episode_0049

Theodora’s red eyes meet mine.

Cold, cold eyes scan my body.

“You… what did you do here?”

At the sound of Theodora’s voice, the doors to the VIP room open one by one and people begin to come out.

“The emperor has come?”

“Here?”

Here, I saw some people I had seen several times before, so I hurriedly approached Theodora…

“First, come here.”

He roughly grabs her wrist and drags her to the room where they were eating.

-bang!

The waiter who was eating with me hurriedly stands up from his seat, bows, and says, looking embarrassed, as if he didn’t know I was going to drag him along like this.

“Wha… I meet His Majesty the Emperor.”

She looked around at the man she was seeing for the first time with wary eyes and spoke while looking around.

“Where?”

“This is the VIP room.”

The waiter, who had been speaking comfortably in front of me just a moment ago, spoke in a straight tone again as he was speaking to the emperor.

“Whoa… How did you find out about this place?”

Theodora looks around and says what I said.

“Where is the woman?”

female? What girl?

Since there are only two men, I ask.

“What girl? What on earth are you talking about?”

Theodora speaks with twinkles in her eyes at my words.

“Don’t lie. Because we all know what nobles do with prostitutes in VIP rooms like this.”

“That’s…”

I had heard through rumors that most people were like this, so I had a feeling what kind of ridiculous misunderstanding she was having.

“There are no women?”

Theodora shakes her head at my words.

“Don’t lie. Are you in that room?”

Theodora walked with long strides and grabbed the doorknob in the corner…

-Squeak!

When I turn, I see an empty bathroom.

And Theodora turns on the lights and looks around every corner.

“Well… His Excellency… I hope you don’t pay attention to what I said a moment ago.”

I say that with a chuckle.

“Why are you taking it out now? First, let’s sit down and eat.”

After saying that, I look at Theodora who is still looking for something in the bathroom.

“Theodora. I don’t know what you’re looking for, but since we’re here, let’s eat.”

***

Lucius, a third-year academy student, thinks this situation is so difficult that he feels like throwing up.

The two people sitting across from me now.

One is the emperor of the empire, who is said to be the king of all people, and the other is the grand duke, the powerful figure of the empire.

Lucius even feels a strong desire to go back in time and stab himself in the back because the Archduke said to him that he had no power.

‘But… is it different from the rumors?’

A rumor Lucius heard a long time ago was that the archduke fell in love with the empress and proposed marriage.

However, Lucius is lost in thought as he sees the Empress acting like a woman suffering from a woman with a will.

‘I think it’s the opposite of what the rumors say? It’s as if the Empress has come out to catch her husband who has been having an affair, right?’

As a heavy silence fell in the VIP room, the Archduke shook his head and spoke.

“But why did you really come here?”

“That’s because you stay out… once every two weeks…”

Lucius’s heart beats violently as he sees the Empress, who looks as if she were a goddess descending from the sky, blushing and gently lowering her head.

‘It’s so… pretty, isn’t it?’

An empress praised as the most beautiful woman in the empire.

When Lucius first heard it, he thought the rumor was an exaggeration.

She is of noble birth in the empire.

Lucius, who thought it was probably just a fake name created to flatter the former emperor, looks at the empress and realizes that the rumor was not enough.

‘It’s like… could an angel or goddess of heaven be that beautiful?’

“Kuhm…”

The Grand Duke cleared his throat at the Empress’s words and continued.

“That’s because I have work to do.”

At those words, the Empress raises her head, sharpens her eyes, and speaks.

“What’s going on?”

At those words, the Archduke rolls his eyes with an embarrassed expression.

“I asked what was going on.”

Lucius swallows his saliva at the Empress’s words.

‘Why did someone as high as the Grand Duke come to our store at night?’

I’m also personally curious about Lucius.

The Grand Duke secretly escaped from the imperial palace, which was overflowing with the best chefs and ingredients in the empire, and came to Roman Night.

When Lucius thinks. I don’t know if there is a need for the Grand Duke to come out of the imperial palace, which is famous for being extravagant.

Of course, if you want to have debaucherous fun, you should go out of the imperial palace, but after talking with the Archduke, it seems like he is not that kind of person.

Lucius did not invite a woman to the VIP room, where privacy was guaranteed, and asked Lucius how the empire was going, which made Lucius curious about the reason the Archduke was here.

‘It can’t be secret. ‘If you’re going secretly, there’s no reason to go to a small restaurant or bar or to the VIP room of an expensive restaurant.’

Hiding is the act of a person in power secretly going out to check whether the people are doing well and whether there are any difficulties.

It makes no sense to appear in a place like this where there are no ordinary people.

“That’s…”

Breaking the long silence, the Archduke opens his mouth.

“To find great talent!”

At those words, Lucius and the Empress think the same thing.

‘what the. Tell me a plausible lie, Debian. I came here to look for talent. ‘What kind of nonsense are you talking about?’

‘The Archduke is truly shameless.’

Both of them find the Archduke’s words absurd.

If you came here looking for talent, you would go to an academy, but what’s the point of coming to a high-end restaurant like this?

Moreover, they are looking for talented people in the VIP room.

