CH 31

RJR11-14 minutes 17.09.2023

Yesterday, he slept on the floor because he couldn’t ask for permission in advance. Lescal emphasized twice that he was the one who first carried the sleeping Lasilia to her bed. So, she couldn’t help but notice that if he apologized, he meant to let him sleep next to her in the bed. Pipi said he was a shameless person and instead he got annoyed. Judging from the fact that he calmly slept on the floor, he wasn’t the type of person to ignore his promise to sleep with someone after she regained her memories. Even though she knew this, she felt a bit nervous for some reason.

‘But today is the last day.’

She just hoped that the Emperor would return to his usual ways from tomorrow.

“Shall we stop brushing, Your Majesty?” asked Yvette, who had put on her pajamas and finished the final task of brushing his hair.

His long hair was smooth enough.

“Okay. Good work.”

“Oh my. What are you saying? It’s something I should do.”

Yvette was busy all day. In addition to taking care of the little things, she had to organize the empty seats of the maids and talk to the courtiers. The courtiers were still bewildered by the series of events that had occurred. It was only natural that all the maids who told her to do this and that had disappeared. Yvette cleverly changed the tasks and areas that the courtiers were responsible for. He left the courtiers scrambling for a day as they were forced to do something they were not used to doing instead of their usual job. In the meantime, the courtiers will realize that the empress’s palace has changed, and they will also adapt to the new system without maids. So far, the idea seemed to be working well. It was really fortunate that there were no courtiers who were friendly with the maids who acted arrogantly as if they were one with the Empress. Of course, there would be backlash against Yvette, whose status suddenly changed one day, but it would not be as strong as that of her maids.

Lasilia placed her hand on the back of Yvette’s hand.

“Besides that, if anything else is difficult, let me know. I didn’t make you my maid to make you go through difficult times.”

“Of course, Your Majesty! How could you think like that? But so far it’s really good. Just today, none of the maids were there, but there was no problem.”

“Okay. I know you are doing well. But if you need anything else, don’t hesitate to tell me.”

“You even brought my younger siblings into the palace and shared a room with me. You also gave me so many precious clothes. What else could I need? I am just grateful and honored, Your Majesty.”

She could tell just by looking at her expression that Yvette was sincere.

“Beep.”

Pipi flew out of nowhere onto her sleepy face. She flew around a bit during the day and whined about being tired, but in the evening she started flying around her room freely. If this continued, he might have turned into an adult in the blink of an eye.

“Ren, I think you want to stop sleeping… Oh, by the way, Your Majesty knew about her, right? Isn’t there any trouble though?”

When Yvette asked, Lasilia frowned slightly.

“Maybe so.”

“Huh, that’s it. Then is there anything I can do for you?”

She had to be. But Lasilia did not want to keep inserting Yvette into her own secrets. The less she knew, the safer Yvette was.

“For now, just pretend you don’t know that Pipi knows how to speak her language.”

“Ah…? Why… No, no. I will follow you, Your Majesty.”

Everyone knew that Yvette was the Empress’s companion, but she probably wondered why she had to hide that fact. But she didn’t ask that far. What she meant was that she would accept anything Rasilia told her to do.

“Thank you.”

“Yes? No, what are you talking about? I am very sorry, Your Majesty.”

After the final brushing, everything was ready for bed. Now all that was left was to wait for the Emperor.

* * *

“What can I say… It’s really quiet.”

Ryan spoke softly from behind Lescal, who was heading towards the Empress’ palace. The reason the throne room was so crowded today like a market place was because of the aftermath of what happened in the Empress’ palace. It all started with the Marquis of Parshad. He was furious over the fact that his wife, who was the first maid in the Empress’s palace, was kicked out of the palace on her first day. If it had been a normal rescall, it was something she wouldn’t have heard. However, Lescal listened to the Marquis’ ridiculous accusations until the end. It wasn’t because he suddenly became interested in the ins and outs of the palace, but because it was related to the Empress. Meanwhile, the fathers and husbands of the other maids who had been kicked out came to visit the throne room one after another. If the Minister of State and the Palace Guard had not stamped their feet, saying that they had more urgent state affairs to attend to, the door to the throne room might have been torn off.

“The Emperor’s palace was in such chaos.”

“Thank goodness the Empress was able to live quietly.”

Ryan laughed softly. If courting was what Lescal was doing, he was doing it really well. Looking at Lescal’s words and actions, there was no doubt that he was sincere towards the Empress.

The Empress was a true companion. She could tell that Lescal was sincere about her. The question was what the Empress was hiding by saying her memory loss.

“Doesn’t what Lord Parshad said bother you?”

Just before the palace guard ordered the guards to pull him out, Marquis Parshad left meaningful words. He said that there was a separate reason why the Empress kicked his wife out of the palace with her ridiculous excuse. He said that his wife had accidentally discovered a secret her empress had been keeping from her, and that she had let it out to silence her. She said it would be a terribly dangerous and dirty secret. She also said that the only person who knew was her wife. At the same time, he revealed that he did not know what the secret was.

