Chapter 40

The Emperor did not come out of the bedroom for several days. With the body of the dead Yves Llewellyn.

The rumors that he was crazy circulated in the whole palace.

But the Emperor’s knights didn’t think much about the Emperor’s madness. Because the Emperor was never normal to begin with.

But they mourned the death of their colleagues.

“We must bring back Sir Yves’s body.”

“That’s right, we need to bury Sir Yves in the ground.”

“Poor Sir Yves……while alive, he suffered from His Majesty’s bullying, and even in death…”

“Why the hell did His Majesty take Sir Yves’s body……”

“There were rumors like that a long time ago, right?”

“But it’s just a rumor, isn’t it?”

As they gathered in the hallway and muttered with serious expressions, the sound of footsteps was heard.

Thud. Thud.

The knights raised their heads and looked at the owner of the sound. It was the second prince Ernst.

“Greetings to you, Second Prince.”

“Greetings to you, Second Prince.”

Ernst stopped and stared intently at them. His face, without a single smile, was cold at first glance.

Prince Ernst also became a bit strange after the death of Yves Llewellyn.

He was a prince who always lived quietly in order not to offend the Emperor, but recently, heinous rumors about him have been heard.

It was said that some of the servants of the Imperial Palace died without even knowing it.

And while everyone was hush, there was no less the involvement of the prince in the innocent death of the servants.

It had only happened once before. The day the prince’s birth mother, Empress Margaret, and his maternal uncle, Rudolph Ferdinand, died.

The second prince, like the sunshine that seemed unable to kill even a tiny ant, caused a bloodbath in his palace that day.

People thought he had lost his mind for a moment, having lost both his mother and his maternal uncle.

But this time, why…?

After the death of Yves Llewellyn, he came here every day, asking for permission to meet the Emperor. But Theodore did not meet him. Not only Ernst, but everyone who came to visit him.

Because of this, only his aide, Armin, suffered.

“I have come to see His Majesty.”

Ernst stared at the closed door with red bloodshot eyes.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. His Majesty is refusing to see anyone.”

“Then when can we meet?”

“That’s unsure for us to…”

“…”

Ernst bit his lips.

As he was staring into Theodore’s bedroom.

Click.

The door, which had been closed for a long time, suddenly opened.

And between the open door, Theodore stretched out his long legs.

Everyone took a deep breath.

Theodore came out into the hallway with an impression they had never seen before.

“Why are you making a fuss?”

He used to have a bad personality, but now he looked particularly bad. It was evident even though he had something resembling a small smile on the corner of his mouth.

Everyone instinctively sensed that the moment they touched the wrong thing, they were going to die.

However, Prince Ernst was not afraid of such Theodore, so he immediately walked in front of him and said:

“Give me back Yves, no, Yvonne.”

Theodore, who slowly turned his gaze to his brother, asked in a languid voice.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You have Yvonne’s body.”

Theodore’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Yves Llewellyn and Yvonne are different people.”

“Only you don’t know! Yvonne…!”

“Right now, get out.”

Theodore pushed Ernst away, rubbing his forehead as if his head was hurting.

“I’m sorry, Prince.”

The knights grabbed Ernst’s arms and dragged him away. There was some commotion due to Ernst’s strong resistance, but the hallway soon became quiet.

“Yves woke up because of that b*stard.”

Theodore muttered to himself an incomprehensible sound and frowned.

“Your Majesty….”

Armin approached Theodore through the silence.

It had been a few days since he saw the Emperor. He took a peek at him to see if he had come to his senses, but he was still not in a very good condition.

For example, dark shadows under the eyes, and a face that looked particularly tired. However, on the contrary, his expression was calm.

“…government affairs have been pushed back…”

Armin mustered up the courage to talk to him.

“Bring it.”

“Yes?”

“Bring it here.”

“To Your Majesty’s bedroom?”

Armin asked, confused.

Theodore has always been a man of strict separation between work and rest, and he never took work to his bedroom.

“Yes. I’ll see it with Yves.”

“….?”

“Because if I leave, Yves will be sad.”

Theodore smiled and looked into the wide open room.

“Right, Yves?”

The voice that called ‘Yves’ was sweet as honey.

Armin hid his chill at the bizarreness and followed him into Theodore’s bedroom. Since he had met Theodore only in the office, the most recent visit here was shortly after he fell off the horse.

But now, his bedroom was very different from that time. His room was filled with furniture that was too old and modest to belong to the Emperor.

They all came from Yves Llewellyn’s room. Then Armin, who found Yves’s body lying neatly on the bed, almost screamed in surprise.

“Your Majesty…! How is this, uh, how…!”

“I used my power. She is still stained with my scent.”

Theodore replied with a very proud expression. “No, it’s not like that…”

Rumors that the Emperor had taken Yves Llewellyn’s body to his bedroom had been well known.

