Page 463 of Remarried Empress

“Your Majesty. Your Majesty.”

In the dead of night, a soft whisper caused Sovieshu to suddenly sit up.

Marquis Karl quickly stepped back.

“Pardon me, Your Majesty. But you didn’t wake up, no matter how long I waited….”

“No, you did the right thing.”

Sovieshu looked at the clock, which showed it was two o’clock, and scowled.

Ever since his personality was divided in two, he woke up shortly after sunset. But in recent days, he had been sleeping longer. There was even a day when he didn’t wake up and slept through the night. The day after that, Sovieshu felt uneasy.

“Bring me a glass of cold water.”

“Yes.”

Once Marquis Karl returned with the water, he said,

“I have completed the investigation Your Majesty ordered.”

“Ah, you mean the investigation about how to combine my two personalities?”

“Yes. Since Your Majesty suffered a great shock that split your personality, the palace doctor and I used to think that you must meet the person who caused that shock.”

“That’s also what I thought at first, but it didn’t work out.”

“Indeed. After your daytime self met with Empress Navier, he began to act differently than expected.”

What Marquis Karl said sounded very dangerous. The Sovieshu by day acted neither like the present day Emperor Sovieshu nor like the 19-year old Crown Prince Sovieshu Marquis Karl remembered.

“You mean my other personality has intentions contrary to mine?”

“Yes.”

“…”

“In my opinion, we should not try to cure Your Majesty’s shocked mind with another shock. Instead, we should consider your mind injured, and find a way to heal it.”

Marquis Karl hesitated for a moment, and asked,

“Your Majesty, could you tell me what happened that day?”

“I hallucinated that Rashta was about to end Navier’s life. I jumped to try to save her… Then, I vaguely remember a dream. I followed a child covered in blood. It was probably Glorym.”

‘It would be nice if he could meet Glorym once more. But Glorym is dead.’

Marquis Karl examined Sovieshu’s expression closely, and continued,

“And after that?”

“I woke up in this state.”

Sovieshu sighed, and got out of bed. Then he shook his head, dizzy for a moment, but quickly recovered his balance and murmured,

“Maybe therein lies the key.”

Marquis Karl then reported on several urgent matters. Sovieshu walked to his desk and stamped or rejected the documents waiting for his attention

Once those matters were dealt with, Sovieshu went back to bed, as usual.

“Your Majesty, the Commander of the 4th Division of the Transnational Knights paid us a visit.”

Marquis Karl reported on Angel’s demand for a deal, and the decision made by the daytime Sovieshu.

“It seems the Alliance is trying to take advantage of the conflict between the Eastern and Western Empires.”

Sovieshu muttered coldly, thought for a moment, and ordered,

“Present to the Alliance written and signed testimonies from nobles and officials, which attest to Duke Elgy’s appearance with Rashta’s son at the time of the paternity test. Include the fact that Duke Elgy was the only person on her side when the rumor spread that she was a slave, as well as the multiple scandals that resulted from their close relationship.”

He intended to claim that Duke Elgy was aware of Rashta’s status as a slave, which would make the agreement invalid.

However, there was one more matter Marquis Karl wanted to report. Observing that he didn’t intend to leave just yet, Sovieshu asked impatiently,

“What is it?”

“Emperor Heinley has requested that we locate the location of Rashta’s other child. Her son…”

“Why would I help that scoundrel?”

“He mentions that Empress Navier would like to know.”

“Uh… Let the daytime fool handle that.”

***

Unaware of what happened during the night, the nineteen-year-old Sovieshu woke up the next morning.

Sovieshu sat at his desk and ate breakfast while he examined the work which had been completed overnight.

Sovieshu knew that his night self woke up at night to handle urgent matters. For now, he avoided such matters in the daytime, because he knew he wasn’t competent enough. However, he needed to learn so he could handle it someday. He noticed a letter on his desk.

Sovieshu summoned one of his assistants.

“Can we find Viscount Rostechu’s grandson?”

The assistant responded immediately.

“Yes. The boy was sold into slavery. The records of his sale will show where he is.”

“Find him and bring him here.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

‘Isn’t that the firstborn of that woman named Rashta? Why would Navier be looking for him?’

The daytime Sovieshu didn’t know that Rashta abandoned Ahn, and he didn’t understand the request made by Navier through Emperor Heinley.

In any case, if he found the child, he would have an excuse to contact Navier again.

‘Why do you want to contact my…’

He was suddenly reminded of the irritating words in the letter from Emperor Heinley.

Now upset, Sovieshu walked to the West Palace. He entered the room that had once belonged to Navier, though he had no recollection of it, and sat on the floor of the unfurnished room.

As he tried to imagine the intimate conversations he could have had with Navier in that room, jealousy came over him. He pounded his fists on the floor in an attempt to suppress the pain in his heart.

“Ahh!”

A sudden headache caused Sovieshu to moan with pain. He clutched his head in his hands. His ears rang as if thunder had struck nearby.

It was quite some time before Sovieshu could lower his hands. When he finally did, his expression was much darker.

The headaches started after he saw Navier.

Before, he would have simply asked the doctor for pain relievers to cope with the headaches. But now, the headaches were so severe that they reminded him that he was not the ‘real’ Sovieshu.

At this rate, he felt that the time would come when he would no longer wake up as a nineteen year old. When that happened, he would cease to exist. It terrified him just thinking about it.

Worse still, he couldn’t consult Marquis Karl, nor the other secretaries, since they were all men of the night Sovieshu. They would happily listen to him confess his fears and then think of a way to get rid of him as soon as possible.

‘I need someone to confide in’.

Sovieshu got up, walked to the window and held on to the frame. The garden, covered with colorful autumn leaves, was beautiful even in the chilly wind.

‘It must be a subordinate who follows my orders and keeps quiet about my condition.’

He also needed sleeping pills. Pills to keep him in deep sleep, so he would never wake up in the middle of the night. If he stayed asleep and couldn’t wake up… wouldn’t his night personality weaken and gradually fade?