Everyone opposed my plan to infiltrate the palace tomorrow night.
“It’s too early, Your Majesty.”
Commander Macrom shook his head, and Empress Elan also had a negative opinion.
“That’s right. It would be better to observe the situation in the palace a bit more before making a move.”
The group’s reaction was somewhat expected.
“Just wait another week. Once you replenish your depleted magical power, I will escort you with teleportation.”
Magic Tower Lord had mentioned teleportation whenever I mentioned that I would infiltrate the palace, since the Tebello Empire.
It takes a lot of magical power to perform teleportation, and I heard that when he broke the demonic barrier at the monastery, his life was reduced, and a lot of magical power was consumed.
In addition, it must have consumed energy while healing my body, infected with evil energy.
I shook my head at the Magic Tower Lord and said,
“I think it’s better to get help with teleportation when you’re in a hurry.”
“But Your Majesty...”
“Since we’re only going to meet Rosie and Sharon anyway, if we don’t bump into the guards near the entrance, it’s not too far from the West Palace, so there’s less risk of being caught.”
“If by any chance someone recognizes Your Majesty the Empress...”
Magic Tower Lord trailed off and gave me a worried look. I almost said, “We can just kill them,” but held it back.
“No one would think that the acting Empress would come into the palace in her maid’s attire. So don’t worry.”
When I casually mentioned the word “acting Empress,” everyone was at a loss.
“Don’t worry. As I said, I’m not going to seek revenge right now. I’m just going to check on the mood in the palace and make sure Rosie and Sharon are safe.”
When I persisted, the three of them exchanged glances.
When Magic Tower Lord made a face that said it would be useless to stop me, the other two reluctantly agreed.
I looked back at Moiya, who was still shouting sausages on the bed, and said.
“Moiya, you go to the palace first tomorrow night.”
“Ooh? Is that okay?”
Moiya pulled his face out from under his pillow, his ruby eyes sparkling.
“Yes. Go tell Rosie that you’ll be visiting her quarters at night, and tell Sharon to tell her.”
Even though her master had made Hetor drink the obedience potion, when looking at Roxana, who was on the verge of death, it seemed that he was truly worried about her regardless of the obedience potion.
She heard that the obedience potion between a man and a woman only works on those who spent the night together.
Nancy remembered that Hetor's gaze toward Roxana had changed significantly even before he drank the obedience potion.
'You were the only one who didn't notice.'
The obedience potion really started to work on Hetor the day after Roxana arrived at the monastery, and his attitude changed drastically from then on.
Hetor followed everything she said without question.
It was unknown what the two had been talking about in the room, but their relationship had definitely changed the day after they arrived at the monastery.
Hetor's subordinates also thought this was strange, but they had no choice but to follow their master's orders.
Some of the subordinates who suddenly became dissatisfied with Hetor acting according to Roxana's will were beheaded by Hetor or became food for Galaco.
Seeing Hetor, who had been reduced to Roxana’s bodyguard overnight, Nancy felt a little sorry for him.
Furthermore, as Emperor Linel’s coldness grew, she felt even more grateful for Hetor’s loyalty to Roxana.
“How is the Princess?”
Hetor asked Nancy before entering the room.
“There is no improvement. The fever is still there...”
Nancy answered quietly as she opened the door.
“The Emperor.”
Hetor asked, hoping that it might be possible.
As expected, Nancy smiled bitterly and shook her head.
Hetor’s expression became subtle.
In some ways, it seemed like a pitiful expression, but in other ways, it seemed like relief.
“I came today too.”
Hetor entered the room, stood in front of the bed, and sat down on the chair that had become his own chair, looking down at Roxana. Hetor soaked the towel on Roxana’s forehead in the washbasin next to him, wrung it out, and placed it on her forehead again.
“You gave me permission to talk when we were alone, right?”
Hetor said, holding Roxana’s hand.
