Chapter 30

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***

“Lately, I often notice people don’t do their job properly. Especially among the guards.”

A few days ago, someone snuck into the library and he even heard that he called the Knight Commander.

Although at that time, the Emperor did not punish them. But of course, the hell training of the Knight Commander awaited them.

However, the Emperor’s eyes were filled with rage, perhaps he wouldn’t let this one slide as they had expected before.

“Don’t let me go to the Drill Hall.”

“Understood!”

The voices of the knights were full of spirit.

On the day they entered after being appointed, the senior knights only told them one thing.

Don’t let yourself fall into the disfavour of His Majesty, and anyone would be dead on the day His Majesty comes to the Drill Hall, therefore you should never let it happen.

The faces of the senior knights who were spitting out the words looked pale. There was also a senior who shook his arm. The senior knight’s face who spat out those words seemed pale. There was also one senior whose arms were trembling.

As if it was a horrible memory for them.

The knights were curious but they didn’t want to experience it directly so they pledged to be wary.

They never wanted to be kicked by the Emperor on their shin again.

“The hunting festival is not over yet, so don’t loosen your guards and stay vigilant.”

“Understood!”

The Emperor walked past them with a short sigh.

They couldn’t ask what they were about to ask because they had to keep answering him.

One of the knights among them quickly walked behind Carmun and asked.

“I-I will carry Her Highness the Concubine.”

“I told you to stay vigilant while doing your job.”

“Yes, understood!”

The knight was very nervous when he replied quickly and straightened himself.

Carmun left without having to say it twice.

The knights stared blankly at him from behind.

His Majesty the Emperor was going to carry a lovely woman in his arms?

‘What’s with Sir Viester…!’

It was an admitted fact that the Emperor and his aide, Viester, were lovers among the knights.

This was because they met the Emperor much more often than other nobles did, so they also witnessed their relationship more often.

The two openly touched and faced each other, there were also many weird things happening between them just because they worked with each other.

As if they were ‘talking about the secret between them’.

The knights, who were thinking about Viester, looked at the Emperor’s back while feeling sorry for the man.

‘He might be abandoned….’

The Knights were contemplating whether they should tell Viester about this or not.

While they were gathering and grumbling among themselves, the Emperor suddenly looked behind him.

Seeing the knights standing in their spots with all their might, the Emperor gestured at the bear with his hands.

“Keep it. That thing.”

After returning to the hunting ground, the Emperor ordered the servants to tell the concubines who had spread out in the forest to return.

If the huge trumpet were to be blown, it indicated that the game was over, so they would eventually come back on their own.

The servant proceeded to turn around after looking back one more time. At the same time, he glanced briefly at Concubine Edith who was still in his arms.

That servant wasn’t the only one. From the ministers who were invited to the hunting festival until some of the servants, maids, and knights who returned from hunting looked at the Emperor with widened eyes.

He felt like almost bursting into laughter at the way they looked at him as if wondering and seeking for the explanation of the current situation.

Among them, the person who had the most ridiculous expression was obviously his wife, Josephine, as well as his father-in-law, Duke Torre.

Duke Torre couldn’t endure the sight and gripped the wine glass he was holding in his hand.

Tiny pieces of the wine glass fell down with a sharp crashing sound. It was only natural that it stuck on his hand, so the blood that dripped down his hand looked terrible.

At that moment, he saw the knights who returned late while carrying the bear, and they shamefully answered.

“Your Majesty has caught it. His Majesty saved Concubine Edith from almost getting hurt.”

The knights’ explanation about the situation eased the situation that was stiffened due to Josephine’s expression.

Some were busy kissing at Josephine’s arse, saying it wasn’t a big deal.

Duke Torre turned his stiff head away because he didn’t want to watch the sight before him any further.

“I humbly present myself to Your Majesty.”

“Duke, I think you should prioritize treating your hands first.”

“I have something to ask you beforehand, so I presented myself as humble as possible in front of Your Majesty.”

The eyes of Duke Torre were full of irritation.

Do those gaze deserve to be shown in front of the Emperor?

At the time when he met him as a child, Duke Torre had already taken the lead of the political world.

He wouldn’t be pleased to be pushed back by a little b***ard like this.

But he unbelievably showed his true feelings while looking at the Emperor.

‘So you’re being disrespectful toward me.’

Carmun was also annoyed that he felt like his stomach was twisted.

“I’m very curious about the one who you will receive the pray that you caught today, Your Majesty.”

“… Why are you curious about that?”

Was the man asking it in advance because he feared that the pray wouldn’t be given to his daughter?

If so, it would have been so ridiculous. The owner of the prey who caught it hasn’t even opened his mouth yet, but the man already thought about claiming it before him.

Carmun chuckled from behind the veil. It was a slight mockery, but Duke Torre, who was standing close to him, could not unhear that sound.

As expected, his face hardened as if he had heard it.

“By the way, what are the servants doing right now? They didn’t even take the concubine away!”

The servants came closer as they were embarrassed after hearing the sharp tone of Duke Torre. When one of the servants reached out to Concubine Edith as if they were about to take her away, Carmun held Concubine Edith in his arms even more.

“Oh my.”

Among them, a surprised nobleman unconsciously spat out that single word.

Carmun really enjoyed this situation.

Josephine judged that the situation would turn bad if other countries found out that the Emperor and the Empress weren’t on good terms, even if the situation weren’t exactly like that.

