Chapter 27

***

Helen spotted the Emperor greeting the knights from a far distance. The woman who walked away from the Emperor must be the Empress.

‘Wow….’

The Empress was so pretty that she exclaimed in astonishment. It was said that the Empress was smart and attended all sorts of occasions…

Elegantness was presented in each of her steps.

“I’ve never seen a woman who is prettier than my sister.”

Helen muttered unconsciously. Then she was surprised upon realizing it and shut her mouth.

Her sister? Here, I’m the older sister now!

Her face was ashen as she looked around, but luckily, no one was taking interest in Helen because all eyes were focused on the Imperial couple.

She was highly relieved and looked at the Imperial couple again.

Other concubines seemed to be satisfied while looking at the Imperial couple, who were far from being affectionate with each other. They assumed that they also had a chance.

However, Helen was actually glad that she decided to give up.

If he wasn’t attracted to such a beautiful woman beside him, she would definitely never attract the Emperor.

Helen suddenly felt a sense of relief after thinking that way. She even let out a slight smile.

The lighthearted Helen only came to a realization that the Emperor was wearing a white veil.

“What is that…?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about the veil. Why is His Majesty covering his face?”

“Oh, so it’s your first time seeing His Majesty, Your Highness.”

Ellie replied, as if she was already familiar with it.

“His Majesty makes sure to wear a veil when he appears in front of others.”

Ellie was originally from Idelberg. Judging from how she was accustomed to such a fact, it seemed like this already happened a long time ago.

Clearly, she had never been interested in the Emperor even until now.

The Imperial couple climbed to the podium which had been prepared beforehand. The Emperor was much more built than she thought. His large hands looked just like a cauldron lid.

‘…Huh? I think I’ve thought about similar things before.’

The Emperor began his greeting speech with his head tilted to the side.

In other words, he was pleased to welcome the delegations who were present at this event.

“!”

“……………………….am truly delighted to welcome you all.”

The Emperor ended his greeting speech with that remark.

…How?…???

Helen felt like she heard the Emperor’s voice on an occasional basis. It’s because she was shocked.

She felt so dizzy that she nearly collapsed right at that spot.

‘D-Does this even make sense? It’s exactly the same!’

Helen swallowed her saliva in bewilderment. Her throat felt overly nauseous.

The voice of the Emperor. His voice was very similar to the voice of the man she heard before.

She even thought the word ‘similar’ wasn’t enough to say because they really resemble each other.

Although the atmosphere was very different.

‘Oh, maybe not….’

The man’s voice would be warmer than the sunshine on a spring day. Soft and kind. On the contrary, the Emperor’s voice was too cold.

Besides, he even looked indifferent, so his personality was too different from the man’s voice to be assumed as the same person.

But it was odd if he could become like another person.

‘Who is he? What is the man’s true identity….’

She found it suspicious how the Emperor was looking for her desperately with all his might.

Perhaps….

She might be involved in some crazy things.

Helen looked like she was on the verge of tears in shock. His face was full of pain.

She clearly didn’t want to be involved with the Emperor, but somehow she had an ominous feeling.

She had such a sorrowful hunch that she might have already been terribly involved in something.

“Your Highness, are you alright?”

Ellie quickly sensed Helen’s mood.

“I-I’m alright.”

Ellie frowned slightly at her clumsy lie.

“Should I bring you some water?”

“Yeah.”

“Please wait for a bit.”

Ellie went to get some water only after secretly entrusting Helen to the maid who served another concubine beside her.

It was very unusual.

Her cheeks heated up a little for no particular reason.

The embarrassment she felt when crying in the carriage still remained until now. Her heart ached because it seemed as if she kept relying on Ellie.

At that moment, the Emperor blew the flare as the beginning of the hunting festival.

She didn’t expect that the ceremony had already progressed this far.

Helen exclaimed in a daze at the sight of red flare spreading in the sky.

“I’ve never seen such a thing before….”

It was her first time knowing that there could be red in the sky other than the sun itself.

In the midst of her staring at it blankly, the knights suddenly began to move rushingly.

She realized belatedly what they were going to do after tilting her head.

It was said that they swear to offer the prey that they caught from the hunting ground to their lover.

Therefore, they would have to swear as a knight before leaving for hunting.

They would have to give a kiss as an oath to their lover or the lady who they served.

Beside her, the noble lady’s face was full of expectations as if she was waiting for her lover. Now she realized that the woman was wearing a ring on her left ring finger.

‘So she’s waiting for her fiancée.’

Soon, knight with a sturdy build appeared. He was dressed in a light attire, but the armor wrapped around his shoulder caught her eye at first glance.

The knight knelt down in front of the next young lady.

“Will you accept my oath?”

A broad smile was spread across the knight’s face. His face looked happy as he had a hunch that his lover would naturally accept it.

“Of course!”

When the young lady accepted it, she kissed his lips briefly before taking them away from his… Huh? No, it wasn’t. Her kiss landed on the side of his arms before it gradually rose upwards just like that.

Oh god.

Helen was astounded and took her gaze away in a hurry.

Her cheeks were burning really hot, so she was desperately in need of some water.

How could they do that kind of physical affection in a public place?

It was such a blatant act. Or were the people in Idelberg not really mind that sort of thing?

She let out a low scream inwardly.

-Hic.

Suddenly Helen started to hiccup. Helen, who noticed the knight and young lady was looking at her, became embarrassed and took a couple of steps backward.

“Your Highness?”

Then Helen appeared just in time. Like a savior that appeared at the right moment, Helen grabbed Ellie’s shoulder and turned her around.

