“Your Highness.”
Argos looked back at Juno who was approaching him. “As you said, this is an empire.” He could feel how great this woman was, smiling without saying a word. Argos continued, “And the ruler here is you.”
“That’s right.”
Argos was no longer bewildered by Juno’s confidence in not denying his words. With a dejected smile, he said, “So what do you want?”
He was talking about the deal Juno put forward before showing him this.
“You must have liked the meeting.”
“I did,” Argos answered, preparing himself. Juno Sergien, who had this power, would want something incredible if she offered a deal.
“There’s only one thing I want. Please hand over the crown prince to me when this is over.”
And Argos’s prediction was not off the mark. She wanted him to hand over Anton.
Trying not to show surprise, he asked, “…May I know why?”
Juno replied as if she didn’t care. “I have a personal grudge. Very personal.”
But the apparent anger expressed in her words wasn’t something to be easily dismissed. What the hell happened? Considering the nature of Prince Anton and his past activities, he must have done something truly terrible. However, Anton was a noble, and it couldn’t be related to that.
Fortunately, Juno gave Argos some space. “I understand it’s not an easy decision to make, so give it some thought before you let me know.”
“…Understood.”
Juno Sergien, who was already struggling with her feelings, said calmly, “Shall we end it here?”
“Yes.”
“Unless something important happens, you’ll be the crown prince next year and the emperor in the future.”
It was questionable whether or not there would be an unexpected event. Argos asked, “What are the possibilities?”
“You may ignore me like before, or I may lose my power.”
In the first case, it was unlikely. Argos saw what happened to his father who made Juno his enemy. What was even more unlikely to happen was the second case.
“Do you believe you will lose your power?”
It was either excessive humility or a joke. And so far, based on what Argos has seen of Juno, Juno Sergien of House Sergien was not particularly humble. Amused, he said, “Is this some sort of a joke?”
“Does it appear that way? But the source of my power is my skills, so if someone with similar abilities appears, my authority will be challenged, no?” Her humility and playfulness seemed to be serious, but for Argos, Juno’s family was so impressive it was ridiculous.
“Impossible.”
“Nothing is impossible.”
Argos no longer refuted her opinion because he had to look at the big picture. Then, John approached Juno and whispered something.
She looked at him and said, “…Well, Your Highness, shall we say goodbye now?”
“All right.” Argos extended his arm to her.
Pretending to be surprised, Juno opened her mouth. “Ah, you’re escorting me.”
“It is basic etiquette.”
Juno smiled quietly and rested her hand on his arm. Argos discussed the information he heard today as they headed toward her carriage. “Is the information about my bodyguard true?”
She continued to smile. It probably was true. Argos sighed. “…I see. At some point, my mother always had a lover, so it was unsurprising. I didn’t expect everyone knew about it.”
Argos also heard and saw his mother’s lovers as he got older. He really didn’t think it was an open secret.
While thinking about how to deal with his mother, Juno took back her hand. “Thank you, Your Highness. I’ll contact you about the date and place for the next meeting.”
After a quick exchange of pleasantries, Argos recalled her hand while watching the carriage leave. Unlike other noblewomen, there were calluses on her knuckles.
Was he shocked by seeing the rough texture? It seemed he could still feel its warmth. Argos scratched his arm and approached his horse.
***
Juno got into the carriage and looked at John once the carriage door closed. “Tell me again what you said earlier.” While she talked to Argos, John delivered an unexpected message.
“Master and Lord Jupiter met privately.”
“Really?”
It was a fact that she was aware Peter didn’t like Jupiter. Of course, Peter, for her sake, didn’t let her know, but she knew him as well as he knew her.
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But she wasn’t worried. I don’t need to be.
When Juno was away, Peter called Jupiter to tell him about what happened while he was sleeping. It wasn’t strange that they met. Confused, Juno waited for John to explain.
He continued, “It seemed like they were planning something. They didn’t mention any details because they were afraid one of the dolls would notice.”
There were many dolls in the mansion. A doll with hearing as good as John, Hebe, and Peter, to the point where they could hear everything in the mansion, did not exist; however, there were enough dolls inside the mansion that one could eavesdrop on Peter and Jupiter’s conversation.
Peter was one of the most human-like dolls, like Hebe and John, so he could notice the presence of other dolls. In the end, it was difficult to hear anything important or the whole conversation.
Shrugging, Juno said, “Neither of them is capable of doing anything without me.” She didn’t know what their plan was, but she believed in them. “Anything else?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“More of the insect dolls have gone missing.”
Juno looked out the window and felt the summer breeze. It weighed on her conscience to throw away dolls with egos once they fulfilled their duties, so the ones she sent out to gather information had no personalities and communicated with John. Since it had no ego, an insect doll was vulnerable to the outside environment. As it was small in size, it was highly likely to be attacked by other animals or insects, and it was easily damaged by humans.
Observing the weather, Juno replied, “Is it because it’s summer?”
“I don’t know.” Like before, John’s report indicated an unusual pattern.
Juno gave an order. “Check if there are more dolls and find out where the missing ones went.”
“Understood.”
Juno leaned back in her chair and looked at John. It was he who always acted accordingly with her every move, so she thought he could see the situation more clearly.
“What do you think?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
Juno recalled Prince Argos, who had been with her until now. “Prince Argos. I’m sure he’s a better option than the crown prince. But do you really think he’ll be a good emperor?”
John looked at Juno in wonder. “I didn’t know you’d care about that.” It wasn’t something to worry about if it was his usual Juno.
Juno replied with a nod. “I’m starting to rethink my personal opinions. And he’s a bit of an annoyance.”
“In what way?”
Juno recalled the time when she became interested in Prince Argos’s character. “Personality?”
“It’s because of her.”
Juno replied with a smile. “I can’t deny that.” She liked Argos when he vowed to use Lily only as the last resort. More specifically, she liked his sense of humanity. Few people were born like Argos and grew up while still having it. I feel sorry for others only when they don’t hurt me.
Most aristocrats would choose the easy way rather than do what Argos did in that situation. Just like Juno. At first, I figured he was a stupid person. She thought he was not aware of his position because of a sense of moral justice. But Argos surpassed her expectations. So, she became interested in him. It was fascinating that someone who could think about how to use Lily said he wouldn’t use her.
John said, “As expected, Hebe is right.”
“What?”
“You have such a weak heart.”
Juno did not argue with him. It’s true that Lily bothers me.
At first, Lily reminded Juno of herself, and later she felt bad when she thought of using the child. Of course, it was an apology on behalf of the child’s feelings since Lily knew nothing. Maybe it’s pitying the past me as a child.
In the past, she was tired of her life, which was dominated by the will of others, and she hated the gaze of others who judged her. But now she was becoming that kind of person herself: a person who uses and evaluates others according to her own purpose. It’s very evil of me.
She wasn’t as weak-minded as her allies say. Rather, Juno was a hypocrite. She only sympathized with the child by projecting her from the past without feeling any guilt for using others.
Juno didn’t say how she felt and just laughed. “But my people around me will make up for that, right?”
“Of course.”
Juno’s smile deepened at his answer. “Thank you, John.”
He nodded and began to take out papers one by one. “Let’s talk about the reports we received today.”
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“Are we getting straight to work?”
John answered Juno’s question which came out as a grumble.
“When we return, you’ll be spending time with him again. I think you should take care of some things here so that your time is not interrupted.”
To sum up, he meant that he would let her work from now on so as not to disturb her date at the mansion. Juno thought he heard the conversation in the room earlier.
Eventually, Juno burst into laughter.