Summoned to the Emperor’s office after a long time, Crot sat quietly on the sofa, waiting. He was pleasantly surprised when he discovered sugar peanuts on the plate placed on the table.
“Huh? They’re here too?”
While Crot knew that sugar peanuts were receiving significant attention near the palace and in the capital, seeing them on the Emperor’s table felt different. Even though he had lent a hand in the harvesting process, he felt an immensely proud sense of accomplishment.
So, this is what it’s like to farm. Crot smiled contentedly, looking at the peanuts as if they were well-raised children.
“Have you been waiting long?”
Lost in thoughts about the peanuts, Crot was taken aback as the door opened, and the Emperor stepped into the office. Without taking many steps in the spacious office, the Emperor swiftly arrived at the table where Crot was.
Since Crot had been waiting, he rose to greet the approaching Emperor. Tall and handsome, the Emperor radiated a brightness that never failed to uplift the surroundings.
Until a few years ago, there was still a boyish charm about him, but having experienced several wars, the Emperor no longer showed any traces of the youthful lad.
“No, it hasn’t been long since I arrived.”
“Sit there.”
Following the Emperor’s command, Crot sat back down quietly. Perhaps due to the sugar peanuts, a sweet fragrance wafted around the table where he was seated.
“How are the princesses doing in their recent lessons?”
“Yes, everyone is following along well.”
As it was a customary exchange of formal questions and answers that they had been accustomed to, Crot responded as usual. It was an immediate response that came without much consideration.
The Emperor considered himself fulfilled with just asking a single question, and Crot believed that providing a suitable answer would alleviate some of the Emperor’s burden.
Thinking that the reason for the Emperor summoning him was naturally related to his recent research, Crot had prepared his response in his mind.
Kai, while posing his question, carefully observed Crot’s expression. Kai’s face appeared somewhat relaxed, a distinct departure from his usual demeanor of standing tall, looking fatigued, and having dark circles under his eyes.
Crot responded with a grin, even managing to make a joke. Since Kai rarely laughed, he was convinced that Stella had somehow influenced him in some form.
“I heard you’ve been keeping an eye on a princess lately.”
As Kai involuntarily circled the question without directly asking, contemplating how to bring it up naturally, he unexpectedly inquired.
“Yes?”
Crot, thinking he might have misheard even after properly hearing, widened his eyes and asked again. The Emperor was questioning about the princess from the Plant Zone? Why? What for?
“Yes. How did you know?”
Considering that he hadn’t spread any gossip about Princess Stella elsewhere, Crot thought no one else should know.
“I know everything within the Imperial City.”
“…Ah, the Shadows.”
Crot was well aware of the Emperor’s Shadow Knights.
However, during the ten years spent with the Emperor, there was only one occasion when Crot actually saw the Shadow Knights. It was possible because the Emperor specifically ordered them to reveal themselves for the curious Crot.
Since then, Crot only knew of their existence in his mind. He neither saw them, felt their presence, nor heard about them from others.
All he knew was that the Shadow Knights protected the Emperor, stationed throughout the Imperial City, always prepared for external attacks, and played the role of the Emperor’s eyes.
Certainly, there should be Shadow Knights near the Verdura Castle as well. If they had seen what he saw, it wouldn’t be strange for the Emperor to know.
Kai briefly glanced at Crot’s expression as he responded.
Crot was already a married man, and he knew that his interests were limited to his family, books, and intellectual curiosity about unfamiliar fields. He had nothing else in mind.
However, the thought of him spending separate time with Stella, moments unknown to Crot, made him feel uncomfortable deep inside.
“I am keeping an eye on Princess Stella from the Plant Zone among the princesses in the Plant Zone.”
Worried about what to do if Crot lied to him, Kai was relieved to see that Crot seemed not to have such intentions.
“Why? As far as I know, the most trusted princess in the Plant Zone is someone else.”
Honestly, I didn’t even know the names of the other princesses in the Plant Zone. Perhaps, Harman mentioned them several times, but I couldn’t recall any names.
“Yes, honestly, the Plant Zone is moving around Princess Annette. However.”
“However?”
“In my view, the one with the most exceptional power is Princess Stella of Verdura Castle.”
“Why is that?”
“Your Majesty, do you remember what I said before?”
“Well, you talk about so many things.”
It was an emperor-like response. In reality, Crot had shared a lot with him.
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
