Chapter 42

Thank you for your Kofi support, Mar (1/4) !

***

Viester knew that His Majesty had recently moved his night self to His Majesty’s residence, and that he was secretly bringing Concubine Edith over.

‘Is Concubine Edith the one who makes His Majesty get bothered so much?’

When that thought came to mind, Viester was frightened and shook his head in a daze.

‘As much as I hope it’s Concubine Edith, there’s no way it’s happening!’

Viester’s eyes began to tremble slightly.

His Majesty must be fully aware of the reason why there was no way that would happen.

“Though it bothers me, I don’t know the reason.”

“…What?”

“She was so scared of him that she fainted just by looking at his face. Furthermore, she had never seen him before.”

“…Is h-he falling in love with her at first sight?”

Viester gulped and asked, pretending to be clueless.

‘Please don’t.’

Unaware of Viester’s desperate wish, Carmun was lost in his own thoughts.

‘Love?’

What kind of feeling is that?

No matter how much he thought about it, Carmun could not define love.

He couldn’t say that he felt an unknown feeling, but his feelings for Concubine Edith weren’t that great.

He was just a little concerned, and he also wanted to ask her why she fainted, then telling her that he wasn’t that scary.

He knew he wouldn’t be able to do that because of his personality. He was concerned, knowing that he would definitely throw insults at her.

He didn’t even know why. Why was she bothering him? He just thought she was a little interesting.

It was only a gut, but he wondered if this was his feelings as well because he was sharing a body with the man.

‘I can’t deny that I’m in one body with him.’

He was very convinced. Carmun answered the question with a mumble.

“I don’t think so. Most likely not.”

Probably. He didn’t know how the word made Viester so anxious.

When he lifted his gaze to Carmun with a nervous expression, his face swayed as if it had been hit by a spring breeze.

Oh. Maybe it’s already started.

Viester somehow had a bad hunch.

“I really don’t know.”

Carmun muttered softly while taking a step back.

The road from Lion Palace to Main Palace was connected from the inside. The sun rose high over the pillars that stood between the large palaces.

The sun was strong enough that he frowned while walking through the shaded hallway with pillars, but the weather was still nice.

Carmun was distracted by his unknown feeling that he didn’t even feel the burning sunlight on his cheeks.

***

He encountered unexpected figures right in front of the Main Palace.

Carmun frowned as soon as he spotted the two figures.

“Long time no see, Your Majesty.”

Duke Torre, who he had been keeping an eye on strictly since the hunting competition, lowered his head as soon as spotted Carmun.

Standing beside him was the Empress, Josephine, who lifted her dress slightly to greet her husband.

“Empress, it’s very nice to accidentally see you around here.”

Carmun didn’t have the knack to talk back.

Josephine wrinkled her forehead when he asked why she came here at the scheduled time of the regular assembly.

“When I asked her to meet me, she wasted no time running all the way here for her father.”

“Yes. The Empress must have time to spare for that.”

Josephine breathed a short sigh, controlling the urge to argue. However, the hands that held the skirt were powerful, indicating that her pride was severely hurt.

Carmun looked away after sparing a glance at her time once.

“Your Majesty….”

Viester looked pitifully at Josephine, who was afflicted with ill-treatment in front of the Duke Torre.

Even Viester didn’t know the reason why the Emperor hated the empress so much.

Even though he confessed his curse, he kept everything tied up and didn’t tell him other than that.

At that moment, the fierce eyes of Duke Torre landed on Viester. They were very terrifying and cold, reminding him of the frost in the midst of winter.

“You’re….”

It was the moment Duke Torre almost opened his mouth. Carmun, who suddenly took a step back and wrapped his arms around Viester’s waist, as if showing off to them.

“Your Majesty!”

When Viester screamed in surprise, Carmun smiled boldly and mouthed, ‘it’s a command’.

“………”

Viester was dumbfounded and at a loss for words, the same with Duke Torre and Josephine.

It’s practically him who put an end to the rumor.

Even Duke Torre, who had been leading a tough political life, seemed very embarrassed and his complexion was red.

“Sir Viester, you can enter first.”

Viester was perplexed, and his face turned red when he lowered his back to whisper.

Regardless of whether the country was great or not, this shouldn’t have happened.

“I should seriously tell him not to do this.”

It was when Viester bowed his head while thinking that way.

In Josephine’s eyes, he seemed to be affectionate towards his lover, and she was trying her best to shoot a pointed look at them, as if the veins on her eyes were about to burst.

‘How dare you act that way in front of me….’

It was the greatest insult she ever got in her life. Almost all of the insults she has received in her life have most likely come from her husband.

Josephine gave a hollow smile.

“Haha….”

While Viester was running away to avoid them, he ran into Theo, who was standing with a shocked face in the distance.

Theo was the only subsidiary aide who worked under him.

He thought he just saw something, but it would be a disaster if the guy ran away.

Because he was one of two aides who worked by the Emperor’s side, which was supposed to be led by one department consisting of ten members.

Viester, who was about to enter the Main Palace, turned around and approached Theo.

“Sir Theo.”

It was at that moment. Theo suddenly began to agonize and ran away hesitatingly from him.

“Sir Theo?”

“I-I don’t know anything…!”

