Furthermore, she couldn’t get her brother Lean, who had left to become a student of the former crown prince and grand scholar, to do the work either.

‘What to do?’

Naturally, the next people that came to mind were the consorts in the harem.

“What about entrusting it to one of the consorts in the harem?”

As soon as Latil suggested it, the chief eunuch burst out laughing.

“Actually, Your Majesty, I was thinking the same thing.”

“Then let’s do it that way.”

“Yes. Then, who should…”

Latil raised an eyebrow. As soon as she decided to entrust it to one of the consorts, another problem appeared.

“Um, who would be good?”

In terms of status, Ranamun or Guesta, both from highranking noble families, were suitable. Although there might be misconceptions that the person in charge would receive favor or trust, even considering this, they seemed suitable.

However, these two were not close to the social circles. One had no interest in social circles, indulging in his own beauty, and the other was too shy to infiltrate the social circles.

Prince Klein could do it, but he was still strongly viewed as a foreign prince, and there were concerns about whether the officials would follow him. This was not just any banquet, it was the first banquet hosted by Latil as emperor.

Moreover, this banquet was originally supposed to be hosted by the empress. As it carries a lot of symbolism, the host of the banquet would receive various evaluations externally depending on the results.

‘Then again, it’s difficult to immediately assign it to the King of Mercenaries or a merchant, excluding the nobles and the prince….’

Latil looked at the harem with a smirk.

‘It would have been nice if there was a consort with a temperament like Count Lanster’s.’

A calm, wise, and trustworthy person.

‘Did I only pick the consorts by their faces?’

Latil regretted it belatedly. Of course, she didn’t really pick them just by their faces. Besides their looks, she had considered various aspects such as their political backgrounds and the elements that could be helpful.

But there was one thing she didn’t look at. Personality. Latil couldn’t help but chuckle at the realization.

“Your Majesty.”

The chief eunuch asked her again.

“Who are you thinking of entrusting?”

“Who do you think would be the best, Count Sablé?”

“In my opinion, I believe Ranamun would be the most suitable.”

‘Count Sablé really favors Ranamun.’

“Ranamun…”

But Latil was not keen on it, the chief eunuch asked,

“Do you have someone else in mind?”

“Not really. But as you know, Ranamun is not very social. A banquet, which he hardly ever attends as a guest, will be organized by him? I’m not sure if that’s possible.”

Finally, after pondering for about 15 minutes, Latil made her decision.

“First, we need to hear their opinions.”

After finishing the afternoon inspection an hour earlier than usual, Latil went to the harem without any notice. There were a few factors to consider, but she initially thought of asking Klein and Ranamun, who were of the highest status.

However, the atmosphere inside the harem was unusual. Several groups of servants were gathered together, whispering.

“Has Your Majesty arrived?”

As soon as Latil appeared, they quickly bowed their heads, but their excitement was evident in their flushed faces. Not only them, the entire building shaped like a doughnut was filled with a strange tension and anticipation.

‘What’s happening? There’s no way the conversation about the banquet that Count Sablé and I had could have spread, right?’

Wondering what was causing everyone to behave this way, Latil continued to walk down the corridor.

Since Ranamun and Klein’s rooms were the farthest away, Latrasil headed towards the large ‘Festival Room’ used for banquets and large tea parties. She planned to call the two of them from there.

However, she had to stop without even entering the Festival Room. There was already a fight happening near the room.

‘It’s Klein again.’

Latrasil clicked her tongue as she discovered Klein, once again, in the middle of a fight when she followed the noise.

She had anticipated this from the voices she heard from a distance, but there Klein was, garbed like a dazzling paradise bird, causing quite the stir among a crowd.

‘It seems like Hyacinth is messing with me by sending his people.’

Otherwise, why would they fight so frequently? What was surprising was that Ranamun was also in the crowd this time.

Although he stood aloof without mingling with the people, he seemed to be not entirely unrelated to the current fight.

Latrasil clicked her tongue again and gestured to her eunuch.

“The Empress is coming!”

Upon receiving Latrasil’s signal, the eunuch announced loudly, causing the crowd, who had been shouting loudly, to suddenly quieten down. The courtiers’ expressions darkened due to the unpleasant scene they witnessed.

Latrasil approached them and asked,

“What’s going on this time? Why are you fighting again?”

Klein frowned as if wronged by Latrasil’s ‘again’. But it had been only three days since Klein had fought with Guesta. There was definitely a sting to the rebuttal, ‘it’s not another fight.’

Latrasil looked back and forth between Klein and Ranamun.

“Answer me, Klein. Ranamun.”

When Klein’s entourage entered the harem, they had specifically requested the Chief Eunuch to keep Klein and Ranamun’s rooms as far apart as possible.

The reason was that the relationship between the two was extremely bad. If the two of them with a bad relationship were in the same place, did they end up fighting?

When Latrasil’s gaze landed on him, Ranamun opened his mouth with an indifferent expression.

“Prince Klein’s amulet is said to have disappeared.”

Unlike Klein, who was shouting and arguing, Ranamun’s voice was not wavering even amidst the chaos.

“Amulet?”

This time, Latrasil looked at Klein.

“What amulet are you talking about?”

Klein answered, suppressing his irritation to the maximum.

“It’s an amulet I brought from Karisen. The High Priest personally wrote it.”

Temples sold amulets and holy water to earn substantial income, and an amulet written by a highranking priest was even more expensive.

But it was not an ordinary highranking priest but the High Priest who wrote the amulet. There was no doubt that it was a precious amulet that would be hard to buy even with a lot of money.

Latrasil nodded. If such an amulet was lost, he would definitely be angry.

He wouldn’t have deliberately lost it. No matter how much Prince Klein did as he pleased, he wouldn’t have played around with such a precious and sacred object.

Having made her judgement, Latrasil asked worriedly,

“Oh dear. Where did you lose it?”

“I left it in the room and it disappeared.”

“While you were gone?”

“Yes.”

Latrasil looked at the guard with discontent.

“How are you maintaining security? How much of a mess do you have to make for one of my harem to be hit by a rock in a rainstorm, and for another one’s valuable item to disappear? Are you serving as guards or not?”

The guard quickly cringed.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

‘Let’s ask for responsibility later.’

There was more to nag about, but Latrasil first asked Klein to solve this matter.

“So, Klein. Do you have any guess who might have taken it?”

Klein glanced at Ranamun. Latrasil raised her eyebrows. Why is he looking at Ranamun here? Could it be… does Klein suspect Ranamun took it?

Latrasil looked at Ranamun in surprise. But no, it was not. Receiving Klein’s gaze, unexpectedly, Ranamun was the first to open his mouth, he was not a suspect but a witness.

“I don’t know whether he stole the amulet or was there for other business, but I saw another consort sneaking out of Prince Klein’s room.”

‘So that’s why Ranamun was caught up here!’