The Safe Marigold

12.

“Young Master. I have finished the preparations as you requested.”

Lancel followed Hesti, who spoke with a bright face.

“You’ll be very surprised.”

“How much?”

“You’ll know when you see it.”

Her voice sounded slightly excited for some reason.

“Mary, I’m coming in.”

“Ah, just a moment!”

“It’s already too late.”

Hesti opened the closed door.

“Oh.”

Lancel’s eyes widened.

Marigold’s face, hastily covered with her palm, was the first thing he saw. Light makeup was applied to her skin. The minor scars she had from her tough Mercenary life were nowhere to be seen now.

Next was the dress she was wearing.

Transparent veils, pure white fabric, and golden decorations that sparkled in the sunlight. It was a splendid and luxurious outfit that she had never worn before.

“How is it, Young Master?”

“Pretty? It suits you well.”

He was sincere.

As expected, the protagonist is the protagonist.

“If you stare so intently…”

Marigold twisted her body this way and that, avoiding Lancel’s gaze, as if she felt awkward.

“Hmm, maybe I should have just gone for the charm route.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s nothing.”

The Emperor calls.

As soon as he heard those words, Lancel had already decided to take Marigold there.

Why?

Because the place he was heading to now was the famous Secret Garden map.

A secret hideout exclusively for the Imperial family. A place where encounters with the Princes were almost guaranteed. The most secret place in the Empire… that was the Secret Garden.

Not taking Marigold here was out of the question.

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—Marigold was uncomfortable with the ‘Imperial Noble Dress (rental)’, but coincidentally, it suited her too well.

※Charm, allure, and grace greatly UP!!

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‘Even on the Warrior path, it’s this much….’

Lancel scrutinized Marigold’s face, which was flushed with heat, without rest.

“I think I know why more Mercenaries are rushing to ask Mary to marry them these days. Don’t you think so, Young Master?”

“What? Those guys?”

Lancel reacted with a start.

No, how dare Mercenaries flirt with a woman who would become an Empress?

It was news that made his anger boil just thinking about it.

“Didn’t you say there was one yesterday too?”

“Yes. It was Godman, Uncle.”

“That crazy old man.”

Lancel was dumbfounded. He was a Mercenary well over forty. Compared to Marigold, who wasn’t even twenty yet, the age difference was more than double. And that kind of man proposed?

‘Godman. You’re in trouble.’

Lancel decided to deal with him as soon as he got back. He had to make an example of him so that he would never dream of it again.

Especially since the Warrior path had a terrible trap ending called ‘Marriage with a Mercenary.’

“So, what did you do to Godman?”

“I beat him up!”

That’s a relief.

But did she hate it that much?

“Godman, Uncle, is a good person, but he’s not someone I like. Marriage is between people who love each other.”

Marigold smiled, raising her fist as if to show off.

“Master thinks so too, right?”

“Well, generally… that’s right.”

“I think so too.”

Marigold took Lancel’s answer as a yes and smiled with her eyes.

Her smile, wearing the pure white Imperial court dress, was so dazzling that it made him lose his words for a moment.

‘Marigold, you’re going to be an Empress now. Your life is set, you idiot.’

Lancel intended to create a definite opportunity when he met the Emperor.

Yes. A very certain fait accompli that would stick the Third Prince and Marigold together.

“You should leave soon, Young Master. Count Palatine is waiting.”

“Let’s go.”

When they went outside, the Count Palatine’s carriage had already arrived.

“Why are you so late!”

“We can’t go to meet Your Majesty covered in dirt, Count Palatine.”

Urged by the Count Palatine, Lancel and Marigold quickly got into the carriage.

‘What does the Emperor look like?’

Lancel’s memories of the Fallen Noble Lady Simulation were quite vivid, but information about the Emperor was somewhat limited.

‘It was a character without even a single illustration, so that says it all.’

From the start, his Noona, who made the game, wasn’t very interested in the Emperor. Her thought was that the Emperor is just the Emperor, and nothing more was needed.

Thanks to that, the amount or presence of the Emperor in the game was almost non-existent, even before discussing whether it was much or little. In fact, wouldn’t it be right to see him as an extra?

But that was the game.

This is reality.

In this world, the Emperor was the absolute ruler.

The one who took the place of the fallen Imperial family of the old Empire, the number one of the current Empire.

“Depart.”

“Yes!”

The carriage began to run along the widest road in the Imperial Capital.

13.

As the huge Imperial Palace began to appear before their eyes, they finally felt that they had entered the center of the Empire.

“I will blindfold you from now on. The fewer people who know the way to the Secret Garden, the better.”

“Understood.”

Black cloth covered Lancel and Marigold’s eyes.

As if to disrupt their sense of direction, the carriage circled around several times before heading straight to one place.

“I, I feel nauseous.”

“Endure it.”

“I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

“Just don’t dirty my clothes.”

“I’ll, I’ll try. Ugh.”

Lancel could feel Marigold’s complexion getting worse. It was a situation that was perfect for getting motion sickness.

“We’ve arrived.”

When the blindfolds were removed, the carriage was parked in the middle of a garden decorated with flower bushes.

“This is….”

“I only see flowers, Master.”