“I still don’t understand. Why would you marry a cold-hearted guy like Emperor Linel, and why am I following your orders...”
Roxana’s closed eyes flinched as if responding to Hetor’s voice.
It seemed as if she was listening to Hetor’s words even as she hovered between life and death.
“Why don’t you come to me now? Even if it’s not the Lapion Empire, I think I can wipe out the Kingdom of Shattonil and give it to you.”
Hetor’s grip on Roxana’s hand tightened.
At that moment, Roxana opened her eyes with difficulty and said one firm word through her gasping breath.
“No.”
Linel, who had returned to the palace, finished showering in his bedroom and came back down to his office.
He realized Raphael’s absence only when Chief Chamberlain Stiane asked, “Why are you coming back alone, Secretary?”
“He hasn’t come yet?”
“Did you order him to return first?”
“No, we crossed paths in front of the tavern.”
Stiane replied with a slightly worried voice to Linel’s words.
“Then wouldn’t he still be waiting there?”
“Raphael isn’t a pure-hearted person. He could have followed a woman he liked after going to the bathroom.”
He said, slyly referencing his own actions today.
“Oh, that’s true. But he’s not the type of person to follow just any woman. What kind of crazy guy would abandon his group and follow a woman he just saw and not be back by this hour?”
Here he is.
That crazy guy who abandoned his group and followed a woman he had just seen.
Linel avoided Stiane’s gaze and thought to himself.
“You wouldn’t have followed a strange woman, would you?”
“How could that be!”
“...Huh?”
He stopped walking as he was going down the stairs and shouted at Stiane’s words.
“How can you judge people? I’m not someone who doesn’t have a good eye for people!”
“Why, why are you doing this, Your Majesty? I was talking about the secretary.”
“...Oh, really? I’ve been so tired lately that I couldn’t hear you properly, ahem ahem.”
He coughed and tapped the back of his neck with his palm for no reason.
“By the way, Your Majesty. Your complexion has improved greatly since you came back from the palace. Did something good happen to you?”
Something good...
Linel thought of the face of the woman he had met at the tavern.
Her clear pink eyes and bright smile.
That was as far as normality went.
The memories after that were of her drunken gait.
Her confidence as she took his hand and led him to her regular inn.
Her words that she spoke without hesitation, and her actions were even more hesitant in bed.
He thought she was just a drink-buying thief, but then she drank his body and mind to her heart’s content as the Emperor of this country and disappeared without saying a word.
In the end, she left behind only a sense of emptiness and loss.
“You look very sound asleep.”
Stiane’s keen eyes were sharp as he had been a close aide to the Emperor for a long time, watching his every move.
“That’s true.”
“Right? As expected... But where did you sleep?”
Linel, who was momentarily speechless, went back up the stairs in silence.
“Didn’t you hear? Your Majesty, Your Majesty?”
Stiane asked persistently.
“I dozed off at the tavern.”
“Hey, how could you joke about falling asleep at the tavern?”
Stiane laughed and immediately realized Linel’s lie.
What does this kid know?
Linel stared at his chamberlain’s smiling face for a long time, then turned his gaze back to the front.
He was about to tell Stiane that there are people who drink from other people’s glasses in one shot at a tavern, but why wouldn’t there be people who take a nap?
“It’s too early, Your Majesty.”
Commander Macrom shook his head, and Empress Elan also had a negative opinion.
“That’s right. It would be better to observe the situation in the palace a bit more before making a move.”
The group’s reaction was somewhat expected.
“Just wait another week. Once you replenish your depleted magical power, I will escort you with teleportation.”
Magic Tower Lord had mentioned teleportation whenever I mentioned that I would infiltrate the palace, since the Tebello Empire.
It takes a lot of magical power to perform teleportation, and I heard that when he broke the demonic barrier at the monastery, his life was reduced, and a lot of magical power was consumed.
In addition, it must have consumed energy while healing my body, infected with evil energy.
