CH 92

“Wow, the prince was guarding the woman. Since then, the line has diverged. I thought it would be okay… The prince was a monster.”

At dawn, the time when the sky glows bluish. The only surviving assassin from the night’s battle, who was fleeing, was brought to the Archduke’s residence and was on his knees.

The Archduke’s planting was very uncomfortable. He couldn’t kidnap a girl who wasn’t a big deal, and it was because of the assassins who had annihilated all but this one.

‘Incompetents and useless.’

“Tsk. Yes, you have confirmed that she is an important person to the prince. Anything more?”

The assassin clicked his tongue and trembled at the feet of the talking Archduke. He had to give any information. Otherwise his head would be cut off.

“That, that. That is. I.”

“Take the interest and deal with it-”

“The prince stood on all fours, but he certainly spoke a little at first and seemed like a man. But, at some point, he lost his temper and howled like a beast.”

“It’s useless.”

Did he have to listen to what you already know? The Archduke’s brow furrowed even more. 

One assassin survived, so he caught the guy who was running away to get new information. 

He was useless, he hid in fright and then escaped by hiding from the smell of blood.

“Wait, there are more. Suddenly. There was a moment when he woke up!” the assassin exclaimed urgently. The Grand Duke looked at him quietly, then lifted the corners of his mouth and smiled.

“What did the woman say to the prince! Now, I haven’t heard in detail… sure At that moment, the prince changed. Even laughing was like a person.”

The Archduke’s face lit up at the words the assassin spat out quickly.

“Yes, yes…”

“Sah, save me. I won’t see you again-“

The Archduke waved his hand in the air. A few attendants rushed at the assassin and dragged him away. The assassin screamed loudly as he was being dragged away.

“Take care of him.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

“Yes, that woman… It’s kind of like a dam.” the Archduke muttered.

“If that woman is there. The prince becomes a human… Well, if he doesn’t have that woman, he blows up.”

“Shall we send an assassination unit again?”

“No, no, butler. That’s not it.”

The Archduke’s eyes shone brightly.

“There is an easier way, an easier way… When is the welcome ceremony?”

“About three weeks left.”

“Yes, yes. I must attend.”

“Yes, Your Excellency. And… I found the Ripper.”

“Okay? Good. The morning sky is beautiful. Give me a glass of celebratory wine.”

Everything was going well. The more colorful the stage, the better. Since an easy path had opened without the need to use one’s strength, the Archduke decided to pick up a celebratory wine in advance.

* * *

“You can’t do a public investigation?”

“Letting people know that such a large number of assassins succeeded in infiltrating the imperial castle will not help us at this point when the imperial power is weakened as much as it is weakened. On the contrary, after hearing this news, it seems that the royal family is really over now, and the enemy might gain strength.”

Her heart wasn’t like that, but I was rationally convinced of the reason. She kept her mouth shut and climbed into the carriage with Leone.

“We are leaving. It won’t take long.”

The carriage moved. After that night, Adler went to the Emperor the next day and strongly insisted that Leone move to the imperial palace. The real prince’s palace had been empty for a long time and there was still a long way to go before the maintenance was finished, so we had to exclude it from the list of candidates for a place to stay. If so, should the prince whose life is threatened be moved to a separate palace? That’s dangerous too. On the other hand, the robustness of the Imperial Palace was superior to that of the temporary Imperial Palace, where Leone was currently staying, and the Knights Building was not far away, so it was easy to prepare. And isn’t there a lot of room anyway? May your Majesty the Emperor be generous.

Surprised by the large-scale raid, the Emperor easily accepted Adler’s strong opinion. He seemed to accept it, probably because it confirmed that Leone had improved a lot. The problem was this way.

She was the only one who knew that Leone was traumatized by the Emperor. She was going to report it to Adler, but she didn’t think it was a good idea to talk freely about Leone’s personal story, so she asked Leone before that. The answer that came back from Leone was ‘It’s okay. You can go.’ No matter how much he could maintain his reason without having seizures like before, was it okay to stay close to the trauma? As Adler said, if Leone was to be safe, it would be better for him to stay in the Emperor’s palace. In the end, she couldn’t do this or that and got on the carriage to the Emperor’s palace.

It was a small carriage used to circle the inside of the imperial castle, which was too wide to walk on.

