CH 57

Flowers were medicine for the emperor, but they were poison for court ladies who were only ordinary people.

“Y-Your Majesty, this servant has committed a great sin. Please forgive me once so that this will never happen again…!”

He tossed the court lady in annoyance. The court lady screamed and stepped back when she saw an ice-thorn wolf’s bane before her eyes.

“You, the one who became a court lady for loyalty, unable to pick a single flower to cure my neurosis?”

“Please save me, Your Majesty!”

“You b*tch embarrassed me in front of the Princess.”

He just wants to kill that court lady. Pretended to test his loyalty with flowers, but it was just a way to vent his anger. It was like showing off to me, the princess of Squire.

With a pale face, I forced open my hardened lips. “Your Majesty, may I take his place?”

Euges grasped my hand, which he had been holding like a trap the whole time as if to twist it.

Grasp!

“Ugh…!”

He held my distorted face with his other hand. His eyes were filled with murderous intent.

It was scary. The tension I felt when I first encountered the monster was incomparable to my current fear. Still, I didn’t avert my eyes. Even if my eyes were bloodshot or tears welled up, I should never do that. I don’t regret my actions.

Euges made a strange expression and released his hand that had held me tightly. “I didn’t know that Princess has so much compassion.”

He took a step back. “Alright, let’s do this. I will ask you a question, and if I like your answer, I will spare the court lady. If I don’t like it… Princess will kill him yourself. Will you accept this bet?”

The emperor likes to bet. His black hearts would increase if you retreated, so I had no choice.

“…Alright.”

When I answered, Euges looked at me arrogantly with a satisfied face. The bet started.

“Until now, anyone who deceived me was burned at the stake. However, now that punishment has become insignificant, so more and more people are being lax like today.”

“…”

“What kind of punishment do you think this court lady should be given to make everyone aware not to do deception?”

“What punishment do you think this court lady should be punished for making everyone aware of deception?”

He asked what kind of punishment could be more effective to raise awareness rather than burning them. Simply, being cruel wouldn’t be a trivial and oblivious answer to the emperor’s heart. This was a scene and a question that didn’t appear in the game.

Here, I had to use my judgment and answer considering Euges’s character. He liked betting, drinking, smoking, and stories. The breakthrough was ‘story.’

“Before I answer, may I tell you a story?”

Euges generously allowed it. “Try it.”

I had no talent for telling stories in an entertaining way. Instead, I knew how to make it appear amusing. After all, I wrote the <God’s Play> game scenario. It wasn’t a story I made alone, but I had the experience to express the story.

It happened to be raining today. So I drew the rainwater using my mana and made an exaggerated character like an animation.

“A mischievous god gave his son, who was unable to use magic, the ability to use tricks to change the shape of stolen objects.”

This was the story of Sisyphus, a Greek myth.

“With that ability, the son of god stole the cow of Sisyphus, the king of the region called Corinth, and changed its appearance to make its color brighter and its belly fatter.”

Euges was indifferent at first but gradually focused on the characters I created.

“Sisyphus became suspicious of the son of God as the number of his cows decreased, and the number of cows of unknown origin increased. Then he came up with a trick.”

I engraved ‘Sisyphus’ on the cow’s hoof.

“Sisyphus visited the son of God and showed him the hoof of a cow on which his name was engraved. Thus, the theft was discovered, and not only the son of the god but also the god came to hate Sisyphus.”

What I need this time is Zeus, the god who rides on clouds with lightning, and Nymph Aegina, the river god.

“One day, Sisyphus discovered that the god of lightning had kidnapped the beautiful nymph, Aegina. The nymph’s father was a river god, and Sisyphus traded the information with him because his kingdom needed water.”

The emperor wasn’t the only one who focused on the story. Before I knew it, everyone here was looking at the character made of water I made with a blank expressions.

“Sisyphus got the water, and the lightning god was furious when the abduction failed. So he sent the god of death to Sisyphus.”

However, Sisyphus tricked the god of death into confinement. Because of that, death disappeared from the world for a while, and Hades, who ruled the underworld, suffered great damage.

“Sisyphus was taken to the underworld as punishment. However, he deceived even the god of the underworld and returned to the human world and enjoyed a long life.”

Euges, who had been silent, opened his mouth. “From your story, I know who is God and who is Sisyphus. But Sisyphus came back alive from the underworld and lived a long life. Does that mean I have to let that court lady live?”

I shook my head. “Sisyphus eventually died at the end of his life span. The gods didn’t forgive Sisyphus for deceiving them, so they punished his soul.”

The rainwater formed a huge mountain. And at the foot of the mountain, there was a small Sisyphus and a boulder.

“Sisyphus was punished by pushing a boulder to the top of the mountain for deceiving the gods. But before reaching the top, the boulder rolled back down again, repeating his punishment forever.”

After I scattered the magic away, I made eye contact with Euges. “Since the court lady deceived God, what if her punishment is pushing the boulder?” This was my answer.

“Ha… Hahaha!” The emperor laughed like a boy. “That answer is really to my liking.”

Ah… thank god. It felt as if the strength of my whole body was released from the relief.

“I will punish that court lady by rolling the boulder, just like the Princess said.”

…What?

“Your Majesty,” I called him with a stiff face.

The court lady, who thought she would stay alive, shed tears silently, lost her temper, and shouted. “Didn’t you say that if you like the princess’s answer, you will surely spare me!”

Euges clicked his tongue. “That’s why I didn’t order to kill you. Can’t you hear me?”

The chief of chamberlain sighed, and the court lady was dragged out. I looked at the emperor, trembling slightly all over my body, looking pale and tired.

Euges carefreely picked flowers from the flower bed, even getting hit by the rain himself. The rain-soaked flowers were emitting more light and fresh fragrance. He smelled the scent of the flowers and then approached me with a sluggish smile.

“It really works. Even Princess’s messy etiquette doesn’t bother my eyes.”

Obviously, the emperor was in a good mood and held out the ice thorn wolf’s banes to me. “Take it. It’s the first time I give flowers to a woman.”

“…I am honored, Your Majesty.” I received the flowers with cold hands, then confirmed something.

[Likeability: 3]

Euges’s likeability was reduced to three black hearts. In addition, he even permitted the court ladies to remove the cloth attached to their shoes. I really made him feel better. Really…

My body trembled.  I had lost a lot of stamina and had been out for too long in the cold rainy weather.

Euges held my hand with his hot hand. “We’ve been outside for such a long time that your body has become cold. Let’s go to the banquet hall and have some warm food.”

I wanted to avoid his touch, but my condition made me have to be supported by him to walk. Euges wasn’t offended at all. Rather, he almost held me in his arms with an expression of delight.

I felt dizzy. It seemed like the frantic ringing of sponsorship notifications was heard mixed with the cries of the court lady who was being dragged out.

Crazy b*stard. The emperor was truly a madman. It was to the extent that I could say that he was by far the worst of all the male protagonists.  

I was able to return to the duchy with a completely upset stomach after having a grand dinner.