Chapter 37
Garden was suddenly gone in the middle of the night, and seeing his lord who appeared out of nowhere, she was on the verge of fainting.
“Your Majesty!”
The Imperial Palace was turned upside down at the unexpected disappearance of the Emperor.
“Where on earth have you been?”
In truth, the new Emperor was an easy person to serve for most servants.
He had no particular desires, unlike the previous Emperor.
He was not a demanding person with a picky taste, nor did he make strange requests.
Johann was satisfied as long as there was whiskey and cigars in his room.
All he wanted was a bit of silence and some things that harmed the body.
He spent the whole day locked in his study, working tirelessly.
Leaving the Imperial Palace was a rare occurrence.
Other than occasionally going to the hunting grounds, he didn’t seem to enjoy getting some fresh air.
The imperial guards were the same, Predictable and with a lord who never made sudden moves, it was easy to serve him.
That’s why Johann’s sudden escapade was unexpected by anyone.
“Your Majesty, it’s Tyan, May I come in to clear the poems?”
The first to notice Johann’s disappearance was the young court musician who guarded outside his room.
As always, every two hours, the musician would clear away the old poems and knock on the door to fill the room with new ones.
“Your Majesty…?”
However, there was no response from inside.
The musician felt puzzled, thinking that the emperor might be busy with official duties or asleep. It was already 2 in the morning, and even if he was asleep, it wasn’t unusual.
No, the emperor needed sleep, or so the musician thought. He was curious about when the emperor usually went to sleep.
With continued silence, the musician finally, despite feeling rude, carefully opened the emperor’s bedroom door.
And he was struck dumb by the sight before him.
One window wide open, curtains fluttering in the dawn breeze, and the emperor vanished! It was a bewildering scene.
“The Majesty has disappeared!”
With the musician’s words, the palace turned into chaos.
Everyone was frantically searching for the missing emperor, but there was no sign.
Surprisingly, it was Ern who was alone, maintaining calm.
“He must be walking somewhere alone, No need to make a fuss.’’
The royal guards wanted to point out that the phrase ‘alone’ was a significant issue.
However, their opponent was Count Ern Lars, the Emperor’s only close friend.
“…There’s a feeling….”
After contemplating for a moment, Ern glanced briefly at the Empress’s palace.
“Have you checked the Empress’s palace?”
“Yes?”
“If a man with a wife disappears on a suspicious night, wouldn’t it be reasonable to at least consider the wife’s residence as a potential suspicion?”
“What are you talking about…?”
The royal guards tilted their heads in confusion at the incomprehensible words. Could it be that the Empress kidnapped the Emperor on this ambitious night? Why would the Empress do that?
Ern sighed as he looked at the guards who seemed to have been bought off somewhere.
“No, don’t any of you have wives?”
“We do.”
“Then think about it! It’s about whether you’ve ever gone to see your lover at night!”
Ah, now the guards finally understood Ern’s words.
However, they didn’t seem entirely convinced.
Understandably so, as they had never seen the Emperor sincerely pursue a woman before.
They had been serving him since he was Duke Johann.
They couldn’t fathom that the ascetic Emperor would run away late at night for just one woman.
Even if he went to find the Empress, it could be done officially. The Emperor going to see the Empress would be welcomed by everyone in the palace.
Even if it were at 2 in the morning.
So, why secretly? The two men looked at Ern with perplexity.
“Y’all….”
How in the world did you become imperial bodyguards with those thick skulls? Eren couldn’t bring himself to continue the conversation.
“Anyway, search around the Empress’s palace!”
Eren sighed as he watched the guards hastily disappear.
Then, he asked Galden,
“Do you happen to know if anything is missing?”
“Nothing, However….”
Galden hesitated for a moment before answering.
“The three vases of flowers in the bedchamber are all gone.”
“… Flowers?”
“Yes, What could someone possibly do with an absurd amount of flowers… and take them away?”
“A man with a wife disappeared while holding flowers, Why would that be?”
Eren began to doubt the intelligence of the aquatic beings residing in the imperial palace. Have these individuals never experienced love?
“To plead with his wife?”
“Hmm.”
At that moment, Galden murmured with an uncertain voice.
It sounded like something was off, but unexpectedly, it hit the nail on the head.
Married men are indeed different. Eren nodded.
“That’s it.”
“…Are you serious, Lord Eren?’’
“That Johan de Negeur said. Not people like us, Garden’s eyes were written like that.
But at that moment,
“Your Majesty!”
John walked through the main gate of the imperial palace.
In one hand, he held dozens of large flowers haphazardly.
Ern couldn’t hide his confusion.
No, if you brought that, you should give it. Why did you bring it here?
However, his question was soon answered.
“Nobody can come in.”
After throwing the flowers on the ground and stepping on them carelessly, John entered the room.
Ern and Garden exchanged glances.
“It seems like he couldn’t get forgiveness?”
“Yes.”
“Flowers won’t do. It’s not a mistake that can be compensated for with just that….”
The two men nodded at each other.
Their emperor still seemed unaware, perhaps because he was in the early days of being married.
Meanwhile, Jezelle couldn’t come out of bed for a while.
It was because of the humiliation of having all her powers taken away.
She just lay there all day, crying, tearing pillows in anger, and scolding maids to bring her sweet things.
‘If you want to be treated like an empress, you should become one first.’
Every time she closed her eyes, the shameless face of Anel came to mind.
Jezelle muttered all the curses she had learned during her maid days
“I am already Hwangbiya, How can I become more of a Hwangbi here?”
Above all, what infuriated Jiselle the most was that her maids burst into laughter at Anel’s words. How dare they laugh when their mistress is being insulted right in front of them?
She had always found her sister-in-law, who was more cunning than a fox, more detestable than her stepmother. The more she thought about it, the more unbearable it became.
In the end, she gathered all the maids present in that room.
“Hwangbi Mama has called for us, Let’s go.”
“Hwangbi Mama? Why?”
“Probably because we laughed when the Empress was scolded a while ago, right?”
“Then she should have acted more like Hwangbi from the beginning, Why take it out on us?”
“Do I look like I know?”
“She might try to punish us… I, I can’t leave.”
“Me neither, Where else can we find a job better than this…!”
The maids instinctively sensed the upcoming events at Jiselle’s call. They hesitated, Being chased away from the palace, which they had entered so hard, was simply not an option. Moreover, being chased away by fellow maids was even more unthinkable.
In their desperate situation, they deliberated and came up with one solution: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. They decided to go and plead with the head maid who served the former Empress, Selido.
“…Let’s go to the head maid, She will do something for us.”
Unlike the chief maid, Selydo, who was loyal to the former Empress, Celido was someone who had pledged allegiance to the Sun Empress. Originally, she should have been expelled like others when Johan became the Emperor. However, she survived along with Garden. There were not many people to replace her.
Celido, who had always been affectionate towards the former Empress, still couldn’t forget her. Therefore, when Anel, whom the former Empress cherished, entered the Hwangbi Palace, Celido protected her unconditionally.
The reason why the Hwangbi Palace hadn’t completely fallen under the control of Florana and Jiselle was partly due to Celido’s influence. Celido had firmly maintained her position.
If she went to Celido, she would undoubtedly find a way to survive. Of course, it would come with a cost.