She held her breath and waited for the hiccup to stop all the while hiding behind Ellie’s small back.

“Please drink some water.”

It was the moment when she looked so distressed.

She drank the water in a rush and ended up swallowing it the wrong way that led her to let out a big cough.

“Drink slowly.”

“…Yeah….”

She was so embarrassed. Helen’s face must have immediately turned even redder than before.

Fortunately, it was said that a separate tent had been prepared for concubines at that time.

“L-Let’s go.”

Usually, she would have hesitated after hearing there were other concubines around, but now anywhere was alright for her.

She led Ellie to the concubine tent.

Taking a look inside the tent, she spotted chairs and temporary tables. She was eager to think about enjoying this unexpected luxury when seeing wine and finger food* were prepared on the side.

[*food that could be taken easily to the events without on-site cooking and not much dishware required.]

‘This all would be nice if only the Emperor didn’t come.’

After thinking so, Helen hurriedly got rid of her thoughts.

She was afraid that God would hear her thoughts again.

Because God always did the opposite of her thoughts, so just thinking about it already made her terrified.

Behind Helen flapping alone, Ellie tilted her head doubtfully.

‘I’m glad she has regained her energy…. But she seems very embarrassed today.’

After making sure that the Emperor was nowhere to be found inside the tent, Helen went in comfortably and took a seat in a corner.

It was just five minutes that she felt relieved before it got shattered.

The Emperor’s servant came in and suddenly announced the Emperor’s visit.

At that moment, Helen and other concubines have bittersweet feelings in response to the news.

‘God, I’m doomed…!’

Helen was so upset.

***

The veil draped over the Emperor’s face as he sat in the middle, making it impossible to find out what was on the Emperor’s mind.

The Emperor looked at the concubines with a wandering look at what he was thinking.

Whenever the Emperor’s gaze reached each one of them, the concubines smiled beautifully at him.

From the 1st concubine to the last 26th concubine, Carmun slowly scanned over them with his eyes.

‘Who the h*ll stepped into my library?’

It was an important matter for Carmun that he even committed this kind of annoying work.

The Emperor’s eyes took a good look at each of them before they suddenly stopped at Helen.

‘Tunic…?’

Everyone was dressed nicely and they looked like colorful peacocks.

Carmun frowned behind his invisible veil.

The shawl wrapped around her neck was too much that it looked like she was given treatment for broken neck, even her clothes were so out of place to be worn in the hunting ground.

It was just disgusting. On the contrary, she preferred simple and plain clothes.

Carmun’s gaze quickly averted to person beside her.

‘…What?’

Then, the last person that caught his eyes was not a concubine, but a maid who was mistaken as a concubine.

The concubine in black tunic looked just like an ugly duckling.

Although he didn’t find what he was wishing for, Carmun was so bewildered that he didn’t even realize he was looking at the concubine for quite a while already.

‘W-What? Why, why! Why does he keep looking at me?’

Helen grew weary in contemplating on her own when the Emperor didn’t avert his gaze at all.

Her makeup was plain, and the clothes she wore were really simple. Also, she just tied her hair up without any accessories.

Contrary to the plan, the Emperor did not take his eyes off her.

It was not because she’s pretty…. right? Or maybe… Have they found out that she was the one who stepped into the library?

Helen’s eyes shook violently at that moment. Helen closed her eyes tightly in an attempt to hide her shaking eyes like a ship that ran into the storm.

‘Right. It’s not like the Emperor can read my mind, so I’m just overthinking here.’

Helen pulled herself together before opening her eyes again. The envious stare that came from the concubines around her seemed to make her feel intimidated again, but she straightened her shoulders as confident as she could.

Until then, the Emperor’s gaze was still fixed toward Helen.

‘What…. What’s wrong with him…!’

If the situation gave her the chance, she wanted to ask what happened to him.

Could it be that the black tunic made her stand out even more?

Silence engulfed the tent because the Emperor didn’t open his mouth easily.

“Your Majesty.”

Right at that moment, the Emperor’s servant, who found it odd, called out to the Emperor.

“…bring the tea.”

The servant moved quickly right after the Emperor ordered her. Other servants who were waiting for her signals, then put down the tea in front of the concubines.

Carmun didn’t exactly recognize their faces or who was who. Just like the concubines, who never saw the Emperor before, so did he.

He didn’t come all the way here to have an awkward tea time with the concubines whom he just saw for the first time now.

Carmun’s gaze quickly looked around his surroundings.

No one looked particularly suspicious.

However, there was someone in particular who distracted him.

If they all sat in order, the name of the concubine at the end was Edith Cordelia.

While wearing a black tunic, she maintained a completely different attitude from other concubines.

She has never made eye contact with him ever since he came into the tent. It was like she avoided him on purpose.

Other concubines made eye contact with him every time he looked at them. Because they looked at him as an Emperor from the moment he came into the tent.

Because of the unique attire and attitude of Concubine Edith, she was noticed by the Emperor.

“The tea is really good. Your Majesty.”

“Indeed!”

“We really appreciate that you prepared this tea for us.”

When Ersa, the First Concubine, said that, each of the concubines helped by muttering a word or two.

At that moment, Concubine Edith didn’t even mutter any word.

Rather, she had her nose buried in the teacup and only stared at it with her head bowed down, as if she was about to die any time.

“Seems like Concubine Edith doesn’t enjoy the tea.”

“!”

“Or am I wrong?”

How did the Emperor know her name?

Helen had sweat dripping down her back. Her shoulders stiffened nervously and her eyes was shaking, as if there was an earthquake.