He really started to run away.

“Sir Theo! Please don’t run away from me! Or else, I won’t approve your resignation letter!”

Viester was frustrated because he couldn’t keep up with Theo, who was running away from him.

In front of him, there was Theo who ran away, meanwhile the Emperor, the Empress, and father-in-law of the Emperor were arguing behind him.

A sigh already escaped his lips thinking how much attention he would get when attending the upcoming regular assembly.

***

“This is ridiculous.”

Duke Torre opened his mouth in the midst of the awkward atmosphere.

He didn’t hide his displeasure while looking at Carmun, who acted perversely in everything.

“You’ve even been ridiculous once. Don’t you always hear from others that you’re stronger than me, the Emperor?”

Carmun said so with a slight frown on his face as he smiled only by just raising the corner of his mouth.

When the time of regular assembly approached, several ministers stood at the entrance of the Main Palace.

Moreover, the maids were moving around continuously, so Duke Torre could not act rashly.

Carmun, the Emperor, did not seem to pay any attention at all.

“Your Majesty, you know that an empire with a firm nobility can become wealthy?”

It was as if he was really thinking that he was giving advice by saying that.

Carmun’s forehead stiffened at Duke Torre’s words.

‘It’s a relief that you can express it the right way.’

Duke Torre was a powerful noble who had existed since the previous emperor ruled Idelberg.

He, at that time, even until now, was the head of the nobility. The nobles were the most cautious about Duke Torre due to his strong power and family at the time when the Emperor was in a critical condition.

Although now the man was pretending to have lost his claws, he knew that the man was just hiding his long claws under those feet of his.

“Right. It’s a good thing for a wealthy country.”

For some reason, Carmun had a broad smile while saying so. 

Carmun’s smile brought chills down Duke Torre’s spine as he gently shifted to stand in front of her daughter, blocking her.

“So is that why you chose the fiancee of my brother, Onderon, to be my wife instead? For the wealth of the country?”

Duke Torre’s face turned pale at the words which were followed by a chuckle.

It was very easy for him to say things that no one dared to say so carelessly.

When Duke Torre drew a deep breath, Josephine opened her mouth and spoke in an angry voice.

“…Your Majesty…!”

“Why are you calling me out like that? It seems like I’ve been saying something I wasn’t supposed to say.”

Carmun’s sarcasm didn’t totally stop there.

He didn’t think of fixing the bad blood between the three of them.

In particular, Carmun seemed to have no intention of fixing it.

Rather, it seemed as if he was going to dig further into the wound and irritate the hell out of it.

“I think I misunderstand the meaning of firmness here.”

“Father, you can take your leave. You won’t hear any good things by staying here.”

Josephine felt the glances around them and tugged at her father’s sleeves.

Duke Torre realized that running into each other like this outside was unnecessary.

However, he couldn’t do anything because he recently turned down all meetings.

Duke Torre clicked his tongue and bid the Emperor farewell.

“See you at the regular assembly soon.”

“Sure.”

Josephine bit her lower lip.

It was none other than Carmun who caught onto Josephine’s pace when she was about to return to the palace after separating from her father.

“Josephine.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

She turned around and gave an answer. Carmun’s face didn’t match the warm weather at all.

Even the blizzard in the middle of winter felt warmer.

“I always say this, but I will grant you a divorce if you ever wish for it.”

….

Josephine turned around and was at a loss for words.

She knew it would be rude to the Emperor, but all she could muster at this very moment was to act as polite as she could by not hitting Carmun straight in the face right away.

“…Thank you very much for saying that.”

Ever since the hunting festival a few days ago, it seemed that he had gone too far.

He seemed merciless, as if he had no intention of keeping up with her any longer.

Even so, Josephine had no intention of stepping down from this position.

Especially when she saw Concubine Edith in his arms, she was even more determined not to let go of him.

‘Whom do I hand over this position to?’

Josephine’s face dilapidated horribly on her way back to the palace.

Her hands shook, as if she was upset as she bit hard on her lower lips, like it was about to burst at any moment.

‘You should have been prepared when you dragged me down.’

Josephine, who couldn’t endure her anger at all, shouted loudly as soon as she stepped into the palace where there was no one in sight.

“How could you… How dare….”

The sight of Josephine trembling and lashing out her anger was extremely chilling.

Looking at the Empress who was filled with rage, the maids watched her while secretly sneaking out of her sight.

At that moment, Josephine’s eyes suddenly opened.

“Call the First Concubine right now! Hurry!”

As if fire had emerged on their feet, the maids rushed out to call for Ersa.

***

Viester, who ran after Theo as he ran away from him, ran out of breath and stopped in his tracks to inhale.

As expected, his physical strength was different just because he was a few years younger.

He ran out of breath because he was stuck in the office every day only to manage paperwork, but he was keen on holding swords as a hobby.

“Theo!”

Viester, who was unable to run any longer, called out Theo’s name loudly.

Upon leaving the Main Palace, they entered the garden on the side of Knight’s Drill Hall.

Did he even know where he was?

This was the Emperor’s private garden, but Theo seemed not to have yet noticed it.

‘We have to leave as soon as possible.’

He didn’t know what else he would hear if he happened to encounter others.

“Stop running away….”