CH 59

Who is the Fake Bride? (1)

“…what? They have sent a delegation from Rakain?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Heinez replied with a bow. Kergel looked at his figure as he narrowed his forehead before smiling in vain—as if he was utterly astonished.

“Those who didn’t even attend the wedding were now sending a delegation instead. What is their real plan actually?”

“I shouldn’t be guessing it rather lightly, but I think that they have probably heard the relationship between Your Majesty and the Empress has grown closer nowadays from the people of other countries who had attended the wedding before.”

“So, they are coming in the name of an envoy to get something from the Empress then, isn’t that right?”

“There’s no other apparent reason it seems. It wasn’t like there had been a lot of interaction with Rakain originally after all.”

Heinez responded to Kergel’s question again with his calm voice. Kergel listened to him and replied nothing for a moment while being in thought. Heinez continued to stand quietly as well as he carefully kept his silence too.

He eventually rose himself.

“I think that it would be better to talk to the Empress, Your Majesty.”

“…what does that even mean?”

Kergel narrowed his brow and looked upwards towards Heinez. Although he might have appeared nervous about the somewhat sharp gaze, Heinez still resumed calmly.

“Of course, the Empress is very wise, but I’m afraid that she’ll be glad to meet people from her home country that she might make a rather slip of the tongue. If that happens, it could become a bilateral issue instead.”

“Is there anything between us and Rakain that could pose a problem?”

Kergel asked in a gruff tone as if he disapproved of Heinez’s excessive boundaries. Then, Heinez composedly replied as if he had just thrown a large explosive earlier.

“For example, you haven’t had your first night yet. If they were to find out about this back in Rakain, they’d definitely say something like: ‘Now, that’s a problem’.”

“Heinez, you… cough!”

Kergel was speechless by the sudden attack as he coughed a little.

“Now that’s…”

“I’m just saying this solely on a contingency basis.”

Heinez looked at the bewildered Kergel as he replied again in another calm tone. In addition, Heinez was just staring at him.

Kergel’s face began to be painted in crimson. Then, Kergel sighed and shook his head.

“You’re just as wacky as Bert is.”

“Why are you suddenly staking it on me, who is just quietly working over here?”

At that moment, Bert stuck his nose amidst the pile of papers before he raised his head and muttered in a dreary voice.

“Whoa… it’s ok, it’s ok. I just want to talk more to you guys.”

Kergel rose from his seat while rubbing his red face with his hands. He looked like he was going to leave the office right away. Heinez then frowned at the sight and instantly opened his mouth in return.

“Where are you going—all stealthily?”

“To the Empress.”

“…What?”

On the contrary, Heinez was the one who became speechless this time. Kergel simply continued in a nonchalant voice just as Heinez did a little while ago.

“Or are you going to tell the Empress to not make that mistake then?”

“So, you’re actually going to the Empress right now? There’s a pile of documents that you still need to approve though…”

Heinez winked at the pile of papers on the desk while looking absolutely puzzled. However, Kergel only shrugged his shoulders with a confident look.

“This is much more important than that. My secret about the ‘First Night’ might flow into other countries.”

“You’re a new bridegroom but you still didn’t even have the first night. That’s nothing to be bragging about…”

Bert burst out laughing as if he just couldn’t listen to it anymore.

“Bert! Please don’t do that! What a way of saying that to His Majesty!”

“No, what did I even do? It’s just funny—His Majesty and the Empress aren’t sleeping together, playing house in bed every night and it’s a national secret…”

“That head of yours looks pretty heavy today, Bert.”

Kergel listened quietly before he growled and opened his mouth.

“It looks quite hard for it to be put on your neck. Should I take this opportunity to cut it off then? Huh? Why don’t we just cut your head for you to wear it on your side instead?”

“No, well… Can’t I just like, talk?”

Bert quickly turned into a pup with a tail as he murmured softly. He couldn’t have stopped Kergel at all. When Heinez saw that, he clicked his tongue and shook his head before looking at Kergel once again.

“Your Majesty…”

The place where the Emperor had just been earlier was now empty. He must have snuck out of the office after a moment of distraction from Bert.

“He just ran away, didn’t he? These days, His Majesty has been running away on the pretext of meeting the Empress.”

Bert looked at the door of the office and opened his mouth with a rather curious expression in return.

“I never imagined that he would be this very close to the Empress. How did that even happen? I can’t believe how he really hated the fact right after receiving the revelation. Did he get attached while using the same bed? Even if he hadn’t really ‘slept together’…”

“Bert, I’m afraid that you might just make a slip of the tongue in front of others.”

“Me? Make a mistake? Who is even as thorough as I am?”

Bert grumbled with his eyes wide open as if he had just been falsely accused.

Heinez looked at the Emperor’s immature aide for a moment before squeezing his forehead again with his hand. It was ominous to see that his headaches would not disappear soon not only due to the Emperor, but his aide as well.