Chapter 16.1

“What shall we do?”

“Is there anything else I can do? I’ve been beaten by the duke. Tell the marquis to hand over the money.”

“What about the duke. What should we do with her?”

“Where’s the Duke’s next destination?”

“She is headed to Marquess of Gesban territory. It’s a key point, so there are a few people on our side.”

“Well, get in touch with them.”

The maid looked closely at the Empress Dowager’s expression, immersed in her thougths.

“Is there a problem, Empress Dowager?”

“It’s a pity. I thought we could have been such good friends.”

This was what the Empress Dowager often said.

The Empress Dowager clicked her tongue and beckoned the maid to get out, as if she was annoyed.

The maid bent bowed and stepped back towards the door, but the Empress Dowager raised her hand again.

“Wait.”

The maid stopped at once.

“Is Cardan still outside?”

The contempt in the Empress Dowager’s voice was clear.

“Yes, he’s in a quite remote area this time.”

The Empress Dowager frowned.

“Why does he have to leave the capital to go in such a remote place?”

“Well…”

The maid hesitated and finally opened her mouth.

“There’s no pub in the capital that he’s never been to. He was looking for a new woman.”

“Tut tut.”

The Empress Dowager’s beautiful face was distorted with a faint hatred.

“My son wouldn’t have done that.”

The maid only bowed her head without saying a word. For there was nothing more that could sour the Empress Dowager’s mood than talking about the Emperor.

｡+.｡☆ﾟ:;｡+ﾟ ☆*ﾟ¨ﾟﾟ･*:..ﾞ

I woke up feeling very refreshed in the morning.

“Did you sleep well?”

I took care of the emperor in my sleep, but when I woke up, there was no one next to me.

As expected, Cardan disappeared in the middle of the night, so I was able to sleep well.

“Yes, of course. If you were next to me, I wouldn’t be able to sleep because I was scared.”

I nodded.

Thanks to the disappearance of Cardan, I was able to have a relatively peaceful morning.

“Duna, Senna, Nena,”

The truth is, I haven’t been able to tell them apart yet, but I consistently hummed the names of the pigeons as I distributed the food.

They must have had a hard time under the Duke of Baloa, but now I will feed them a lot of delicious food.

“You and I are the same. If not now, I can’t eat a lot of delicious food.”

I sighed deeply.

But I can’t go back to the palace and poison the pigeons again.

“Should I get a silver spoon?”

“You’re quite fond of them.”

I heard a small laugh from behind. It was Cardan.

It sounded sarcastic, about liking small animals.

“Haha. It’s a drop in the bucket compared to my heart for Your Majesty.”

Cardan glared at me tiredly, and gestured to the pigeons.

“You managed to drag me all the way to this cold area.”

Cardan looked at me with a look of disbelief.

“You even have a small stove for the birds.”

He pointed to a small stove under the cage. Although she might freeze to death on the ground, she was providing the best facilities for the birds and looking at them with utmost care.

“The stove.”

Cardan looked at it in disgust.

He’s complaining that he didn’t have his own stove when he secretly followed her here. He took mine, but he has the audacity to be so angry.

But I made up an apologetic face on the surface.

“I’m sorry, Customer-, Your Majesty. I’m very sorry that I couldn’t bring your personal stove. I couldn’t prepare because of the unfavorable circumstances.”

Even with my impeccable apology, Cardan’s expression could not be relieved.

In the awkward silence, only the crow’s voice rang.

“All right.”

Cardan shook his hand and opened the tent door. The campsite was still quiet at dusk.

“I’m going to leave today, so make yourself comfortable.”

At the end of the sentence, Cardan disappeared.

I stared blankly at Cardan’s disappearance.

“What are you going to do to leave in such a hurry?”

However, I decided not care immediately.

There was no suspicious movement since Sir Ethan, and it was much easier to live without a tyrant.

“You’ll come back on your own, won’t you?”

I distributed food to the pigeons and whispered.

The pigeons cried eagerly, as if they agreed.

But not long after Cardan left, the knight commander rushed to me.

“I’m in trouble, Duke.”

The knight commander gasped and finally spoke.

“Sir Ethan has escaped.”

I almost dropped the pigeon’s food in surprise.

Soon, I threw away the food and quickly walked towards the tent’s door. There was no time to lose.

“Show me the way.”

The knight commander led me to the center of the camp. In the middle stood the pillar where Sir Ethan was tied up.

Around the pillar were broken ropes, and the soldiers guarding Sir Ethan were bleeding.

The terrible scene made me gasp quietly.

The knight commander bowed his head.

“I’m sorry, Sir Ethan’s swordsmanship was so overwhelming that the soldiers that was guarding him were helpless.”

I raised my hand.

“All right.”

I didn’t have time to argue with the knight commander.

“What shall we do, Duke? Shall we set up a search party and track him down?”

“No, look after the wounded first.”

I pointed to the groaning soldiers. Three soldiers were injured.

Sir Ethan was strong enough to deal with them alone. There was no guarantee that he could be arrested, even if she was forced to pursue Sir Ethan with her remaining men.

“After providing first aid, we’ll move to the nearby village and reorganize our group.”

I quickly covered the soldier’s wounds with my jacket.

“Duke?”

The knight commander looked at me with amazement.

“What are you doing? You’re not helping? “

“Eh? Ah, yes!”

I gritted my teeth when I saw the blood on my jacket.

Cardan was right. I should have killed Sir Ethan. I am in this situation because I couldn’t make up my mind.

If I don’t kill him, I’ll die. Both my knights and I.

Calm down. I can’t hesitate because of sympathy any longer.

However, even as I made up my mind, my hand was shaking slightly as I press the wound.