“Where do I meet the bishop?”

Andrea asked when he saw the attendants finish dressing him and withdraw.

“That is for your majesty to decide, but since he is on his way back after offering prayer for your majesty, I believe it would be best to receive him formally in the audience chamber.”

The chief attendant answered respectfully.

“Right. Let’s go to the audience chamber.”

Andrea nodded readily. As if pleased that his opinion had been accepted, a faint smile passed over the chief attendant’s eyes.

On the way through the splendid corridor.

Everyone they passed stepped back toward the wall and bowed respectfully. Among them, the nobles with noble titles naturally followed behind Andrea in a line. By the time they reached the front of the audience chamber, a long procession had formed behind Andrea.

When Andrea stopped for a moment, the tightly shut doors of the audience chamber slowly opened. Once the doors were fully open, the chief attendant raised his voice and shouted.

“His Majesty the Emperor has arrived!”

At the solemn cry, completely unlike his usual soft voice, everyone filling the spacious audience chamber bent their knees at once and bowed their waists in greeting.

His role as emperor for more than ten days had not been entirely in vain. Rather than immediately ordering them to rise, Andrea held his head high and crossed through the people bowing before him to sit on the golden chair on the dais. The attendants quickly adjusted the clothes of Andrea, now seated in the chair.

“Everyone, rise.”

At last, when Andrea gave the order, those packed into the audience chamber straightened up. It was the first time he had ever sat alone before so many nobles, and his heart was pounding wildly. Andrea looked over the people as best he could while pretending to be calm.

Their attire was so extravagant that it was dizzying to look at. The only fortunate thing was that he could spot Bishop Elbanor at a glance among the crowd looking at him.

In truth, it was not much of a feat. Wearing a long red robe and hat that signified endless devotion, and a silver cross set with a large emerald, there was no way not to recognize him.

When their eyes met, Bishop Elbanor softened his wrinkled face and smiled faintly. Then he pushed through the people and came to stand directly before Andrea.

“Your majesty. It is truly moving to see you safe and sound like this.”

Bishop Elbanor lightly bowed his head and made the sign of the cross before his chest. Unlike the others, who bent their knees, his legs remained stiffly straight, showing his high status.

One of God’s representatives, one who need not bow before the emperor, though he might lower his head. That was Bishop Elbanor.

Seeing that fact before his eyes made Andrea feel as if his throat were being strangled. A strong sense of crisis and fear surged up, that if the bishop ever discovered his true identity, he might not merely be beheaded, but even burned at the stake.

Andrea desperately controlled his expression. At this moment, his fate and his life were at stake. At the very least, he could not show even the slightest opening to him.

Andrea drew a deep breath and slowly let it out. After steadying his breathing like that, a faint smile settled on his face.

“Bishop Elbanor. I heard that you personally offered prayer to god for I.”

“My soul belongs to god, but my loyalty belongs to your majesty, so is that not only natural?”

Bishop Elbanor said in a humble tone. But Andrea, who had every nerve on edge toward him, could catch a trace of probing deep in Elbanor’s eyes.

‘He is suspicious. No, at least he has doubts.’

The moment that thought struck his head, cold sweat began to seep out down his back. Andrea struggled with all his might to keep his expression under control.

“It is all divine grace that your majesty is safe and sound like this. I can only give thanks to god.”

After saying that much, Bishop Elbanor suddenly wore a somber expression.

“However... I heard that you have lost your memory.”

“Ah, that is so.”

“Do you truly remember nothing?”

“Yes. Not yet.”

Andrea answered with the meaning that he did not rule out the possibility of his memory returning someday.

Bishop Elbanor stared quietly into Andrea’s eyes for a moment. Beneath his wrinkled eyelids, the blue irises were far too sharp and keen for those of a religious man. Andrea hid his trembling fingers deep inside his sleeve. Then he met Bishop Elbanor’s gaze exactly, with calm eyes.

While the two of them silently held each other’s gaze, the audience chamber remained quiet as if sensing the unusual atmosphere. After a time that seemed brief and yet like eternity, Bishop Elbanor blinked slowly and smiled gently.

“Since divine grace is upon your majesty, surely your memory will return before long as well.”

“Yes. If that is what god desires, then so it shall be.”

Andrea replied with a soft smile toward Bishop Elbanor.

Bishop Elbanor lightly bowed his head and stepped back. Andrea held his breath and looked over the people who had been listening to the conversation between him and Bishop Elbanor, then suddenly stopped his gaze.

Kiel, with jet-black clothes, jet-black hair, and golden eyes, was buried among the people, staring at Andrea.

Unlike his boyhood, when a variety of emotions always shone in him, he was sending a gaze that made it impossible to tell what he was thinking. Those golden eyes felt as if they were condemning him for playing the role of a fake emperor, and a sting rose in one corner of his chest.

In the end, it was Andrea who looked away first.

Fortunately, he did not have long to feel awkward alone. The nobles who had gathered like clouds began coming forward one by one to greet the emperor, who had rarely come to the audience chamber.

Andrea tried to maintain an emperor’s bearing as he asked after them. His manner was more sincere than Michael’s had ever been, and everyone did not hide their moved expressions.

After exchanging brief conversation with so many people that he could no longer remember how many, when he looked back to where Kiel had been, his figure was no longer there. Andrea swallowed a sigh, feeling relief and regret at the same time.

***

Perhaps because he had dealt with the nobles so earnestly. Andrea had gone hoarse from personally handling each and every one of those standing in line, waiting to speak with him even for a moment.

Only after the chief attendant noticed that Andrea’s voice was beginning to grow rough and stepped in to stop it did the audience that had gone on endlessly for hours finally come to an end. Those who had finished their audience escorted Andrea out with satisfied smiles, and those who had not yet been granted an audience sent him off with eyes full of regret.

Was it because the tension of having to deal with people as emperor had eased? His legs wobbled lightly on the way back to the quarters. If the chief attendant had not been quick enough to support Andrea, he would not have been able to keep himself steady properly before the people.

As he entered the bedchamber, the attendants waiting there approached him. Only after Andrea confirmed that the golden door had closed behind him did he sink into complete relief.

The waist and neck he had kept rigid the entire time while seated on the dais cried out in pain. Seeing his hardened expression, the chief attendant gestured to the attendants. Then he stepped forward first and began undoing the buttons of the splendid clothes that tightly wrapped Andrea’s body.

The dignified garments, intricately embroidered with gold thread, were removed one by one. As the epaulets and belt, the decorative buttons and brooches, everything peeled away layer by layer, it felt as if the shells weighing down his shoulders and heart were disappearing one by one.

Only after taking off several layers of outerwear did Andrea finally become lightly dressed. Andrea, supported carefully by an attendant, plopped down on the edge of the bed. At the feel of the soft bed, his whole body felt heavy, like waterlogged cloth.

“You seem very tired. Please lie down.”

The chief attendant whispered, supporting Andrea and laying him straight on the bed. Andrea looked up at the tapestry-decorated ceiling of the bed and slowly blinked his heavy eyelids. The chief attendant took a white handkerchief from his bosom and carefully pressed it to wipe the sweat gathered on Andrea’s forehead.

“Your Majesty. May your humble servant dare to say a word?”

After carefully wiping Andrea’s face, the chief attendant called out in a cautious voice. Andrea moved his powerless eyes and signaled for him to speak.

“Your merciful heart, wishing to bestow imperial favor evenly upon your subjects, is beautiful, but please do not accept them all like this today. It would be enough to receive audiences from only three or four important visitors.”

Andrea slowly blinked at the chief attendant’s remonstrance.