A low exclamation flowed from Marigold’s mouth, who had been groaning until just now. Flowers of various colors filled their vision, making them feel as if they had entered a fairy tale world.

As expected of the Imperial family.

They just threw money at it.

“To think that the Secret Garden, made for secretly doing shady things, would be this luxurious.”

“Shady things?”

Marigold tilted her head at the grumbling that came out unintentionally.

“Stop spacing out and follow me quickly.”

“Ah, yes.”

They walked for a while along a path made of fully bloomed flower beds. Soon, their view opened up.

A lake.

A quiet garden.

Someone was standing inside.

‘The Emperor?’

A large veil surrounded the Emperor. Thanks to that, the only shape they could see was his blurry shadow.

While thinking trivial thoughts like, ‘There’s no illustration here either,’ Lancel knelt down on one knee.

Marigold followed him from the side, sensing the situation.

“Your Majesty, as you commanded, I have brought Lancel Dante of the Dante viscountcy.”

He could feel the shadow beyond the veil looking at Lancel. Even the feeling of sticky Magic Power scanning him momentarily followed along. The Imperial family of this Empire was suspicious anyway.

“Are you Lancel Dante?”

It was an old voice that sounded as if it would break at any moment. However, Lancel felt the Magic Power tangled and clumped around his lips.

‘He changed his voice with magic.’

How much was he trying to hide himself?

“I have no memory of meeting any of Your sons, but if they have thought well of me, it is an honor, Your Majesty.”

Lancel bowed his head deeply and replied mechanically.

“It is enough for you to know it as an honor. The reason I have called you here today is to bestow a gift accordingly. Lancel Dante.”

A gift?

Suddenly?

Is it money?

As Lancel was bewildered, the Count Palatine nudged him with his elbow and gave him a look.

“What are you doing? His Majesty says he will bestow a gift.”

“I didn’t know I was coming here to receive a gift today.”

“He says he’ll give it, so just receive it.”

“Shall I do that since it’s free?”

“Then you won’t receive it?”

“You two, I can hear you.”

A whispering conversation quickly passed between Lancel, the Count Palatine, and Marigold. Lancel eventually bowed his head even deeper.

“I am deeply grateful for your sea-like grace, Your Majesty.”

The Emperor paused for a moment before opening his mouth.

“I bestow upon you the position of Imperial Knight. Lancel Dante. This is the gift I have prepared.”

Something bigger than expected came.

For a knight family, it was definitely an honor for their son to enter the Imperial Knights.

It wasn’t bad news for Lancel either. It was practically the same as receiving the right to enter the Imperial Palace.

“I wish to reward good knights and keep them by my side, so please regard it as an honor.”

But.

Hmm.

“Your Majesty.”

There was still something Lancel wanted to receive.

“Could you spend a little more?”

Everyone’s eyes, including the Count Palatine, Marigold, and the maids and knights attending to the Emperor, widened in shock at the same time.

14.

“…What?”

Lancel didn’t give in and said again.

“I said, could you spend a little more? Your Majesty.”

“I heard correctly.”

It seemed they thought they had heard things. Perhaps everyone, including the Emperor.

One of the knights attending to the Emperor began to tremble.

“How dare you, to His Majesty, that kind of, rude….”

That’s right. There was one thing that had definitely changed about Lancel over the past 200 years of dying, getting injured, and even being dragged to the execution platform and burned at the stake.

That was that he had lost his sense of fear.

“You are now.”

He could see the Emperor’s figure beyond the veil, frozen. He seemed very surprised.

Lancel didn’t stop talking.

“You said you would give me a gift, but honestly, I don’t understand it, Your Majesty.”

“…What is it?”

On the right, the Count Palatine kept nudging his shoulder and muttering something urgently (mainly words of dissuasion mixed with profanity).

On the left, Marigold was pulling on his sleeve and was half pale (it was hard to hear because it was a murmur that hadn’t yet formed into words).

Lancel neatly ignored them all.

“I don’t remember doing anything to deserve a gift from Your Majesty yet. Your Majesty.”

“I have given gifts for no reason many times, but you are the first to argue like this, Lancel Dante.”

The Emperor seemed beyond shocked and dumbfounded.

“Wouldn’t those who accept without question be stranger, Your Majesty?”

“Well. From the start, there is an inconsistency in your words. What does it mean to say that you haven’t done anything to deserve a gift, but you want to demand even more?”

The Count Palatine and Marigold, who were trying to dissuade Lancel, momentarily agreed with the Emperor’s words. It was a contradiction when they listened.

“I understood this gift to mean that you will want many things from me in the future.”

“Is that a complaint? That a knight becomes the Emperor’s man? That I want something from you?”

“If you want to make me Your Majesty’s man, you will have to take more.”

A chain of shock.

“You dare to make a deal with me, Lancel Dante.”

“Everything in this world is on a scale, Your Majesty.”

“Even if I were to cut off your head in this place right now?”

The Emperor’s voice trembled with subtle anger. He must have thought he would back down at this point.

“If you wish, do so.”

The Emperor’s mouth hung open blankly and froze once again.

There was no need to be scared at all.

Because.

‘After all, this guy isn’t even the Emperor, is he?’

Lancel already knew his identity.

It was a guess until now, but he was certain after seeing his reaction earlier.