I shook my head at the Magic Tower Lord and said,
“I think it’s better to get help with teleportation when you’re in a hurry.”
“But Your Majesty...”
“Since we’re only going to meet Rosie and Sharon anyway, if we don’t bump into the guards near the entrance, it’s not too far from the West Palace, so there’s less risk of being caught.”
“If by any chance someone recognizes Your Majesty the Empress...”
Magic Tower Lord trailed off and gave me a worried look. I almost said, “We can just kill them,” but held it back.
“No one would think that the acting Empress would come into the palace in her maid’s attire. So don’t worry.”
When I casually mentioned the word “acting Empress,” everyone was at a loss.
“Don’t worry. As I said, I’m not going to seek revenge right now. I’m just going to check on the mood in the palace and make sure Rosie and Sharon are safe.”
When I persisted, the three of them exchanged glances.
When Magic Tower Lord made a face that said it would be useless to stop me, the other two reluctantly agreed.
I looked back at Moiya, who was still shouting sausages on the bed, and said.
“Moiya, you go to the palace first tomorrow night.”
“Ooh? Is that okay?”
Moiya pulled his face out from under his pillow, his ruby eyes sparkling.
“Yes. Go tell Rosie that you’ll be visiting her quarters at night, and tell Sharon to tell her.”
“Yes, tell Sharon to bring all the delicious sausages.”
“Should I go right now, Moiya~?”
Moiya shrugged his shoulders and flapped her wings.
“I’ll go tomorrow.”
“My stomach says I have to go today because of someone.”
Moiya stared at me for not buying sausages and said. Moiya narrowed his eyes and looked around the room, then his gaze fell on a fly flying in from outside the balcony.
“Not today. Tomorrow night, Moiya.”
I tried not to stop him. because I was so distracted by a man I’d just seen that I forgot to buy his sausages, but I thought it would be better to move tomorrow.
“Yes... Then I’ll just play around and come back. My wings are itching.”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
“I’ll be back, master!”
As the fly flew nearby, Moiya’s red eyes flashed, and he instantly transformed into a fly.
“Behave properly and come back. Don’t cause any trouble.”
Magic Tower Lord urged Moiya.
“Huh, mind your own business!”
Moiya glared at the Magic Tower Lord and politely greeted me, saying he would be back after playing around properly, before flying out of the balcony.
“I will go get the palace attendant’s costume early tomorrow morning.”
When Empress Elan told me, Commander Macrom intervened.
“There is a costume shop in the palace that sells palace maids’ costumes. I will show you around.”
“Good, please.”
I looked at the three of them in turn and expressed my gratitude.
“And thank you, everyone.”
***
“Welcome.”
Nancy greeted Hetor, who had come to see Roxana again today as usual. When he was in the Principality of Aklatto, he was just like a barbarian and scary, but after living in the Imperial Palace of Lapion, he became a source of support.
Emperor Linel, who was about to remarry Roxana, could only visit her when she was suffering from a fever. However, Hetor visited Roxana at least once a day to check on her condition. So, Roxana's maid Nancy's evaluation of him could not help but change. Contrary to his appearance, Hetor was a warm and deep person.
Even though her master had made Hetor drink the obedience potion, when looking at Roxana, who was on the verge of death, it seemed that he was truly worried about her regardless of the obedience potion.
She heard that the obedience potion between a man and a woman only works on those who spent the night together.
Nancy remembered that Hetor's gaze toward Roxana had changed significantly even before he drank the obedience potion.
'You were the only one who didn't notice.'
The obedience potion really started to work on Hetor the day after Roxana arrived at the monastery, and his attitude changed drastically from then on.
Hetor followed everything she said without question.
It was unknown what the two had been talking about in the room, but their relationship had definitely changed the day after they arrived at the monastery.
Hetor's subordinates also thought this was strange, but they had no choice but to follow their master's orders.
