ERTHMB Chapter 139

How to Become Happy

The Empress welcomed Helena as if greeting a longtime friend she hadn’t seen in ages.

“Come in. I’ve been waiting for you.”

Helena grasped the hem of her dress and curtsied with a bow.

“I greet Your Majesty, the radiant moon of the Empire.”

“I too am pleased to see you here. Thanks to your composed handling of the situation, the luncheon proceeded without any incident. I was able to breathe a sigh of relief.”

The Empress praised Helena with the expression of someone looking at something admirable. Helena raised her bowed head and properly faced the Empress.

Her golden hair, naturally streaked with silver, was elegantly pinned up, and her classic dress in calm tones harmonized well with the natural light.

Moreover, she appeared to be around Christine’s age. However, unlike the spiteful Christine, she possessed an ineffable atmosphere that put one’s mind at ease.

If one’s lived life truly shows on their face, then her life would have been like yellow azaleas blooming on a spring day throughout her lifetime.

“…I was fortunate. It is merely an honor that my meager talents were able to ease Your Majesty’s concerns.”

“Then I should express my gratitude to you for creating that fortune. No matter how fortunate one may be, there are no coincidences. I’m curious how you found such courage – would you spare some time to talk with me?”

“I am deeply honored, Your Majesty…!”

The Empress’s unconventional proposal caused a stir among those around them. Those who had always viewed Helena unfavorably were even more shocked. Some were so surprised they dropped their jaws without even the presence of mind to cover their mouths with their fans.

Among them, Christine was by far the most openly hostile. From the moment the Empress called for Helena, she couldn’t hide the bloodshot veins visible around her eyes.

“Perhaps because I’m getting old, I can’t stand for long periods. Come this way.”

However, the Empress led Helena forward as if she couldn’t see all the scheming glances being exchanged. She sat in her spacious seat arranged in the center of the open area and offered Helena the chair beside her.

It was positioned much closer than the usual arrangement. Helena hid her inward discomfort and accepted the Empress’s invitation.

In the meantime, the Empress must have dismissed the surrounding knights with a glance, for when Helena finally gathered her wits, the surroundings had become remarkably quiet.

In the space with just the two of them, it was the Empress who spoke first. However, the content was quite distant from what one might expect if she were curious about the luncheon incident.

“The reason I left my seat during the luncheon was because I had something to verify. Can you guess what it was?”

“…….”

Helena couldn’t answer immediately. The Empress didn’t mind and picked up a large register from the currently empty Emperor’s seat, placing it on her lap.

It was the guest book that everyone who had passed through the main gate of today’s hunting grounds would have filled out without exception.

The Empress pulled out a bookmark she had placed beforehand and opened to the desired page. Her index finger, scanning the page from top to bottom, stopped about halfway down.

It was the section where Helena had written her name.

The Empress looked back at Helena with her finger placed under the name. Helena shook her head slightly with a somewhat anxious expression.

“…I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you want from me.”

The Empress took her eyes off the still bewildered gaze and tapped the page with her index finger.

“A few months ago, a certain noble from the Borneu region requested an audience with me. He said he had brought a revolutionary sowing method. At that time, I was so preoccupied with famine that I had changed the significance of the hunting competition to a charitable event, so I was immediately interested.”

‘Macburden Borneu!’

Helena’s eyes widened as she realized the identity of that noble. The Empress closed the guest book and continued her explanation.

“Fortunately, what he brought wasn’t something to be dismissed as mere curiosity. It was quite reliable information. Of course, since all he had were materials summarizing the production trends of Borneu territory, it wasn’t precise due to the small sample size.”

“But why…”

“Because that man’s eyes were piercingly straight as he made his claims before me. I still remember them. Those eyes that repeatedly expressed confidence that if this theory were developed further, it would certainly be of great help against famine.”

Then she unhurriedly reached into her cape and pulled out something. It was an object Helena recognized.

The letter she had written with her own hand and sealed to send to Macburden Borneu on the last day of the Dairon festival. A gift she had sent believing that he would surely use this information for those who needed it most.

Indeed, he had performed his duties excellently beyond comparison.

Though she had never imagined it would reach all the way to the Empress.

The Empress’s fingers, having paused in her speech, caressed the initials scrawled in blue ink on the envelope’s surface. She soon turned her head toward Helena.

“I was quite curious about who could have instilled such firm conviction in this man. Just then, he told me the name of the benefactor who had shared this knowledge with him.”

The Empress’s steady gaze ensnared Helena.

“Helena, he said.”

