“Why is that fallen? Aren’t you going to ask!”

BANG. As the Emperor slammed down on his desk, he roared.

Chilled to the bone by his anger, the steward bowed his head.

The Emperor pointed to the banner with his finger, glaring at the silent steward.

The banner, always as if it was hiding something, was now fully unfurled.

“Does it make sense for a portrait under preservation magic to fall when no one has approached it? Steward!”

The Emperor’s eyes gleamed ominously as he looked at the empty wall, his voice as sharp as if he were about to kill someone. Startled, the steward quickly raised his head.

“Your Majesty, do you not know? I am the last person to check your bedroom.”

The steward said, his voice trembling. He was speaking literally. The steward had merely looked over the Emperor’s bedroom as usual.

Until he discovered something had fallen under the banner representing the Franz Empire in the deepest part of the bedroom, everything was no different from yesterday.

The Emperor knew this fact better than anyone else. Just moments ago, he himself had been the one looking at the portrait with the banner unfurled.

The Emperor’s rough breathing, which had filled the bedroom, gradually subsided. It was a positive sign. When the bedroom became quiet, the cunning steward cautiously spoke.

“……I will call the court magician to recast the preservation spell, Your Majesty.”

The steward bowed his head deeply, and soon there was the sound of someone sinking into a chair.

“……Thank you. I was not in good shape today.”

“It is not so, Your Majesty.”

The steward had served the Emperor all his life.

He had watched from the side how obsessed the Emperor was with the lady in the portrait, and what he had done because of that.

It was the only portrait of such a lady. If it hadn’t been for the fact that the Emperor had been looking at it moments ago, even he, who had served the Emperor, couldn’t predict what would have happened.

Without realizing it, the steward stroked his neck area. It felt chilly, as if a cold wind had blown through his neck.

“……Raise your head, steward.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The steward raised his head. The Emperor spoke, turning away from the portrait placed upright on the desk.

“Is the Princess conducting the investigation in Vicander, as I commanded?”

“……I have received news that she is staying in Katangta.”

“Is she already coming back after finishing the investigation? She is returning faster than I thought.”

The Emperor exhaled lightly, trying to clear his mood. Fortunately, the steward’s answer was satisfactory.

The Princess always brought exact results for the tasks he assigned. Though she left late, she was apparently obeying her father’s order to investigate quickly.

“That is…….”

The Emperor raised an eyebrow. The steward paused, his face showing discomfort.

“……Not on her way back, but on her way to Vicander,”

“What?”

The Emperor frowned, clearly showing his displeasure. The steward shut his mouth abruptly.

“That is, true? The Princess hasn’t even reached Katangta yet? Isn’t that place only four hours away from here?”

“Yes. I apologize, Your Majesty. The journey has been momentarily delayed due to Her Highness’s motion sickness.”

“Ha, ha!”

The Emperor let out a hollow laugh.

Motion sickness. Just motion sickness, and she’s still in Katangta!

The Emperor could not suppress his anger, easily dismissing the memory of the Princess having been sick before.

Time was of the essence… Seeing the fallen portrait, he had become more convinced of the need to reconfirm the white crystal mine.

Suppressing his impatience, the Emperor commanded softly.

“Send someone to Katangta immediately. Give the Princess a deadline of five days for her motion sickness, without any excuse.”

It took only three days to travel from the capital to Vicander, and six just for a round trip without investigation, but the steward responded politely instead of pointing this out.

The Emperor raised his hand and washed it with dry water. His palm was filled with a suffocating sigh.
Already, there were countless tasks to be done. Among them, the one that had been the most troubling recently was the eldest princess of Madelleine, who had gone to Vicander’s territory.

“……I’m not sure if the Duke of Madelleine is doing his job properly.”

“I will send news to be presented tomorrow.”

At the shrewd words of the chief eunuch, the Emperor swallowed a low sigh and nodded.

“……Bring me a cup of tea.”

The chief eunuch bowed his head and replied that he would do so, and then left the bedroom.

Thud, with the sound of the closing door, the Emperor took his palm away from his face.

He couldn’t ignore it, no matter how much he tried. The Emperor stared slowly at the portrait on the desk as if bewitched.

Above a dark background, a beautiful blonde woman in a lush white dress was staring expressionlessly at him.

Her overwhelmingly beautiful face resembled her loyal son, Duke Vicander, perfectly.

All that differed were her vividly shining green eyes.