However, what they were seeking was not a black magician, but the ‘real’ Emperor. The Emperor, who was born as the daughter of the Empress and grew up gently in the greenhouse.

“But he can’t run away for long.”

The surroundings were filled with soldiers, and Tarium was a powerful nation. If many people looked for him, they would definitely find him.

“Where is Sonnaught?”

“I have sent someone, so he should be coming soon.”

“That’s good. We need to find him before we meet the fake.”

‘Fake Emperor’ Shait muttered sincerely while looking at his own reflection in the mirror.

“Hm?”

Then, Shait turned his head. A loud noise came from outside. A noisy, bright, and cheerful voice. The voices of the crowd momentarily flared up before coming together and receding again.

“What’s that noise?”

When Shait approached the window and looked down, he saw several maids gathered, laughing and moving.

“It must be because today is the day to recruit new maids. From the day we recruit maids, it’s noisy like this for about a week.”

Shait tilted his head.

“Maids?”

“Yes.”

Shait turned his gaze back to the window and murmured softly, “Maids….” Soon, a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

“I see. She might be there.”

“What?”

Without offering a long explanation, Shait left his office and walked briskly towards the interview room.

At that time.

The guard knight who arrived quickly at the Meloshi territory after nonstop movement upon receiving Latil’s order, went straight to the lord’s castle.

“Lord, where is Sir Sonnaught? The Emperor has issued an urgent order.”

Fortunately, neither the ‘Fake Emperor’s’ man nor rumors had yet reached here.

The guard knight considered this fortunate and immediately searched for Sonnaught upon meeting the lord. However, the answer he received was unfortunate.

“Sonnaught has already left here. What’s the matter? Is it very urgent?”

The guard knight was taken aback and widened his eyes. Sonnaught had already left the territory? Did their paths cross? It seemed that way.

“When, when did he leave?”

“He set off yesterday.”

The Lord of Meloshi who answered, asked with a worried face.

“If it’s very urgent, should I send someone? The road from here to the palace is long, and I have no idea where that kid might have gone.”

Yesterday. If he had ridden a horse and hurried all day, he might already be quite far away.

That’s not good. The guard knight anxiously paced and bowed quickly.

“Thank you for letting me know, Lord. But it’s fine. I must find Sir Sonnaught, so I’ll be on my way. Farewell.”

At this rate, the ‘Fake Emperor’s’ men had a higher chance of finding Sonnaught first. Absolutely, it could not happen.

Upon entering the interview room, there were about twenty people whispering amongst themselves. Everyone was neatly dressed, their hair not a single strand out of place, neatly tied.

When Latil entered, the maid applicants all turned their heads at once, but without further ado, they resumed their own conversations.

All of them had passed the document screening to get here. Some of them would be employed in the court, so everyone considered each other as rivals. So, they only chatted with people they knew.

Latil did not mingle, instead she sat on a chair in the corner of the room, her hands resting on her thighs, silently waiting for the interviewer to arrive.

Before long, the manager in charge came into the waiting room with two assistants. As they entered, the applicants simultaneously fell silent.

Even though Latil knew the manager wouldn’t recognize her, she nervously twitched her toes for no reason.

Fortunately, or perhaps not, the manager scanned over the applicants once, but without giving a glance towards Latil, he began to speak.

“Working in the palace is a great honor. However, to work in such a glorious place, one must have the determination and talent to match.”

“……”

“One by one, you will be called into the inner room for an interview. We may hire everyone, or we may reject everyone. So, don’t think of the person next to you as a rival and just show your skills.”

The manager entered the door inside the waiting room, and the assistant followed him.

However, one of the assistants didn’t follow, but stood at the door, constantly watching the inside. When the manager signaled, he pulled out a notebook and called someone’s name.

“Miss Emmer.”

Then, a woman who seemed like a welloff lady with her flashy blonde hair rolled up, confidently rose and entered the room. But she came out less than three minutes later, her face pale.

“What happened? What did they ask you?”

Her friend, who had been talking with her all along, asked, but Emmer only stuttered and responded with a pale face.

“They said I shouldn’t tell. I’m sorry. It would be better for you to go in and see.”

It didn’t seem like she was doing this just to get the interview by herself.

What could they be asking in there? The other nearby applicants hardened their expressions and began to shiver with sudden tension.

On the other hand, Latil had heard how the manager selected the applicants, so she just sat there blankly without any tension.

Latil’s name was the ninth to be called.

“Miss Vanessa.”

Latil stood up with an attitude that was neither too confident nor too timid and approached the door at a moderate pace.

The assistant opened the door without any doubt, and to show a bit of tension, Latil intentionally clasped her hands tightly together and entered.

But… it was strange.

As soon as Latil entered the interview room, she realized the situation had completely deviated from her expectations.

The person sitting where the interviewer should have been was not the manager but the fake Emperor, dressed like a noble lady. The interviewer was sitting next to her with an uncomfortable face, and the assistant was pressed against the corner of the wall.

Latil mustered all her strength to control the muscles on her face so as not to show a surprised expression.

The fake Latil was indeed sitting in the high seat, but she had deliberately dressed in plain noble attire. The manager did not tell the other that she was the emperor, and was just sitting quietly beside her.

In other words, the fake Latil was sitting here, hiding that she was the emperor.

‘She anticipated that I would infiltrate as a maid.’

Latil realized that the fake not only had similar swordsmanship skills but also thought in a very similar way to her.

At this point, she almost wanted to grab her brother by the scruff of his neck and seriously ask him where he got such a woman.

‘The face… it’s not just similar. Could she have a mask that changes her face like me? The number 3 was written on the map. Yes. Maybe there are multiple masks like that.’

If she shows any reaction to seeing the fake Emperor here, the fake Emperor will realize that Latil is the fake applicant.

She had to be careful. While the nobles have a high chance of recognizing the face of the Emperor, commoners have a higher chance of never having seen the Emperor.

“Please have a seat here, Miss Vanessa.”

As it happened, the manager pointed to a small chair on the other side of the table and instructed.

Latil quickly sat down, showing just as much tension as those being interviewed.

As she sat down, she could immediately see the face of the fake Emperor across from her. The fake Latil, who had been silent all along, had her gaze fixed directly on Latil.