"What do you mean by that, my lady?"
"I am sorry but I will have to report this to the empress directly by myself"
Sir Aiden grabbed my shoulder firmly, not allowing me to go anywhere else.
"Are you perhaps thinking about telling her majesty about my feelings?"
"Yes and no"
His gripped got stronger.
"Do you not know that it is bad to toy with peoples' heart?"
"Do you also know that you are dying?"
After hearing my comeback, his eyes widened. Confused as to what I could possibly be talking about.
"If you want to know more then I suggest for you to come with me to see her majesty"
He let go of my shoulder and dressed up as I organize the medical records of the knights.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Your majesty, it is me, Lady Emond"
"Come in"
We went inside only to see a fresh corpse and a John whose sword is covered with blood. The corpse face was unrecognizable but the hair was. The corpse had pink hair which can only be found in one family in the entire Vanifi empire, the viscount of Taylor.
"The information you gave me was correct, lady Emond. Viscount Taylor was indeed exporting textile illegally, to the very kingdom we are at war no less"
"While I am happy to know that the information I have given you was useful, I still have some urgent matters to talk to you about, your majesty"
"And that is?"
"Sir Aiden is dying"
Thump.
John accidentally lost his gripped on the body and looked at me with an open mouth. The same thing goes for the empress who accidentally let go of her pen and looked at me the same way.
"Ahem... that is indeed an urgent matter"
John, who is greatly concerned for Sir Aiden decided to put the body in one place and hurriedly surround it with rags so that the blood won't spread any further.
We sat down. Sir Aiden was looking down while the other two was looking at me fiercely.
"A human's heart can be a blessing and a curse at times. When one faces danger, in times of need, they will undergo adrenaline rush, temporarily increasing their strength to save their loved ones"
"...."
"However, when one yearns for the affection of someone they get flustered, nervous, or happy. Then what if it was negative instead of positive? Then that person will be depressed, their work efficiency will wither, finally, it will kill them from the inside"
"You mean it will destroy them from within?"
"Yes"
The two simultaneously turned towards Sir Aiden.
Sir Aiden wasn't able to react as he was afraid of being rejected by the empress.
He wanted to walk away but he knew that would only give a hint to the wise empress that he likes her.
"What is the evidence that Aiden is like that?"
"It is only me speculation but, lately, Sir Aiden seems to have no emotion in his eyes. Though his complexion is normal he gets abnormally violent to release pent up stress. Lastly, he cries at night while whispering how much he wants to be with the person he likes"
Shock, Sir Aiden looked at me with a disbelief expression.
Maybe he wasn't able to accept the fact that he was crying at night as he whisper the empress' name.
But that last part was a lie. Something that never actually happened.
I stood up and placed the envelope that contains the medical record of the imperial knights for today and dragged John along with me.
"You two should really talk things through. Not as the empress and the future duke but as man and a woman"
Bang!
I slam the door loudly so that they can have some sort of wake up call.
"Does Aiden like the empress?"
"Not so surprisingly, yes. Why? Do you like her majesty?"
"No. To me, her majesty is like my big sister who would help me anytime I need help"
"So you admire her?"
"Yeah"
He said with a gentle smile.
"Wait, what happened to your wrist?"
"Oh, this, don't bother knowing about it since its quite the hassle to explain"
"By any chance... was Aiden the one who did that to you? Is that what you mean by being violent?"
It took me by surprise. The fact that John was mad on my behalf about thinking that Sir Aiden might be the cause of my injury.
He never got mad at Aiden in the novel after all.
"No. He is not the reason why I have this injury. So go bring back your usual smiley face"
"Are you scared of me when I'm mad?"
"No. But the people around us do"
He who was staring blankly on the ground looked up and saw that there were a lot of servants around us who were terrified of John's mad face. Not to mention, there is blood stain on his clothes while his sword was smeared with fresh blood which terrified the servants even more.
Well, they do say that those who smiles a lot tends to hide the most. Or something like that.
We arrived at the emerald palace at sunset. Since it was time for my curfew the palace doors must be close no matter what, unless the person who will enter is the empress herself. Other than her, nobody else is allowed to go in or out, whether they are of high standing.
"Sir John, please tell Samuel and Almas to come down, I will be preparing tonight's dinner"
"Very well my lady"
After escorting me to the kitchen, John went upstairs to heed my command.
"My lady! What dish shall we cook for tonight?"
"Since we marinated the pork meat for quite some time so I am thinking about frying it"
"Then, I am sure the knights would love it my lady"
One by one, the servants in the emerald palace started to appear at the kitchen with every minute that passes.
It was strange, John should be back by now with Samuel and Almas.