CH 45

*******

The servant did not remember that he was asleep. It was that kind of magic, so of course it would happen. Yulif silently followed the servant.

The place they headed to was the audience room.

On either side of the audience door, more than ten secret knights were waiting. Although it was not visible, the number of knights who were secretly hiding was considerable. As expected, if Deltinus loses the bet, he will use force to subdue him.

Yulif tried to enter the audience room with a neutral expression as though he knew nothing.

“If you have a weapon, give it to me. We will return it to you when the audience is over.”

“In the eyes of the lord, do I look like I have a weapon?”

For a moment, the knight hunched his shoulders. The emotionless voice evoked an instinctive fear. But today, if something happened inside the audience, he would be killed by Deltinus.

The knight came to his senses and took a step closer to Yulif.

“I am a knight under His Majesty’s orders. The Duke is an excellent wizard, so I think it would be quite possible to make it invisible. I’m sorry, but would you mind if I search for a moment?”

“There is a contradiction in what you say. If I had hidden it by magic, your search would be meaningless.”

The reason the knight wanted to search his body despite inconsistent reasons was simple. He wanted to create an excuse to avoid Deltinus’ reproach. It’s better to clean up quickly than to waste time.

Yulif raised his arms without hesitation. The knight just pretended and opened the door.

“Duke Rubius is entering.”

At the end of the red carpet on the floor, he saw Deltinus sitting on the throne. Centering on the carpet, the emperor’s faction stood on the left and the duke’s aristocrats stood on the right with their heads bowed. Compared to the powerful imperial aristocrats, the duke’s aristocrats showed signs of anxiety.

‘Indeed. You plan to step on me completely in front of the audience.’

The transparent and revealing masterwork did not deviate at all from expectations.

Yulif stopped at the beginning of the stairs to the throne.

“If anyone raises their head before I give orders, I will cut their head off myself.”

The nobles buried their heads down like a withered tortoise. Deltinus said happily.

“The Duke and I are very similar. No matter how much we came from the same litter, I wonder if we could be so similar.”

“Your Majesty and I are different people. Even if we look alike, it’s unreasonable to call us the same human being, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

“You’re sure of victory. The Duke is always full of confidence. I feel reliable in the craft.”

“I’m grateful.”

Yulif replied with an unimpressed attitude.

‘That’s all you can do.’

Deltinus came down the stairs slowly with a fishy smile. And he stood next to Yulif and grabbed his shoulder. His mouth came close to his ear and whispered softly. Only Yulif could hear it.

“You can never get what you want. As long as we have the oath.”

“I know that.”

Deltinus, startled by the unexpected answer, distorted one of his eyes. Yulif’s calm voice continued.

“So Your Majesty won’t be able to have it either.”

Yulif slipped away from him. Deltinus clenched his fist and forced the corners of his mouth up. He looked around at the crowd and shouted.

“I command you who have been invited to this event as witnesses. From now on, close your mouth, open your eyes and ears, and look carefully. Opening a closed mouth is only after the door is opened. It’s going to be a fun spectacle, so you can look forward to it.”

After finishing his words, Deltinus touched his chin. After his brief contemplation, he put Yulif on the left and himself on the right.

“Let’s start.”

Deltinus clapped twice. It was a signal to someone waiting outside.

“Raise your head.”

The nobles were very confused when they saw the two men standing next to each other. Even if it wasn’t, it was impossible to tell which one was Deltinus and which one was Yulif because the two who looked alike were dressed the same.

After a while, the door opened and Canaren appeared.

“Why is that woman……?”

The gossip of the nobles were far away. As soon as he saw Canaren appearing, Yulif’s heart sank. Because she was walking while the maid held her eyes blindfolded.

Canaren stumbled heavily as her feet got tangled a few times. Luckily, there was the maid and she didn’t fall over. He reflexively tried to jump out.

Meanwhile, Canaren stopped in front of them.

“I will untie the cloth.”

The maid spoke softly and untied the cloth that covered her eyes.

Canaren frowned as she adjusted to the pouring bright light. Her vision, which had been dyed pure white, returned to its original state.

Soon, her eyes opened wide.

“What is this…”

Shaking pupils captured Yulif and Deltinus one after the other.

The two did not avert their gazes, but neither did they explain the situation. They just looked at her silently with a blunt expression

Roana was waiting outside the audience room. She managed to stop herself from shouting at the maid who covered her eyes in front of the door.

As soon as they arrived at the Imperial Palace, Yulif, who had disappeared surrounded by soldiers, was beyond the door. She only wanted to go in as soon as possible and check his condition in person.

But now, what was with this situation?

“Your Majesty has promised to give Canaren the right to choose.”

The right to choose. Canaren muttered the maid’s words and looked at each of them with a piercing gaze.

The maid bowed her head and delivered Deltinus’ order.

“He said he deeply regrets being cruel to Canaren… If given the chance, he promised that it would never happen again. Also, if you choose His Majesty, he will receive Miss Canaren as his Empress…….”

