‘We even shared potato pancakes and rice wine!’

But as a lover, being beaten to death was horrible.

‘Please appear soon…!’

At that time, when I hoped he would arrive before the thirty lashes were fulfilled.

Whoosh!

The sound of cutting through the air sharply resonated.

I gritted my teeth.

“……?”

But no matter how long I waited, I didn’t feel the terrible pain.

The moment I cautiously opened my eyes.

Thud.

The severed whip was rolling on the floor.

“I never thought I’d be beheading someone in the Imperial Palace.”

Thud.

The neck of the knight who had been holding the whip was horribly twisted.

“……My God.”

Everyone swallowed.

Beyond the body that couldn’t even scream, Emma was covering the children’s eyes.

Soon after, a hand with red marks pulled me.

“Come here.”

As I embraced Kashar’s warmth, my legs gave way.

I exhaled a ragged breath, feeling his hot body temperature.

‘I survived.’

I was tearfully thankful to him, who appeared at the perfect time.

My body that didn’t get a single lash trembled, and his arms around me tightened.

“You dare kill someone in my palace!”

“I just crushed an insect that tried to harm my lover, is there a problem?”

“The wet nurse made a mistake, and I was about to administer proper punishment!”

The Empress sharply countered Kashar’s words.

But the reply came from elsewhere.

“What is all this ruckus?”

The deep voice belonged to a man with shining silver hair.

A middleaged man in his fifties dominated the scene with his cold eyes.

Daios Shaiyer Lahan Rihart.

It was the Emperor’s appearance.

“I am honored to see Your Imperial Majesty.”

“To Rihart’s sun, eternal glory.”

At the sudden appearance of the Emperor, everyone bowed their heads.

All but one.

“Your Majesty!”

Waieno embraced Daios’s arm.

Her once angry eyes were now filled with joy.

“It is a great honor that you have come.”

However, Daios’s eyes were cold.

Waieno, though smiling brightly, was sweating inwardly.

This was certainly unusual, as the Emperor had not attended an event led by the Empress in nearly five years.

“What is happening? Empress.”

“The young princes attended their first party, so… there was a small disturbance. It must have been my fault.”

Tears welled in Waieno’s eyes. She had transformed from a fierce woman.

The Emperor’s gaze then turned to Louis and Evan.

The children’s eyes widened, seeing their father’s face for the first time since they were born.
Without a word, the Emperor’s eyes, which had been looking at the twins, turned to the Countess again.

“Let the host of the party explain.”

“……Well, actually.”

The hesitant Countess carefully stated.

It was about the imperial princes swinging their fists at the Earl’s son’s jest.

‘Amazing!’

The fear was all gone at the sight of the Countess bearing witness in my favor.

“Is that the truth?”

“There is not an inch of falsehood in it.”

The Empress answered immediately.

Everyone in the hall was a witness.

Nonetheless, the reason why Wyeno could be confident was because of the Emperor, who oddly sided with her every time trouble arose.

‘That’s why the nobles couldn’t testify freely.’

Even the truth could be turned into a lie by the Empress’s words, so how could anyone speak fairly?

The hall became quiet again.

The one to break the silence was none other than the voice of a drunkard.

“Ahwoo, my wifee, you lie so wellll!”

“……?”

Everyone’s heads turned towards the sound, like something heard in a lowly tavern.

‘……Count Gerald?’

It was the head of the House of LeMang and Tuberosha’s husband.

Unlike his clever and sharpwitted wife, Count Gerald was a garbageloving gambler and drunkard.

“Hey, honey?”

“Blech!”

Tuberosha asked in astonishment, but Count Gerald answered with a belch.

Everyone’s brows, including the Emperor’s, wrinkled in unison.

‘There’s even a level to shamelessness.’

It was he who had aimed a knife at Evan in the original story.

Famous for being human trash, but he usually listened well to his wife, though today he was unintelligible.

“I feel so gooood!”

Gerald shrugged his shoulders.

What he was holding in his hand.

‘……Makgeolli?’

He was walking three steps, taking a sip a threestep onesip rhythm.

‘Come to think of it, the Count also tasted earlier.’

Near the end of the tasting line, some servants came and received tasting cups.

Gerald was at the spot where they were being tracked with eyes.

‘He won the bid.’

I knew he had a revelation after drinking Makgeolli, but I didn’t know he liked it to this extent.

When I went out onto the balcony, the secret auction had already ended.

Soon, everyone’s eyes turned to the stage.

There, the name of the owner of the item that fetched the highest price was written.

‘This is insane.’

The amount was enough to buy a small castle and have change leftover, a historic sum for the auction.