Chapter 57

***

After Leila left.

Kalian stared at the box Leila had left behind for a long time.

The luxurious box was beautifully tied with a blue ribbon.

Such a waste to untie it.

But he had to untie it. Because he’s curious about what’s inside it.

Kalian carefully untied the ribbon as if handling fragile glass.

Then he opened the box and checked the contents.

Inside the box was a high-quality handkerchief.

When he unfolded the handkerchief, he saw a large embroidered blue dragon.

Kalian immediately recognized that it was Leila who embroidered the handkerchief.

Because she was the only one he knew who could do such an ugly embroidery.

Still.

“It’s much better.”

It was a rapid growth compared to the embroidery he saw before.

Kalian smiled happily. He looked at the handkerchief and replaced it with the handkerchief he had in his inner chest pocket.

Shortly after that, Rahel came in, saying that he had something to report.

As if he had never smiled, Kalian erased his smile and greeted Rahel expressionless.

Rahel laid down a pile of letters in front of Kalian.

Kalian’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“What’s all this?”

“These are letters from the ladies, saying they want to be His Majesty’s partner at this banquet.”

The pile of letters showed that Kalian’s popularity was just that great, but the person concerned was indifferent.

Kalian didn’t even give a single glance to the letters.

“Get rid of it.”

Rahel took the letters back as if he was familiar with it.

“Even at this banquet, are you not going to get accompanied by a partner?”

“Yeah.”

“Then the first dance, as always, will be with Duchess Cloud.”

It was so natural that Kalian looked at the document without even responding.

“What would you do to that person?”

At the added words, Kalian’s eyes turned to Rahel again.

“Is that person excluded again this time?”

Kalian thought for a moment before answering.

“I’m going to do that, but just in case, let’s ask Duke Giltian for his opinion.”

Kalian took a piece of paper from the drawer and wrote the contents down quickly.

The completed letter was sealed with sealing wax and he gave it to Rahel.

“I will send it right away.”

With the letter in his arm, Rahel politely bowed and was about to leave when…

“Rahel.”

Kalian called him as if he suddenly remembered something.

Rahel looked back at him.

“Find out why Leila was hurt.”

Leila said she fell while coming here in a hurry, but Kalian didn’t believe it.

Because from what he had seen so far, Leila wasn’t that clumsy.

“…if the reason why that woman was hurt, I know.”

He thought there might be other reasons and asked him to investigate, but the answer came from an unexpected person.

It was Hiltine.

Rahel took a step back in surprise when Hiltine appeared out of the window.

Hiltine’s sudden appearance was surprising, but what surprised Rahel was that this place was on the 5th floor.

On the other hand, Kalian looked at Hiltine calmly as if nothing had happened. And then, he beckoned Rahel to leave.

As soon as Rahel left, Kalian said to Hiltine.

“Tell me.”

“It happened on the road between the library and the inner palace.”

Hiltine reported what he had seen in a monotonous voice with almost no pitch.

Starting with a group of ladies trying to bully Leila by tripping her leg.

Everything until Leila wisely escaped the crisis instead of rebuking the ladies.

After hearing all of that from Hiltine, Kalian let out a small sigh.

“There they go again.”

He couldn’t believe that they didn’t do what they’re supposed to do, and instead, they did things that bothered others.

Even though the ladies who came in as maids had little to do because there’s no hostess in the palace, they were annoying because it was like that every time

But there’s nothing Kalian could do.

There were some things that Leila didn’t need to deal with, but even if that wasn’t the case, Kalian couldn’t step in.

If he did, it would only add credibility to the rumor that Leila was a mistress and not an aide.

If that happened, they would be even more excited and would bite and tear Leila.

However, he was worried that the same thing would happen again if he stayed still.

He was afraid that it would hurt Leila.

Wouldn’t it be a big deal if she quit being his aide because of that?

Thanks to her coming, he was finally comfortable working now.

“I need to take proper action.”

Kalian, contemplating what to do, immediately went to Ver.

*****

Right before going home, the attendant came and told me that Kalian was looking for me.

What happened? Is there something wrong with the report I gave him?

I was worried. I tried to swallow my anxiety and entered the Emperor’s office.

As soon as he saw me, he held out a paper without saying anything.

On the paper, words commonly used as surnames were listed.

Why is he showing this to me?

When I looked at him in wonder, Kalian said.

“Choose any word you like.”

Choosing any word out of the blue?

When I stood still without saying anything because I didn’t understand the situation, Kalian shook the paper.

“I’m busy, so hurry up and choose.”

“Then… I will choose this.”

I quickly scanned the paper again and chose the word that stood out to me the most.

Seeing the word I had chosen, Kalian looked surprised.

“Astera. Do you know what it means?”

“Yes. It means star in ancient language.”

