Zion had not been in a good mood for several days. To be precise, it was from the moment he suggested hide-and-seek to the empress.
He had put so much effort into making the daughter of a nondescript earl’s family the empress, but Empress Irina did not move as he wanted.
‘How dare she, not knowing her place’
Even though he had opened a new door for her, the foolish bird even missed the chance to escape. He had been looking forward to seeing the empress’s beautiful face distort like a piece of paper.
“Your Majesty, are you… listening right now?”
When Zion’s mind returned to reality, he saw the nobles looking at him with stunned faces.
They were in the middle of a meeting on how to compensate for the crop damage caused by a tsunami in the eastern part of the Croyden Empire.
He had been momentarily distracted, but Zion put on an indifferent expression as if nothing had happened.
“So, what is the conclusion?”
Neither this person nor that one, none of them could solve things on their own. He had too much time taken away by these nobles who always looked to the emperor for everything.
“That, that is. We, the nobles who own territories in the east, are asking for help from the nobles who have territories in the west.”
At Zion’s sharp gaze, the eastern noble barely answered.
“That’s, that’s ridiculous. Our Croyden western territories also suffered severe damage from the drought last year. Didn’t the eastern nobles also turn a blind eye then!”
The Duke of Hellern, who owned a territory in the west, turned red and protested. Zion stared at such a Duke of Hellern and laughed.
“Nobles who own territories in the west, each of you support more than 1,000 tons of grain to the people of the eastern territories. The meeting will end here.”
At Zion’s sudden conclusion, the eastern nobles cheered, and the western nobles were dumbfounded.
Among them, the Duke of Hellern, who regained his senses first, jumped up from his seat.
“Wha, what! How can you make such a decision all at once!”
As Zion was about to leave the meeting room, he stopped in his tracks. At his appearance, Duke Hellern swallowed his saliva.
“Duke Hellern. It seems you are dissatisfied with my decision.”
“N, No. That’s not it.”
Cold sweat ran down Duke Hellern’s back. It was most terrifying when Zion spoke with such a bright smile.
Emperor Zion, whom he had known for a long time, often smiled brightly when he was angry. His unrealistically beautiful face felt like a strangling snake.
Duke Hellern looked at the eastern nobles as if asking for help, but each of them turned their heads and ignored him.
‘These, these cowards!’
Duke Hellern trembled at the sight, but he couldn’t back down like this.
Especially since Emperor Zion had been centralizing power since his enthronement, if they kept following him obediently like this, the nobles’ position would gradually narrow.
“Duke Hellern, you recently traded more than 500kg of gold bullion. It’s an amount that can’t be bought with the amount of grain reported in your territory.”
“Ho, how…!”
“I won’t make it a problem, Duke Hellern. Instead, take responsibility and finish this matter.”
That snake-like emperor already knew everything. How did he know about the trade that was done so secretly? Duke Hellern’s body froze as if he had been stabbed.
“If there continues to be noise about this matter,”
“…..”
“Then, you will have to take responsibility.”
Zion said to the duke with a generous smile.
“And, you can object to my words at any time.”
Only the low breathing of the nobles in the room filled the meeting room.
“If you can take responsibility.”
Zion sent a cold gaze to the nobles and left the meeting room.
As Zion left, the nobles exhaled the breath they had been holding and each had their own thoughts.
Every time they spoke with Zion like this, it felt as if their lifespan was shortening, but they were grateful that there was no outcry this time.
The nobles once again reminded themselves of their fear of Zion.
Zion, who had left the meeting room, looked at the sunset dyed red between the pillars. The time was already heading towards 5 o’clock.
He had gritted his teeth and ran towards one place to ascend to the emperor’s throne. But in reality, he was in a situation where he couldn’t even eat on time.
Knowing that he had no choice but to survive here, it was hard to bear the emptiness and despair that came to him from time to time.
‘…Have you eaten?’
Had someone asked him that question? He remembered the face of Empress Irina who suddenly asked him that question.
There was no one in the Empress’s Palace when he visited yesterday when he finally had time. He heard her location from the maid who rushed to his call, and he went to the garden with quick steps.
The sight of the empress sprawled out on the table in the glass house in the garden was seen.
The empress, who seemed to be sound asleep, continued to sleep without even noticing that he had entered the glass house.
Her long neck like a deer and her skin as white as the snow that falls in winter caught his eye. She was a beautiful person who resembled a white magnolia.
Strangely enough, Empress Irina did not resemble her father at all. If there was even a little resemblance…
He might have snapped her neat, beautiful neck in an instant.
It was rather fortunate. The empress, who he had brought with difficulty, had to shiver in agony by his side for the rest of her life.
But the problem was that the empress did not move as he wanted. She should shrink and tremble in fear when she sees him.
‘Have I ever been asked if I have eaten….?’
Zion, who was looking at the red sunset, laughed to himself. A bird trapped in a cage worries about its owner without knowing its place.
Or maybe she thinks her situation is better than that of an emperor of humble birth. Thinking so, Zion felt anger spreading from his heart.
‘I need to make the stupid bird more aware of its situation.’
Sion’s twisted expression cooled down.
****
Arundel left the bedroom and checked the state of the Empress’s Palace.
