“If you say so, I can’t let you go. You know that, right?”

“I have no intention of keeping us a secret. It’s not like we have an inappropriate relationship.”

Lou reached out and fixed Hayden’s slightly messy hair. There was dissatisfaction on his face, which was still too young, and he exuded so much vitality that he could blow away an entire duke’s family.

“Or, do I still look like a boy I need to protect?”

The questioning eyes were still affectionate.

“I think that could be a possibility.”

But the boy then and the current Emperor were completely different. Instead of bright blond hair, he had jet-black hair, and even his physique had become thicker and larger.

The appearance of a boy, fragile and filled with venom, only appeared when he genuinely smiled. Lou recalled what Catherine Lambert had said.

“If Your Majesty gets angry, a lot of lightning strikes. This time, there were a lot of lightning strikes in the East too.”
In those words, there was undoubtedly a mixture of fear. Living disasters that create natural phenomena defy common sense.

“Then, I should try harder…”

“I don’t see it that way.”

Lou, who was staring blankly at him, suddenly raised her head with a fierce glint in her gray eyes as she looked into the distance to the south.

“I’m just worried about you.”

“Why worry about me when there’s no need?”

“You worry about me too.”

“Of course, I should worry. You don’t consider your safety, and that’s the problem. I don’t have to worry.”

In the end, Lou pouted.

“Because you like me, that’s why you worry!”

It was a pointless worry. No matter how much she thought about it, that was the conclusion. Lou, who was fortunate enough to be walking around now, was worrying about Hayden, who was a natural disaster beyond common sense.

But she continued to worry. She wanted to worry and cared.

“I’m afraid you’ll be looked down upon by the nobles because of your youth, or you’ll suffer losses because of me…”

Hayden looked down at her and sighed openly.

“…It’s really a useless worry.”

“Right! I know!”

In response to her blunt words, Lou snapped and thumped his chest with her forehead. It didn’t hurt much because he gently grabbed her before colliding with his firm body. Each time, she learned how strong he was.

“If you like useless worries, you’ll naturally worry about them.”

Still holding her in his arms, Hayden, who had been responded to, suddenly released her arms due to the wind that was rising comfortingly, so she had no choice but to let go.

“And honestly, your worries are also useless.”

Hayden, who had moved down a bit, looked up at her and replied.

“Occasionally getting hurt, bleeding, getting kidnapped, and falling unconscious for days. You’re not in a position to say such things, Lou.”

Lou closed her mouth and looked up at the sky, her gaze absentmindedly moving down a bit, and then she naturally came down, nestling in Hayden’s arms. Whether the purpose was to lift her or not, he began to walk, kissing her cheek as he did so.

“But I understand what you’re saying. Thank you.”

By now, Lou knew that it was Hayden’s habit to shower kisses. She quickly reached out, wrapped her arms around his neck, and, while receiving a kiss, asked eagerly.

“Where are we going now?”

“Where should we go?”

“What are we going to do?”

“Anything.”

He tilted his head and whispered.

“Whatever you want to do.”

A very low and subtle voice whispered and eventually swallowed the slightly open lips again. It became awkward as the kiss deepened.

It was said that people automatically disappeared when the Emperor passed by, but now it was clearly broad daylight, and Lou had to go home. However, the fact kept evaporating from her mind, and she seemed to be embracing him even more. She didn’t want to let go.

“Oh, no!”

Why? Lou turned her head and closed her eyes tightly against the sagging gray eyes.
“Lou likes my body.”

I messed up. She bitterly reflected.

“Not today, not today.”

“I like your face too.”

“Really, no…!”

“I set aside about three hours, isn’t that enough?”

The corrupted mind was already calculating the time to return home involuntarily. No, Lou vigorously shook her head.

“Why, why?”

“I have homework. Not today.”

“Homework? Hayden, looking puzzled, looked down at Lou. Homework for a young sage busy with love? Who assigned her homework?

“What homework? Who told you to do it?”

“Ophelia did. She told me to find the Northern Sage until the day after tomorrow after the meeting and banquet.”

“Ah, the Northern Sage. That…!”

“Don’t say it!”

Before an answer could come, Lou covered his mouth. Judging by what Hayden was about to say, the Northern Sage definitely existed. But she didn’t want to know that easily.

“Don’t tell me the answer. Okay?”

His handsome eyebrows and gray eyes on her hands frowned displeased. It meant she didn’t like it.

“I have to find it myself. After quickly finding it, we can spend more time together.”

This time, one eyebrow went up. Why is he handsome even though half of his face is covered? Lou regretted not looking at him at all.

“Don’t tell me the answer. Hmm?”

Instead of answering, Hayden licked the palm of her hand that covered her mouth. Lou closed her eyes and calmly removed her hand.

“Did you get any information?”

“I heard some stories about the predecessor who went missing. He hated being quiet.”

Her ears turned red, and she mumbled as she looked elsewhere.

“But there’s too little information.”

Lou bit her lips.

“…Then teach me a little more. How can I recognize other sages?”

Hayden looked down at her, pondered for a moment, and then smiled slightly.

“If you’re interested, you’ll feel it right away.”

“I asked the wrong person.”

On a very late afternoon when the ladies invited by Ophelia had long returned home, Simon Kaneberg, a hopeless civil servant who couldn’t even dream of going off work, walked through the palace where the emperor stayed and encountered Lou.

Somehow, he was much neater and tidier than when he entered the palace in the morning. It seemed to be a completely new makeover, and it didn’t get messed up at all. It was an outfit that had been touched by the hands of maids.

“Are you going back now?”

“Ah, hello, Mr. Kaneberg. No, I’m planning to go back a little later.”

Actually, if she said she was going back now, the emperor would undoubtedly accompany Lou under the pretext of sending her.

In fact, I wanted to ask you something, sir.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“When I collapsed in Turington, was there a day with a lot of thunder and lightning?”

Simon narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Do you not know? No, where did you hear that story?”

“Isn’t it something your Majesty dropped?”
“Someone mentioned it at today’s meeting. Yes, that’s correct.”

Lou tilted her head as if something was strange. It was something she had no knowledge of.

“At the 2km radius of the Aeselotte Palace and the execution grounds, it was like that throughout. Lady Genesis calmed down after waking up, and by then, the eastern nobles had stopped requesting audits. Around that time, all executions had already come to an end.”

Simon spoke quietly.

“Since all the executions were already over.”

It meant that lightning and thunder had fallen throughout the executions.

“Lady Genesis, please, be a bit more careful not to collapse or get hurt in the future.”

He earnestly pleaded.

“The wrath of His Majesty brings tremendous terror along with natural disasters. Due to that, the nobles who had come all the way to the Aeselotte Palace had their limbs weakened, and they crawled back with all their might.”

The fear Lou saw in Catherine Lambert’s eyes was no illusion.