Chapter 30
Clack.
“Signus.”
The servants who were cleaning Signus’ room turned their heads at once.
“Lord Aslan.”
The servants greeted the man with a sickly complexion named Aslan. He then asked.
“You’ve worked so hard. Where’s Signus?”
“He went to the parlor.”
“Parlor? Don’t tell me he’s at it again….”
Aslan was about to warn the servants to run for their lives, but the servant answered.
“He doesn’t want to be disturbed since he has a lot of work to do.”
As if he couldn’t believe what he just heard, Aslan asked.
“…Work?”
“The Kingdom of Clan has started the invasion of Cecil in the east.”
A middle-aged nobleman in charge of the eastern region began to talk.
“A country that lacks iron will naturally aim for a region that is rich in minerals like Cecil.”
The nobleman humbly bowed his head.
“Please give me an order to launch the first attack, Your Highness.”
Droop, who stood behind Signus, was busy speculating about what Signus was going to say.
[It’s your area. Deal with it yourself. If you’re this useless, you’d better off die.]
[Why can’t you move without an order? How do you keep your family afloat with that stupid head of yours?]
[No, just gather the troops. If they came to invade, join forces with the east and kill those useless bastards all at once.]
After listing all the possible answers, Droop slowly nodded.
‘The last one is the most plausible.’
The middle-aged nobleman had been communicating with the royal family through letters, so he never saw Signus in person before.
When Droop was worried about the nobleman’s safety, suddenly he heard a low voice.
“If you lose, I will destroy the east.”
The nobleman raised his head.
“Does that mean….”
The corner of Signus’ rosy lips went up. His smile looked even more dazzling today. His unusual bright face caught everyone’s attention.
“Bring me news of victory.”
The middle-aged nobleman exclaimed with a bright face.
“I will surely bring you news of victory!”
Leo and Droop exchanged gaze. The two knights were frozen in place even though the next nobleman came in.
Droop and Leo were patrolling around the Imperial Palace.
The two, who were greeted by servants as they walked by, stopped by at the ministry of finance department.
It was a complete mess.
“What happened to the cost of goods that you handed over last week?”
When asked by a messy-haired nobleman, a nobleman who loosened his clothes answered.
“Be patient. I still have a long way to go.”
“What? Then what about the materials acquired through the trade?”
“Can’t you see I’m still doing it now?”
“Are you kidding me now? I told you I need to get approval by today.”
Thump!
The nobleman who loosened his clothes slammed the table. His fierce gesture sent the piled-up papers in a flurry.
“Can’t you see I’m so busy right now? If you’re in such a hurry, then you should do it instead!”
“What kind of bullshit are you spouting? You must organize it quickly and hand it over to me so I can get His Highness’ autograph!”
Their voices became louder and louder.
“Hey, It was five days ago that the work started to pile up so suddenly, even before that I still have a heap of unfinished work to do. What do you even know!”
“Don’t make me laugh. Are you the only one who is busy here? I stayed up all night for a whole 3 days!”
People from the Ministry of Finance, who had been working like crazy, shouted on top of their lungs.
“Only 3 days? It’s been 4 days for me!”
“I was on duty 5 days ago! I haven’t even gone home yet!”
“So what? Do you wanna brag about it?”
“Yeah! I want to brag so bad!”
The two knights stood still watching their never ending bickering.
“Hey! Move out the way!”
The nobleman shoved Leo and Droop with his shoulders and muttered.
“Why are you blocking the door when I’m so busy?”
Looking at his staggering steps and how he treats the knights like luggage, he seemed to be so dead tired.
“Here, a present for you.”
Meanwhile, another nobleman put down a bunch of documents on the table.
“…What the hell is all this…”
“….Don’t tell me.”
“Right. It’s a new document.”
This crazy bastard.
The bickering nobles let out a curse at the same time. The same was true of other people who flocked around them.
“When’s the deadline?”
The nobleman who put down the document smiled brightly.
“2 hours.”
“……”
Silence occupied the previously boisterous office of the Ministry of Finance. The messy-haired nobleman started to pull out his hair in frustration.
“Your Highnessssssssss!”
“The Imperial Palace is in a mess today.”
The marquis muttered inside the moving carriage. Ulysse, who stayed up all night writing the report, had gone to the Imperial Palace before us.
“That seems to be the case.”
I got permission from the captain to come out, but the situation seemed a little bit strange.
At that time, I heard the guards in the main gate whispering to each other.
“Did you hear the news? His Highness has been working for the past few days.”
“He stopped drinking and slept.”
I was surprised to hear that. I didn’t know that Signus enjoyed drinking alcohol now.
“Oh, don’t get me started. A few days ago, he encouraged a noble who wanted to attack the enemy country and gave him support!”
The guard snorted in disbelief.
“Who are you trying to fool? His Highness working is the biggest joke I’ve ever heard.”
