episode_0122

“Hahaha! Is that what you said?”

The Emperor, Duke Leonidas, laughed heartily,

I patted William on the back as he told me the story behind his visit to the academy.

“That’s right.”

The Emperor’s messenger, William, could not dare to raise his head despite this positive attitude of the Emperor.

I came forward confidently,

This is because I did not receive permission from Cheonharang.

He pretended as if nothing had happened in front of Cheonharang.

His pride was left with deep scars.

William kept bowing with an apologetic expression.

“Why are you so gloomy! Jim isn’t angry!”

But the Duke just smiled, not caring about William’s failure.

No, on the contrary, Duke’s mood was the most cheerful he had been in a while.

How many times in the world have you seen someone refuse to follow your orders?

And it was without any title, much less a name that had ever been known before.

Of course, when I think of her name,

Although he may not seem to be from the Empire, it is true that he is absolute since this is the Empire.

But, how can you confidently refuse someone like this?

It was fun, really refreshing.

Duke liked Cheonharang’s attitude.

“Oh! Since ancient times, a woman who is destined to become the queen of an empire must have that level of distribution!”

Hahaha, William broke out in a cold sweat at the sight of the emperor laughing heartily once again.

“…Your Majesty the Emperor.”

“You don’t have to be so depressed.”

The Duke still had a smile on his face,

For some reason, I looked at William with a dark complexion.

William’s moustache trembled nervously, as he could not even imagine how the Emperor would react to the news he was about to deliver.

William swallowed as if he was hesitating for a moment, then nodded his head once as if he had made up his mind and opened his mouth.

“It seems that Cheonharang has a lover… .”

“…”

The Duke froze, still smiling.

At the sight of the emperor like that, William let out a ‘kkeuk’ sound as if he was indignant and delivered a decisive blow that shattered the emperor who was as hard as stone into pieces.

“A man who looked older than Cheonharang and dressed similarly, walking arm in arm as if they were familiar with each other… .”

After finishing speaking, William closed his eyes tightly and waited nervously for the Emperor’s answer.

A fleeting moment of time passed like eternity.

“… This kind of thing.”

The emperor, who had been smiling kindly until now, clenched his fists and trembled.

But that appearance soon subsided,

“Although you already have a lover… .”

Duke regained his composure and smiled faintly.

“There is a possibility.”

“Yes… ?”

William tilted his head as if he was puzzled and asked stupidly.

Duke sighed deeply at the sight of William like that and spoke clearly and teachingly.

“Think about it, William. Isn’t Arnold superior in position, looks, and skills?”

“…”

“Women are naturally looking for a better man.”

Looking at the emperor with the corners of his mouth raised with a confident expression,

William had a thought that was truly impious and contrary to the Emperor’s.

‘…No matter how I look at it, His Highness the Crown Prince is being pushed around.’

But William, unable to bring himself to say these words, simply lowered his head.

“That is a very valid point… .”

“Ahahaha!”

The Emperor and Duke laughed as they left their offices.

* * *

…who is talking about me?

Somehow I got goosebumps and trembled all over my body,

Moo-myeong tilted his head as if he was puzzled by my appearance.

“Nothing.”

“Yes, Master.”

I waved my arms slightly at him,

I wiped my face, feeling truly regretful about the past.

… I ended up agreeing.

After the mustache leaves,

I couldn’t refuse because the remaining knights kept bowing down for several days.

Tsk, this is why I have to be determined.

Since I am the type of person who cannot say no by nature, I ended up agreeing without thinking.

Still, whatever.

Just because I gave my consent doesn’t mean I’ll go straight to the palace.

I heard that since the other party is the other party, it will probably take some time to coordinate schedules.

It is natural that the lords of a territory or the kings of a country have a lot of work to do.

… of course there was an exception, the Archduchess Camilla of the North.

anyway.

Now, thinking that I would have to go to the palace in just a few days, I felt truly lost.

…what should I go and say?

No, can I still talk comfortably like I used to?

But it still hurts my pride to use honorifics towards someone who is much younger than me.

Besides, if you really want to be specific, I’m not even a citizen of the empire, right?

I’ve lived alone my whole life, so it’s strange to feel like I belong somewhere.

“Ummm… .”

Because I was drooling and had my head wrapped.

Suddenly, an idea occurred to me.

‘Do I need to worry about it already?’

There’s still a lot of time left, and if you’re feeling really worried, you can just do what you’ve been doing.

