“Your Majesty. You treated the other guests to tea, so why don’t you make time for me?”

When Emperor Adrian spoke with a tone of resentment, Lionel replied indifferently.

“Your Majesty, you seem tired from the long journey…”

“Not at all? The weather in the Northern Continent seems to suit me well. The terrain may be rugged, but the air is fresher than the Southern Continent. And something else… it’s fresh in various ways. I quite like it.”

Emperor Adrian spoke the word ‘fresh’ and looked at me with a feeling of relish.

Among the various fresh things, could I be included?

[Dash] ‘You’re hiding a lot under that dress, huh? I wonder how far Lionel has undressed. It seems he hasn’t revealed the real appearance of the empress yet…’
Emperor Adrian’s inner thoughts were heard clearly one after another.

My real self? What is he talking about?

Wait. If I can hear Emperor Adrian’s inner thoughts, can he hear mine as well?

Suddenly, as that thought crossed my mind, chills ran down to the tip of my spine.

I need to check.

I decided to speak to Emperor Adrian in my mind.

What should I say, though?

Looking at Emperor Adrian’s silver hair fluttering in the wind, a thought came to my mind.

[Dash] ‘Emperor Silverfish, can you hear my voice too?’

I continued to speak to Emperor Adrian in my mind with a gentle smile.

[Dash] ‘Hey, how many empresses do you have? Is it because your eyes are red? You look tired, like your eyes are bloodshot. Just fly away to the star palace. I saw you walking through the air quite well earlier.’

Emperor Adrian and I made eye contact. He looked at me and spoke.

“Empress Lionel is naturally a cold person, but wouldn’t Empress also offer a warm tea to a guest who has traveled a long way?”

Fortunately, it seemed like my inner thoughts were not audible to Emperor Silverfish.

“Your Majesty, I think it would be nice to treat Emperor Adrian to a cup of tea. I’m curious to learn more about him.”

With a reluctant expression, Lionel turned his steps towards the reception room.

“I wonder how many cups of tea I’ll have today.”

Lionel grumbled under his breath, audible only to me.

Entering the reception room and walking towards the table, two chairs automatically moved backward.

“Please, Empress, have a seat.”

Emperor Adrian once again casually used magic.

Whether the power to pull out three chairs simultaneously didn’t exist or whether it was intentional, he only pulled out the chair for himself and me.

When Lionel looked at him with a puzzled expression, Emperor Adrian raised his hand with an ‘Ah’ as if to say, ‘I forgot,’ and then raised the chair for himself.

At the same time, Lionel also raised his hand and said, “That’s enough.”

He deliberately pulled the chair with a scraping sound, making it audible, as if letting us know.

“Empress, do you happen to have a heat-preserving magic stone?”

Emperor Adrian, sitting across the table with black tea in front of him, asked me an unexpected question.

“A heat-preserving magic stone? No, why do you ask?”

“I asked because I feel a warmer aura from you than ordinary people.”

Didn’t he say he only used minor magic?

I was surprised, thinking if Emperor Adrian felt the presence of the fire spirit inside me and was making such comments.

“That’s probably because the Empress is passionately in love, wouldn’t you say?”

Lionel interjected with a playful tone.

“Well, Your Majesty also seems to have significantly lowered the intensity of the curse compared to before.”

Emperor Adrian, as if trying to sense something, raised his hand and read Lionel’s aura.
I grabbed Lionel’s hand under the table.

At that moment, Emperor Adrian’s brow twitched slightly, and he lowered his palm.

[Dash] ‘Strange? There seems to be a change in Lionel’s aura.’

Emperor Adrian’s inner thoughts carried a sense of doubt.

After a while, the servant placed three cocoa cups on the table and left.

When Adrian Emperor brought cocoa as a gift from the Tavelo Empire, saying that he had brought cocoa, a specialty of the Tavelo Empire, alongside the tea he had brought earlier, he asked to set aside the tea, called his servant, and ordered warm cocoa for himself.

Finally, am I going to try the famous cocoa from the Tavelo Empire?

The rich and sweet cocoa of the Tavelo Empire is traded at high prices among royal families worldwide.

Since it’s cocoa brought directly by Emperor Adrian, the taste must be top-notch, right?

Interestingly, near the Tavelo Palace, there is a place called Cocoa Forest, and in one of the valleys in the forest, there is a spot where cocoa flows like a waterfall.

By the way, just the aroma rising from the teacup made me feel refreshed and relieved.

“Please enjoy it while it’s warm. Emperor of the Cold Lapion Empire.”

Emperor Adrian first offered cocoa to him.

“Thank you. Empress, would you like some too?”

Lionel raised the cocoa cup with a smirk.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The angle of him bringing the cocoa cup to his lips looked particularly stylish as I watched it as if appreciating.

However, Emperor Adrian’s voice resonated in my mind.

[Dash] ‘Did I mix poison into the Emperor’s cup?’

“!”

What is that Silverfish saying now?

[Dash] ‘You won’t die as soon as you drink it, but the poison will slowly spread through your veins, lowering your body temperature and causing chills all over. Eventually, you’ll tremble and collapse. If the saliva of another person is mixed in, the poison won’t spread rapidly, but…’

I was shocked by Emperor Adrian’s dreadful inner thoughts, but I deliberately avoided looking at him.

I have to stop this!

Lionel’s cocoa cup was about to touch his lips.

“Your, Your Majesty, please have mine!”

I quickly raised my cocoa cup and loudly clashed it against his cup, making a clear sound.

Just as Lionel was about to drink cocoa, he looked at me with his lips slightly parted.

His face showed quite a surprised expression at my sudden action.

“My cocoa is richer and tastier!”

“…Empress hasn’t even touched the cocoa yet?”

“Just by smelling the aroma, can’t you tell? Please, give it to me; I’ll drink it.”

I snatched the cocoa cup from Lionel’s hand and handed him mine.

“Is that so? Then.”

He made a puzzled expression but obediently followed my words.

Phew.

After exhaling a sigh of relief, I opened my eyes and turned my head towards Emperor Adrian.

[Dash] ‘Oh, this is awkward. I told them to put poison in the Empress’s teacup, but I seem to have confused the instructions. What should I do…?’
Emperor Adrian, sipping cocoa with a leisurely expression, sighed inwardly and said,

“That rascal, is he of the same kind as Prince Tesler?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, I quickly turned my gaze to Lionel.

He was already in the midst of drinking cocoa from my teacup.

Oh no!

My vision went dark.

What should I do?