Chapter 45
Chapter 45. For Your Sake
Balak waited exactly two hours in the reception room. It was enough time to handle the backlog of work at the trading company’s new building in the capital, and then some.
For a merchant to whom time was money, it was like scattering time into thin air. The funny thing was that this was a result he had voluntarily brought upon himself.
‘Her Majesty the Empress has not yet risen, but if you wait a moment, I will bring Her Majesty. If you prefer, you can reschedule the appointment.’
If it had been his usual self, he would have rescheduled without a second thought and left. But ridiculously, the words wouldn’t come out.
He only nodded, indicating his intention to wait.
There was nowhere to complain about the results brought on by his foolish love.
Yet, far from feeling resentful, the rising heartbeat of anticipation tickled his heart, making him feel pathetic about himself.
‘Just a month ago, I was teasing an employee’s ten-year-old son for falling in first love, and now I’m doing the same…’
Soon after, someone opened the door to the reception room and entered.
Balak stood up abruptly, unable to hide his nervousness.
However, contrary to his expectations, it was Lineue who opened the door and came in. A deep disappointment flashed across his face.
“Oh my, it seems you’ve waited a long time. I’m sorry.”
“It’s nothing. Perhaps, has Her Majesty the Empress decided to cancel the appointment?”
It was something he had prepared for. Even if all the time he had spent traveling to the village at the far end of the empire had been in vain, he had judged it to be worth it.
As he swallowed a bitter smile and was about to get up from his seat with the luggage he had brought, Lineue, who had come in place of Vinea, blocked his way.
“Her Majesty the Empress has not cancelled the appointment. I’ve come to let you know that we’ll be changing locations.”
“Then…”
“She said to meet in the garden as the weather is nice. Her Majesty the Empress will be out shortly.”
The place Lineue guided him to was a small garden in the forest behind the imperial palace.
There are a total of five gardens in the imperial palace, and this garden, the smallest of them, had a round ceiling supported by four white pillars that shaded from the sunlight.
Green vines climbed beautifully up the white pillars as if artificially arranged.
Despite the beautiful and peaceful scenery, Balak repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists with an anxious face, as if nothing was registering in his eyes.
They hadn’t met for long, and had only briefly seen each other twice, yet why had he fallen so helplessly? Even he wondered about it.
It wasn’t as if God was pushing him to fall in love, yet he simply couldn’t take his eyes off her.
Yes, just like this moment.
Balak held his breath for a moment as Vinea entered through the narrow garden entrance.
The alluring red dress that fell loosely shone brilliantly even without large accessories covering her body.
Even at a glance, the rubies decorating the dress were of the highest quality.
However, even the beauty of those thousands of small gems couldn’t dim the presence of the person wearing them.
Balak, who had risen from his seat, blankly watched Vinea walk towards him with slow steps.
Her platinum blonde hair, half braided up and half down, swayed softly. It was as if gold threads had been dropped onto a red rose.
He had seen countless jewels, but could there be anything more beautiful than this?
He belatedly came to his senses at the sharp glance from Lineue standing behind Vinea and bowed his waist.
It was a posture that showed no small mistakes or dishevelment after countless solitary practices.
“I behold the glory of the Empire.”
“It’s been a while. It took longer than expected.”
“Searching the entire empire is not such an easy task. The temples hold all the meaningful information, and I guess the information Your Majesty desires is not of that kind.”
“You’re right.”
Vinea gently closed her eyes, seeming satisfied.
It must be his simple illusion that he felt a closer emotional distance than when he last saw her. Just as he had fantasized about this person standing before him alone on many nights.
Balak swallowed dryly and recounted what he had been through. What he had found out in the village at the very end, on the opposite side of the border. Stories of a girl, a shining stone, a temple, and her returning to the village to end her life.
As the story ended, Vinea calmly sank into thought.
Was the information Balak had obtained really true? It certainly wasn’t like the common stories he had heard so far. Unlike other stories about Sefitiana that were all flowery, this one had a tragic ending from the start.
“Ansha…”
It was a name she had never heard before. Despite the countless materials related to Sefitiana in her mind, there was no related information among them.
Still, she couldn’t dismiss it as mere fiction, as the recent communication from the temple nagged at her mind.
That 800 years ago, there was a woman who brought an unidentified stone to the temple.
Considering that just this much information was kept in the temple’s main archive, the Grand Priest’s postscript suggested that it might be related to Sefitiana.
‘It all fits roughly. The timing is similar too. The founding period of Tessibania. Although it’s concerning that the village and temple where the girl named Ansha lived are at opposite ends of the empire… It makes sense if she deliberately traveled to avoid people’s eyes.’
The problem was the gaps between each event.
The girl named Ansha discovered Sefitiana 800 years ago, and she was seen at the temple 10 years later. After that, traces of Sefitiana disappeared, and about 700 years later, it was discovered on the border between Tessibania and Veshnu, igniting a long 100-year war.
It’s highly likely that Ansha made a wish in the 10 years between discovering Sefitiana and entrusting it to the temple. However, she couldn’t grasp why Sefitiana’s existence wasn’t known for nearly 700 years after that.
‘Was Sefitiana kept in that abandoned temple all along? Then why did Sefitiana only reveal itself to the world 100 years ago?’
To avoid disturbing Vinea lost in thought, Balak quietly watched her without adding more words.
