As Latil muttered ominously, the attackers gritted their teeth and brandished their swords. It seemed they deemed attacking the Emperor a better option than being captured or killed.

“They should just run away, fools.”

However, their judgement seemed pitifully inadequate in Latil’s eyes.

“Too slow.”

Latil was not weak to engage only a handful at a time. It was just that she needed to face that many to fight them freely.

Surprisingly, even those who knew Latil had learned to wield the sword while following the Knights believed she was not good at it. That belief changed once they saw her confront a handful on her own.

Although most royals learn to use the sword briefly for sport and selfdefense, Prince Le’an, who was mentioned before, had no interest in sports, so they assumed Latil was of a similar level.

However, her opponent’s underestimation was a minor annoyance; it actually proved beneficial to Latil in actual combat.

Clang!

As the sound of steel clashing echoed and the attacker’s sword flew away, only then did the enemies seem to realize something was wrong.

“It’s too late.”

Latil sneered and struck the man’s back, almost simultaneously pivoting on one foot to kick another enemy’s sword far away.

“Is that all of them?”

However, the moment she thought, ‘It seems like I’ve dealt with everyone I saw from the railing above…’ she heard a voice yelling ‘Die!’ from behind.

“Is there one more?”

Latil quickly turned around, raising her sword. She wasn’t worried about herself, but about the robed figure that was left exposed while she was fending off the attackers.

However, what she saw wasn’t an attack scene. Well, it was an attack scene, but not the one she anticipated.

The one being attacked was an assassin, and a muscular man, who was presumably the one in the robe before, was breaking the attacker’s neck.

“Is that the bishop?”

Latil, who had rushed over thinking the person in the robe was the bishop, was taken aback.

“How dare you attack me.”

As the man growled in a low, restrained voice like a beast, Latil’s eyes widened further. In the meantime, the muscular man, after pinning another enemy to the ground, yelled out.

“This is the wrath of God!”

“No, that’s not God’s wrath! That’s clearly your wrath!”

She figured he must be the bishop, considering his reference to God. Latil, with her mouth agape, first stepped forward and caught the man’s arm.

The man, who was fiercely suppressing the enemy, finally let go of his foe, and Latil let go of the man’s arm. The arm she held was even thicker and firmer than it had looked.

“I guess he’s not the bishop after all. Is he the bishop’s bodyguard? Something like a secret bodyguard?”

Regardless of Latil’s confusion, the man kicked the fallen enemy aside and courteously greeted Latil.

“Thank you for saving my life, Your Majesty. I am in your debt.”

“You did save a life, indeed. The life of the assassin you were just about to kill.”

She thought she should have bestowed her grace upon that man… She blankly watched the man, who seemed capable of handling the situation on his own, when she suddenly came to her senses.

This was not the time. She needed to call for people immediately and put these scoundrels in prison. But just as Latil was about to open her mouth.

“Your Majesty.”

The man suddenly knelt down and grabbed Latil’s hand.

“Please wait a moment, Your Majesty. As you may have already suspected, my identity must remain hidden.”

Baffled at the man’s claim, when she had no clue about his identity, Latil asked back.

“What’s your identity? A fighter?”

From the looks of it, rather than Kaline, this man seemed to be the King of Mercenaries…

At that question, the man smiled bashfully.

“Your consideration is much appreciated… Even more kindhearted than the rumors suggested. But you don’t have to pretend to not know.”

“No, I really don’t know.”

“I am the bishop, Your Majesty.”

As the man claiming to be the bishop spoke confidently, the angelic image of the bishop that Latil had in her head was shattered.

“I thought the bishop would look like an angel in a painting… Is his muscles swollen with God’s love?”

As Latil’s mind raced in surprise, she quickly shook her head to clear the irrelevant thoughts, regained her imperial dignity, and asked.

“There’s still one enemy who hasn’t fainted yet. Is it okay to reveal your identity like that? They might have attacked knowing your identity.”

To this, the standin replied with a broad grin.

“Wipe out their memory. It’s fine.”

‘Can the standin erase memory?’

Surprised, Latil hastily gave permission. Erasing memory. A dangerous ability, but she wanted to see it once.

With Latil’s permission, the man answered, “Yes.” Latil nervously watched the standin fumbling with her wrist.

At that moment.

“Ha!”

The standin clenched his fist and knocked on the enemy’s head, and the enemy, who had been awake, fainted with a single punch. Then, when the standin clenched his fist again, Latil stopped him in surprise.

“Wait!”