Some of the subordinates who suddenly became dissatisfied with Hetor acting according to Roxana's will were beheaded by Hetor or became food for Galaco.
Seeing Hetor, who had been reduced to Roxana’s bodyguard overnight, Nancy felt a little sorry for him.
Furthermore, as Emperor Linel’s coldness grew, she felt even more grateful for Hetor’s loyalty to Roxana.
“How is the Princess?”
Hetor asked Nancy before entering the room.
“There is no improvement. The fever is still there...”
Nancy answered quietly as she opened the door.
“The Emperor.”
Hetor asked, hoping that it might be possible.
As expected, Nancy smiled bitterly and shook her head.
Hetor’s expression became subtle.
In some ways, it seemed like a pitiful expression, but in other ways, it seemed like relief.
“I came today too.”
Hetor entered the room, stood in front of the bed, and sat down on the chair that had become his own chair, looking down at Roxana. Hetor soaked the towel on Roxana’s forehead in the washbasin next to him, wrung it out, and placed it on her forehead again.
“You gave me permission to talk when we were alone, right?”
Hetor said, holding Roxana’s hand.
“I still don’t understand. Why would you marry a cold-hearted guy like Emperor Linel, and why am I following your orders...”
Roxana’s closed eyes flinched as if responding to Hetor’s voice.
It seemed as if she was listening to Hetor’s words even as she hovered between life and death.
“Why don’t you come to me now? Even if it’s not the Lapion Empire, I think I can wipe out the Kingdom of Shattonil and give it to you.”
Hetor’s grip on Roxana’s hand tightened.
At that moment, Roxana opened her eyes with difficulty and said one firm word through her gasping breath.
“No.”
***
Linel, who had returned to the palace, finished showering in his bedroom and came back down to his office.
He realized Raphael’s absence only when Chief Chamberlain Stiane asked, “Why are you coming back alone, Secretary?”
“He hasn’t come yet?”
“Did you order him to return first?”
“No, we crossed paths in front of the tavern.”
Stiane replied with a slightly worried voice to Linel’s words.
“Then wouldn’t he still be waiting there?”
“Raphael isn’t a pure-hearted person. He could have followed a woman he liked after going to the bathroom.”
He said, slyly referencing his own actions today.
“Oh, that’s true. But he’s not the type of person to follow just any woman. What kind of crazy guy would abandon his group and follow a woman he just saw and not be back by this hour?”
Here he is.
That crazy guy who abandoned his group and followed a woman he had just seen.
Linel avoided Stiane’s gaze and thought to himself.
“You wouldn’t have followed a strange woman, would you?”
“How could that be!”
“...Huh?”
He stopped walking as he was going down the stairs and shouted at Stiane’s words.
“How can you judge people? I’m not someone who doesn’t have a good eye for people!”
“Why, why are you doing this, Your Majesty? I was talking about the secretary.”
“...Oh, really? I’ve been so tired lately that I couldn’t hear you properly, ahem ahem.”
He coughed and tapped the back of his neck with his palm for no reason.
“By the way, Your Majesty. Your complexion has improved greatly since you came back from the palace. Did something good happen to you?”
Something good...
Linel thought of the face of the woman he had met at the tavern.
Her clear pink eyes and bright smile.
That was as far as normality went.
The memories after that were of her drunken gait.
Her confidence as she took his hand and led him to her regular inn.
Her words that she spoke without hesitation, and her actions were even more hesitant in bed.
He thought she was just a drink-buying thief, but then she drank his body and mind to her heart’s content as the Emperor of this country and disappeared without saying a word.
In the end, she left behind only a sense of emptiness and loss.
“You look very sound asleep.”
Stiane’s keen eyes were sharp as he had been a close aide to the Emperor for a long time, watching his every move.
“That’s true.”
“Right? As expected... But where did you sleep?”
Linel, who was momentarily speechless, went back up the stairs in silence.
“Didn’t you hear? Your Majesty, Your Majesty?”
