“Me?”
It was a light attitude as if he had heard a funny joke. Gregory added words in exasperation.
“Did you think I wouldn’t know? Your Majesty’s physical condition-.”
“Of course you shouldn’t know.”
“…Pardon?”
“Gregory. My comrade. I thought you would naturally know my condition, as you have keen eyes and are a colleague who has trained with me for a long time, as well as an outstanding warrior.”
“However.”
“However, you should keep it secret. You shouldn’t know. If the emperor hides it, you should hide it too.”
“……”
“Don’t worry. I won’t overdo it. It’s alright, Gregory.”
Gregory’s face darkened.
“…Your Majesty.”
“Tell the elite personnel. We depart at dawn.”
The Knight Commander heard Carlos’s order and bowed his head, swallowing a sigh. Then he left the room.
Silence fell.
Carlos sat and thought quietly.
At least two thousand rebels, or more.
On this side, five hundred knights stationed, and thirty elite personnel being brought along.
An impossible difference. It was nearly impossible not to overdo it.
And ridiculously, that enormous difference could be narrowed in an instant if Carlos swung his sword recklessly.
How else could he have risen to this position? He rose because of his unbelievable sword skills, as an Aura user who existed only in legend in the world.
So he had to do it. Only then could he maintain his life as emperor and prevent this position from passing to other imperial family members.
Carlos clenched and unclenched his fist several times. Indeed, he had become duller compared to before.
“…Just a little longer, hold on. It will be alright soon.”
He whispered to himself like a spell.
Then he sat with his eyes open until dawn broke, and picked up his armor.
Not forgetting to leave a cheesy letter to Mercedes saying ‘Sorry for making you eat dinner alone.’
Carlos thought the letter he wrote was quite funny as he left the imperial palace.
The dawn sky was very clear.
* * *
“Huh!”
Mercedes woke up startled. And quickly looked around. There would surely be maids looking at her disapprovingly.
But, there was no one.
“I seem to have… overslept.”
She muttered. There was no clock, but sunlight could be seen through the gaps in the curtains.
“Ah.”
Flustered, she belatedly realized that this was no longer the palace of Shame, nor the underground prison.
In Shame, the maids would wake her at dawn to match their own rising time, urge her with annoyed faces, finish her grooming, and then leave.
As they were maids chosen jointly by the crown prince and queen, they could be more arrogant than Mercedes, making such misdeeds possible.
After spending such dawns, she would spend the day anxious about whether the royal family would call for her, or if her father would invade. Wearing uncomfortable clothes.
Not just the palace maids, even at the count’s residence, she had never spent more than five hours a day in bed in her entire life.
“…That’s right, they’re not here. They’re not.”
But such people are not by her side now. She recognized this in her head.
However, a strange anxiety did not subside.
Mercedes touched her forehead.
It was a habitual headache. She exhaled deeply and then pulled back the blanket.
‘Then… when am I supposed to wake up?’
She rang the bell.
Not long after, there was a knock on the door, and after Mercedes’s permission, two maids entered.
“Good morning. Did you sleep well, Lady Mercedes?”
The maids asked with kind smiles. She nodded appropriately and asked.
“Patricia. When is the set wake-up time in the imperial palace?”
“Pardon? When Lady Mercedes opens her eyes, that is Lady Mercedes’s wake-up time.”
Mercedes was a little surprised.
In Shame, everything was set, but here, it seemed nothing was set.
“Since you’ve greeted the morning, I’ll open the curtains. Today, the sky is very clear. It seems the Loom Empire is welcoming Lady Mercedes.”
It was a fresh shock to hear such kind words as soon as she opened her eyes.
‘Perhaps all people in the Loom Empire speak like this?’
Why, even the emperor praised people very kindly, didn’t he? This manner of speech might be a characteristic of the empire.
The two maids moved efficiently to prepare Mercedes’s morning toilette and tidied the room. The room that seemed to have nothing to clean became strangely neater.
“His Majesty left early at dawn to suppress a rebellion that arose in the east. He left a letter for Lady Mercedes.”
Patricia approached and handed Mercedes an elegant paper card.
“A rebellion?”
Surprised by the intense word, she asked, and the other maid, Rhonda, answered. Rhonda seemed a bit more talkative and lively than Patricia.
“Well, it’s been 2 years since he ended the conquest war. There are many remnants, so he often leaves. His Majesty is Loom’s greatest military strength!”
