“...Ha.”
“..."
“...Your Majesty!”
“Hmm?”
Randall, who had been blankly gazing out the window, belatedly sensed the call and suddenly turned his head.
Then, Auston, frowning arrogantly, glared at him with his quill pen in his hand as if he would break it.
Randall, who had been lost in thought, coughed in vain to hide his embarrassment and quietly changed the subject.
“No matter how many times I hear that title, I can’t get used to it.”
“It’s not like you’ve decided to honor that title since it’s your first year on the throne, right?”
“...”
However, Auston cut off Randall’s excuses like a knife.
More than usual... No, he was that kind of person even normally.
Today, for some reason, he seemed more nervous, so Randell asked nervously.
“...Auston. Why are you so sharp?”
“Me?”
“...”
“Are you going?”
“...No, that’s enough. Let’s get to work.”
At Randall’s question, Auston rolled his eyes and tilted his head at an odd angle.
Randall hurriedly looked away from him, grabbed his quill, and lowered his gaze to his documents.
The reason Auston was acting that way was actually obvious when you thought about it, so there was no need to ask further.
‘He must be upset because he hasn’t been home for a week because of the National Foundation Day.’
So, Randall was definitely not under the pressure of Auston. Absolutely.
Clink.
For a while after that, the office was filled with the sound of paper fluttering and the clink of a quill.
However, when he came to his senses, Randall’s gaze was once again turned out the window.
To be exact, towards the Queen’s palace outside the window.
‘...You don’t seem to be in a good mood these days.’ It had
already been a year since Ethel II abdicated and Randell ascended the throne.
He had received overwhelming support from the people even before his enthronement, but after his enthronement, that support skyrocketed even more.
It was because his life had improved significantly due to the efficient and practical handling of his superiors.
Of course, for that efficiency and practicality, the palace officials, including Randall, were being replaced every day, but when he saw the smiling faces of those who expressed their gratitude, even his fatigue disappeared.
Except for one person...
Randall glanced at Auston and looked out the window again.
‘It must be even more so since Philia and Count Glever are coming to visit today.’
Anyway, Randall’s current interest was Sylvia, no matter what anyone said.
Lately, she often had a sullen expression and was lost in thought.
This was especially true on days when Philia and Rubia, who were now the Marquis of Seicrine, visited.
'...It’s not that I can’t guess at all.’
If his guess was right, he shouldn’t have said to Sylvia, ‘You look depressed these days,’ and asked her why.
But he was worried about leaving Sylvia alone, who was depressed.
After much thought, Randall folded his hands, rested his chin on them, and looked back at Auston seriously.
“Auston.”
“Yes?”
“A deal...”
“No. ”
“...I haven’t said anything yet.”
Randall, who couldn’t even finish saying “Let’s make a deal,” replied in an absurd tone.
However, Auston snorted without even looking up from his papers.
“You’re obviously trying to pass the work on to me. But I won’t.”
“Money...”
“No matter how important money is! Is it more important than seeing your child’s face?”
“I really want to do that, but... I want to do something different today.”
“What is it?”
Sylvia, who had been teasing Randall, let out a questionable voice.
Randall smiled and pressed his lips to hers one last time as if stamping a seal, then smiled brightly.
“Wouldn’t you like to go out for the first time in a while? The two of us.”
“..."
“...Your Majesty!”
“Hmm?”
Randall, who had been blankly gazing out the window, belatedly sensed the call and suddenly turned his head.
Then, Auston, frowning arrogantly, glared at him with his quill pen in his hand as if he would break it.
Randall, who had been lost in thought, coughed in vain to hide his embarrassment and quietly changed the subject.
“No matter how many times I hear that title, I can’t get used to it.”
“It’s not like you’ve decided to honor that title since it’s your first year on the throne, right?”
“...”
However, Auston cut off Randall’s excuses like a knife.
More than usual... No, he was that kind of person even normally.
Today, for some reason, he seemed more nervous, so Randell asked nervously.
“...Auston. Why are you so sharp?”
“Me?”
“...”
“Are you going?”
“...No, that’s enough. Let’s get to work.”
At Randall’s question, Auston rolled his eyes and tilted his head at an odd angle.