Hmm, right.

I nodded my head and came to my own conclusion.

Think about it later, eat some strawberries for now.

“Anonymous.”

He threw himself on the bed, opened his mouth and waved his arms at the nameless person.

Soon, with an anonymous sigh, a strawberry entered my mouth and I chewed it.

… It’ll work out somehow!

I gave up on the idea.

and.

How many days, the next day right away.

The knights and William came to me and smiled at me.

“Go straight to ”

“… What.”

Well, nothing works.

* * *

“Didn’t there used to be a saying like this?”

“Ehehehe… .”

I sighed deeply and looked out the window at the sight of Belle scratching her head with an awkward smile.

… Yeah, well. It’s comfortable.

Me, Myeong-un, and Belle are now on a carriage heading to the palace.

Why, what?

Of course, it was to see the emperor who invited me… .

When I look out the window,

I saw Belle slowly rolling her eyes and observing me.

When her eyes met mine, she shivered and let out an ‘Eek!’

…why is the bell here?

I pout and start recalling past events.

The moustache, or rather William, immediately after I agreed to go to the palace,

They were all very excited and prepared the carriage right away.

It was burdensome, so of course I declined the favor.

… Actually, I was walking fast.

The knights tried to persuade me by saying that if I refused this time, they would be in trouble.

Even the countries that are bad at refusing have not been hit by the same trick twice.

So, I flatly refused the request of William and the knights.

They had asked to be allowed to have at least one guide.

Of course, I said that I didn’t need to give the knights separate instructions again… .

Could it really be that you couldn’t have let me, the Emperor’s guest, come without bringing even one person with me?

I suggested that we use Bell, who I am close with, as a guide.

I had no reason to refuse, so I could only nod my head.

That’s how my journey with Belle began.

… But did Belle take this into account?

I don’t know.

anyway.

I puffed out my cheeks to show that I wasn’t feeling too well.

Hmm, I wanted to go alone with Anonymous… .

The date between the priests, which they thought they would be able to enjoy for the first time in a long time, was ruined by Belle’s intrusion.

“ha-”

I let out a sigh and gave Bell a sharp look.

“Hi… .”

She felt so wronged by my glaring at her,

Soon, tears welled up in her eyes and she pouts.

“I, I didn’t want to come either… .”

“…”

I didn’t know that she would really cry, so I averted my gaze.

Anonymous smiled faintly at my appearance,

I just stared out the window in embarrassment.

… By the way.

The palace and the academy are in the same capital, so why do we have to take a carriage?

If you think about it objectively, it’s much faster to go on foot.

Since it wasn’t that far, I didn’t have to get lost.

To begin with, the palace building is so big… If you get lost here, that’s a problem.

anyway.

Why do we have to take a carriage? I asked curiously.

Belle was tight-lipped, saying, “You’ll probably know when you see the size of the palace.”

and,

I realized Belle’s words half an hour after the carriage started moving.

“Sure… .”

The palace seen up close was so huge that it was immediately understandable why Belle had been told to ride in a carriage.

No, can we consider this as an imperial palace?

It’s almost like a decent city… .

The magnificent building that anyone would imagine to be the imperial palace is still far away.

What we now have in front of us is a huge wall surrounding that magnificent building.

I feel somehow overwhelmed by its enormity,

And I was quite enjoying the feeling of being overwhelmed, so the corners of my mouth went up.

“… I feel sorry for Camilla, but.”

surely.

Not a high-ranking noble,

As he is truly an emperor, the size of the castle walls is incomparable.

… I would estimate it to be at least three times larger.

I watched the gates open with a small sense of admiration.

Behind the great walls,

A huge natural landscape that could be mistaken for a forest began to unfold.

“… This is a garden.”

Indeed, the palace seemed to think that everything should be big, and its garden was also truly huge.

Hmm, that’s going to be hard to manage.

I was looking out the window, thinking about somewhat useless things.

For some reason, Bell snorted with a proud voice.

“How is it! Oh, it’s cool!”

“… Yeah.”

It was a really arrogant look, but

I nodded because it wasn’t a wrong statement.

… But why is he so proud of the palace?

Although he seemed curious about it, he didn’t bother to ask.

Is this the first or second time Bell has done this?

There must be no particular reason for that anyway.

I took my eyes off Belle and leaned out the window to feel the refreshing breeze.

Oh, I found a squirrel.