Rhonda said proudly, puffing out her chest.
“Ah… I see.”
That kind man from yesterday, today he went to the battlefield with a sword. It felt somewhat strange.
Mercedes opened the note and looked at the contents.
[Being an emperor is a troublesome position, I can’t postpone when urgent matters arise.
I’m sorry to make you eat dinner alone today.
I’ll be back soon, can you welcome me?]
It was content as if his voice could be heard.
Mercedes was looking at the neat handwriting when she raised her head at Rhonda’s voice.
“Usually, he returns within two weeks after dealing with it. The east where this incident occurred is not far, so if he resolves it successfully, it’s thought he’ll return within ten days. Though that’s just my personal opinion.”
How did she know? That she was curious about it. Mercedes was a bit surprised by the answer that came without her asking. The maids seemed to be quite perceptive.
‘Hmm. Mercedes. You don’t know how honest you are. If one follows your gaze, your thoughts are visible.’
Or perhaps, as the emperor said, she belonged to the rather honest type?
For Mercedes, who had never received such prompt service, it was a little confusing.
* * *
It was rather fortunate that the emperor had left the palace. It was perfect for composing oneself. After all, Carlos kept making her fall into strange sentiments.
Ah, of course, realistically it was a bit awkward.
She had intended to ask more about Shame right away, but the emperor had left his post.
‘In this palace without that person, what can I do?’
She thought.
And decided to try and face it. There was nothing to fear. She had returned alive from the face of death.
“How about this? The color is bright, it suits Lady Mercedes well!”
Mercedes looked at the clothes the maids brought and sighed.
The consideration in preparing comfortable clothes was truly appreciated, even upon reflection.
But she couldn’t wear it ‘now’. It would be improper.
“Patricia. You said there were spare dresses for me, right?”
“Yes? Yes.”
“Could you bring me the most modest dress?”
“Yes, Lady Mercedes.”
Patricia and Rhonda moved quickly without question.
The dresses that soon entered the room were all of the highest quality. Mercedes chose a modest navy dress among them that didn’t suit her beauty.
Rhonda and Patricia held bright-colored dresses and looked disappointed, but she left the room with her hair tied up without wearing a single accessory, trying to look as modest as possible.
‘Ten days, he says.’
The minimum time until the emperor’s return was ten days.
She couldn’t just wait all that time.
The thought that Count Cromwell, that count’s family would be doing very well, made her feel like her chest was being slashed.
“Is there a separate office where His Majesty’s aides stay?”
Fortunately, she had heard that there were many capable people under the emperor. So it seemed she could go ask them.
“Pardon? Yes. They all stay together in a very large office… But why-”
“Could you guide me there?”
At Mercedes’s question, the maids made slightly troubled faces, then soon nodded.
The task they had been assigned was ‘grant any of Mercedes’s requests and take care of her with utmost sincerity.’
Even if the place she was going now… wasn’t good for her.
They had no choice but to take her.
The aides’ office was said to be the entire right corridor of rooms on the second floor of the imperial palace.
All the walls of the rooms were opened, and doors were made where needed, creating a very large office.
Usually, it would be right to give aides a different palace, but Carlos wanted quick work processing and smooth communication, so he pulled the aides into the imperial palace, Rhonda explained on the way.
It was good that they arrived like that.
“Lady Mercedes has arrived. We will enter for a moment.”
However, after the maids requested notification inside the office and the door opened.
“The great person has come.”
“What on earth is this about.”
Sharp whispers pierced Mercedes’s ears.
There were many aides whose faces she was seeing for the first time, not having visited Shame. Their gazes were especially fierce.
‘He kept this many aides…’
It seemed it wasn’t for nothing that he had given up the entire right side of the second floor.
Since the empire was large, it was natural to have many departments in charge. The office must have been in a very lively atmosphere before she entered.
“What brings you here?”
And someone approached her. It was a man with a stern impression.
In the eyes she met, very familiar emotions were visible. Hostility, irritation, anger, displeasure.
“Oh my, this person. Why so sharp. I apologize, Lady Mercedes. I will escort you this way, would you come?”
An aide who had participated in the procession to Shame and was acquainted with Mercedes approached to mediate, partly due to the emperor’s will.
However, the whispering voices and gazes from all around did not cease.
“…fallen for her, they say.”
“Worried…”
Although she couldn’t hear clearly, the content was roughly imaginable.
However, there was no change in Mercedes’s expression as she was guided.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