Randall hurriedly looked away from him, grabbed his quill, and lowered his gaze to his documents.
The reason Auston was acting that way was actually obvious when you thought about it, so there was no need to ask further.
‘He must be upset because he hasn’t been home for a week because of the National Foundation Day.’
So, Randall was definitely not under the pressure of Auston. Absolutely.
Clink.
For a while after that, the office was filled with the sound of paper fluttering and the clink of a quill.
However, when he came to his senses, Randall’s gaze was once again turned out the window.
To be exact, towards the Queen’s palace outside the window.
‘...You don’t seem to be in a good mood these days.’ It had
already been a year since Ethel II abdicated and Randell ascended the throne.
He had received overwhelming support from the people even before his enthronement, but after his enthronement, that support skyrocketed even more.
It was because his life had improved significantly due to the efficient and practical handling of his superiors.
Of course, for that efficiency and practicality, the palace officials, including Randall, were being replaced every day, but when he saw the smiling faces of those who expressed their gratitude, even his fatigue disappeared.
Except for one person...
Randall glanced at Auston and looked out the window again.
‘It must be even more so since Philia and Count Glever are coming to visit today.’
Anyway, Randall’s current interest was Sylvia, no matter what anyone said.
Lately, she often had a sullen expression and was lost in thought.
This was especially true on days when Philia and Rubia, who were now the Marquis of Seicrine, visited.
'...It’s not that I can’t guess at all.’
If his guess was right, he shouldn’t have said to Sylvia, ‘You look depressed these days,’ and asked her why.
But he was worried about leaving Sylvia alone, who was depressed.
After much thought, Randall folded his hands, rested his chin on them, and looked back at Auston seriously.
“Auston.”
“Yes?”
“A deal...”
“No. ”
“...I haven’t said anything yet.”
Randall, who couldn’t even finish saying “Let’s make a deal,” replied in an absurd tone.
However, Auston snorted without even looking up from his papers.
“You’re obviously trying to pass the work on to me. But I won’t.”
“Money...”
“No matter how important money is! Is it more important than seeing your child’s face?”
Those were the words that Auston would have bitten his tongue and said a few years ago.
Randall felt both joy and despair at the surprising change in attitude and tried to persuade Auston somehow.
“That...”
“No!”
“...”
“Tch!”
“But I’m still the King, Auston. Don’t act wild when you get the chance.”
“Yes.”
Randall became serious as Auston spoke with increasing emotion.
Auston also sat back on his chair as if he had never been so violent and turned over the documents.
However, he couldn’t give up just like this.
Randall narrowed his brows seriously, shut his eyes tightly, and said.
“...Salary increase of 50 gold.”
Flinch.
At those words, Auston’s quill that had been gliding freely over the paper flinched for an instant.
“70 gold.”
Flinch!
“100 gold.”
Clang!
Auston’s shaking, which had started with his ears flapping, soon spread to his entire body and made his chair rattle.
Randall drove the wedge in with tears in his eyes.
“A week off after finishing the foundation work!”
At that moment, white light flashed around Randall’s body, and his body blinked and disappeared, appearing in the hallway outside the office door.
Boom!
Randall was teleported while sitting, and the next moment, he fell to the floor with a heavy sound.
Awake, who was not only in pain but also flustered, poked his head out from behind him.
“Why aren’t you gone yet! Get out quickly! Now!”
Boom!
With those words, the office door slammed shut. And then opened again.
“Oh, and what you just said is recorded on a magic sphere, so don’t think about it.”
Kwak!
Auston, who had been adding as if he was asking, closed the door again and disappeared.
It happened in an instant.
Randall, who had been blinking, finally got up.
A bewildered mutter escaped from his mouth as he scratched the back of his head.
“I feel like I’ve been kicked out.”
But I’m the King... The King is being kicked out of his office because of his aide...
Randall shook his head and sighed deeply.
Well, thanks to that, he can stay by Sylvia’s side for a day as he originally intended, so that’s a relief.
He tried to think positively and walked forward.
Regardless of the process, Randall, who had successfully completed his deal with Auston, left the main palace and headed to the Queen’s palace where Sylvia resided.
Normally, the King lived in the main palace and the Queen lived in the Queen’s palace, and unless there was something special to do, they usually didn’t meet.