“Oh, I’m not joking. Ask the knights!”
“Fine! I’ll ask right away…!”
The guards who were about to look for the knight, flinched when they saw us and bowed their heads in haste.
“It’s the rumored Young Lady, right?”
“Yeah.”
Hearing the guards whispering among themselves, the marquis and the captain looked at each other.
I could guess what they were thinking, but I don’t care about that now. I just wanted to meet Ayaran as soon as possible.
“Elaine.”
I raised my gaze to a familiar voice. A dignified man with red hair was approaching us.
“Duke!”
“Welcome.”
The two hugged each other lightly, and then the Duke asked.
“I thought you’d come next week. Why did you come so early?”
“I want to introduce my daughter.”
Old man. You should’ve said that you are here for work!
“Say hello to the Duke of Cyben, Navian.”
“I greet Your Grace the Duke of Cyben.”
I bowed with my hands on my chest like a habit. I just realized a moment later that I greeted him like a knight.
‘….Maybe because I haven’t seen him in a long time that I’m doing this unconsciously.’
I guess I was getting carried away by the situation, especially since I was in the Imperial Palace right now. Fortunately, I didn’t say my name by accident.
Hahaha!
When I raised my head at the duke’s laughter.
“I heard you rarely talk much, but you seem different. You have a disciplined way of greeting just like a knight.”
When the marquis saw my stiff face, he chimed in.
“It’s because she has been escorted by the knights these days, stop making fun of her. My daughter did nothing wrong.”
“Okay, I got it.”
Then the duke came closer and smiled.
“Yeah, I always wonder who it was, so it’s you. I’m….”
The duke’s icy eyes went somewhere in the Imperial Palace. Then he grinned and beckoned me.
“Someone is waiting for you, so let’s save the greeting for later. Let’s go inside first.”
“No, but why? I was going to take her on a tour around the imperial palace….”
“Nope, you can’t. It’s dangerous. And didn’t I tell you that someone is waiting?”
The Marquis, who was being pushed by his back, asked in a confused tone.
“Who?”
The duke’s laughter rang again.
“My daughter.”
Aslan asked as if he couldn’t believe it.
“….Only one person?”
“Yes.”
Aslan was speechless at Leo’s answer. Droop, who was also frozen in place, asked Leo again.
“Did you hear the question right? Lord Aslan is asking how many people die in His Highness’ hand today, not the opposite.”
“Yeah, I’m telling the truth. I heard from the capital defense unit that the person he killed was a drunk womanizer. His neck flew away when he was getting in His Highness’ way.”
The Droop mumbled in bewilderment.
“…Really? I’ve been surprised many times in the last few days.”
“My little brother is finally….”
Aslan shed tears. His white arm was revealed as he was busy wiping away his tears. The arm that was filled with countless scars looked very fragile.
“At first, I thought the reason why Signus changed was his severe insomnia. Sleep is important for humans, after all.”
“Right, even a saint would lose his mind if he didn’t sleep for a year.”
As if agreeing with Droop, Aslan smiled softly and said.
“That’s right. I thought we had to find a cure for Signus’ addiction to alcohol and his sleeping problem. But as you all know, I couldn’t do that.”
Because the cure was no longer in this world.***
I thought as I was carried by the captain.
‘The Imperial Palace is indeed so big.’
We had to ride a carriage from the main gate to the main building. However, my weak body wouldn’t allow me to walk to Ayaran’s study.
“Why didn’t you ask me to visit you instead? If I had known you were having such a hard time walking, I would have paid you a visit.”
The marquis sighed at the duke’s words.
“My daughter is quite impatient, you see. I guess there’s no parent who can win over their children.”
“Yeah, I agree.”
I was feeling guilty that I caused everyone trouble, so I quietly whispered an apology to the captain.
“I’m sorry, captain.”
“It’s nothing much, my lady.”
After walking for quite a while, we were stopped by the appearance of someone who stood right in front of the study.
“Welcome to the palace. I’ve been waiting for you.”
Unexpectedly enough, many people were waiting for me today. I wanted to praise the marquis for doing a good job for me.
“Put me down, please.”
The captain kneeled down. After finally landing my feet on the floor, I politely greeted the man in front of me.
“I greet the Second Prince of the Empire.”
The water welled up in his gentle eyes. He quickly held my hand and said.
“My lady. Thank you so much.”
I wanted to ask what he was so thankful for, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask. Because my heart sank at the sight of his wounded arms.
‘He was said to be tortured, right?’
I was going to sacrifice my life anyway, so I regretted that I didn’t do it sooner so he won’t have to suffer.
At that time, the door opened and a fluttering red hair came into the scene.
“Why is it so noisy?”
The duke burst into laughter.
“Aya, this child is the one you’ve been waiting for…”
Ayaran held my hand and dragged me in without hesitation.
Thud!
And shut the door of the study.
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