Chapter 113

Ejed took Annie to the Imperial kitchen to prepare a late-night snack. She said she was okay and waved her hand, but her stomach kept growling.

Annie was very embarrassed by the sound in the already quiet night.

“Oh, this is….”

Rumble, rumble.

Even while she was spitting her words out, there was a sound from her stomach, and Annie’s face turned red.

She probably used her head all day, but she seemed very hungry because she missed her meal.

Ejed led her silence without expressing it. He hinted there was no one there anyway, so she had nothing to worry about.

Annie raised her head slightly. A man next to her was walking at a firm pace, so she was reassured.

The dark Imperial Palace corridor had a gloomy atmosphere as if something was about to pop out, but it wasn’t scary at all.

Ejed, who even matches Annie’s walking speed, has the best manners of any man she’s ever seen.

‘I taught you really well.’

During her narcissism, Annie asked cautiously.

“Well, Your Majesty. I have been curious about something.”

“Curious?”

“Why can’t I see the servants of the Imperial Palace?”

Annie smiled awkwardly because she thought it was a random question. But there was a reason for that.

Although the chief servant was occasionally seen, it was difficult to see others.

Instead, it was worse than the Dsev mansion.

Of course, the Imperial Palace should be as vast as a maze, but this was a bit too much.

When she asked a question that she had been curious about for a long time, Ejed answered honestly.

“At first, it was Robbie’s order.”

“…The messenger of the gods?”

“Yes. If they don’t want to bear with the tyrant’s wrath, everyone is told to be careful.”

The more she listened, the more something jumped out of her chest.

‘Giving such an oracle to an unborn child and even trying to block people.’

Regardless of the intention, it was too cruel.

How hard must it have been for Ejed to lose his parents?

Annie was displeased with the two Lords today. But how much did he suffer so much from people’s accusations of involvement all his life?

Annie got angry without realizing it.

“Isn’t that too much? Your Majesty isn’t a strange person, and there’s no way you can get angry with your servants who stand still. Why don’t you just rehire them all?”

“No. You don’t have to.”

“…Why?

“Now it’s being done on my orders. Everyone’s afraid of me.”

In short, it was a consideration. Annie felt sad and upset at Ejed’s strangeness like that.

It was wrong to set the upper hand in people’s relationships. But the man who could do it with just a hand gesture never did.

Rather, he tried to keep people calm while being misunderstood. When Annie admits that she has something to learn from him, she can’t help but feel frustrated.

“No one even knows.”

“It’s not that no one knows. Annie knows now.”

“…”

“That’s enough for me.”

Ejed smiled brighter than the stars that adorned the night sky. His face looked so happy that Annie couldn’t anymore.

She just walked her feet with him.

“We’re here.”

Arriving in the kitchen, Ejed turned on the lights and looked for the cooking utensils.

Clang clang. It’s not very bright, but Ejed took out the cooking utensils.

It was like he knew where the ladle was and where the wooden chopsticks were.

Annie, who had been watching blankly, came to her senses.

‘Ah… This is not the time.’

Annie walked over to Ejed as she hurriedly washed her hands on her countertop.

“Let me help you.”

“No, I can do it myself. I practiced hard.”

It was an unyielding attitude. Annie nodded her head, saying, ‘You’ve worked really hard.’

As he pulled out the pot, knife, and cutting board from the worktop, Annie stood next to him as well.

Grabbing the edge of the worktop, Annie asked.

“Have you tried cooking for her?”

“Yes. One time.”

“You succeeded. Congratulations. Did she eat well?”

“Thanks to you.”

After answering shyly, Ejed told her to sit down in the chair and rest.

Annie sat on the round wooden chair, and she looked at him blankly.

Tak, tak, tak, tak.

She was in awe of the brilliant knife skills.

‘He was good at cutting, and he likes it. But the Emperor wouldn’t even need to cook.’

Reverence and seriousness were felt simultaneously in Ejed’s eyes, who handled the ingredients.

And even deep affection.

‘Yes… You can cook this much. And it was delicious.’

For some reason, Annie was envious of the woman. How could she be loved by a man like a unicorn in some myth?

‘She must have accumulated many virtues in her past life.’

Ejed made two bowls of delicious creamy pasta in no time.

Annie swallowed her saliva as the smoke rose from the plate.

“Let’s go to the banquet hall.”

“No. I can eat here. I-I can move!”

Ejed, who brought Annie a simple chair to the front of the kitchen table, had been preparing a fork and drinks to accompany her.

The last thing he brought with him was his own small chair. Then he sat down with Annie at the kitchen table.