Chapter 30

Talking to such a family member was one of Annie’s long-standing habits.

She muttered in an absurd voice.

“No, how can I say that in such a situation.”

“Munch, munch, munch.”

Lang ate his food eagerly. He learned a very important lesson about humans early in his life.

Whatever the human beings say, it doesn’t matter if there was no action to follow it.

Even if they were the owner, it wasn’t worth reacting if they were talking nonsense.

Only the sound of Lang eating his food deliciously rang in the quiet room.

Munch, munch, munch.

After a while, Lang crept over to Annie after his meal.  Since his stomach was full, he gently shook his tail.

Annie patted Lang on the head.

“I will reflect on it. I’ll never lie with you as an excuse again.”

Lang was enjoying the touch.

She whispered quietly.

“They… they were very suspicious, by the way.”

Ejed’s enlarged eyes as he turned his body came to Annie’s mind.

The unknown eagerness that stood in him kept coming to her mind.

‘… I think it’s an illusion.’

Feelings for the tyrant. How funny.

Annie smiled and pulled a dried rose out of her arms. A treasure that was barely preserved in the midst of that dire situation.

Fortunately, the petals did not crumble and remained intact.

The smiling Annie admired the rose, which gave off an enchanting scent.

“But I was glad to see so many roses for the first time. It would have been nice to see it with you together.”

“Woof.”

“No, I’ll keep this forever.”

Lang was trying to touch the rose with his paws.

Annie, who raised her hand up to hide the rose, gently stroked Lang’s back with her other hand.

“Good boy, Lang.”

“Woof.”

Annie sat in the chair by her desk, holding Lang tight in her arms.

The dried rose she brought from the imperial palace was put in a clean glass bottle on the desk.

Annie looked at the rose for a while and turned her head.

Rattle.

The sound of wind was heard through the wide open windows.

And, a faint voice came to her mind.

[Raise your head.]

The voice of the man was trembling and sweet.

Annie smirked at the voice resembling the emperor.

‘Nonsense.’

The tyrant spoke sweetly to her: it was obvious that her tired mind conjured up some nonsense because she was so nervous.

‘The young ladies were sure that he swore.’

Annie shook her head and tidied up her desk.

With the clean papers, ink, and feather pens arranged in a pleasingly neat manner, she stretched out her fingers.

“Shall we start?”

At that, Lang slowly descended to the wooden floor and sat down. It was right next to Annie’s feet.

Annie, smiling at the warm touch at her feet, opened the lid of an inkwell.

She began to write something with a black-feathered pen.

Porcaus Falls.

“Of course, Porcaus Falls is the destination of our country’s representative travel destination.”

Annie smiled satisfactorily.

*

Ejed, unlike the people’s imagination, was a man of good living.

When everyone was asleep, he woke up and went around the training grounds of the Knights and practiced swordsmanship.

After that, he had to carefully review the work of the day in the office before he ate.

It is no exaggeration to say that his day goes according to a perfectly organized timetable.

The two aides sometimes yawned, but Ejed had never been lazy to work.

Even today, he returned to his bed only after he had faithfully completed all of his political duties.

Turning off the lamp, he laid in bed.

The tension made his heart pound.

‘Finally, tomorrow…’

When the day comes, Annie will go to Porcaus Falls. The news was confirmed by the coachman Doher sent secretly to the Dsev family.

Why did Doher do that?

At first, he was worried that his unrequited love had been found out.

But Doher was consistent with his attitude in public.

[I have the same opinion as Your Majesty. Talents like Lady Dsev cannot be left alone.]

[…]

[We must bring her to the Imperial Palace. Wouldn’t she be a resource that would not have any problems even if she was active as a diplomatic envoy?]

After all, Doher worked more sincerely for the Imperial family than anyone else.