NOVEL NEXT Chapter 243
Euges answered indifferently. “Leave it there.” They were papers he didn’t need to see anyway.
“Duke Raul Squire has requested to enter the imperial palace. Will you grant an audience?”
“Tell him I’m busy with post-dungeon matters and will see him tomorrow. Inform him that Theresa is not to have any contact with outsiders until her work is finished.”
“There will be strong opposition.”
“Provide him a place to stay in the imperial palace and tell him to wait there. And make it the palace furthest from the Sun Palace.”
“Understood.”
Jeffrey glanced at the emperor, whose demeanor had completely changed before and after entering the dungeon. He knew Euges held Theresa in special regard. However, it was clear that his feelings weren’t strong enough to plot behind the scenes to make her empress.
It seems like he’s stalling to keep her in the imperial palace indefinitely.
Euges habitually took out a cigar but frowned and put it back. Come to think of it, he hadn’t touched a cigar or had a drink today.
Euges’s face was subtly displeased as he spoke to Jeffrey as if a thought had suddenly struck him. “Duchess Kapento hasn’t come out of the dungeon yet?”
“Yes. Since the dungeon door hasn’t opened, it seems she hasn’t died.”
However, since Duchess Kapento had neither received professional training nor was a magician, she couldn’t come out alive. Therefore, people considered her as presumptively dead.
“Interesting.”
Duke Kapento had endangered the emperor by failing to raise his daughter properly. This enraged the entire empire, leading to violent protests demanding the duke’s execution by burning.
“It’s too perfect to be a coincidence, isn’t it?”
As a result, the illegitimate son, Damian, who had suddenly appeared, was set to inherit the Kapento title. If all this was mere coincidence, Damian was more than lucky; he was favored by the gods.
Jeffrey reported what he had discovered while the emperor was in the dungeon. “I investigated Damian Kapento’s past. Surprisingly, he has connections with the temple. There are records of him participating in volunteer activities run by High Priest Constantine.”
“How commendable.” Euges sneered, recalling Damian at the last ball.
Wasn’t it when Theresa was dancing with Marquis Vallensia? Damian’s expression as he watched them was beyond heartbroken; it was chilling. That was not the look of a young man living an ordinary life.
“There is another oddity. High Priest Constantine has suddenly disappeared. A missing person’s report has been filed, but no trace of him has been found.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“It’s highly likely he was kidnapped or murdered, with the body hidden.”
Why did it seem so likely that Damian Kapento was the perpetrator? Euges personally disliked Damian intensely despite not knowing him well.
“Investigate. And link it to Damian Kapento.”
“Understood.”
The truth didn’t matter much. With plausible connections to exploit, he intended to use them. Reducing the number of people causing unnecessary ripples in Theresa’s heart wasn’t a troublesome task.
Euges then asked about something he was curious about. “Is the place for Theresa ready?”
“Yes. The best tapissier was brought in to decorate the interior.”
For the first time, Euges’s face, which had been showing only negative expressions, had a faint smile.
“Anything else to report?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
Euges walked to the parlor, where he had been staring all the while as if heading for the surface after holding his breath underwater. From his light smile and expectant steps, Jeffrey could tell. The emperor was in love. It was his first love, quite late in life.
* * *
“It seems I’ve developed dyslexia.”
Despite my complaint, the royal lawyer coldly pointed to the signature line. “Have you read everything? If you agree, sign here.”
Ding!
[The Constellation ‘I’m Sorry’ has sponsored 1,000,000 coins.]
[Summarize it in three lines
ㅡㅡ
]
Ding!
[The Constellation ‘Fact Is Violence’ has sponsored 1,000,000 coins.]
[Isn’t law a liberal arts? It seems like you just don’t want to study]
Ding!
[The Constellation ‘I’m Sorry’ has sponsored 1,000,000 coins.]
[Shh.]
“I don’t understand what this means. And is there a font size restriction in imperial law? Why is the text so small and dense, making it hard to read?”
Are they deliberately reducing readability to make me sign without understanding?