Her eyes cast down slightly, the long eyelashes covering them. Red lips contrasting with her white skin.
Somehow, just looking at her made him feel hot in the throat, and he felt a secret and thrilling feeling as if he was stealing a glance at a forbidden work of art.
The wind gently blew, covering Vinea’s eyes with her hair.
As her eyelashes trembled and completely covered her blue eyes, Balak unconsciously reached out and lightly touched her disheveled side hair.
Balak’s body stiffened as he belatedly realized what he had done. It was an action that crossed the line. His fingertips twitched, stopping in mid-air, unable to move either way.
As she had no intention of questioning right and wrong to someone who had stiffened to the point of being pitiful, Vinea naturally pushed aside Balak’s hand that had touched her face.
“I appreciate your consideration, but I can do this much myself.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Whatever he was thinking, even his handsome face seemed to turn pale.
‘There was a time when we touched even more bare skin than this.’
Recalling that memory for a moment, Vinea gently closed her eyes. Balak couldn’t take his eyes off her face as if enchanted.
‘I was trying to avoid getting closer, but… it can’t be helped.’
What she was about to ask now was not something that could be exchanged in a relationship of mere fondness.
A relationship beyond that. Vinea intended to ask Balak for a favor that only someone burning uncontrollably would dare to ask.
For that, though troublesome, she needed to shake Balak. Perhaps like when they were lovers in a previous regression.
As her thoughts reached that point, her conversation with Tatar automatically came to mind.
‘That I would want to protect more things? The life I really want?’
The more she pondered it, the more exasperated she became. For whose sake was she going to all this trouble, that foolish man.
Tatar couldn’t distinguish between keeping Balak close and using him, between trying to protect Vante and making him useful.
With several layers of pitch-black prejudice clouding his eyes, what more was there to say? She concluded that even if it hurt him a little, she had no choice but to use a definite and quick method.
One of those important keys was Balak. Balak was one of the few humans who could properly upset Tatar, who acted as if nothing mattered as long as he could regress with her.
Vinea hesitated, as if about to make a difficult request. Balak raised one hand to the table as if to say it was alright.
“If you have something to ask, please speak comfortably.”
Vinea’s lips quivered before she firmly closed them. Balak’s mind was filled with worry and speculation at this unfamiliar sight of Vinea, who had always been confident.
Had something happened in the palace while he was away searching for clues about Sefitiana?
Despite her reputation as the “Radiance of Blessing,” there must still be people in the palace who dislike the empress from Veshnu.
Balak rose from his seat with an anxious face and knelt on one knee in front of Vinea.
“Please. If you’re not going to drive me to death, command me what you want.”
“…Aren’t you displeased that I’m just using you?”
At those words, Balak lowered his head before meeting Vinea’s eyes again. His dark red eyes were overflowing with desperate unrequited love.
“Don’t you know my feelings?”
She knew all too well. However, that didn’t mean she understood.
What made this man so blindly devoted? They had only exchanged conversations a few times.
As if reading Vinea’s thoughts, Balak spoke.
“I felt it was fate. I know how ridiculous it sounds, but I can’t explain the moment I first met you any other way.”
So please, share your worries with me.
At Balak’s passionate gaze, Vinea looked down at the pitiful man kneeling before her and raised her hand.
As her soft touch met his cheek, Balak closed his hot eyes as if unable to control the surging emotions.
“I want an Arfanium flower.”
Balak opened his eyes. Vinea’s complex face filled his wavering eyes.
“You don’t want an ordinary Arfanium, do you?”
“That’s right. The one that bloomed from a new bud that sprouted in soil where a viper’s carcass was buried, at the beginning of summer. I want the one you have.”
Balak didn’t ask how she knew it was in his possession.
“I understand. What’s the deadline?”
“I’d like it prepared by tomorrow evening before the banquet. And it must not be discovered by His Majesty.”
Balak recalled Tatar’s appearance that day.
The silver-gray hair and eyes unique to the Tessibania royal family, the arrogant and threatening gaze, the killing intent that contained a clear warning not to invade his territory.
Balak’s face hardened.
To covet what belongs to the emperor who rules this vast land, one must risk their life. This time, Balak’s scale tipped very heavily and slowly.
If he were in that position, he wouldn’t stop or limit anything she wanted. He would embrace her with anything.
Balak stood up. His shadow, suddenly taller, completely covered Vinea who was sitting.
If he just lowered his head a little now, he could touch those red lips.
Balak exhaled a thirsty breath, suppressing his boiling desire.
“…I’ll deliver it on the day of the banquet.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry for keeping such a busy person for so long. You may leave now.”
It was true that he had waited long and that he was a busy person, but what use was that now?
He only wanted to stay for 10 more minutes, no, even just 5 more minutes.
However, as he was about to reluctantly get up from his seat with no pretext to continue the conversation, he belatedly remembered the purpose for which he had gone through so much trouble to gather information.
“May I ask one thing before I go?”
“I allow it.”
“Was the information I brought worth it?”
He asked for permission to cross the first line. Vinea, who had briefly set her gaze on a distant place as if pondering, soon answered, seductively curving the corners of her eyes.
“I look forward to the tea leaves you’ll bring, Balak.”
He heard his name, which he had heard countless times in his dreams last night. It was an incomparably sweet voice, far beyond his dreams.
