Chapter 59 - Lantern Festival (11)

Chapter 59

Lantern Festival (11)

Kimmy: Translator

Editor: Sasha_00

⋅⋅⋅⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽‌༓‌☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅⋅⋅⋅

“Eric, who is that woman? Have you seen her at the palace?”

“I don’t think so…”

Eric and Amber lay on the sofa to hide from their line of sight. 

People looked at them strangely but Eric and Amber were too preoccupied to notice.

Amber glanced over the sofa. 

No matter how many more times she looked, she felt she was right.

What other black-haired and tall, intimidating man could be with Commander Brigitta other than Emperor Josef the 2nd himself?

“She’s pulling out a document? Are we not allowed to watch?”

Amber whispered. 

Eric frowned a little as well. 

Who is that?

Eric was Brigitta’s temporary assistant so he had to tag along with Brigitta here and there. 

So he knew many people related to Brigitta in the palace and also got to meet the Chancellor who was known to be hard to meet with. 

But even after all that Eric still couldn’t recognize that woman who dared to rest her chin on her palms in front of the emperor. 

Guessing by the situation, she must be someone related to Commander Brigitta.

Eric and Amber turned to face each other and realized that both of them had no clue. 

The emperor read the document handed by the woman with extreme seriousness. 

He carefully read page by page and emitted an intimidating and heavy aura. 

Eric gulped. 

Oh my, he works that seriously. No wonder this country is in good shape. 

The respect he already had for the emperor rose once again. 

“But why is his majesty outside?”

“Right, I heard during lunch that he would be staying at the Chancellor’s residence.”

Amber looked at Eric with dismay on her face. 

“…Eric, why do you know his majesty’s schedule? You stalker–”

“I’m not a stalker. I just admire him! You’re always overreacting Amber!”

Amber looked at Eric with hurt in her eyes. 

He doesn’t notice a beautiful ginger knight’s affection yet he has overflowing admiration for the emperor. 

She hated to admit having the emperor as her rival and could already see the obstacles she would have to overcome. 

But Amber was a persistent woman who even made Count Maron yield.

Well, the tougher wood the more easily it burns.

She reassured herself on how she could definitely win Eric’s gentle and soft heart. 

“Hey, shouldn’t we say hi to them or something?”

Eric cocked his head and asked doubtfully.

Josef the 2nd wouldn’t scold anyone for not greeting him when meeting him outside on a holiday but it felt a little weird to not acknowledge him–especially since he was their superior–at all. 

Amber and Eric had conflicting thoughts about not interrupting him while he was focused on a document and being embarrassed if they got seen before greeting.

“But it looks like a serious situation… Won’t we be disturbing him if we go?”

Amber contemplated. 

The emperor was pressing his temples with one hand as if he was tolerating something. 

Is it something important? A national crisis?

“Who is that person… How can she do that in front of his majesty…?”

Eric was bewildered. 

The small lady was laughing as she slapped Josef the 2nd’s arms. 

No way, unbelievable. 

“Is she a high person from a foreign country…? Is that why she can do that…? Amber, do you know her?”

“Not at all. But think about it. Even if she has a high status, a woman around her age could never treat his majesty with ease like that. They would normally be terrified.”

“What? Then what are you? You were so obsessed about cutting his shirt open–”

“I still can’t treat him like that!”

On top of that, that woman was whispering to the emperor with a serious face. 

Amber and Eric discussed who that woman could be but both of them had too little experience to even begin finding out about her identity. 

Eric was a commoner and Amber was the granddaughter of a Count but she still didn’t know anything about the royalties or high officials of foreign countries. 

“By the way, until when do we have to stay like this?”

Eric asked while lying down on the couch.

Amber, who had her arms around his shoulders, shook her head.

It would look even weirder if they sprinted out right now.

Amber couldn’t realize that they looked like a couple with a concerning amount of PDA in a cafe. 

The two hardworking royal knights agreed to maintain their position while observing the balcony. 

*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*

“A singer?”

Billford rolled the candy in his mouth and asked while slouching on a chair. 

He drank the police department coffee to beat sleep but it was indeed too strong. 

Alex had an impulse to kick him out of his lazy-looking position but she concluded that filling him with necessary information was more urgent and put her leg back down. 

Billford saw Alex’s leg do a familiar movement and sat upright. 

“Look for a singer or an actor.”

“Wow.”

Alex placed her chubby hands on her hips when she heard Billford say ‘wow’. It was a gesture demanding an explanation.

“Miss Evangeline said the exact thing earlier.”

“Hmm.”

Alex brushed her chin. 

A romance novelist, huh. She’s more suited to be a mystery novelist.

But Alex knew more than enough that that small and shrewd lady would not want anything to do with something of that kind. 

She harshly brushed through her curly hair. 

It was a habit she did when she had to think. 

Billford looked away feeling that his scalp was hurting from staring at her actions. 

“Did she say anything else?”

“Ah, uh… She mentioned that there was no one backstage and told me to check if the blood was really the victim’s. So, I sent the blood sample to the analysis room.”

“Tell me immediately when the results are out. So, there was no one around despite them arriving at the crime scene early, huh…?

Alex silently continued to pull through her hair and said “hmm” once again. 

“And what about the investigation inquiring about people related to Lockhard?”

“It’s still being done…”

Billford pulled a folder from nearby and cleared his throat. 

Lockhart had a private life as nasty as his infamy.

It was too disturbing to say anything without any mental preparation. 

There was a long list of wrongdoings on the white paper which looked too long for one person to do. 

It’s my first time seeing someone this trashy in my 2 years of investigator life… Well, not the first but it’s been a really long time. 

Billford cursed Lockhart internally. 

“There’s nothing much. He gambled, took loans, and bought prostitutes in the underground club with that money. Also, he drank, practiced violence, negotiated, wrote good articles with bribery… He’s the perfect definition of non-recyclable trash. 

“There are people around us, Billford.”

“I mean, is there even anyone that doesn’t know that Billford is this evil?”

“I meant for you to curse him more severely. Anyway, an underground club? Which one? The one Viscount Finn sponsors or Baron Sez’s opera house.”

Billford sighed deeply. 

“…Are you going to go there? Well, you obviously would. I should rephrase my question. Do I have to go too?”

Billford asked while already grabbing his coat. 

Sadly, investigators sometimes had to use intuition more than any other things and this was one of the times that needed intuition. 

Billford looked up at Alex while making puppy eyes–though Alex thought it was unpleasant. 

His superior smirked and smiled like those evil witches in fairy tales. 

“Oh, of course. You are an investigator after all.”

*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*

Karlos praised Eva using all the words he knew and stopped when Brigitta came to the table holding trays on both hands. 

She actually had trays on her head and arms as if she was performing a trick. 

People stared at her but this handsome knight sprinted towards their table as if she was proudly presenting it. 

“Couldn’t you have just brought them separately?”

Karlos remarked while bringing the peach tart on Brigitta’s head down on the table. 

“I was too lazy to go back and forth many times. There’s still more to bring.”

“Then should I go help you?”

⋅⋅⋅⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽‌༓‌☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅⋅⋅⋅

TL/N: Heyya~ lil update. I’m finally out of quarantine and have finally settled into my new home. During quarantine, I had some internet problems and had some difficulties dealing with it alone especially regarding my IP address since most novel/manwha websites block the IP address of the country I live in. But I figured it out, and can now access the websites again. Most of the causes of my stress are resolved now so I’ll try to get back on track. Meanwhile, I will release one chapter of His Majesty Wants to Read the New Release a week instead of the original release schedule of 2/week. Sorry for the long wait!