“Maybe it’s true. If she has such a secret, doesn’t that explain why Her Majesty suddenly suffered from amnesia?”

“Perhaps.”

Lescal was annoyed.

“And yet you won’t take any action?”

“She, the Empress, is my companion, and she is by my side. What else should I care about?”

“Umm, that’s… In fact, the Empress knows nothing about His Majesty. Even though she is His Majesty’s companion, she has been avoiding sleeping with him all this while, and what her intentions are. I cannot guarantee that there was no intention over the past four years.”

“It’s intentional… The Empress deliberately avoids sleeping together, and then what? Do you want to see me completely transform into a demon?”

According to common sense, it made no sense. The fall of the Emperor was the same as that of the Empress. If Lescal became a demon, Cartagena’s future could not be guaranteed.

“Of course, I know this is nonsense. But Her Majesty the Empress is a person who makes no sense. Even if it were just a possibility, Her Majesty could have joined hands with a seditious force like Saint Malik.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“Why are you so sure?”

“Because the Phoenix was born.”

“Phoenix… yes?”

Ryan blinked.

“Phoenix… You say? So, that,”

“A part of my heart that I gave to my companion. The fact that it was born means that both sides were united. As you know, the Phoenix has never been reborn. When the first companion died, the phoenix also disappeared. It was the only time the Phoenix existed in the Empire.”

“Yes. According to the record, yes, but… Have you seen the Phoenix?”

“The Empress took it with her.”

“Yes? But Serven didn’t know?”

“It haven’t grown up yet. It’s as big as your thumb. I think she was hiding it.”

“Ah… No matter how much it is, you don’t notice it. Tsk.”

Perhaps that piece of red stone was an eggshell. He stole it, so the birds would be upset. Ryan reflected on his immature behavior for a moment. If she had kept the egg in her pocket, thinking it was a stone, the phoenix might not have been born.

“If the Phoenix is born, there will be no more doubts. “Then what exactly did Lord Parshad say?”

“Unless you lied to me, it would be true that the Empress was hiding something.”

“However, Your Majesty is saying that since Her Majesty the Empress is your true companion, it doesn’t matter.”

Lescal nodded his head.

“I have no intention of letting the Empress out of my sight. No matter what the Empress’s feelings are, she cannot leave me.”

“Aha… okay.”

Ryan scratched the back of his neck, feeling a little scared. Since the blood of a demon is talking about the companion of one’s destiny, it would naturally be different from an ordinary human, but it might have been difficult for an ordinary human to accept it.

“I know the Empress might hate me now.”

Lescal, who was walking a few more steps, suddenly blurted out these words.

Ryan seemed to have caught her thoughts and scratched the back of her neck with her embarrassed face.

“Oh, you won’t like it. I told you the reason before.”

“Because I’m sure she doesn’t feel the same way as me… But in the end, the Empress will also like me.”

Ryan looked at Lescal’s expression. A faint smile that was difficult to distinguish from an expressionless expression was revealed.

“Is that because the Phoenix was born?”

“That’s right.”

Ryan laughed as if imitating Lescal.

“Then I guess I should thank you. What does the Phoenix like, Your Majesty? I think I should at least offer some snacks.”

“That’s enough.”

Lescal’s smile disappeared as if it had washed away. That wasn’t all, he even frowned as if he was displeased.

“There is no need to be nice to it too. Even if you don’t, it’s arrogant.”

“Uh, um? That’s a bit… It sounds like His Majesty hates the Phoenix…”

“No.”

Lescal said clearly.

“Oh my. Isn’t the phoenix the one that connects you two?”

“No. It must be a part of me. To protect my companion when I’m not around.”

“But you don’t like it?”

“I have no choice but to let it go. It’s not because I’m willing.”

“Aha.”

Ryan realized why Lescal hated the Phoenix.

‘It must be homophobic.’

The Phoenix, which was said to have grown less, was probably behaving the same way as Lescal. However, since he appears to be a small and cute bird, the Empress would not stay away from the phoenix. He was different from Lescal.

‘You might feel like your place has been taken away.’

Ryan giggled inwardly. The name of that feeling of dislike would be jealousy.

* * *

And today, when he finally got to sleep in the same bed with the Empress, his jealousy reached its peak.

“Beep!”

The Empress, dressed in pajamas, opened the bedroom door. Lescal understood what it meant to be nervous down to his very last hair. He took off his outer clothes, unable to breathe, and put on the gown Persson gave him. He couldn’t even remember how he walked to the bed.

“I’m going to turn off the lights.”

Persson turned off the bedroom light and left, leaving behind a long, polite but now useless greeting. Blue moonlight filled the bedroom where only the two of them were left. It felt like his whole body was made of stone, and it also felt like he was floating on the water. He couldn’t breathe properly, his lungs were hurting.

“It looks like it’s going to be a long night.”

The Empress whispered in a low voice. Rescal, clutching his heart as if it were about to burst, tried to ask if he could possibly hold her hand.

It was then.

“Beep!”

A young, cocky bird flew in and burrowed into the Empress’s palm as if showing off.