CH 165

“Hey, it’s still well made though!” the archmage cried out indignantly, though his forehead was still pasted to the floor. “It’s true I tell you! Hey, fake! Pretend to be the empress for a bit. Go on. Have a look! It’ll be exactly the same as you!”

As he continued voicing his protests, the rest of the group could only wonder in their heads about why Richard was inviting more trouble instead of staying still. Meanwhile, Cecile focused her attention on the lookalike, wondering how it’d pretend to be her. What would it do? She didn’t have to wait long to find out.

As soon Richard finished speaking, the fake Cecile immediately moved to Estian’s side, linked arms with him and cooed, “Your Majesty, Cecile will feel too frightened if you make such a scary face!”

The room instantly froze over. Cecile frantically rubbed at the goosebumps that erupted on her arms. How was this exactly the same? She did ham it up in front of others, but she had never used such an excessively coy voice! Just as she was about to indignantly protest to Richard, Estian spoke up first.

“Cecile, close your eyes.”

Cecile immediately complied after hearing the low and murderous tone in Estian’s voice. She knew he was extremely angry, though she wasn’t sure why.

“Richard. Change its face right now. Into your face, preferably, so that I can cut it up without hesitation.”

“Yes sir,” Richard answered instantly, forgoing his usual babbling in the face of Estian’s fury.

Cecile wasn’t able to witness it herself, but as soon as the lookalike’s face morphed into Richard’s, there was the sound of a sword slicing through the air along with a chorus of gasps from the others. When Cecile was able to take a peek, she found a pile of what appeared to be ashes where her double had once stood. The chilling expression on Estian’s face as he glared at the spot made it impossible for any of them to speak.

* * *

Having skimmed through the report detailing her copy’s deeds to a certain extent, Cecile shut the cover and let out a long sigh, before quickly resuming her reading once more. Seeing this, Estian gestured to the four sitting on the floor and said, “The lot of you can leave now.”

Life returned to their expressions as they hurried out of the room, though Girgantia’s wings were briefly caught on the doorframe due to his increased size. With only Cecile and Estian left, the room was finally quiet, but Cecile’s attention was still fixed on the report.

“You can read it later. There’s no need to overdo it since you’ve yet to fully recover,” Estian said, moving to her side.

“But I have to know what happen— L-let me down, please!”

“I saw you stagger while walking a little while ago. Rest well until your body fully recovers.”

Cecile wanted to continue studying the report, thinking that even if it was only a little more, it’d be better to familiarize herself more with the details. However, Estian was having none of it; he flipped the report shut, cradled her in his arms, and carried her towards the bed. Even though she’d tried to hide her dizziness earlier, Estian had noticed it in a flash.

Estian laid Cecile back on the mattress so gently it didn’t even shake. As he began to pull back, Cecile reached out to him.

“Your Majesty, are you ok?”

“That’s what I should be asking you.” He let out a low chuckle despite himself, and quietly surrendered himself to her, allowing her to embrace him around his neck.

“Don’t laugh. I still feel terrified.”

Feeling her arms around him shake, Estian’s laughter ceased. He recalled the scene of her riding atop Girgantia and swinging the scepter towards him. How was it that she trembled just thinking about it now, but she could be so fearless back then while she flew straight towards him? He couldn’t comprehend it at all.