My Villainous Husband

62

Eden nodded at my words.

"I've understood all the information you've told me through Cisen."

"Me too, I heard all about the door."

He paused at my words before shaking his head.

"Actually, that's not the whole story about the door."

"Are you hiding information...!"

When Cisen struck out sharply, Eden responded calmly.

"I wasn't trying to hide it. I was just trying to get things sorted out and talk face to face."

I intervened with an attempt to mediate between them.

"Since you're admitting that there's something you didn't tell me, I'm guessing you're pretty much done with the 'cleanup' you're talking about?"

Before that, let's talk about you."

Eden asked, standing a few paces away and looking directly at me.

"Raniero Actilus is literally wandering around you, and he might even try to take you on a winter subjugation."

Like he said, I was thinking that it might be the case so I had a plan in my head for when that happened.

"The Emperor knows I'm not feeling very well."

Eden nodded as if to say more.

I said, studying Cisen's expression before continuing, "A little before the time of the prophecy comes, I'll say that I'm going to go on a retreat, and he's not going to stop me."

"I see. Have you decided on a place to recuperate?"

"It doesn't matter where it is. They'll welcome me anywhere as long as I'm willing to entrust myself to them"

"And by the time the Emperor has vacated the palace, will you run away?"

I nodded.

Still, there was something that bothered me.

"But... I don't know where I'm going to go if I run away."

With escape in mind, I looked at the situation around me and realized that there were no countries I could cross.

"The countries bordering Actilus, of course... are very vigilant. It won't be easy to cross the border."

Cisen nodded with a worried face.

"I must avoid wandering about the country. Raniero may be so preoccupied with Seraphina that he won't look for me, but the owner of the estate where I've taken up residence wouldn't be."

There was no way anyone in their own territory would be happy to see the Empress go missing. As domestic cooperation would be much easier than overseas cooperation, the investigation network would be tight.

"If I'm found out, I'll be sent back to the palace, and then..."

I minced my words.

Eden listened to that and closed his eyes. He seemed to be organizing my words in his head.

"So you're saying we should pick a place with a short distance to the border so we don't have long domestic travel and a smooth relationship with Actilus."

That was exactly what I meant. Still, would it be easy to find such a place?

Eden, however, had a different idea. He gave the answer so easily.

"The Temple of Tunia meets all of those conditions."

His suggestion was ridiculous.

My hands were shaking, and I jumped up from my seat.

"Are you crazy? What are you talking about?"

"We'll have to go to the Temple of Tunia at some point anyway, the door is in the old sanctuary."

"Have you forgotten that the Emperor is going there, and if I meet him there, all I can do is clean my throat and just wait for him?"

At my words, he didn't say anything and just looked at me with his black eyes. His gaze felt like an invitation for me to think more rationally, so I gritted my teeth and glared at him before sitting down again.

Eden was right.

The Temple of Tunia, which Actilus didn't intentionally conquer, was a short distance from here, and after the demon beast's subjugation, the relationship with Actilus had formally smoothed out and the borders were loose. However, I was reluctant because it was the starting point of the original madness, but as Eden said, it was a place we had to go to someday because the door was there.

"Does it have to be then?"

My voice trembled with fear.

Eden, who walked over to the table and sat down in front of me, gazed up at me and pleaded.

"Think about it carefully. Does the Emperor, from here, take a straight path to the Temple of Tunia?"

It wasn't.

He was about to invade another country, but bad weather turned his horse around.

As my mind raced, I had a vague idea of what Eden was trying to say.

"So you're saying... before Raniero gets to the Temple of Tunia, we should get there first?"

"Yes."

"The priests of the Temple of Tunia, who worship the God of Mercy... will they have mercy and hide our presence without revealing it?"

"Yes."

"We can hide there and easily keep an eye on what's going on, besides..... it's also close to the old sanctuary, so you mean we can save time, right?"

"You've got it right. Clever."

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm not that smart."

I said that and shook my head.

His suggestion was reasonable. When I tried to push down the fear that was eating me, I had to admit that it was efficient.

I bit my lip and asked.

"...Eden, what exactly did you not tell me about the door?"

As if he thought I was ready, Eden replied.

"There was an inscription on it -'When Actilla's blood is ready, open it with Tunia's sword'."

"I kept thinking about what the Sword of Tunia might be. There's no such holy object, no legendary being called that, so I had no choice but to infer...combined with the information in the book you found."

The moment I heard that, I thought of something. A conclusion was drawn from the synthesis of information given only to each of us.

As I gazed into Eden's eyes, I could tell he was thinking the same thing I was.

"Seraphina."

He and I uttered at the same time.

There was a high possibility that Tunia's sword was Seraphina. Yes, even in the original, only her sword pierced Raniero.

In the meanwhile, Cisen glanced back and forth between Eden and me like someone having a nervous breakdown. She seemed frustrated that she couldn't understand what was being said between us.

"We must reach her before Raniero Actilus does."

Eden's voice was hoarse as he spoke.

"When we see Actilla's blood, we have to take her to the old sanctuary and open the door, and we'll be able to see beyond."

Feeling a little dizzy, I touched my forehead.

"Actilla's blood..."

That was a much more understandable representation than the symbol of the sword of Tunia.

"Raniero has to die anyway."