The moment the golden arrow pierced Lucas’s heart-
“……?”
‘Why do I feel like I made eye contact with him…?’
That can’t be possible, I haven’t undone the spell.
But the sensation of eye contact was so vivid that it made me uneasy. Getting hit by a golden arrow makes you fall in love with the first person you see, but it shouldn’t be herself.
Rosedale wiped the sweat off her forehead and, with a hint of doubt, and cautiously stepped back.
But Lucas’s gaze didn’t follow her. He just continued to stare blankly at the spot where Rosedale had been standing just now.
‘Thank goodness! I must have been mistaken.’
That must be it.
The relieved Rosedale was putting back her arrows.
“……?”
Rosedale suddenly stopped in her tracks, her pink hair was swaying. Even her wings were out!
Rosedale was startled to see herself reverted to her fairy form.
“How can this be?”
As if on cue, Rosedale quickly got rid of her fairy aura and changed back to her human form. I couldn’t let Elpis find me.
“I only need to find a suitable woman and leave this place.”
The difference in status must be considered, so a maid won’t do. It would be better to bring a woman who is a bit flashy.
But where can I find such a woman?
Until then, Lucas mustn’t see anyone else, shall I knock him out?
I heard that humans faint when they hit the back of their neck hard, so let’s take this opportunity to experiment to see if it’s right..
Rosedale’s thoughts were getting lengthy.
“Your Majesty!”
The door burst open, and Cain entered.
Thanks to that, both Rosedale and Lucas, and even Cain himself, looked stupefied.
“……?”
Rosedale was glaring at Cain thinking why did he have to come over now?
“…….”
Lucas looked at Cain in disbelief as he barged in without knocking.
“……??”
Kane’s eyes narrowed, and he realized that he f*cked up.
“Did I allow you to enter?”
Lucas’s cold voice followed.
If the person who had just entered hadn’t been Cain, he might have been in big trouble. Lucas’s voice carried annoyance mixed with irritation.
Cain immediately dropped to his knees and apologized to Lucas.
“I apologize, Your Majesty, I came back to tell you something that I missed out. But no matter how many times I knocked at your door, His Majesty didn’t respond…”
Rosedale was lost in thought, and Lucas seemed to be dazed as well.
‘What shall I do? I messed up!’ Rosedale froze in place.
If Cain was the first person Lucas saw when he was shot with the golden arrow, he must have developed a crush on him.
‘But he’s a man…!’
Normally, falling in love with someone of the same sex wouldn’t be a problem. However, if that person is the Emperor of a vanishing lineage, it’s a different story.
What if this marks the end of the possibility of an heir?
Besides, wasn’t the whole point of this mission was to make Lucas fall in love, so that the imperial family could see their ‘offspring’?
Rosedale turned pale and was lost in her train of thought. Cain continued to talk remorsefully, “You’ve had little sleep these past few days, and I was worried you’d collapsed. I acted rudely out of concern. Please forgive me, Your Majesty.”
“Haa.” Lucas sighed.
He was the one who hadn’t heard the knock in his dazed stupor, he was not in a position to blame Cain.
“What do you want to say?”
Lucas furrowed his brow, expressing his tiredness and conveyed that he wanted Cain to leave asap.
“Prime Minister Darius has requested to see you, Your Majesty.”
“I’m busy right now, but he can come later this evening.”
“Yes, Your Majesty, I will take my leave then.”
Cain left the chamber with his shoulders slumped. He seemed to be chastising himself for entering the chamber without his lord’s permission.
Rosedale watched Cain’s sullen backside until the door closed behind him, then snapped back to Lucas
“Haa.. I guess I am really tired.”
Lucas shook his head with a small, mocking laugh, as if finding himself in a ridiculous situation.
Rosedale’s eyes widened at the sight of him going back to his papers as if nothing had happened.
“Why doesn’t he seem smitten?”
A human being who falls in love with a golden arrow cannot help but act passionately enamored.
Their reasoning becomes paralyzed, leaving behind only intense sensations akin to being ensnared in a honey pot, praising and clinging to their beloved while expressing all sorts of love.
But Lucas had none of that when he saw Cain.
Maybe Lucas was too composed and rational. But how can he dismiss him with annoyance?
“Does that mean he doesn’t have a crush on Cain?”
It couldn’t be. I had clearly seen the arrow go through his heart.
Rosedale gradually approached Lucas to examine him. Yet, there was nothing discernible by just observing him outwardly.
“Should I consult Eros?”
But she didn’t want to show failure from her first mission.
The more affectionate a person is towards one, the more they want to please them. Losing affection once experienced would be more painful than not knowing it at all.