Randall completely ignored that custom and always went to the Queen’s palace when he was done with work and slept there.
As a result, the main palace became a palace for business, and the Queen’s palace became the King and Queen’s living palace.
The officials were wondering if they should change the name of the Queen’s palace even now, but Randall didn’t know about that.
Randall strode briskly toward Sylvia’s palace, which was still called the Queen’s Palace.
When he finally reached the distance where the main gate of the Queen’s Palace came into view, Philia and Rubia were standing in front of the main gate, probably about to leave.
Randall unconsciously stopped walking and watched them from afar.
“Thank you for coming today, Lady Seicrine. Lady Glever. It must not be easy to go back and forth to the capital like this...”
Sylvia smiled, her eyebrows furrowing in embarrassment.
Then Rubia and Philia shook their heads firmly as if they had made a promise.
“This is a way to catch our breath. If it weren’t for that, we would still be buried in paperwork...”
“That’s right. Thanks to the newly created teleportation magic circle between the North and the capital, it’s not that much of a hassle. And...”
“Pfft-.”
At that moment, the girl with curly short blonde hair in Rubia’s arms extended her maple-like hand toward Sylvia.
Rubea hurriedly hugged the child who was about to lean forward and laughed as if she was sighing.
“If Irene doesn’t see Your Majesty for more than a week, she’ll cry all day long and want the mansion to be empty. So even if she’s busy, it’s better to come here to catch her breath.”
“Pfft!”
Rubia’s daughter, Irene, smiled brightly and followed her words, clenching and unclenching her fists at Sylvia.
Her golden curls sparkled in the sunlight, shining like gold dust.
Her crescent-shaped hazel eyes resembled Auston’s.
Philia and Sylvia’s lips simultaneously smiled at that lovely sight.
Philia playfully shook her head and sighed.
“I wonder if my child is learning to say ‘Your Majesty’ before ‘Mom.’ Of course, Your Majesty is an excellent person, but wouldn’t it be a little disappointing if a child called Your Majesty before Mom? What do you think, Countess Glever?”
Philia smiled mischievously and spoke, but Rubia was unmoved.
She covered Irene’s eyes with one hand and smiled coldly.
“...I hope that Young master of Marquis Seicrine will be like that too, Marchioness Seicrine. As you said, Her Majesty the Queen is an excellent person.”
“Oh my. Are you really offended now? Petty?”
“No way. It was a blessing.”
“Hey, put spit on your lips and lie!”
Sylvia, who had been watching the two bickering that had become familiar to her, looked at Philia worriedly.
“Oh, when did Lord Cedars say he would come pick you up?”
“He’s probably waiting at the palace gate, fidgeting. No matter how much I tell him I can go alone, he insists on coming all the way here to pick me up.”
“But that won’t do. At least stay with Lord Cedars until the baby is born. It’s better to prepare for what you can. The baby will want that too.”
“That’s certainly true. Thank you for your kind words, Your Grace... No, Your Majesty.”
Philia, who was slowly raising her hand, smiled and bowed her knees in greeting.
Sylvia lightly scolded her, asking when she would stop being so useless.
They continued talking for a long time in front of the main gate of the palace before parting ways.
Sylvia stood there for a long time, watching Philia and Rubia leave together.
Her face looked a little dazed, unlike before.
Randall saw Sylvia sigh and stepped aside to approach her.
“I’m home, ma’am.”
Sylvia, who noticed Randall a step later at that voice, greeted him with a surprised face.
“Randall? What are you doing at this hour?”
“I succeeded in negotiating with Auston.”
“Oh my, you’ve done something great.”
Randall bent down and hugged Sylvia.
Considering the size difference, it was he who had hugged her, but it seemed as if she had hugged him.
Sylvia let out a snicker and patted his back affectionately.
Randall, who had been nuzzling the nape of her neck, took a deep breath and asked,
“I was so busy welcoming the delegation from yesterday to this morning that I didn’t even have time to come. What did you do during that time?”
“Yesterday? Um...”
Sylvia rolled her eyes and answered quietly as she remembered something.
“I took a short break in the sun at the ruined palace.”
“..."
“It’s a little creepy, but it’s the quietest place.”
