“Then, you too should now give me an answer according to that. Shouldn’t you?”

The Emperor maintained his seemingly friendly smile, but I did not trust him.

The one who would clean up when deemed worthless was not just Duke Pieren. The Emperor was no different.

From the beginning, he was a man who trampled on his competitive halfbrothers and took the top spot. No matter how young, he was brighter than anyone else in discerning the situation and calculating the benefits.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard from Duke Pieren, but there’s only one answer I can give you.”

“Unfortunately, our Duke seems to be sparing with his words as a hobby. Even if your mouth hurts, you’ll have to talk to me directly.”

“I told you I would do anything I could.”

However, the advantages the Emperor had meant little to me.

From the start, I wasn’t doing business to gain profit. I was just staking everything and running.

“Anything?”

“Yes, anything.”

“That’s a pretty dangerous expression. So, what did Calyx choose? It would be troublesome if we overlap.”

“It won’t overlap with your Majesty.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Weren’t your desires always the same?”

The greedy man had been eyeing everything about Creighton from the beginning.

Whether to subdue him and put him under me, or swallow him directly. Either way, Creighton would be a musthave prey for a man born with the temperament of a conqueror.

“That means, Calyx chose love. ”

“…….”

“After all, despite having such an indifferent face, you’re a romanticist. It was no wonder you rushed in first without caring about anything if it was your business.”

“…….”

“It’s really fun. Despite being betrayed so horribly, you can’t let go of your attachment. It’s not anyone else, it’s that Calyx.”

The Emperor smiled brightly enough to show his teeth, and soon threw what he had been holding in his hand to me.

I, who caught it by surprise, slightly frowned my brows as I confirmed the identity of the object.

“I’m really curious. What charm do you have that makes men so crazy?”

“…….”

“So I thought, since it’s come to this, I’d make a different condition, how about it?”

“What do you want from me?”

“You becoming the wife of Duke Pieren. My request is that.”

“…….”

“Don’t tell me you can’t do it? You said you would do anything.”

The Emperor smiled mischievously like a playful child. Apparently, he thought this was a form of entertainment.

I stared straight at the Emperor and clenched my fist tightly.

Thanks to that, I could feel the round shape of the object in the pouch thrown by the Emperor more clearly.

“Did you have a good time with his Majesty? There were no particular problems?”

“Yeah. He only said to prepare well for the future. It’s not a debutant, but a lot of people are waiting, so he must be careful.”

“That’s a relief. I was worried about a private meeting with his Majesty, what’s that?”

Margaret laughed behind her hand. Perhaps because it was her first visit to the imperial palace, she seemed quite cheerful.

I stopped walking, looking at the back of Margaret who was walking briskly ahead of me.

Originally, a maid should walk behind, not in front, but she did not seem to care about that at all.

“Margaret.”

“Huh? What is it?”

Margaret, who was walking ahead without knowing I had stopped, stopped late at my call.

But her round eyes still did not seem to realize what she had done wrong.

I deliberately looked straight at her and smiled.

“You should walk behind me.”

“Uh, what?”

“You’re my maid, aftern’t you?”

I pointed behind me with a smile.

Margaret seemed surprised, her lips moving uncertainly, but there was no reason for me to be considerate to that extent.

All I had to do was open my mouth once more and encourage her to come behind me.

“If it were the Craiton mansion, it wouldn’t matter, but this is the palace, you know. You need to behave properly. It would be a problem if your reputation fell just because of this.”

“Ah, right. Of course. I was just so fascinated by the palace that I didn’t think of that.”

Margaret, unable to show her displeasure, hesitated and backed away.

I arrogantly ignored her, brushing the back of my hand.

Even with gloves on, it was hard to hide the hard touch I felt underneath.

“You’re not upset, are you?”

“Upset, of course. It’s natural, isn’t it? If you’re a maid.”

“Thanks for understanding.”

“No, it’s my mistake, after all.”

Margaret tried to act calm, but her voice betrayed her.

I took a step forward, guessing what kind of expression the girl behind me might be making.

“As long as you do better in the future. You don’t know how relieved I am that you came with me today. I was actually worried. I thought that Bake might not allow you to accompany me.”

“Why worry about that? I’m your maid.”

“That’s the thing. It feels a bit strange now that I think about it.”

“What’s strange?”

“I would think a husband who oppressed me would want a surveillance role by my side, but he didn’t.”

The sound of footsteps that had been following me stopped for a moment, then resumed.

But I just kept walking at the same pace, pretending not to know.

“There’s no need for that. How many servants are there in the mansion.”

“But this isn’t the mansion now, is it? And more importantly, Bake and the royal family are not on good terms. Wouldn’t he want to attach a surveillance role to me at a time like this?”

“If the relationship with the royal family is bad, he’d be more careful.”

“That’s true, but it’s a bit strange.”

“In what way?”

“I’ve lost my memory, so I wouldn’t recognize anyone he brought. So wouldn’t now be the perfect time to have a surveillance role by my side? For example, disguising the surveillance role as one of my confidants……”

This time, the sound of following footsteps stopped altogether.

And so did I, without taking a few more steps.

I slowly turned around.

There was Margaret, her face turned pale.