Even though Zion definitely didn’t visit the Empress’s Palace often, he would monitor her using maids or people around her. It would be a long journey to meet her younger sister.
The hint she got from the diary was that Empress Irina was the daughter of ‘Count Dunkeld’. Unfortunately, there was no information about the location of the Count’s family.
So she intended to leave the palace for now and collect information directly.
From what she had figured out over a few days, the maids checked on the empress’s state while serving meals at 9 a.m., noon, and 6 p.m.
Just in case Zion might visit after dinner time, the time between lunch and dinner was the right time.
‘The problem is how to get out of here.’
She tried to escape from the Empress’s Palace once before, but the guards guarding the door were startled and told her that she must not leave. A prison would be freer than here.
Arundel looked at the curtain hanging on the window.
‘That would be good.’
The window was covered with a gold-embroidered outer curtain and a fluffy white inner curtain, and it seemed that no one would know if the inner curtain was gone.
Arundel reached out and tore the inner curtain from the window.
Arundel took the torn curtain and went to the stone wall that surrounds the Empress’s Palace. The stone wall was about a head taller than Arundel.
Arundel rolled up the inner curtain, tied it to a tree next to her, and threw the other end over the stone wall.
Arundel, who had barely climbed up the tree, climbed over the stone wall using the inner curtain as a rope.
‘Done!’
So as not to be caught from outside, he rolled up the inner curtain on a tree branch so that it was hidden by the leaves.
Arundel had just climbed over one wall, but she felt a lot of her physical strength had been depleted.
It was really a weak body. There was no muscle strength at all, and the body’s innate motor nerves were close to zero.
‘Is the human body originally like this?’
The more she thought about it, the more difficult the conditions seemed, and Arundel, who was grumbling and walking, found a group of people arguing.
“It’s just a cup of tea, why are you so haughty?”
“Anyway, I don’t like it…!”
A man who looked like a member of the royal knight was flirting with a woman who looked like a maid.
Arundel was originally a character who couldn’t pass by such a thing, but in the current situation, she was weaker than that woman, so she wouldn’t be of any help.
It seemed like she would only be a burden if she got involved in such a situation.
Besides, if anyone finds out that she was the empress, everything would be in vain. Thinking so, Arundel once again opened the hood that was covering her face.
Just as she was about to pass by quietly with her hand covering her face.
“Ah, why are you doing this!”
The knight seemed to be grabbing the maid’s wrist and trying to drag her somewhere.
At that moment, a flame sprouted in Arundel’s eyes. Arundel, who had lifted her skirt, charged at the knight.
‘Even though I’m in a weak human body, I am Archangel Arundel who led the second Pegasus War to victory!’
“Arunder kicked the back of the knight’s knee. The knight, taken by sudden shock, lost his balance and stumbled forward.
“Hey, what’s the big idea!”
The knight got up, his eyes filled with a fierce glint as if he had found a new prey.
The woman who had kicked him couldn’t be seen clearly as her face was covered, but the glimpses of her features hinted at her beauty.
“What, is the lady here wants to play instead?”
The knight, changing his target, approached Arundel with a smirk. Arundel quickly kicked the man in a sensitive area.
The man writhed in pain on the ground. Even the maid, who had been mocking the shocking situation, now looked at Arundel with surprise.
“Let’s go quickly!”
Arundel grabbed the maid’s hand and ran. However, the knight, who had quickly regained his composure, was fast on their heels. Unfortunately, he seemed very angry.
“I’ll catch you…!”
The knight’s hand touched Arundel’s clothing.
“You’re dead, woman.”
Just as the defiant knight was about to turn Arundel around, a pleasing, deep voice sounded like a savior.
“What are you doing here?”
Arundel looked up and saw the man who had come to her rescue.
The man was a handsome figure with good-looking black hair and dark eyes that resembled the night sky. The knight’s face turned pale at the sight of the man.
“Cap, Captain!”
Suddenly, the knight, who was full of spirit, called out, and Arundel looked at the man called ‘Captain’ with a surprised face.
He looked too young to be the captain of the Royal Knights.
“It seems you have a lot of time, seeing you harassing women here.”
“I’m, I’m sorry!”
“Go and run 200 laps around the training ground.”
“Yes, yes!”
At the captain’s words, the knight’s face twisted. However, in the face of the captain’s cold expression, he didn’t show it and answered firmly.
“And tell the knights. Not just you, but anyone who shows such disgrace will be expelled from the Royal Knights.”
“I will keep that in mind!”
At the captain’s gesture to leave, the knight quickly disappeared.
“Thank you.”
“No, I apologize on behalf of not managing the knights properly.”
The captain spoke bluntly, but he was polite and courteous.
The maid, who had been saved by the captain of the Royal Knights who appeared like a prince, had a blushing face.
“Then I’ll be going now.”
Leaving the maid whose heart was sprouting love, Arundel, who had finished her work, had to quickly escape from the palace.
It was tight to return to the Empress’s Palace by 6 o’clock. Moreover, it would be very difficult if someone recognized her as the empress.
“Wait a minute.”
At the captain’s call to stop, Arundel stopped in her tracks.
2nd ML?