on “that day.”

 

The head seat was still empty.

 

Asion walked in step by step and sat in the empty seat directly across from it.

 

He was usually the one leading the meetings, but not today.

 

Today, at least, Asion was nothing more than one of the guilty who would humbly accept whatever punishment was given to him.

 

“Her Majesty the Empress is entering.”

 

Soon, it was not Herhan but Riela who walked in.

 

Asion and the soldiers all stood up to show respect, but none of them could lift their heads.

 

They didn’t have the face to meet Riela’s eyes.

 

“Sit down. I will deliver His Majesty’s decision regarding you.”

 

At Riela’s command, the soldiers sat back down.

 

Riela scolded them in a cold, stern voice.

 

“You all know best what crimes you have committed.”

 

There was no one who didn’t feel a jolt at those harsh words.

Just as Riela said, they knew their crimes well.

And the greatest of them was betraying their lord’s trust with their own hands.

 

“Among you, there are even those who dared to leave wounds on His Majesty’s body. That is a grave crime equivalent to treason. According to imperial law, execution by beheading would be appropriate, but we cannot execute this many people.”

 

Riela paused briefly before continuing.

 

“After much consideration, His Majesty has decided to show you one final act of mercy.”

 

Servants carrying trays came in all at once and placed a small bottle in front of each soldier.

 

“It is a medicine that will stop your breathing without pain the moment you drink it.”

 

Even at those words, not a single soldier was surprised or shaken.

 

They had dared to raise their swords against the Emperor—this was only natural punishment.

 

Rather, they were grateful that their lord was finally giving them the proper penalty with a clear and resolute decision.

 

“Whether you drink it or not is up to you. You’ve already been summoned here for disobeying His Majesty, so ignoring one more order won’t change your mistake. If anyone wants to run, leave now. I won’t stop you.”

 

As she said this, Riela’s heart pounded anxiously.

 

Still, she was certain that no one would run out of their seats.

 

As expected, not a single soldier moved.

 

“Is there no one who wishes to leave?”

 

Riela asked again.

 

As if making sure that even someone listening from outside could hear clearly.

 

“Since it is His Majesty’s command, whatever it may be, we will simply obey.”

 

“We wish to remain His Majesty’s honorable loyal subjects until the very end.”

 

“Thank you for allowing us to pay the price for our disloyalty.”

 

Even though what lay before them was a poison that would take their lives.

 

At that moment, Asion, who had been stiff and silent the entire time, moved.

 

For a second, it seemed like he might leave—but that wasn’t it.

 

Asion reached out, picked up the bottle in front of him, and without a moment’s hesitation, poured the poison into his mouth in one go.

 

‘Asion….’

 

Starting with Asion, who drank first, the other soldiers followed.

Not a single one was left out—they all drank the poison.

 

There wasn’t a single person who begged or cried in an unsightly way.

 

“Has everyone taken the medicine?”

 

Because it was given by their lord, even if it was death, all of them accepted it willingly—each one standing firm and resolute.

 

It was only long after every bottle on the table had been emptied that faint sobs began to spread—so unlike their strong spirit.

 

They had been told it was a poison that would stop their breath immediately, yet no one collapsed.

 

Instead, they realized they had been deceived by Riela—and that they had been forgiven.

 

The long silence felt warm.

 

Like the Empress’s gaze as she looked at each of the soldiers one by one.

 

“You have all proven your unwavering loyalty by risking your lives.”

 

At those words, quiet sobs broke out from somewhere, but Riela pretended not to hear and stood up, continuing in a clear voice.

 

“In truth, that wasn’t poison but a potion of forgetfulness. It’s a very special medicine I made myself, blessed by Antu. It makes you forget only the painful memories. I placed a spell on it so you would forget what happened in the garden.”

 

Right across from Riela, Asion, who had been keeping his head deeply lowered and biting his lip hard, twisted his mouth even more.

 

More than anyone, he knew clearly that Riela was telling a lie that wasn’t even convincing.

 

“I am the great incarnation of Antu, so there must be no one who can resist my magic. You all understand what I mean, right?”

 

Even so, Riela remained shameless and confident until the very end, fulfilling her role completely before leaving the meeting room.

 

* * *

 

“Riela.”

 

—Click.

 

No sooner had she closed the meeting room door and taken a few steps than she heard Herhan’s voice.

 

Riela had known from the start that he was nearby, so she walked straight up to him without hesitation.

 

“You saw it, right? This is how Your Majesty’s soldiers are.”

 

“Even so, making them choose to drink poison themselves…”

 

“This much is needed to have a reason to forgive them.”

 

For some reason, feeling proud of herself, Riela smiled, and Herhan mirrored that smile.

 

It wasn’t from medicine or sleep—just a genuinely comfortable smile.

 

“You made quite something. A potion of forgetfulness.”

 

Riela crossed her arms and stepped closer to Herhan.

 

“Would you like one too, Your Majesty?”

 

“Why not.”

 

Herhan swallowed the potion Riela handed him in one gulp.

 

He had already thought she’d used quite a cute and absurd trick, but after actually drinking it, he couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer.

 

“It’s sweet.”

 

What spread through Herhan’s mouth was simply the sweet taste of apples.

 

It tasted exactly like the apple juice he had once swapped in place of the oath wine Riela was supposed to drink at the former Empress Guard’s inauguration ceremony.

 

“Yes. Yours has an extra blessing of Antu added to it.”

 

Riela answered with the exact same innocent expression Herhan had used back then when he pretended nothing had happened.

 

“So now, Your Majesty, you’ll only remember the happy things.”

 

Riela looked up at him closely, her eyes warm.

 

Yeah. If it’s with you, of course.

 

Instead of answering, Herhan placed his apple-scented lips on Riela’s forehead.

 

* * *