Stiane asked persistently.
“I dozed off at the tavern.”
“Hey, how could you joke about falling asleep at the tavern?”
Stiane laughed and immediately realized Linel’s lie.
What does this kid know?
Linel stared at his chamberlain’s smiling face for a long time, then turned his gaze back to the front.
He was about to tell Stiane that there are people who drink from other people’s glasses in one shot at a tavern, but why wouldn’t there be people who take a nap?
“You didn’t go somewhere to rest, did you?”
Linel’s blue eyes wavered at Stiane’s words.
“Do you think I, the Emperor, slept in an inn?!”
"...?”
Stiane’s eyes filled with doubt at his sudden mention of an inn, and his head began to tilt to the side.
Your Majesty, do you smell something fishy?
The Emperor’s face, which had been listless for a month since returning to the monastery, was starting to show signs of life.
How long has it been since he got so upset over something so trivial?
Stian was puzzled by the Emperor’s strangely different mood, but on the other hand, he remembered that he had just returned from visiting the magician Big’s clinic.
Did you take some kind of stamina-boosting supplement?
Stiane didn’t ask any more questions and just laughed and tried to please him.
“Of course not. Our noble Majesty wouldn’t be the type to come and rest at an inn just because someone dragged him there. Yes, that’s right.”
At Stiane’s words, Linel turned around with cold air radiating from his eyes.
“The inn... what’s wrong with that?”
“?”
Linel spoke in a voice cold enough to freeze Stiane and went into the office.
“...What on earth did I do wrong?”
Stiane muttered, scratching his head at the Emperor’s overreaction just now.
“It was so comfortable.”
The last thing Linel couldn’t say to Stiane was quietly muttered to himself after sitting down at the desk in the office.
About an hour after he entered the office, there was a knock, and Raphael came in.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”
“I’m sorry, Raphael.”
The two of them thought that they had abandoned each other at the tavern.
So, when he returned to the palace and reunited with him, he offered him a sincere apology at the same time.
“What... are you sorry about?”
Linel’s blue eyes wavered at Stiane’s words.
“Do you think I, the Emperor, slept in an inn?!”
"...?”
Stiane’s eyes filled with doubt at his sudden mention of an inn, and his head began to tilt to the side.
Your Majesty, do you smell something fishy?
The Emperor’s face, which had been listless for a month since returning to the monastery, was starting to show signs of life.
How long has it been since he got so upset over something so trivial?
Stian was puzzled by the Emperor’s strangely different mood, but on the other hand, he remembered that he had just returned from visiting the magician Big’s clinic.
Did you take some kind of stamina-boosting supplement?
Stiane didn’t ask any more questions and just laughed and tried to please him.
“Of course not. Our noble Majesty wouldn’t be the type to come and rest at an inn just because someone dragged him there. Yes, that’s right.”
At Stiane’s words, Linel turned around with cold air radiating from his eyes.
“The inn... what’s wrong with that?”
“?”
Linel spoke in a voice cold enough to freeze Stiane and went into the office.
“...What on earth did I do wrong?”
Stiane muttered, scratching his head at the Emperor’s overreaction just now.
***
“It was so comfortable.”
The last thing Linel couldn’t say to Stiane was quietly muttered to himself after sitting down at the desk in the office.
About an hour after he entered the office, there was a knock, and Raphael came in.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”
“I’m sorry, Raphael.”
The two of them thought that they had abandoned each other at the tavern.
So, when he returned to the palace and reunited with him, he offered him a sincere apology at the same time.
“What... are you sorry about?”
I was the one who got hit by the wind?
Raphael asked strangely.
“Why are you sorry? Since I am the Emperor, you, as the secretary, should tell me first.”
He crossed his arms over my chest and asked.
“Oh, yes. My lower abdomen was in rebellion so bad that I couldn’t join you because I was always in the bathroom. And I had to move to the bathroom several times, so I couldn’t tell you.”