In response to my reasonable suspicion, the imperial lawyer responded like a veteran dealing with a difficult customer. “The paper used for imperial contracts is classified as a luxury item. Important documents are written in small text to save paper. Are you suggesting wasting national taxes, Lady?”
Complaining about the nausea-inducing small font turned me into a foolish brat wasting precious taxes.
Ding!
[The Constellation ‘I Don’t Want to Work’ has sponsored 1,000,000 coins.]
[Office supplies actually take up a significant portion of operating costs]
“…Do you have a magnifying glass?”
“If you’ve read everything, sign here. We still have a long way to go.”
I glared at the tedious, emotionless contract written in tiny, difficult words as if it were my enemy.
Why are they asking for my opinion on the reasons for the emperor’s entry into the dungeon and measures to prevent recurrence in the first place?
After signing about thirty times, the door to the parlor opened, and Euges, the cause of all this, appeared. The imperial lawyer bowed politely.
“Welcome, Your Majesty. The lady has just finished signing the dungeon management cooperation document.”
I, too, stood up and bowed reluctantly.
“You’ve done so much already? Theresa must have been diligent. Still, you should eat first.”
Euges, attended by highly trained courtiers, had a polished face. Moreover, the finely embroidered expensive clothes he wore seemed to exude the dignity of an emperor.
He approached me with leisurely steps, sat me next to him, and gestured to the royal lawyer to leave. I was taken aback by this crazy emperor’s inability to distinguish between the dungeon and reality, behaving so promiscuously, and moved to sit farther away. Then Euges’s eyebrows immediately shot up sharply.
“Aren’t you coming here?”
“
Huh
…? Why?”
“Why?”
“This isn’t the dungeon, Your Majesty. Please maintain your decorum.”
It was a polite way of saying, please come to your senses. But Euges, apparently not planning to regain his senses, continued to babble nonsense even before the imperial lawyer had left.
“All the more reason for you to follow my words. I’m the emperor, and you’re my subject.”
The imperial lawyer, looking shocked, glanced at us and then left the parlor.
A new rumor confirming a scandal in the palace was bound to spread. At this point, it didn’t even make me sad.
With monstrous strength, Euges pulled me onto his lap.
“Your Majesty.”
I looked at him with an expression that said I had a lot to say but didn’t. He rested his forehead on my shoulder and spoke pitifully.
“My head hurts because I haven’t had a drink.”
“I don’t know why it’s because of me, but that’s unfortunate. My head hurts too, and my hand does as well.”
“Why does your hand hurt?” Euges frowned and examined my hand. Seeing the redness from holding a pen for so long, he sighed disapprovingly.
“You should take it easy.” He gently massaged the hand that had been holding the pen.
He’s surprisingly good at massages.
The tension in my stiff hand melted away, and I unknowingly relaxed my entire body.
I leaned against Euges and spoke languidly. “I need to hurry. My family must be worried about me, and I need to show my face soon.”
Though I had heard the palace informed my family of my return, it was still better to reassure them in person. My family had become increasingly anxious due to the numerous incidents happening to me. How scared they must have been this time?
Euges suddenly massaged harder as if displeased.
“
Ah
! That hurts, Your Majesty!”
“This is a punishment for your constant thoughts of leaving, so bear it.”
“
Ack
! It really hurts!”
“It’s supposed to hurt. If it doesn’t, it’s useless.” Euges scoffed but gently stroked my hand, which had turned red. “It would have been better if you were a greedy woman who desired the position of empress.”
As if that would work on me.
“If I were that kind of woman, my head would have been gone long ago.”
Since I genuinely had no interest in the empress’s position, Euges accepted me without suspicion.
With a peculiar expression, Euges narrowed his eyes. “I’ve always thought you know a lot about me, almost as if you’ve watched me your whole life.”
“…I’m sure everyone knows. You’re a very straightforward person, Your Majesty.”
“Straightforward? That’s the first time I’ve heard that. I don’t remember hearing such a thing even in my most naïve first life.”
In such matters, he was strangely self-aware.