The eyes of both of them turn cold as they look at the Archduke, as if they had heard some kind of nonsense about lions being happy when they eat grass, but the Archduke doesn’t care and speaks.

“Theodora. Since you don’t seem to believe me, I’ll show you the talent I found.”

The triumphant Grand Duke looks at the Empress and speaks with a smile.

“You found a talent…?”

The words of a confident and firm archduke.

-gulp.

‘what? Did Devian really come out of the imperial palace to look for talent?’

The Empress and Lucius find it difficult to believe the Grand Duke’s words.

‘what? Your restaurant has great talent? ‘The Archduke hasn’t met anyone since he came here?’

The Archduke smiles brightly as he looks at Lucius.

“Yes. He’s quite a talented person. He knows the current situation accurately and has a lot of insight.”

At those words, Lucius is lost in thought with a puzzled expression.

‘There is a talent here that the Grand Duke praises so much?’

Thinking like that, Lucius becomes lost in thought.

‘You said waiter… Could it be Müller? Or Maximilian?’

Lucius believes that both of them are excellent students who are recognized as bright minds at the academy.

‘But when did you two meet? Ah… I cursed the Archduke at two people. Didn’t the Archduke hear it? Then… I’m screwed.’

Lucius, who had been criticizing the most powerful person in the empire, began to turn pale.

“Theodora I will personally introduce you to talent.”

The Archduke cleared his throat and continued speaking.

“The talented person is a waiter in this room and a third year student at the academy. Hmm… But what is your name?”

As the Archduke smiles slightly at me and finishes speaking, the Empress turns her head and looks at me.

“Interest… Talent?”

“I…? Talent?”

***

“But why did you really come here?”

An awkward situation arose due to Theodora’s sudden intrusion.

No… why on earth did you come here?

“That’s because you stay out… once every two weeks…”

Theodora speaks cautiously, but her eyes are sharp.

The look in his eyes as if he had passed on his busy work and come here to have a leisurely meal.

What do we do?

I think about what to say to those cold, cold eyes.

“Kuhm…”

Damn… I guess you could say I’m doing it secretly when I’m just doing it normally.

If you even rent out a VIP room like this, it’s hard to say it’s a secret operation, right?

“That’s because I have work to do.”

As I said that and took some time to think, Theodora interrogated me with her eyes shining sharply.

“What’s going on?”

What should I do…?

Up until now, nobility has said that nobles exist for the people of the empire, but if they find out that I spent a lot of money to rent a VIP room to relieve stress, I break into a cold sweat at the thought that they might refuse to take care of my time in the future.

That’s not allowed. If Theodora doesn’t take care of me, I might die from overwork. So what should I do…?

Head, think about a way out of this situation.

As I roll my eyes like that, someone catches my eye.

“I asked what was going on.”

“That’s…”

The waiter in front of me clearly understood and explained the current situation quite well.

Of course, there are some shortcomings, but I feel that this is quite useful.

Plus, you know how to read, right?

I don’t know what the illiteracy rate is here. I think it’s pretty high.

However, if you are an academy student, a pretty good idea comes to mind when you see a waiter who can read and write, and also shows a high level of insight.

Okay…let’s do this!

I speak after the thoughts are organized in my head.

“To find great talent!”

Theodora’s mood is unusual after hearing my words.

I speak leisurely as I see her squinting at first, but then giving a soft, lifelike smile.

“Theodora. Since you don’t seem to believe me, I’ll show you the talent I found.”

The illiteracy rate is high here, so just reading and writing is considered a talent.

In fact, the minimum requirements for the lowest-level civil service exam are writing and calculating basic principles.

However, this waiter is a student at the empire’s academy where only the brightest enter, and he has excellent insight.

In other words… the talent is certain.

“You found a talent…?”

Theodora, who asked with a blank expression of disbelief, quickly swallowed her saliva.

-gulp.

Good luck, waiter. Feeding you an expensive meal is such a big reward for me.

I smile as I look at the blank-faced waiter who doesn’t seem to understand the current situation.

“Yes. He’s quite a talented person. He knows the current situation accurately and has a lot of insight.”

I feel puzzled as I see the waiter lost in thought at my words.

Why is the person concerned like that?

Could it be that I don’t like revealing myself?

That can’t be right? Is it true that the guy who complained earlier about not having a noble looking after him doesn’t like the fact that I’m looking after his back?

Now that I think about it, it seems like you hate me?

But it doesn’t matter.

Because the empire needs more slaves.

Slaves with ability are always welcome in the Empire and I.

If he doesn’t want to work for me, I can pay him a lot of money.

But I’ll make you work harder than that so you won’t have time to spend money.

Thinking like that, I can already imagine a bright future ahead and a bright smile blooms on my face.

“Theodora I will personally introduce you to talent.”

The Archduke cleared his throat and continued speaking.

But… what is his name?

I remembered that I forgot and didn’t hear the name.

Well, I guess I can ask now.

“That talented person is a waiter in this room and a third year student at the academy. Hmm… But what is your name?”

At my words, Theodora and the waiter’s eyes meet.

“Interest… Talent?”

“I…? Talent?”