With a clang, the presence disappeared.
Lescal, who was lightly covering the ears of the sleeping Lasilia, removed his hand after confirming that the people who had been making noise outside had disappeared.
“Uhm…”
Lasilia tossed and turned slightly as if she would wake up. Lescal held his breath for a moment and stopped moving. Fortunately, Lasilia rustled her body for a moment before she fell into a deep sleep again.
In his spare time, Lescal carefully straightened Lasilia’s hair that was scattered on the pillow. When he touched her hair and it didn’t wake her up, her gestures became a little bolder.
Even when he lightly touched her cheek, Lasilia did not wake up. A relieved Lescal touched her cheek.
He still couldn’t believe the time he spent with Lasilia today.
He decided to let Lasilia set the date and said when she was ready. He was even scared, wondering if he could dare to believe it.
“…”
In her sleep, Lasilia’s lips appeared rose-colored, not apricot-colored as usual.
His mind went blank when he thought about what those lips had done to him just a moment ago. She touched his skin several times and she allowed him to swallow her lips.
Lasilia, who closed her eyes and obediently hugged her neck, was so pretty that she felt her heart stop several times.
He may not have ever understood the meaning of words like happiness or heaven. It was only at that moment that he finally understood what people call heaven.
Heaven was a place where the heart stopped. At the same time, it was a place where he hoped his heart would never stop. Because nothing could ever end.
So Lescal got up very carefully.
His graceful and light movements did not disturb Lasilia in the slightest. Lescal, who muffled the sound of footsteps and opened the bedroom door, called out to Decan through the guards standing guard.
Decan appeared quickly. He was just returning from preparing to hand over the body to the wizard guild.
“Quiet.”
Lescal greeted him with the bedroom door ajar.
Asking everyone to be quiet without saying hello meant that the Empress was asleep and that Lescal did not want to wake her.
Instead of answering, Decan just nodded his head quietly.
“Do you know why the Prince of Dell’Arta is still wandering around?”
“According to Lord Sigress, the purpose was to request financial support from the Piellion family. Since Her Majesty the Empress refers to him as her guest, we can assume that she has personally pledged her funds.”
“Is that what it means to be in debt?”
“Her Majesty considers King Verhoyet dead because she failed to make her prophecy known.”
“I see.”
“…”
Decan remained silent and waited for the next words due to the slightly off-kilter remark. Lescal did not like unnecessary talk, so he only said what was necessary.
The only person who thought that Lescal had a strange speaking style was Lasilia. And she wasn’t really wrong. Because the only person Lescal wanted to appear to was Lasilia.
“Bring me the money now. A million… No, ten million Kryons.”
“What?”
Decan was surprised by the unexpected amount.
“With that money, the empire can wage war rather than a civil war unit, Your Majesty.”
“So there is no reason to refuse. There’s no reason to come back. Tell them to take the money and leave immediately.”
“I follow orders… But shouldn’t it be something that should also follow Her Majesty’s wishes?”
It was okay to provide funding even if it wasn’t early morning.
If Lasilia had already promised support and Lescal intercepted it and kicked out the prince of Dell’Arta, Lasilia’s position could have become uncomfortable.
“Ryan will be crossing swords with the Prince of Dell’Arta right now.”
“Yes? …why?”
“Because the Prince of Dell’Arta wandered around here just now.Like a rat.”
A clear boundary appeared in Lescal’s expressionless expression. Decan shrugged his shoulder.
“Why on earth would you do that… I don’t understand. Her Majesty the Empress has already welcomed them as her guests. Her guests seemed to have no ill feelings until then.”
“It would be the opposite.”
Lescal finished speaking and showed his gums.
Decan had never seen his face so displeased before.
“It is impossible for Her Majesty the Empress to say the opposite…”
“Don’t let me set foot there again. Make sure you leave the border. If necessary, you can call in a wizard guild.”
Since the time it took to ride a horse was annoying, he meant to use a spell or a magic circle to make it go away quickly.
“I understand, Your Majesty.”
According to what I heard from Serven and Ryan respectively, the Prince of Dell’Arta’s attitude toward the prophets of the past was excessive. There is a reason because both of them consistently say not to slow down surveillance. The fact that he wandered around the Empress’s bedroom in the middle of the night was the reason why he could no longer be tolerated.
“I will handle it now… Ah, but if there is a conflict with the chief knight of the Imperial Guard, shouldn’t it be resolved through imperial law?”
“Leave it alone. Ryan will take care of it. Even if Dell’Arta was wounded, he would not be allowed time to remain within the Empire. Let’s just say it’s easier to move using witchcraft.”
“I follow your orders, Your Majesty.”
It was the end of the conversation between the two people. As if taking advantage of that gap, something new happened.
“Your majesty.”
The royal guard standing guard approached along with the Duke’s butler.