Helena, whose name had been called, trembled involuntarily. The Empress, taking this as an undeniable confirmation, put the letter back in her bosom with a somewhat pleased expression.

“So when I investigated a bit more, I found that in Evergale, someone had already been cultivating the land using this method under someone’s direction. And today, seeing your handwriting in the guest book, I was certain.”

“…….”

Instead of answering, Helena let out a faint sigh.

It was a moment when she directly experienced the Empress’s character, which she had only vaguely heard about as someone else’s business. It felt surreal that someone with whom she had never had a proper conversation in her previous life was now acknowledging her efforts.

‘I sent it anonymously in case Borneu shared the information… I never expected her to compare handwriting samples.’

The information sent to Macburden Borneu was originally a cultivation method devised after experiencing the great famine.

Having learned of it in advance through regression, Helena had organized everything she could remember, even if she couldn’t copy the detailed practical farming methods.

Even so, even if no one would acknowledge it, she wanted to find a reason for her regression. If she were to find usefulness, she wanted to help Evergale.

Because of this, Evergale was able to double its sowing volume starting from this quarter and stockpile surplus grain. This way, they barely managed to enter a trajectory that would avoid the famine, and the Borneu region was following the same procedure.

If Evergale became a positive precedent first, other regions would be able to apply the new farming methods without resistance.

The Empress brought Helena out of her reverie by waving the letter.

“It’s surprising that you conveyed this to Count Borneu, but… actually, what surprises me more is something else. How did you know a famine was coming? It’s an opinion that even scholars couldn’t easily provide.”

Helena snapped to attention. To satisfy the Empress’s curiosity, she needed a more precise excuse. Inconsistent traces could instead invite trouble. Of course, Helena knew a plausible reason.

‘I’m glad I read all the related books while organizing the materials.’

Helena changed her dejected expression and answered.

“Since the Imperial scholars are also renowned, I believe Your Majesty already knew this.”

“On what grounds do you think so?”

“Nature is cyclical and repetitive. Therefore, knowing the past makes predicting the future not unreasonable. Looking at climate phenomena recorded over the past hundred years, famines have occurred at regular intervals. It wasn’t a difficult conclusion if one grasps the sequential conditions and cycles of similar climates.”

“It wasn’t a difficult conclusion… Then do you also know why there are still many territorial residents suffering from hunger and pain?”

Helena hesitated for a moment. Since she had directly seen and experienced it in Dairon, she naturally knew the answer. She was just uncertain.

No matter how benevolent the Empress’s nature might be, she doubted whether she could truly understand it. Believing in something invisible was an extremely difficult thing.

‘But… I don’t have the confidence to turn away from it.’

Helena clenched her fists and raised her eyes straight.

“Because they wouldn’t even make the effort to learn such a simple fact.”

“Who do you mean?”

“There’s only one difficult thing. The resolve of those sitting in positions where they can implement countermeasures. The courage to willingly spend time and money on lives unrelated to their own bodies isn’t something one can easily possess just because they have the responsibility to govern.”

The Empress didn’t ask anything more and only smiled quietly. The wrinkles around her eyes were drawn up as they curved gently.

That appearance reminded her so much of her mother that Helena momentarily felt nostalgic. Even though she didn’t resemble her mother, she felt a warmth that evoked her memory.

The Empress spoke in just such a voice, as if confirming it wasn’t a mistake.

“I like wise children.”

“I’m not-“

Helena tried to protest quickly, but the Empress suddenly took Helena’s fist and stopped her words. She slowly shook her head like someone who knew what Helena was trying to say.

“Being smart and being wise are different. Anyone can possess knowledge, but how to use it is solely each individual’s responsibility.”

The fist that had been unconsciously clenched with tension unfolded under the Empress’s stroking touch. The Empress gently rubbed Helena’s palm while continuing to comfort her.

“But it’s more important to know how to make yourself happy. Don’t cut yourself away. Find love where you can stand whole.”

Helena felt her eyes reddening absurdly. The Empress seemed to want to soothe even that, cupping Helena’s cheek and stroking under her eyes with her thumb.

That small warmth of friction provided a strange comfort. Empowered by it, Helena asked even more absurdly, like a child being spoiled.

“It’s not…it’s not too late, is it? Since repeating something that has already failed can’t be called honorable.”

At that moment, heavy footsteps approached from behind. Though the Empress had personally dismissed people, she was curious about who was coming in defiance of that order and turned her head.

The one who had interrupted the conversation called to the Empress with a gentle smile.

“My dear.”

It was the Bohemian Emperor.