Chapter 15

As if he had touched something dirty, Cardan shook his hand immediately.

“I’m sorry, I’m such a disloyal servant.”

When I tried to bend down, Cardan shook his hand.

“Wipe the blood. Anyone who sees you might think you’re the one who fought the assassin and not me.”

Cardan took off his hood and threw it into a chair.

“Well, then.”

Cardan sat down on the bed and shook his head.

“If you die, I’ll be in a lot of trouble, too.”

“Your Majesty’s grace is like the river.”

I had no choice but to look at Cardan eagerly.

That’s why this scene is so bad now.

He saved me twice, but that’s not enough to keep me from being afraid.

Some might think that Cardan is my servant.

Even if he couldn’t kill me because of the unknown contract, she must never provoke Cardan, a short-tempered person.

The change in her attitude was quick.

“If I had known that the Emperor was coming, I would have prepared the most luxurious tent, but I would give you my bed. Please feel free to use it.”

“That’s what I was going to do from the beginning.”

Cardan lay down on my bed without hesitation.

Because he was tall, his feet poke out of the bed, but Cardan, who had his arms folded behind his head, looked very comfortable with his one foot nodding.

“Ha-ha, then make yourself at home in my bed.”

I looked for a place to sleep. Eventually, I couldn’t find a suitable place so I lay down on a carpet on the floor.

“The floor is enough.”

For a while, Cardan looked down at me without saying a word.

His gaze made my face prickly when I saw it.

In the original novel, Cardan, was crazy about women that he was famous for his messy relationships with them. I can’t believe she let such a person into her tent.

I sat down unconsciously and leaned back.

No way…

“Of course not.”

A dull word fell over my head.

Well, as expected.

In the original novel, even if he had changed his women like that, he would never touch her as much as the Duke of Baloa.

I felt like I was getting excited by myself, so I turned around a little awkwardly.

But anything would be better than being left alone in this tent.

It felt very strange. The man who will kill me later on, saved me so many times today.

Perhaps that’s why even if the floor was so cold and hard, it was tolerable.

I don’t think so…

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“Cwold.”

I shivered on the horse.

Since she slept on the ground last night, her slightly turned mouth did not return completely, forcing her to keep repeating “Cwold” instead of “cold.”

The closer we got to the border, the worse the temperature dropped.

It is said that it takes a few more days to get to there, and if the temperature drops further, by the time she reaches the county, I will have trouble of calling Count Gesban, “Geshiba“.

But it was impossible to drive out the emperor, who had begun to use my cot as he did every night.

It was really annoying.

I glared at Cardan. Still in his hood, he was riding his horse leisurely.

Perhaps he was interested in the trip, so he shamelessly joined us.

Thanks to this, I sweated a lot to hide his identity. Fortunately, he made an excuse that he was a nobleman who knew her personally, so the knights stopped inquiring.

Cardan, who skillfully rides the horse, looked like someone who came out of a game.

She was working late on the trip to take care of the emperor’s paperwork, and has to sleep on the ground and fold the thin carpet in half to cover them.

It looked very nice.

I ended up raising my hand.

“I think the shun is gwoing down, itsh going be dwark shoon. I think this is it for thooday.”

(I think the sun is going down, it’s going to be dark soon. I think this is it for today.)

“What?”, asked the Knights Chief. He looked bewildered to everyone’s eyes.

“Letsh go, let’s dooh it.”

(Let’s go, let’s do it.)

Inside, I cursed Cardan hard and rolled my stiff tongue with all my might.

“Oh, oh, yes. I’m sorry. This is my fault for not being able to see the condition of the duke.”

Her internal curses became even more intense.

The campsite was cleaned up twice as quickly as usual, perhaps because the commander of the Knights was quite surprised by my “state.”

Inside my tent, I crouched down in front of the stove, warming myself up, then Cardan came in.

“Your Majesty!”

I sprang to my feet and dragged the stove in front of the cot.

“Ha-ha. I was checking to see if it was working properly.”

My tongue, which had been un-paralyzed by the fire, has warmed up a little, but if I shudder on the ground again tonight, one side of my face will harden again.

“Then have a peaceful night.”

I bent down and picked up a carpet. If I fold this carefully, I can make something like a sleeping bag.

