Chapter 2
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
Chapter 2
"...Excuse me?" *Slide.* I carefully pushed the man's head aside with the door. The collapsed man's face was so obscured by his dark hair that I could barely make out his features.
"Hey there." *Tap.* The moment I touched him again.
"Gasp..."
I was left speechless. He was so devastatingly handsome that words failed me.
"What is this? A mirage?"
I rubbed my eyes and looked down again. My heart was pounding so hard it was difficult to calm myself. I thought being startled by something only happened when encountering an insect, but it's possible just by seeing a person's face? I covered my mouth and stared intently at the figure below. His pallid skin was as pristine as a peeled egg, and his wet black hair was dark and decadent. The sharp bridge of his nose, the chiseled jawline, the refined angles of his face, and the harmonious features that radiated presence even with his eyes closed—it was a masterpiece. I had never seen anyone like this in my entire life.
"When I was searching for a decent man, he never showed up."
There was a time when I secretly met with men to escape marriage to The Emperor, but that handsome man was nowhere to be found then. Now he's rolled right in front of my eyes, vines and all. Could this be a dream?
"Ouch."
Tears welled up when I pinched my cheek.
"It's not a dream."
At least, it's not a dream. But if it's not a dream, then why is this beautiful man lying in front of my eyes on the very first day of moving in? That made no sense. I narrowed my eyes and glared at the man suspiciously. I almost forgot why I was hiding here, mesmerized by his beauty. 'To escape The Emperor.' Logically, there was no reason for such a handsome man to be collapsed in front of my new house in this remote village, in this foul weather. 'Could he be a spy sent by The Emperor?' I nudged the man with my foot. He collapsed limply, and he really did look like he was in pain.
"..."
And I felt an overwhelming surge of pity, as if I needed to save this beautiful face... But something about this was suspicious.
"Could this stubborn Emperor possibly know that I'm weak to a pitiful beauty like this?!"
Fortunately, we weren't close enough for that to matter. I stared at him quietly for a moment, then tried to shut the door firmly. But suddenly, something came to mind.
[I've made sure you can escape safely, Miss.]
Emma was my maid. Our family's maid who secretly helped me after I ran away from home. When I told Emma about my plans to go to Grunvalt, she sent me a reply.
[I'll select a sturdy bachelor and send him your way! Grunvalt is so remote that it's dangerous to stay alone. You'll need someone to protect you, Miss. I'll carefully choose a reliable man, so don't worry!]
"...Was this it?" I stared at the man Emma had seemingly gifted me. "She said she'd request someone from the Guild...." I never expected her to actually send a person. I gazed at the man in the rain. I hadn't wanted this, but I'd accepted the delivery nonetheless. If I died here, it would be abandoning a corpse.
* * *
"So heavy...!!!!"
I brought him inside first. The man, whose entire body was clearly packed with muscle, was as heavy as a boulder, just as I'd expected. I barely managed to drag him onto the carpet and collapsed beside him.
"Ha, ha..., this is hard, huff, huff...."
I brought him in because I couldn't kill him, but there were still many suspicious things about this situation. I wasn't even certain he was the person Emma had sent.
"Could someone with such an appearance really be born as a mere extra in this world?"
He was far too handsome, which made it even more suspicious. I forced my unfocusing eyes to sharpen and removed the man's robe. Since he had no bag or luggage, there had to be something inside the robe.
"There really is something!"
As I searched through the water-soaked robe, I quickly found one of his belongings.
"A mercenary badge?"
A long, brown wooden badge carved from wood. I'd seen these before. This was a badge that proved a mercenary's identity. Mercenaries were typically ranked from S-class down to D-class, and this man's badge was marked as A-class. A-class was quite respectable.
"My name is Dale."
Dale—a common name.
"That's not The Emperor's name."
In the original story, The Emperor's name was far more elaborate. Something absurdly long, like Paprika Bell Pepper Tomato the First, bearing no resemblance whatsoever to this one. Yet The Emperor appeared as quite a handsome man in the narrative. Given the genre's adult nature, aspects beyond mere appearance were emphasized, but there was never any description of him as unattractive.
"Surely not...."
I scrutinized the man, then spread my hand across the crown of his head.
"Right. The roots are black too."
The Emperor had blonde hair and blue eyes. With power, wealth, and vitality all in his possession, he was the archetypal male protagonist and royalty—so this man couldn't be him, right? But what if he'd dyed it meticulously?
"Forgive my rudeness."
I examined his jaw intently.