Randall nodded in agreement, swallowing a sigh, knowing that the ruined palace was definitely the quietest and most deserted place in the palace.
The ruined palace. It was the old Prince’s palace where David de Kelmar Lochlen had stayed as a child.
However, it was now more like a ruined palace than the old Prince’s palace.
Since the palace was not properly managed, they agreed with others to tear it down next year.
Randall felt both joy and despair at the surprising change in attitude and tried to persuade Auston somehow.
“That...”
“No!”
“...”
“Tch!”
“But I’m still the King, Auston. Don’t act wild when you get the chance.”
“Yes.”
Randall became serious as Auston spoke with increasing emotion.
Auston also sat back on his chair as if he had never been so violent and turned over the documents.
However, he couldn’t give up just like this.
Randall narrowed his brows seriously, shut his eyes tightly, and said.
“...Salary increase of 50 gold.”
Flinch.
At those words, Auston’s quill that had been gliding freely over the paper flinched for an instant.
“70 gold.”
Flinch!
“100 gold.”
Clang!
Auston’s shaking, which had started with his ears flapping, soon spread to his entire body and made his chair rattle.
Randall drove the wedge in with tears in his eyes.
“A week off after finishing the foundation work!”
At that moment, white light flashed around Randall’s body, and his body blinked and disappeared, appearing in the hallway outside the office door.
Boom!
Randall was teleported while sitting, and the next moment, he fell to the floor with a heavy sound.
Awake, who was not only in pain but also flustered, poked his head out from behind him.
“Why aren’t you gone yet! Get out quickly! Now!”
Boom!
With those words, the office door slammed shut. And then opened again.
“Oh, and what you just said is recorded on a magic sphere, so don’t think about it.”
Kwak!
Auston, who had been adding as if he was asking, closed the door again and disappeared.
It happened in an instant.
Randall, who had been blinking, finally got up.
A bewildered mutter escaped from his mouth as he scratched the back of his head.
“I feel like I’ve been kicked out.”
But I’m the King... The King is being kicked out of his office because of his aide...
Randall shook his head and sighed deeply.
Well, thanks to that, he can stay by Sylvia’s side for a day as he originally intended, so that’s a relief.
He tried to think positively and walked forward.
***
Regardless of the process, Randall, who had successfully completed his deal with Auston, left the main palace and headed to the Queen’s palace where Sylvia resided.
Normally, the King lived in the main palace and the Queen lived in the Queen’s palace, and unless there was something special to do, they usually didn’t meet.
Randall completely ignored that custom and always went to the Queen’s palace when he was done with work and slept there.
As a result, the main palace became a palace for business, and the Queen’s palace became the King and Queen’s living palace.
The officials were wondering if they should change the name of the Queen’s palace even now, but Randall didn’t know about that.
Randall strode briskly toward Sylvia’s palace, which was still called the Queen’s Palace.
When he finally reached the distance where the main gate of the Queen’s Palace came into view, Philia and Rubia were standing in front of the main gate, probably about to leave.
Randall unconsciously stopped walking and watched them from afar.
“Thank you for coming today, Lady Seicrine. Lady Glever. It must not be easy to go back and forth to the capital like this...”
Sylvia smiled, her eyebrows furrowing in embarrassment.
Then Rubia and Philia shook their heads firmly as if they had made a promise.
“This is a way to catch our breath. If it weren’t for that, we would still be buried in paperwork...”
“That’s right. Thanks to the newly created teleportation magic circle between the North and the capital, it’s not that much of a hassle. And...”
“Pfft-.”
At that moment, the girl with curly short blonde hair in Rubia’s arms extended her maple-like hand toward Sylvia.
Rubea hurriedly hugged the child who was about to lean forward and laughed as if she was sighing.
“If Irene doesn’t see Your Majesty for more than a week, she’ll cry all day long and want the mansion to be empty. So even if she’s busy, it’s better to come here to catch her breath.”
“Pfft!”
Rubia’s daughter, Irene, smiled brightly and followed her words, clenching and unclenching her fists at Sylvia.
Her golden curls sparkled in the sunlight, shining like gold dust.
Her crescent-shaped hazel eyes resembled Auston’s.
Philia and Sylvia’s lips simultaneously smiled at that lovely sight.