The nobility’s gossip grew louder at the word ‘empress’. Did he mean to give the empress’ seat, which was vacant even though many prestigious families offered impeccable ladies, only to the woman of the Hwira tribe?

In particular, Estella’s father, Duke Terodoa, frowned openly.

“O-one, man. You mean to choose, right?”

Canaren stuttered and interrupted the maid’s words. The maid nodded her head and hurried back behind her.

At that moment, someone slowly fell to his knees. And he put his hand up to Canaren.

Please choose me. His unspoken words seemed to be heard.

The nobles were silently astonished at the desperate gesture.

“I think the duke is over there.”

A certain imperial nobleman murmured. The mad emperor could not kneel in front of so many men for a woman. Because Deltinus terribly hated the act of damaging his dignity as the emperor.

He agreed inwardly to the low murmur.

Canaren looked at the man on her knees and the man standing stiffly.

After a moment, her lips parted.

“Yu…f.”

From the moment she heard the maid’s explanation, no, from the moment she took off the cloth that covered her eyes, her answer had been decided.

Canaren’s gaze was straight towards only one person. There was confidence in his calm, unwavering gaze.

The person is Yulif, and the one she chose is him.

But the two men did not respond.

Wasn’t it enough just to call his name and bring her eyes to him? Was it because she called his name clumsily?

Even though she practiced hard with Roana and the Imperial language, it did not come out naturally in front of Yulif.

Canaren gently grabbed the hand of the man who looked down at her quietly, and then released it. His always warm hands were as cold as if he had been exposed to cold air for a long time. It occurred to her for a moment that he might be nervous too.

That thought quickly disappeared. Yulif wasn’t the only one to be nervous about this.

“Yu, f.”

A voice clearer than before announced the winner of the bet.

The expression on the face of Yulif, who was chosen by her, was finally released. The corners of his frozen lips loosened, leaving a faint smile on his face.

Although not as wide as the smile he had shown in the village, Canaren’s heart pounded slightly at his smile that she had not seen in a long time. She didn’t notice the air in the audience room, which had sunk heavily, as she tried to calm her rumbling chest.

Deltinus slowly got up.

Even up to this point, the nobles were skeptical. In particular, the imperial nobles who often met Deltinus thought that it was impossible for Canaren to choose Yulif at once.

To that extent, there was no difference in the appearance of the two, and the act of kneeling on the floor in the audience had a great meaning.

However, because of the anger emanating from the man who raised his body, the nobles knew that she had chosen Yulif correctly.

The emperor, who knelt on his knees and offered the position of the empress, was not chosen. What was worse was that Duke Rubius was the one chosen instead.

The nobles in the audience rolled their heads to get out of the unusual situation. There was a good chance that an wrathful emperor would try to kill everyone here. But the intense anger that could not even hear their breaths grabbed their feet and strangled them.

There seemed to be an eerie silence that seemed to last forever.

“If you don’t have anything else to say, I’ll take back my secret agreement.”

Yulif said with a calm expression.

The nobles were completely fed up with Yulif’s attitude that he did not feel any pressure.

Deltinus glared at him as if to devour him. Yulif reached out his hand forward and clenched his fist lightly as if to reap something from him. A blue light rose from Deltinus and from his arms, and it seeped into his hands.

Canaren looked at Yulif’s arm in surprise. The blue snake, which seemed bloody just by looking at it, disappeared without a trace.

As Deltinus said, it seemed that Yulif really cast magic.

‘Why? What magic?’

“Later.”

Yulif gently stroked Canaren’s hair.

Deltinus’ eyes lit up as he looked at the scene.

He couldn’t accept reality. He had a plan, he had prepared regardless of the outcome of his bet, and he had no doubts that he would succeed.

However, he didn’t really know that Canaren would choose Yulif without a single thought.

It was a dirty, disgusting feeling of being stuck in the mud, mud squirting into his mouth and filling up to his head.

Rather, he wouldn’t have felt this bad for himself if she, like everyone else, had a hard time distinguishing him from Yulif. Yes, she might not have known. He would have thought so.

But Canaren chose Yulif exactly. She literally ‘chose’ Yulif between him and Yulif. In the end, she rejected him even though he went down to his knees. Even though he said he would give her the empress’ position.

‘You don’t even know the subject!’

“You really are an idiot. Even if it’s a bird head, I have nothing to say.”

Canaren hardened her body at the sudden pouring of abusive language. The expressionless face of Deltinus was horrifyingly terrifying.

Nevertheless, Canaren did not run away and confronted him. There was no reason for her to stand still when he said she was stupid.

“You told me, to choose.”

“You are stupid. I did you a favor because I cared for you, but you knew it and ignored it. Do you like the duke that much? Even though he is not different from me?”

“My… choice, this is it.”

“With choice comes responsibility. Let’s see if you can flutter your pretty mouth even when the duke dies.”