Nori paced anxiously inside their quarters, his fingers gripping the silk hem of his sleeve. "Do you really have to go?" he asked, looking up at Ryousuke with worry in his eyes.
The general sighed and adjusted his armor. "I have no choice," he said calmly. "If I refuse, it will only make the emperor more suspicious."
"But what if he—" Nori swallowed his words, not wanting to voice his fear. The emperor had always been wary of Ryousuke's growing influence, and now that his male wife had miraculously found a cure for the plague, it would only raise more concerns.
Ryousuke smirked and cupped Nori's face, his thumb grazing his cheek in a rare display of affection. "Don't worry. He won't do anything foolish. He still needs me."
Still, as he mounted his horse and rode toward the imperial palace, he couldn't help but wonder what nonsense the emperor would spout this time.
