SiM | Chapter 6

Duke Fernan shouted as if making a proclamation. The people surrounding the bed began moving busily at once.

“Already ten days have passed and you have lain there without waking, Your Majesty. You must be thirsty, yes? Chief chamberlain! Bring the honey water at once and give it to him!”

“Yes, your excellency! Bring the honey water here at once!”

The one called the chief chamberlain called out in a bright voice. Duke Fernan carefully and respectfully lifted Andrea’s upper body, tucking several soft pillows behind his back.

As Andrea sat propped up at an angle, the middle-aged man who had handed him the teacup before he lost consciousness quietly came forward and brought the sweet-smelling honey water to his lips.

Chief chamberlain….

Andrea stared blankly at the face of the middle-aged man who knew his secret, the chief chamberlain. It seemed that, at least, the chief chamberlain, who could be considered one of the emperor’s closest aides, knew Andrea’s secret.

“Your Majesty. This is honey water. It should help clear your head a little when you drink it.”

Thinking of the tea he had drunk before losing consciousness, Andrea hesitated and could not bring himself to drink the honey water carelessly. Instead of pressing him, the chief chamberlain began to soothe him in a gentle voice.

Andrea did not swallow the honey water right away. He glanced sideways at Duke Fernan, who was sitting beside the bed. Duke Fernan gave a small nod, as if to say it was all right. Only then did Andrea start to sip the honey water from the cup the chief chamberlain held to his lips.

Warm, gentle honey water flowed into his parched mouth. Andrea carefully swallowed it little by little. The chief chamberlain, entirely unfazed by the slow pace, let him swallow and breathe at a comfortable rhythm until he had finished the entire cup of honey water.

It took quite some time just to empty one cup of honey water. Even that was difficult for his weakened body, and before he knew it, sweat had beaded on his forehead. A man he had not even noticed approach carefully wiped the sweat from Andrea’s forehead with a handkerchief.

“Your Majesty. You were unconscious for a long time. Do you remember me?”

After giving him a moment to catch his breath, Duke Fernan asked carefully. He was only looking at Michael Andor with concern. If Andrea had truly lost his memory, he would not have been able to detect even a trace of acting in that gaze of Duke Fernan’s.

Andrea could tell that right now, he had to remain faithful to the role Duke Fernan had given him. If he were found out to be not the real “Your Majesty,” but a hidden twin, only a cruel fate would await him.

“…Uh….”

When Andrea cautiously opened his mouth, everyone who had been murmuring and moving about fell silent at once. Andrea nervously swept his gaze over the many people in different outfits filling the space beside the bed. Then he looked back at Duke Fernan and let out the words Duke Fernan was expecting in a hoarse voice.

“…I… remember… nothing.”

At Andrea’s hoarse voice, everyone drew in a sharp breath.

Could he really fool them with just this?

Andrea’s eyes wavered on their own as he looked around. Even though he had just thoroughly moistened his throat with honey water, his mouth had gone bone dry again.

“Do you not even remember who I am?”

Duke Fernan pressed the issue as if driving a nail into the present situation. Andrea met Duke Fernan’s gaze and slowly nodded.

“Sir Ian!”

Duke Fernan called urgently to the man beside him. The middle-aged man with half-white hair asked Andrea in a grave voice.

“Your Majesty. I am Ian, your Majesty’s attending physician. Do you remember me?”

Naturally, it was a face he had never seen before. Andrea quietly shook his head.

“Then do you remember who Your Majesty is?”

Andrea shook his head again. The attending physician’s expression grew even more serious.

“Sir Ian. What on earth is going on?”

Duke Fernan asked the attending physician sharply. The attending physician thought for a moment, then looked at Andrea and spoke.

“It seems… the shock of striking his head when he fell from the horse caused him to lose his memory.”

“What absurd nonsense is this!”

Duke Fernan shouted as he sprang to his feet. Andrea could only swallow hard as he received the gazes of those around him, all of them shocked and stunned.

Duke Fernan paced anxiously in place for a moment.

“Your Excellency. The one who is most unsettled is Your Majesty. We must not place any mental burden on Your Majesty.”