But… he didn’t know that Theodore would use his power to preserve the body, pampered and treated as if it was a precious treasure.

Above all, Theodore was reluctant to reveal the power he had received from his maternal side, Leobrante. And didn’t he always say that power could only be used for one person.

“Didn’t you hate Sir Yves? But why are you using your divine power..…… .”

Theodore, with a hardened expression on his face, looked at Armin with a face with no laughter.

“You say I hated Yves Llewellyn?”

“Yes. Your Majesty obviously didn’t like her. You’ve always thought of harassing her and kicking her out.”

“I hated Yves Llewellyn.”

Theodore continued to mumble grimly, and then burst into laughter.

“How is that possible? Armin Meyer, are you also tricked by Ernst? What nonsense are you talking about? I love her so much.”

Theodore’s voice became softer as he spoke the word love. Armin’s body hair stood up, like a man who heard crazy things.

“Right, Yves?”

He asked, looking back at Yves with a warm smile he had never made before. Armin saw that strange and bizarre appearance and thought to himself.

‘His Majesty has really gone crazy’.

But Armin couldn’t understand.

‘No, but why? why? Was Sir Yves’s death so shocking?’

Didn’t the Emperor always get angry at the mere mention of her name? He said that he would kick her out, and even harassed her badly.

Then, while he’s been rejecting it like that, he actually liked her? It was so ridiculous that Armin laughed out loud.

“Ha…”

Even if you realize your heart belatedly in front of the already dead, the dead will no longer recognize your belated heart.

No, even if the dead Yves Llewellyn gets to know his heart, that’s a problem.

The person who had been tormenting her the whole time was actually liking her? If he (Armin) were her, he would rise from the grave and become a ghost to pay back what he had received.

But now that she was not even in the grave, but in Theodore’s bedroom, she was in a perfect position to get revenge on him.

‘Maybe it’s Sir Yves’s curse that drove His Majesty crazy.’

Theodore, talking to the corpse in a dark and gloomy room, looked exactly like he was cursed.

Armin put aside the useless thoughts, and put the papers that he had been carrying on the small desk that Yves had used during her lifetime.

“Only urgent matters were brought in first. First, the most urgent question is what to do with Your Majesty’s engagement ceremony, which was canceled due to a sudden accident that day…”

Then he continued to explain.

“Miss Katarina was shocked by the incident of that day and said that she was recuperating, and the assassins who attacked her were captured in the underground torture chamber, but they all committed suicide…”

“Everyone, killed themselves?”

Suddenly, Theodore cut off Armin’s words and muttered.

“Yeah, unfortunately we couldn’t figure out who was behind it. What should I do?”

Armin was worried that Theodore might even want to bring the corpses here. But fortunately, Theodore didn’t seem to have gone that far.

“Where are their bodies now?”

“In the basement. I’m waiting for Your Majesty’s decision….”

“Then leave it there. I’ll check again.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. But why don’t you go see Miss Katarina?”

“Who?”

Theodore blinked and asked as if hearing the name of a stranger.

“Your Majesty’s fiancée.”

Armin took out his handkerchief and wiped away his cold sweat.

“Miss Katarina is pregnant with your Majesty’s baby…”

“Oh yeah.”

At Armin’s explanation, Theodore smirked as if he had just remembered.

“Katarina Ferdinand.”

Theodore’s eyes gleamed eerily as he recalled Katarina’s name.

“She hurt Yves. Yves tried to protect her ………….”

He murmured to himself over and over, like someone who had forgotten that Armin was in front of him.

“But why did my Yves have to protect her?”

Then, suddenly, a voice popped into his head.

Miss Katarina has my child. She deserves to be treated like royalty and she should be specially escorted.

It was his own voice.

“Ah, yes. I………”

Theodore distorted his expression and spit out swear words in a painful voice.

“Damn it, I gave Yves that order. I told her to protect her.”

He remembered Yves, whose face turned white at that cruel command.

“At that time, Yves was not feeling well.”

‘Didn’t she even collapse in front of me that day?’

“Damn it, me. I..…… .”

Theodore could not contain his anger towards himself.

Not possible. I am Your Majesty’s escort.

Yves said she didn’t want to escort Katarina from the beginning. How did he reply to that?

Miss Katarina is my fiancée, so you can think of her as me.

Even while looking at her wounded face, didn’t he say that?

Then he left her, and went out for a walk with Katarina like his sweet lover, with Katarina clinging to his arm.

Ignoring her gaze that followed him.

All of it. He did it.

“Yves said she wanted to be with me, but I sent her away anyway.”

Realizing that his past had contributed to her death, Theodore glared at himself in the mirror with dull eyes, and spoke in a ferocious voice.

“I have to kill the old me who sent Yves to that woman.”