"The facial hair is black too. Right, you can't dye body hair."
So what color would his irises be?
"I'm not normally this rude, but I promise this will be my last impertinence."
I grasped his eyelid and gently pried it open.
"Golden irises."
Golden irises? That's not common....
"Someone with features this striking wouldn't be a mere extra. He'd be a beauty the world itself couldn't bear."
I stared at him, then recalled the faces of my family members and servants. Perhaps because this world was born from fiction, most possessed strikingly refined features. Myself included.
"There's no law saying an extra can't be handsome."
Yet I couldn't shake the suspicion from my gaze.
"If he's a mercenary, there's a high chance he was sent to pursue me on The Emperor's orders."
But The Emperor commands six Knights Orders. To maintain airtight security, deploying the Knights Order would be far more effective than hiring mercenaries. He wasn't foolish enough to let secrets slip. Besides, the order The Emperor would need to give was....
"There's a princess who vanished three years ago, refusing to marry me. I'm The Emperor, yet I was rejected outright and failed to capture her. Bring me that woman—she's swifter and more capable than I am."
Such a pathetic order? How could I possibly carry out such a shameful command? And if she really had hired mercenaries, she would've used S-rank ones, not A-rank. "Really, what could this be? Did Emma really send him?" I stared at the man for a moment, then turned my gaze toward the window. I couldn't just abandon him somewhere and leave.... As a physician, I couldn't do such a thing.
"There's a strange smell coming from Grandfather!"
I awakened to my talents as a physician around the age of eight. It was then that I had just realized this world was from 【The Empress Cannot Leave】, or in short, 【The Empress Confined】. And I also came to understand just how wretched my fate truly was. I was the ill-fated empress destined to marry The Emperor, the male protagonist of the original story. 'To be precise, the empress whose house would crumble into ruin after becoming entangled with the male lead.' My family, House Lockhart, was originally merely a marquessate, but after the current Emperor ascended the throne, it was elevated to a duchy. In other words, my father, Duke Lockhart, was The Emperor's closest confidant, and our entire household was the leader of the new Nobility Faction and The Emperor's right hand. Up to this point, it was all a happy ending. But after my marriage of convenience with The Emperor, this 'original story' plunges into a nightmare. What's the age rating for 【The Empress Confined】? Nineteen and up. And it was an extremely dark and depraved nineteen-plus romance. In the original story, The Emperor and I enter into a typical political marriage to consolidate power. We have no interest in each other, and love is naturally absent, but everything changes after the consummation. He becomes obsessed with every place I go, every person I meet, everything I eat and wear, and if I so much as smile at another man, I'm forbidden from stepping foot outside. In the original story, he grows jealous of everything related to me. My family is no exception. The Emperor severs all contact between me and my house, and ultimately brings about the downfall of House Lockhart. Blinded by jealousy, he fabricates charges of treason against our once-loyal family and eliminates everyone except me. The Emperor was truly a madman. 'Ugh!' Anyway, returning to the beginning—the moment I realized the original story's truth, I also discovered that I possessed an innate ability to detect the scent of illness through my sense of smell. Thanks to this power, I discovered Grandfather's illness early on, and in return, he generously gave me a substantial allowance. And the moment I received my imperial decree as empress, I took that money and fled. Three years have passed since then, and here I am today....
"This man doesn't have the scent of a sick person."
It was just the smell of earth and rain. He was simply unconscious.
"If I let him sleep for about a day, he should be able to wake up, right?"
When I placed my hand on his forehead, he did have a slight fever.
"There's no sign of him being attacked by anyone."
It seemed he'd simply lost consciousness. Though judging by his ragged breathing, his stamina appeared severely depleted.
"I can't just send him back out into the rain, can I?"
I stared intently at the suspicious man. No matter what, leaving someone in a place where they might die would weigh on my conscience as a physician. I mixed together several useful medicinal herbs—excluding the medicine bottle lost during the journey—and had him consume them. Fortunately, color returned to his pallid face, and his body temperature warmed quickly. I gazed at the man intently. He was handsome. Really handsome. That said.
"He can't die here."
I absolutely refused to see a corpse on my first day after moving in. And if a body appeared, I'd have to arrange a funeral. If I held a funeral service, I'd have to explain what my relationship was to the deceased. To prove I had no connection whatsoever, I'd have to reveal my true identity. And if I revealed my true identity, The Emperor would... find me.
"I have to keep this man alive!"
I rolled up both my sleeves.
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org