First of all, it was such a great pleasure for him to be able to see the sour expression of Duke Torre because this woman was going to become a very important lady for him in the future.

“I’ll do it.”

When the Emperor refused the assistance which was provided by the servant, they stepped back. Duke Torre’s face turned red, but he didn’t say anything.

The Emperor refused and throwing up wasn’t an option right now.

“About the prey….”

Carmun made eye contact with Josephine before she got the chance to talk further.

He saw the Empress clenching her fists firmly as her face turned red because she couldn’t overcome the sense of humiliation.

He could see the veins protruding on the side of her face that indicated how hard she tried to not let any words escape from her lips.

And a glimpse of hope flashed across his eyes for a moment.

“I’ll give the prey that I caught to Concubine Edith. I’m sure you must have been really exhausted.”

The atmosphere changed right when the Emperor said that in a friendly manner.

The nobles, who had been sticking to Josephine, were so embarrassed that they couldn’t say anything.

The Emperor enjoyed the atmosphere so much and quickly got into the tent.

He still held Concubine Edith in his arms.

The Empress and nobles of Idelberg couldn’t speak out rashly, but nobles from several other countries gathered with each other to spark up a conversation.

She thought the situation in Idelberg would change.

It was a topic which has been known by everyone that their mouths hurt if they talked about it more.

In other words, the Emperor has no intention of letting the Empress’ belly carry an heir and giving birth to it.

That unknown concubine, who entered the tent just now, would produce an heir for the great empire, Idelberg.

When they thought about it that far, nobles’ faces changed.

Those who were loyal to the Empress would also drift away while pretentiously making various kinds of excuses.

Because she was no longer useful to them.

The Empress, where she lived, felt like hell.

Carmun, who humiliated her like that, and Concubine Edith, who passed out in his arms, unaware of everything.

She wanted to tear them to death.

‘I wish she had been taken and killed by that bear.’

Josephine’s eyes gleamed furiously.

***

Carmun entered the tent with Helen in his arms, but when he came in, he actually had no idea on what to do.

It was a good attempt to embarrass Josephine and Duke Torre, but he was bothered at the way he took advantage of the fainted woman.

Moreover, she fainted after looking at him.

“Ugh….”

The woman wriggling around in his arms was undoubtedly small. He thought she was even smaller than his pet dog, Louie.

There were just chairs in the tent, and no space for the sick person to lie down.

Table…?

The bone of a woman would naturally break if she lay down on top of it and rolled off it.

“So irritating.”

He should have just handed her over to the servant.

The Emperor sat on the chair and leaned on his back while still holding Helen in his arms in an uncomfortable position.

Helen seemed to like his broad shoulder so she unconsciously tried to hug him more.

‘She will probably faint again after realizing whose arms she was hugging.’

He thought the woman would be shocked, but he didn’t expect her to faint. It was really unexpected seeing her terrified face.

Helen fell asleep while clutching tightly on the hem of his clothes, and in the midst of that, she frowned as if she was having a nightmare.

Just like a baby panda.

She looked like a panda that was hanging onto a bamboo tree. The Emperor lifted up his finger while still looking at Helen and poked it in the centre of her forehead.

Poke, poke.

He unwittingly poked her a few more times.

Then she rubbed her face against Carmun’s chest and avoided his touch.

Carmun just looked at the woman, who remained quiet.

Her curly blonde hair, which glistened each time she moved her head around, looked great but seemed not well-maintained, and her rough skin seemed to indicate that she hadn’t slept well recently.

Moreover, she was too small for her age, which made her wonder. Why is she so small?

The hand holding the hem of his uniform seemed to be smaller than when he was still ten years old back then.

That was why she didn’t feel like a woman at all. But, only a little kid?

Carmun held Helen who was lying in his arms, feeling as if he was taking care of a little kid.

Perhaps because they shared each other’s warmth, the feeling of coziness made him drift off to sleep.

‘Should I sleep…?’

It has been a long time since he slept during the day. His night self would take a rest, and there would be a flood of political affairs to deal with during the day.

The Emperor, who had never taken a break properly even just once, unexpectedly got the chance to rest.

With Helen in his arms.

“Concubine Edith, were you really the one who stepped into the library?”

The Emperor recited in a low voice. He thought everything would have gone smoothly after finding out about the woman.

He wondered if she would suit his plan because she was so afraid of him.

Once he started to feel sleepy, his eyelids were too heavy to remain open.

‘I’m sleepy, sleepy.’

At the languid noon, the sun was intense.

Carmun eventually called the servant who stood outside as he began to feel drowsy with Helen fainting in his arms.

“What do you…… need…?”

The servant turned their head as if he was embarrassed seeing the sight of the Emperor holding his concubine in his arms. He didn’t even care in the slightest about the servant’s face which turned red.

“Call the maid of Concubine Edith.”

“To here?”

“Yes.”

They bowed their head in courtesy and said that they understood before going out in a haste.

The servant was busy looking for Concubine Edith’s maid. They wandered around, but in fact, it was very difficult to find a single maid in the vast hunting ground.

“The servant is late….”

The Emperor, who had been contemplating on sending Helen back and taking a nap, gave up halfway and closed his eyes due to the servant who was late.

He thought about Helen being in his arms for a little more, but then he just chose to fall asleep.

As his head leaned on the back of the chair, his head slowly slipped down lower and came in contact with Helen’s head.

‘How many years has it been since I fell asleep properly….’

Carmun unconsciously fell into a deep sleep.