Raphael added his apology despite the long wait and made a face that said that His Majesty should speak now.
Raphael didn’t tell him that he had seen Magic Tower Lord and Commander Macrom at the Chama Square, followed them, and then went into a shabby inn.
He decided that it would be better to observe the situation for a while and then tell him.
“I, after drinking a few glasses of alcohol, got drunk and completely forgot about you and came to rest for a while... no, wandered around the square for a while.”
Linel couldn’t say that he had met a woman at a tavern and had caused an accident at a shabby inn.
To be exact, it wasn’t an accident.
It was more of an intentional and active choice.
Of course, he didn’t regret it. At least he did.
“Were you wandering around drunk? Haa, I’m sorry. I made Your Majesty lonely today by becoming the open pants of the palace in a different sense.”
Raphael bowed his head and apologized, rubbing his stomach with both hands.
Linel said it was okay, and his expression changed to one of deep thought.
“Raphael.”
After a moment of silence, he spoke seriously.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“There is someone I need to find.”
“Who all of a sudden...? Yes, please speak, Your Majesty.”
“A woman.”
He fell silent again after saying that one word.
Raphael, unable to bear it any longer, asked first.
“...And?”
Raphael felt that he was going to give him a difficult task.
“Listen carefully.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Raphael approached him and focused on him, as if he was telling him important information about the person he was looking for.
“Find a family in the palace whose husband has fallen for another woman and is trying to remarry. In simple terms, you need to find a woman who has been abandoned by her husband.”
He said solemnly and added with a pitiful tone.
“There shouldn’t be many houses with such a stupid husband, so you should be able to find one easily, right?
Linel whispered to Raphael, thinking of her face.
“!”
‘There is a house like that here, too?’
Raphael’s throat and fingers twitched toward Linel.
Raphael asked strangely.
“Why are you sorry? Since I am the Emperor, you, as the secretary, should tell me first.”
He crossed his arms over my chest and asked.
“Oh, yes. My lower abdomen was in rebellion so bad that I couldn’t join you because I was always in the bathroom. And I had to move to the bathroom several times, so I couldn’t tell you.”
Raphael added his apology despite the long wait and made a face that said that His Majesty should speak now.
Raphael didn’t tell him that he had seen Magic Tower Lord and Commander Macrom at the Chama Square, followed them, and then went into a shabby inn.
He decided that it would be better to observe the situation for a while and then tell him.
“I, after drinking a few glasses of alcohol, got drunk and completely forgot about you and came to rest for a while... no, wandered around the square for a while.”
Linel couldn’t say that he had met a woman at a tavern and had caused an accident at a shabby inn.
To be exact, it wasn’t an accident.
It was more of an intentional and active choice.
Of course, he didn’t regret it. At least he did.
“Were you wandering around drunk? Haa, I’m sorry. I made Your Majesty lonely today by becoming the open pants of the palace in a different sense.”
Raphael bowed his head and apologized, rubbing his stomach with both hands.
Linel said it was okay, and his expression changed to one of deep thought.
“Raphael.”
After a moment of silence, he spoke seriously.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“There is someone I need to find.”
“Who all of a sudden...? Yes, please speak, Your Majesty.”
“A woman.”
He fell silent again after saying that one word.
Raphael, unable to bear it any longer, asked first.
“...And?”
Raphael felt that he was going to give him a difficult task.
“Listen carefully.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Raphael approached him and focused on him, as if he was telling him important information about the person he was looking for.
“Find a family in the palace whose husband has fallen for another woman and is trying to remarry. In simple terms, you need to find a woman who has been abandoned by her husband.”
He said solemnly and added with a pitiful tone.
“There shouldn’t be many houses with such a stupid husband, so you should be able to find one easily, right?
Linel whispered to Raphael, thinking of her face.
“!”
‘There is a house like that here, too?’
Raphael’s throat and fingers twitched toward Linel.
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