Chapter 9.1

Chapter 9 – Part 1

“You promised to invite her to the Imperial Palace?”

“Therefore…”

Eric smiled laboriously with trembling lips, looking at Jane, Marchioness Philistines. Then, his gray eyes turned to the red-haired woman with her head bowed down.

“Therefore… Now, you bring her to the Imperial Palace? Miss Claudel…? Although I didn’t even send you an invitation?”

“Oh my. To be precise, have mercy on the lost young woman. Isn’t it the job of His Majesty, the Emperor of this country, to look after the difficulties of all people?”

Eric muttered blankly at her smooth words.

“I don’t think the Emperor’s job will last long. The Duke will rebel against me.”

“Oh, Your Majesty. Would he ever do such a troublesome thing?”

“Right? Treason is too big, I don’t know if it’s murder…”

Olivia, who had been lost in disappointment, finally raised her head at the bloody conversation. The terrifying conversation was automatically filtered out by her as ‘the Emperor is in trouble’.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. If I cause trouble, I will leave immediately.”

At that, Eric replied with a friendly smile. “No, you don’t have to. In the end, it’s going to be a good thing for me.”

“….”

“These days, it was sad that the number of people who were trying to kill me decreased or was going to decrease, though it wouldn’t be bad to increase one more.”

“Wh, what?”

“It would be fun to get stabbed in the back by a trusted comrade. There must be crises in life.”

Hearing the words, Olivia burst into laughter when she realized it was only a joke. When a smile appeared on her gloomy face, it felt as if the room was brightening. There was a big difference between her smiling and her not smiling.

Eric opened his eyes wide and looked at her face.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you?”

“You took care of my feelings with a joke.”

“I’m serious…”

As Jane wrapped her arms around the Emperor’s waist and pinched his side, Eric laughed. Puhahaha! Contrary to the gloomy atmosphere, a forced smile resounded throughout the room.

“Your Majesty!”

At that moment, he heard the voice of the attendant hurriedly looking for him.

Eric frowned.

“Ugh, They can’t see me taking a break even for a moment. Anyway, since you’re here, have a good time without any inconvenience.”

As he was about to leave the room, Eric turned around again as if he had forgotten something. There was a faint smile on his face.

“Oh gosh, Jane. I just had an interesting idea.”

“What?”

Eric patted his chin, looked at Olivia before smiling.

“Why don’t you let Miss Claudel also attend the performance?”

“That’s a good idea.”

Hearing his words, she stared at Olivia and smiled. They exchanged meaningful glances with playful expressions.

What does it mean…? Taking her to a performance?

Without further explanation, Eric just waved his hand and strode out of the room.

“Haa.”

Olivia let out a sigh as she relaxed.

“Why are you nervous? Isn’t His Majesty a lot easier than you think?”

She glanced at Jane, who said the Emperor of the Empire was free, and thought she was amazing. She seemed to even call his name from time to time, something Olivia wouldn’t have dared to imagine.

“I don’t know, I feel like I’m causing too much trouble…”

“If His Majesty told you to have a good time without any inconvenience, you can really relax. His Majesty said he would protect Miss Claudel from everything. So…”

Jane smiled bitterly.

“That includes His Grace the Duke of Deorc.”

“The Duke will not come to find me.”

Jane laughed at her melancholy remark.

“Miss Claudel is really fun to watch.”

Olivia doesn’t know what that fun meant, though it didn’t seem like a bad thing. She couldn’t believe she was in the Imperial Palace herself.

This morning, after a long sniffling, she heard that Jane had come, so she prepared and welcomed her. Jane looked at Olivia’s sorrow and suggested that she should stay away for a while without asking anything.

Without hesitation, Olivia nodded her head, and she left the mansion like that.

And so, she was led by Jane’s hand to the Imperial Palace.

After leaving her house, the place to go was the Imperial Palace…!

Even the Emperor had a few jokes and told her to have a good time. Olivia found it difficult for her to accept the fact that this had become a place where she stayed for a while.

It’s not that easy of a place, is it?

Is this really okay…?

Olivia sipped the tea with a bewildered expression on her face, astonished by the dazzling teacup, and she put it down.

“Now that you have left the Duke’s residence, have you calmed down?”

“….”

In fact, this was too difficult a place to calm down. She got to think a little bit about the issues that made her cry anyway.

Then, Jane asked carefully.

“What happened?”

Olivia shut her mouth and looked down at her teacup. In fact, Jane looked at her body and noticed what was going on with her roughly. It was because Olivia’s white neck had red marks that could not be hidden even now.

Even without such a clue, Leon sent Jane a message for her to take a look at Olivia and asked her to call a doctor if she needed it.

When Jane saw what he was talking about, thankfully, her condition was not serious. Olivia smiled depressingly, and she looked as if she was about to die.

From Leon asking Jane to call the doctor, to the exposed red marks on Olivia’s neck and arms, to the strangely uncomfortable behavior, it was all too clear what had happened to this poor lady… She was held by the Duke all night long.

Jane let out a sigh.

“Do you want me to call the doctor?”

“No.”

“Don’t try to fool me. There’s no way I don’t know what happened.”

“That…”

“What did Duke Deorc do to you?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Olivia, if you don’t want to talk, you don’t have to. But, if you keep piling up like that, your heart will get sick.”

“….”

“I will listen. I’m Olivia’s friend.”

Then, all of a sudden, tears began to fall. The tears swelled up, and she gasped for breath before finally opening her mouth.

“It’s just that it’s hard to be there anymore…”

Olivia was so tired.

She was at her limit now.