Cardan looked down at me as I rolled the rug with all my might. I heard a short sigh.

“Lay down.”

“Oh, yes. I’ll make it in a minute.”

“Not there, the bed.”

When I looked up, I saw a cardan pointing to the cot.

What is it? Is it a test?

“How can I use the space that Your Majesty is using?”

“I don’t want to hear you whimpering all night, so just lie down.”

Cardan took my carpet away. As a result, sleeping bag she worked hard on was ruined. Cardan, who spread the rug roughly on the floor, lay down on it.

I jumped up.

“Your Majesty! If you do this, your body will get sick!”

But as I spoke, I was creeping up to the warm cot by the fire.

When Cardan looked at me with a puzzled look on his face, I stopped.

Cardan stood up on the ground.

“Then, let’s sleep together.”

“What?”

My voice that came out was the size of an ant.

“The bed is big enough, and if you’re so worried about my condition, why don’t we share the bed?”

It was a dilemma.

I can’t let the tyrant emperor sleep on the floor, but if we shared a bed together… Many scenes from the original R-19 novel flashed through her mind.

There were quite a few scenes where his partner was not the female lead, so I hesitated even more.

However, it was cold enough to make my bones ache if I make a sleeping bag again and slept on the floor.

I ended up nodding my head.

“How wise you are, Your Majesty!”

Having said that, I just stayed in place as he lay down on one side of the cot.

I still can’t make up my mind whether I’m doing well or not.

“Will you be standing up all night?”

At Cardan’s urging, she laid down carefully at the very edge of the bed.

I could hear Cardan’s breath from the distance. I stiffened myself in a mummy-like posture, as if I were going to pass by with a little movement.

It seemed like this was a mistake.

It would be cold if I slept on the floor, but when I lay down here, I think I would stay up all night.

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“Hmmm…”

Cardan looked at Erina, who had been glued to him, with puzzled eyes.

“The stove. It’s warm…”

Erina mumbled, hugging his forearm and rubbing her cheek.

I tried to remove her head with a slight push, but he was scared to completely remove it, so it stuck it again.

I couldn’t believe it, so I almost laughed out loud.

“What else are you going to do?”

Cardan’s eyes looking down Erina narrowed.

The Duke of Baloa changed.

Why did she visit a baron, who will not benefit her at all, or help the Baron even at the risk of being quite influential in the aristocratic society?

It unimaginable for Duke of Baloa.

Moreover, her attitude towards him seemed to have changed strangely. She used to feel uncomfortable being in the same space with him.

The Duke of Baloa he knew, would never share a tent with him, even if she has to sleep outside.

The Duke of Baloa has always kept a distance from him, while thoroughly taking advantage of him.

In front of others, she pretended to be his only confidant, and pretended to be a loyal subject, but was busy avoiding him when no one’s around.

Even when she feared him, she still used him for her own benefit.

She treated him like that, as if he was a fierce dog that’s would bite its master anytime.

Then Erina snuggled him up.

“The stove. All right.”

Erina breathed out a small sigh, and instead of a pillow, put her head on his shoulder and fell into a deep sleep.

Cardan’s face was wrinkled.

I pushed Erina away with a dry gesture, but she stuck to me again, no matter how hard I pushed her away.

“It’s not like you’re a leech.”

I wondered if this was really the Duke of Baloa, who was famous for suffering from insomnia.

Cardan pressed the wound on her neck impulsively. When I felt a pulse under my finger, I put strength in my hand without realizing it.

“Hmmmm…”

Erina frowned.

Cardan stared at her.

There’s no way that the Duke of Baloa could have really changed.

“What are you up to?”

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The Empress folded the letter and burned it in a candle.

It was not the usual high-quality letter paper, but a scrawled note, so it caught fire in an instant.

It was a message from Marquis Sherrington that he had been threatened by the Duke of Baloa.

The Queen looked at the end of the letter quickly crumbling to ashes.

[I think half of the secret funds should be handed over to the Duke of Baloa]

“Hah.”

I burst into laughter.

A sharp laugh, not a girly laugh, which was made up in front of the Duke of Baloa.

“In any case, she’s crazy about money.”

The Empress clicked her tongue.