“Wow, Your Highness. You already know all about this. You’re amazing!”
“Hmph, whatever.”
Elena’s somewhat unexpected praise made Duke Levi’s cheeks turn red.
“Then this one… No way, to think you got this one too! Your Highness, are you perhaps an incredible genius?”
As the continuous praise continued, Duke Levi’s face gradually relaxed, and he eventually burst into laughter that reached his ears.
“I’ve always been told that I’m rather clever.”
He shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, how about this? Would you like to try and solve it?”
Elena said as she flipped through the theological workbook she had abandoned in a corner, which Duke Levi disliked so much that he didn’t even want to look at it. Hesitant for a moment, the Duke Levi picked up a highlighter pen at Elena’s prompting.
“I think Your Grace can definitely solve it. You already knew the difficult ones from before.”
Praise not only makes a whale dance, but it also intimidates Duke Levi into obediently taking the theological class. The palace workers who were working in the early morning glanced over at Duke Levi, who was engrossed in the problem with his sleeves rolled up.
When teaching anyone, be they adults or children, it is best to mix appropriate praise, as it not only gives them confidence but also motivates them to do well. There is no one who dislikes doing something they are good at.
Especially for young children like Duke Levi, excessive praise works as effectively as sweet candies or chocolates.
Elena had applied the methods she learned while teaching her younger siblings at an orphanage to Duke Levi. She praised even the smallest things, and since the other party was a young child, she exaggerated a little, eliciting a greatly pleased reaction. As a result, Duke Levi followed the lessons much better than anticipated. Today, she finally succeeded in getting him to solve a theological problem.
That sight became the talk of the palace in the early morning. Even now, servants and knights secretly watched the scene of Duke Levi’s theological class from a distance and whispered among themselves.
“As expected of Sister Elena.”
“It’s a victory for the priest’s patience and perseverance!”
“Did His Grace also feel touched by Miss Elena’s consistent appearance?”
Although the rumor that had spread is quite different from what actually happened, this incident had established itself as something of a legend.
After class, Elena hummed a tune as she made her way to her bedroom. Just as she reached the front of her room and raised her hand to the doorknob, a pleasant voice called out to her.
“Miss Elena, could you help me for a moment?”
It was Rosaline, smiling and calling out to Elena from a short distance away. Even in a situation like this, she looks pretty and composed.
“…Yes.”
Elena obediently followed Rosaline into her room, and a basket of laundry fell with a thud. Well, of course. Elena inwardly sighed deeply.
“I’ll have it done by tomorrow.”
As she said this, she lifted the laundry basket, which felt even heavier. Elena, frail as can be, found this weight a bit cumbersome.
“No, please do it now.”
“What? Right now? It’s dinner time.”
Elena’s face looked as if her world had collapsed, knowing that tonight’s dinner was beef stew and freshly baked soft bread with lots of butter.
“I need to wear that dress at the upcoming party. So you have to wash it now, okay?”
With a tone that seemed to say, ‘Do I have to explain everything?’ Rosaline pretended to be kind, but she truly seemed like the devil.
‘You have so many clothes. Why do you have to wear the unwashed one?!’
But Elena was caught in her vulnerability, playing the role of a sad supporting character. Although deep inside she wanted to shower Rosaline with curses for separating her from the beef stew, she calmly nodded and took the laundry basket with her.
‘She must have deliberately left this out to give me a hard time. If only she weren’t the heroine, I would definitely give her a good smack… but I can’t. Ugh.’
Elena came out of the palace with a basket in one hand. Familiarly heading towards the well nearby, she immediately changed her footsteps. She remembered the maid who had asked why she was doing laundry herself last time. Besides, it was a bustling time at the well with people taking the dry laundry that had been hung all day.
“Ah, it’s annoying, really.”
Murmuring, she looked around, but when she couldn’t see any other wells, Elena walked northward in a huff. She remembered from the palace map located in the appendix of the book 『Empress Rosaline』 that there were small outer palaces without names to the north of the palace.
‘One of them must have a well.’