“I am requesting an audience with Her Majesty the Empress.”
“…what?”
Lescal’s golden eyes turned to the butler without hiding his displeasure.
The butler, whose face was already pale, clung to the imperial guard, swaying on his knees as if he would collapse.
“Ha, Hapha has woken up! But that…!”
Duke Piellion, who was dying, woke up.
The butler checked the Duke one last time before falling asleep and found that he was awake. But he said he couldn’t believe it.
* * *
Lescal seemed to want to stop him the whole time, but Lasilia got off the bed. She left the bedroom, dressed in a thick robe over her nightgown and slippers on.
While Lasilia headed towards the Duke’s bedroom at a faster pace than usual, Lescal stayed by her side and ordered Serven to bring another gown.
“This…?”
In any case, the Duke’s bedroom was empty, with no time to worry about his appearance. Serven calmly followed the direction of the open door and guessed that the Duke was heading towards the study. So he headed back to the study.
There was no one in the study either. Instead, what was left was a letter that looked like it had been quickly scribbled by the Duke.
“Hapha’s handwriting is correct.”
The butler confirmed.
The content of the letter was surprisingly simple.
He said that he would be leaving the duchy for a while. He said he would send a letter when there were instructions. He said that no one but himself could take over the duchy.
He especially said that he would not allow the Empress to intervene. The Empress nailed it that he was not the heir to the House of Piellion, but a member of her imperial family.
“This is incredibly strange information.”
Serven said, blinking his eyes. Without even realizing it, there was a wrinkle between his eyebrows.
“A person who was so sick that he was waiting for his death suddenly woke up, left behind a letter, and disappeared without even the users knowing? Is that possible?”
No one thought it was possible. Because it made so much sense.
“Can’t you check it with your magic? Did Lord Piellion really write this?”
At Serven’s suggestion, Decan looked at Lasilia.
“If you allow me, I will use my hand.”
“I allow it.”
Decan, who received the letter from Lasilia’s hand, briefly recited a spell.
“…What Lord Piellion wrote is correct. There is no sign of any other human beings.”
After the spell was over and Decan said this, the Duke’s butler nodded his head sharply.
“I know Hapha’s handwriting well. It must have been something that Hapha left behind.”
So it didn’t make any more sense.
Decan and Lasilia checked the Duke’s condition with their own eyes. The Duke had difficulty even remembering what a pen was, let alone writing a letter.
“When Lord Piellion woke up, he said something was strange. What exactly was it like?”
Lasilia asked her governess. The butler regained his posture with a much calmer complexion.
“That is… He suddenly became so powerful that I thought it made no sense.”
“Is that all? Then why did you come to me so quickly?”
“Come to Hapha and get out of bed… He was just standing there. When I asked, there was no answer, so I was momentarily surprised and thought something was wrong, so I decided to report it to Her Majesty the Empress right away. I now realize that it was a rash decision. Please forgive me, Your Majesty.”
It was like that back then.
The Duke suddenly jumped up from the bed, startling the butler to the point of fainting. The Duke’s eyes looked very dark as he stood with both feet on the floor. He called me a few times, but he just stared at me without answering.
Then, when the Duke opened his lips thinly, the butler was overcome with fear that he would be bitten. So he ran out like crazy. At that time, all he thought was that he was scared to death. But now, after checking the Duke’s handwriting, which was no different from usual, he thought that he had just been so surprised that he had gotten the wrong idea.
Above all, since he wrote such a clear note, the Duke must be in very good condition.
The butler was the Duke’s person to his core. He was disciplined to avoid accidentally making comments that could damage the Duke’s reputation.
“Please think again and answer. Are you sure there were no problems?”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
The butler himself believed that nothing was wrong with the Duke. Then he doesn’t have anything to do with the Duke’s family. Because it will be the same as before.
“As you can see from the letter, Hapha is as sharp as usual.”
Whether it was just wind or real, the butler could no longer make a distinction.
He just believed it.
“Then why did you suddenly leave the Duke’s residence?”
“I beg your pardon, but this is a question I cannot answer, Your Majesty. It must have been the will of agreement, so I just followed it.”
The butler bowed politely.
“I ask you to allow me to leave. Now that Hapha has officially vacated the mansion, there is a lot of work left behind in this poor body.”
“…then. I will allow it.”
There was no trace of lying in the butler. Lasilia nodded her head and the butler left the study.
“Could he be hiding something?”
Decan cautiously opened his mouth.
“Well… The circumstances are unbelievable, but I can’t tell a lie from him.”
“Hmm. So, did Lord Piellion suddenly recover?”
“No.”
This was said by Lescal.
Decan and Lasilia looked at Lescal at the same time.
“Your majesty? Do you see anything?”
“Yet. But something is strange.”
Lescal ran his finger across the desk where the Duke had written the letter.
“There seems to be a masked smell.”
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on August, 5.
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