Kalian’s eyebrow rose slightly.

“I can’t believe you know ancient language. Amazing.”

“I only know a few basic words.”

“That’s amazing, you know? There are a lot of idiots who don’t even know that.”

Kalian smiled and took the paper back.

“Okay. It’s a word that goes well with the Lady, so let’s go with this.”

“What are you going to do…”

Knock knock-

I was about to ask what he was going to do when I heard a knock.

It was Rahel. He greeted me with a blink and then reported to Kalian.

“Your Majesty, it’s time for the evening audience.”

“The audience is all day long, huh?”

Kalian sighed deeply and stood up from his seat.

“You can leave now.”

“Yes.”

I was curious why he asked me to choose a word, but… it wouldn’t be a big deal, right?

I didn’t take it seriously and was about to leave, but Kalian added,

“Thank you for the handkerchief.”

He saw the handkerchief already, huh?

I was happy about it, but a little embarrassed, so I didn’t look straight at him and bowed my head slightly.

“I’ll repay you for the handkerchief later.”

“No. It’s still not good enough, but thank you for accepting it.”

“Not enough? You did a good job, you know?”

I knew I wasn’t, but I didn’t say anything because saying that would make Kalian feel awkward.

“You can leave now.”

“Have a peaceful night.”

I was going home soon, so this was the last time I saw Kalian today.

After giving him a proper bow, I left the office.

*****

Next day.

It was when I was returning to the office with books I had borrowed from the library.

“Come see me for a second.”

Someone popped out of the corner and blocked my way.

If my memory wasn’t wrong, it’s definitely the lady named Lisa.

Did I have a conversation with this woman? I couldn’t remember.

“What’s wrong?”

When I asked in wonder, Lisa raised her eyes coyly and looked at me.

“What’s wrong?! Of course, it’s about what happened that day!”

What happened that day?

“Ah, are you talking about when you deliberately tripping my leg and

knocking me over, and then stepping on the report that I should give to His Majesty?”

“That, that was a mistake!”

“Yes. I suppose it does.”

I don’t believe it at all though.

“So, what’s wrong with that?”

“You really didn’t say anything to His Majesty, did you?”

“I didn’t.”

“Really?”

Does she have a suspicious disease? Why can’t she believe what people say?

“If I had told His Majesty about it, you should have been given an impetuous order immediately. Did anything like that happen?”

Whether it happened or not, Lisa didn’t answer.

Of course, it was. Because I really didn’t say anything to Kalian.

“If you’re done with your business, can you please step aside? Unlike you, who can come in and out of the palace leisurely, I’m very busy.”

I was busy preparing for the banquet, proposals submitted by various departments, and writing the report on the child care institution.

I didn’t have time to play around like her.

As I was about to pass by Lisa, who didn’t seem to have any intention of stepping aside, Lisa muttered to herself.

“She’s a fake aide but she’s pretending to be busy.”

A fake aide?

I frowned at the absurd remark and looked back at Lisa.

Lisa avoided my gaze, turned her head, and ran away.

“Hey! Stop!”

Even when I called her out loud, she didn’t stop.

The desire to chase after her was like a chimney, but unfortunately, I couldn’t because I had a lot of stuff.

I didn’t have the confidence to chase a woman who ran away so quickly.

“What on earth is that?”

A fake aide?

It’s not like she spat that out without thinking. On what basis did she say that?

As I was pondering over what Lisa had said, a hand suddenly reached out from behind and took half of the books I was holding.

“Why are you carrying so much?”

It was Baron Delrond.

“You’re going to the office, right? I’m going in the same direction, so I’ll help you carry this. ”

“Thank you.”

It was actually quite heavy, but thanks to the baron’s help, it became lighter.

“Is it all about the child care institution?”

“Yes. I borrowed all the books I thought could be a reference.”

“If there are so many, isn’t it more convenient to just read them in the library?”

“Yes, but it’s time for the library to close soon.”

“Ah, the Imperial Palace Library closes at 5 o’clock, right.”

“Being a librarian is really good.” said the baron.

“Then, I suppose I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“There’s something I have to organize today.”

“That means you’ll stay in the Imperial Palace until late today. Then…”

“I won’t be staying too late. I will go home before 10 o’clock.”

As soon as I said that, the baron laughed as if he couldn’t help it.

“Promised?”

“Of course.”

Ah, if it were the baron, maybe he knew about what Lisa said.

“Baron, can I ask you a question?”

“As many as you like. What is your question?”

“I heard a strange thing from a lady.”

“What strange thing did you hear?”

“She said I’m a fake aide.”

In an instant, the baron’s eyes widened.

As expected, he knows what she said.

I stopped walking and asked, looking back at the baron who stopped too.

“What is it about?”