There were unusually large trees around the palace in the early morning. Though they were sparsely scattered, it felt like being in a forest, which was not planned but provided a refreshing feeling. But that refreshing feeling was short-lived as she started feeling a pain in her feet.
‘Have I come too far?’
When she felt that she couldn’t go any further and was about to turn back, she saw a well in the distance. It seemed like it hadn’t been used for a long time, as there was no moisture around, but it still looked well-maintained.
“Whether it’s clean or not doesn’t matter to me.”
It looked fine visually, but she would prefer it if the water was not clean.
After pouring water into it, she sprinkled the imported laundry detergent she had brought and stepped on it with her foot as she had done last time. If Rosaline had seen her, she might have fallen backward, but stomping on the expensive dress with her foot seemed to relieve some of the built-up stress.
Before the sunset, Elena quickly finished the laundry, wrung out the wet dress, gently dried it to prevent wrinkles, and attached the basket to her side.
“But which way was it.”
Perhaps she was too focused on doing the laundry, but Elena couldn’t remember which direction she had come from.
“Uh… was it that tree? No, was it that tree?”
She tried to remember the tree she passed by, but they all looked alike.
“Um, then, let’s walk in this direction for now.”
If she took the main road, she might meet someone. Thinking that way, Elena started walking in the direction that she thought would lead to the main street.
Of course, it was all just a guess. In reality, she was walking in the opposite direction of the street, towards the imperial bedroom, the palace of the emperor, and the direction of the vacant palace without an empress.
After walking for a while, Elena started to feel anxious.
“I-Is it not this way?”
Despite the vastness of the palace and the many people working there, there was an eerie atmosphere. It felt like she had entered a place she shouldn’t be in. When Elena’s footsteps gradually slowed down due to that inexplicable sense of unease, she heard a loud banging sound from a distance.
“People!”
Elena, startled, rushed towards the source of the sound. However, the one making the noise where she was heading, in the deserted ritual hall located deep within the palace, was none other than Vakran I, wielding a sword and striking down a single rock as if it were an enemy.
Unlike the Palace of the Sun training grounds, where the royal guards and palace workers could pass by and look inside, no one could see him here, which was an advantage.
Vakran I struck the rock with his whole body, unperturbed by the shock and pain that traveled through his hands and arms and into his entire body. He was human, so he was obviously feeling pain, but his expressionless face made it seem as if he knew no such thing.
What tormented him now was not physical pain. It was mental anguish. No, it would have been less difficult if he could at least feel pain.
‘Numb.’
Vakran I raised his thick eyebrows towards the sky. The sound of the collision between the sword and the rock grew louder as tension filled his taut muscles.
He ascended to the throne at a young age and conquered three neighboring countries, and when he was done, he passionately soothed his war-torn empire’s internal affairs and brought about an unprecedented period of calm. His innovative and proactive policies for his subjects, especially the common people, laid the foundation for an empire that grew from conquest.
That was not all. He possessed such high martial prowess to be called the God of War on the battlefield.
He had everything he desired as the emperor, so why did his heart feel so empty?
As the emptiness gradually deepened, Vakran I withdrew from the forefront of politics. The throne was secure, and there were plenty of capable talents, so it wasn’t such a difficult task.
Since then, he had devoted himself to swordsmanship. Only when he polished his swordsmanship and trained his body could he feel something to some extent.
But even that was no longer the same as before. Initially, his swordsmanship had made noticeable progress, but now it was hitting a wall and no longer moving forward.
Kuang, kuang.
As he reached the limits of his sword technique, the sword vibrated with a low hum. He had left his favorite sword, Gaia, behind and picked up a random sword, and it could not withstand his pure swordsmanship. Vakran I, however, did not notice the change as he watched his blade’s path make deep scratches in the rock.
Suddenly, the rock that had been holding firm cracked and cracked. At the same time, the sword, unable to withstand the impact, snapped in two, sending the broken pieces flying into the distance.
Even this didn’t go as planned. Vakran I finally lowered the arm that held the sword.
“Kyaaaa!”
At that moment, a woman’s scream erupted from behind him.