Philia playfully shook her head and sighed.
“I wonder if my child is learning to say ‘Your Majesty’ before ‘Mom.’ Of course, Your Majesty is an excellent person, but wouldn’t it be a little disappointing if a child called Your Majesty before Mom? What do you think, Countess Glever?”
Philia smiled mischievously and spoke, but Rubia was unmoved.
She covered Irene’s eyes with one hand and smiled coldly.
“...I hope that Young master of Marquis Seicrine will be like that too, Marchioness Seicrine. As you said, Her Majesty the Queen is an excellent person.”
“Oh my. Are you really offended now? Petty?”
“No way. It was a blessing.”
“Hey, put spit on your lips and lie!”
Sylvia, who had been watching the two bickering that had become familiar to her, looked at Philia worriedly.
“Oh, when did Lord Cedars say he would come pick you up?”
“He’s probably waiting at the palace gate, fidgeting. No matter how much I tell him I can go alone, he insists on coming all the way here to pick me up.”
“But that won’t do. At least stay with Lord Cedars until the baby is born. It’s better to prepare for what you can. The baby will want that too.”
“That’s certainly true. Thank you for your kind words, Your Grace... No, Your Majesty.”
Philia, who was slowly raising her hand, smiled and bowed her knees in greeting.
Sylvia lightly scolded her, asking when she would stop being so useless.
They continued talking for a long time in front of the main gate of the palace before parting ways.
Sylvia stood there for a long time, watching Philia and Rubia leave together.
Her face looked a little dazed, unlike before.
Randall saw Sylvia sigh and stepped aside to approach her.
“I’m home, ma’am.”
Sylvia, who noticed Randall a step later at that voice, greeted him with a surprised face.
“Randall? What are you doing at this hour?”
“I succeeded in negotiating with Auston.”
“Oh my, you’ve done something great.”
Randall bent down and hugged Sylvia.
Considering the size difference, it was he who had hugged her, but it seemed as if she had hugged him.
Sylvia let out a snicker and patted his back affectionately.
Randall, who had been nuzzling the nape of her neck, took a deep breath and asked,
“I was so busy welcoming the delegation from yesterday to this morning that I didn’t even have time to come. What did you do during that time?”
“Yesterday? Um...”
Sylvia rolled her eyes and answered quietly as she remembered something.
“I took a short break in the sun at the ruined palace.”
“..."
“It’s a little creepy, but it’s the quietest place.”
Randall nodded in agreement, swallowing a sigh, knowing that the ruined palace was definitely the quietest and most deserted place in the palace.
The ruined palace. It was the old Prince’s palace where David de Kelmar Lochlen had stayed as a child.
However, it was now more like a ruined palace than the old Prince’s palace.
Since the palace was not properly managed, they agreed with others to tear it down next year.
‘...Well, it would be more accurate to say that we passed by each other by chance rather than met, so there’s no need to talk about it.’
Sylvia suddenly thought of the blonde foreigner who was looking at her with a face that seemed to be lacking something and shook her head slightly.
She kissed Randall’s cheek and smiled.
“Instead of standing here like this, should we go in?”
“Oh, are you tired?”
“At best, I just go back and forth to the research lab in the palace, so what could I be tired of? I mean, you.”
Sylvia glared at Randall without being offended.
Randall let out a small laugh and kissed her here and there on her face.
“I’m glad you said that.”
“...But don’t bother me until morning.”
Sylvia suddenly thought of the blonde foreigner who was looking at her with a face that seemed to be lacking something and shook her head slightly.
She kissed Randall’s cheek and smiled.
“Instead of standing here like this, should we go in?”
“Oh, are you tired?”
“At best, I just go back and forth to the research lab in the palace, so what could I be tired of? I mean, you.”
Sylvia glared at Randall without being offended.
Randall let out a small laugh and kissed her here and there on her face.
“I’m glad you said that.”
“...But don’t bother me until morning.”
“I really want to do that, but... I want to do something different today.”
“What is it?”
Sylvia, who had been teasing Randall, let out a questionable voice.
Randall smiled and pressed his lips to hers one last time as if stamping a seal, then smiled brightly.
“Wouldn’t you like to go out for the first time in a while? The two of us.”
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