The attending physician, called Sir Ian, said carefully to Duke Fernan. Duke Fernan stopped where he was, squeezed his eyes shut, then slowly lifted his eyelids. After nodding once toward the physician, he came back to the bed and carefully took Andrea’s pale hand.

“Your Majesty. I am Duke Fernan and your maternal uncle. There is nothing for you to worry about. As long as I am here, no one can harm Your Majesty. I will tell you everything you do not know, and I will do my utmost to help you recover your memory. You only need to trust me.”

Duke Fernan whispered in a rather earnest voice.

Before he knew it, all kinds of people were packed tightly into the room through the wide-open door. Andrea slowly swept over the complicated gazes of those who all looked like nobles, then nodded slowly toward Duke Fernan.

“Since you have not been able to eat properly for a long time, we prepared a stew as thin as possible so it would not burden your stomach. It will not taste very good, but please try to eat a little for your health.”

The chief chamberlain offered carefully. Andrea, still leaning against the bed, stared down at the bowl of stew on the silver tray.

“You must eat a little even if you have no appetite. You heard what Sir Ian said, did you not?”

Speaking as if soothing a child, the chief chamberlain gently placed a silver spoon in his hand.

Andrea moved his weak hand and lifted a spoonful of stew. Though they said it was a thin stew prepared for a patient, compared to the watery stew he ate every day at the monastery, it was luxurious beyond belief. Not only the smell of the stew, but even the silver plate it was served in, was a beautiful work of art.

Instead of showing any sign of being moved, Andrea silently brought the spoon to his lips. Feeling a texture completely unlike the old wooden spoon used at the monastery, he took a sip into his mouth, and a stimulating spicy flavor he had rarely tasted spread across his tongue.

Gulp.

After swallowing one bite, Andrea glanced over the strangers surrounding the bed. Those in clothes similar to the chief chamberlain’s must be attendants serving Your Majesty, and the rest were probably high-ranking nobles and the emperor’s closest aides who had come to check on the emperor’s condition.

Among them, were there others who knew his secret?

“Why is that, Your Majesty? Does it not taste good? I kept the seasoning to a minimum because I was worried it might burden your stomach, but should I ask Sir Ian and add a little more?”

Apparently thinking he could not eat because the stew was too awful, the chief chamberlain asked cautiously. Andrea glanced at the chief chamberlain, whose acting was no less impressive than Duke Fernan’s, and shook his head.

“I…”

When Andrea opened his mouth weakly, the chief chamberlain hurriedly corrected him with an awkward expression.

“Your Majesty. When referring to yourself, you should say ‘I’.“

“I am uncomfortable with so many people in the room.”

When Andrea complained about the crowd, the people filling the room exchanged glances and looked flustered.

“Your Majesty. You must not use polite speech. There is not a single human in this empire, no, not a single human on this entire continent, who is worthy of hearing Your Majesty speak politely.”

Rather than sending the people away, the chief chamberlain corrected him again. His voice was gentle and soft, and encouraging, as if teaching a child who had just begun to walk.

“Are you uncomfortable because there are so many people?”

“Yes… no, that’s right.”

Andrea accidentally used honorifics without realizing it, then quickly corrected himself. The chief chamberlain smiled faintly, almost as if praising him. Andrea sent him a look, hoping he would quickly get rid of the people. But instead of driving them out, the chief chamberlain used a white handkerchief to neatly wipe the corner of Andrea’s mouth clean.

“Your Majesty. You may find it uncomfortable because you do not remember now, but it is only natural for the attendants who serve at your side, your close aides, and the nobles to gather here. Your Majesty will have to get used to it. Just think of them as shadows or ornaments and pay them no mind.”

Andrea was startled by the words shadows and ornaments coming from the chief chamberlain’s mouth and looked around at the others. Yet the nobles showed not the slightest sign of displeasure at that belittling term. On the contrary, whenever their eyes met Andrea’s, they only smiled and bowed politely as if it were an honor.

Just as Andrea was scanning the crowd and about to look away, he froze for a moment. It was because of one figure standing quietly at the very back among the many people surrounding the bed.