She had diligently prepared to live as a messenger of the gods, practicing archery throughout the night under the radar of Elpis and gaining knowledge about humans.
All to be accepted, all because I didn’t want to be considered pathetic.
“I can’t disappoint Eros.”
Nothing is certain yet.
There must be a way to resolve this without Eros’s knowledge.
To do that, she needed to find out why this happened. And to find out why, she needed to know Lucas’s true feelings.
How could she know his sincerity?
“Ah!”
Rosedale’s thoughts were interrupted by a familiar face. A blue-haired man with an intelligent face, who had been here with her only moments before – Cain!
“Lucas was acting a bit more human around Kane earlier,” Rosedale thought, “maybe because they’re friends, he can express his feelings honestly?”
“So if I become friends with Lucas, I’ll be able to know all of his intimate feelings and affection.”
To befriend a human was one of Rosedale’s personal interests. But it wasn’t a bad idea.
“All right then. That’s what I’ll do.”
Rose Dale’s mischievous gaze turned towards Lucas.
Unaware of what was transpiring around him, Lucas remained silently focused on his tasks, oblivious to the impending situation of acquiring a fairy friend.
***
The next day.
As Rosedale slipped out of the palace through the back gate, she could feel her heart pounding with excitement. It was because she was tailing Lucas.
“Do all humans have such loudly beating organs?”
She placed a hand on her chest and felt a loud thump.
Ever since she switched to human form, she’d been feeling a lot of physiological and physical changes.
Even now, her heart was beating harder than usual as she began to chase after Lucas.
But before she had time to marvel at that, Rosedale turned her attention back to Lucas, for he had begun to move again.
“We’re going on a stakeout to check out the newest addition to the capital.”
Lucas checked to make sure no one else was around, then continued.
“We need to know the identity of the undisclosed trade goods and the upper class. So, we have to pretend to be buyers and personally inspect that area.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Cain, who was also going with him, wore the same hooded robe as Lucas.
“Uh…”
Just then, a large man in an identical robe next to Cain raised his hand cautiously.
“Your Majesty, is it really acceptable for a lowly knight for me to accompany you to such an important mission?”
“Don’t worry, Sir Burnett. To avoid revealing our mission, I deliberately brought only you, who won’t stand out even if you disappear from the knights.”
Kane smirked and assaulted him with facts.
Burnett nodded nonchalantly, accepting that such words and actions were the default for humans other than Lucas.
“Besides, His Majesty is stronger than a hundred knights combined, and there’s no point in taking too many of them with us…”
“We shall depart.”
Lucas interrupted Cain boasting and got on his horse. Cain followed suit, as if he was used to being cut off, and Burnett mounted as well.
Rosedale trailed behind the three men as they swiftly departed on horseback.
A short ride brought them to a quiet street.
It was a far cry from the lively, bustling streets Rosedale had seen when he first arrived in the capital.
There weren’t many people coming and going, and the atmosphere was somehow a little….
‘Deserted.’
She couldn’t help but think that it was strangely dreary, even if it was just quiet.
As Rosedale looked around, the three men tied up their horses nearby and headed for a shop.
All three wore their hoods pulled down deep, but they didn’t look particularly suspicious. The atmosphere of the street masked their suspiciousness.
Lucas even wore a separate mask under the hood of his robe. It was as if he didn’t want others to recognise him as the Emperor.
“Still, his aura was different.”
Rosedale ducked into a tree in front of the shop they entered and squinted at Lucas.
Lucas was tall and well-proportioned, so even though he was bundled up like that, he stood out.
“All right! I should make myself visible now.”
If we’re going to be friends, they need to be able to see my face.
Rosedale exhaled nervously, her eyes squeezed shut and then opened.
“Mommy, that lady suddenly appeared out of nowhere!”
“Shh. Don’t point!”
Passersby murmured as they looked at Rosedale. Clearly, they could see her, judging by their precise gazes.
“Now that the manifestation is done…”
Peeking at the shop while hiding behind the tree, Rose Dale’s heart fluttered, perhaps from nervousness, as Lucas’s figure swayed like a mirage.
What should I do to be friends with him?
It was a tough start for Rosedale, who had never made a friend before.
“H-Hey!”
Rosedale raised her hand and smiled awkwardly.
“Does that sound weird?”
“Well, how about something like, ‘Glory to Everia’?”
I’ve learnt a lot from wandering and observing the palace yesterday and today. The etiquette of greeting the Emperor was one of them.
‘Friends are made on equal terms, why should I address him formally?’
Cain seems to be a special case, and she’s a novice in the field. I didn’t want to start off with a status risk. So how do I introduce myself?
Rosedale was pacing the front of the shop as she pondered.
Thud!
The sound of something breaking came from inside the shop.