“Leone, how are your legs?”

“It’s fine. I can even run.”

Leone said with a warm smile.

“Don’t frown.”

In yesterday’s fight, Leone got a big cut. It wasn’t deep, but the area was wide, so she had to wrap the bandage. When he was slightly injured in the past, she wrapped his bandages tightly and looked like a critically ill person. Back then, he often got hurt or used his body, but now Leone seems to be like that.

“Everything has arrived.”

It’s a long way to walk, but it was really quick to come by carriage. Leone and she got off the carriage and looked at the Imperial Palace. It would not be possible to live here like in the temporary palace of the Emperor. There was a small building attached to the imperial palace, where attendants who had to stay close to the imperial family were staying. Like a nanny or the chamberlain.

She ended up staying there. Neither Benjamin nor Gourden were there.

“Welcome, Leone.”

As soon as she got off the carriage, she heard the Emperor’s voice. He came out to meet him personally. It was the same situation as when they first arrived at the imperial castle. She lowered her head and examined Leone’s face. She couldn’t imagine how terrible Leone’s heart must be.

“Yes, your majesty.”

Leone kneeled down on one knee and greeted him according to the etiquette he had learned so far. The Emperor’s laughter sounded very happy.

“Haha. Our Leone has become a very nice young man. Your eyes are shining like Ludeia.”

If it was Ludeia, she was Leone’s biological mother. Leone knew nothing about her.

“Ah, you don’t know… your mother.”

“To me… Do I have a mother?”

Leone’s voice trembled weakly.

“Everyone born into this world has a mother. She is that great.”

“… Is that so.”

To him, family was a wolf group, not people. And that was also killed by the knights of the person in front of them… Apparently, the fact that the distance between the Emperor and Leone became closer was a bad thing. The Emperor exploded the bomb with a smile on his face.

“I didn’t even eat while waiting for you to come. Let’s go and eat.”

If he ate with the Emperor, would Leone be able to return safely? She was worried. However, since it was in front of the Emperor, she couldn’t do anything about it. It was scary, but that wasn’t the only reason. If she acted in the wrong way and was kicked out or decapitated, Leone would have to endure alone in this palace without her. She had to act as much as she could and stay by Leone’s side for a long time.

“Sorry, Your Majesty.”

Leone said in a hard voice. He seemed to be barely suppressing his emotions.

“There are a lot of classes behind. The welcome ceremony is right around the corner, Ini. Preparation- I don’t think we should neglect it.”

Seeing Leone giving reasons, the Emperor burst into laughter.

“Ha ha ha. Our Leone has really grown up a lot. I’m happy, I can’t be this happy.”

“It’s an overstatement.”

“Prince! Where are the nobles who helped you achieve this miracle?”

The Emperor approached Adler with a question. She, Benjamin, and Gourden stood with their heads bowed in front of the attendants.

“It is over there. Trixie, Benjamin and Gourden. There are three of them.”

“Yes, yes!”

The Emperor’s voice seemed overly lively. Her insides were burning. She wished they could finish it quickly and go in.

“Good. I wish I could give these two men one title at a time. If things go well after the welcome ceremony, I promise to give it to you then.”

“Go, thank you!”

“It’s an honor, thank you, your majesty.”

Benjamin and Gourden thanked in thrilling voices.

Adler seems to have learned from the Emperor that he generously rewarded his subordinates.

“And you! It seems that you took good care of Leone, who had no mother, instead of her mother. I can’t give you a title because you’re a woman, so what… is she single? I’ll have to find a good marriage partner. Butler, look for a man of good character, a suitable position, and sincerity.”

The Emperor ordered the chief chamberlain behind, Butler. Butler bowed his head and said yes. She would also like to receive the title myself if possible. It’s like a damn worldview. In any case, they were finally able to enter the imperial palace after the Emperor’s reward promise was over. Leone and she had to move right away for class, so they left separately with a few attendants on.

“Leone.”

As soon as she entered the room prepared for class and closed the door, she checked Leone. The teacher hadn’t arrived yet, so it was just the two of them. She thought she was going to die from worry from a while ago, but she didn’t have time to properly look at his face and check his condition. Because it was the imperial palace, she was more aware of it.

“Are you okay? Look at the face! It looks pale. It’s colder than usual-“

She unconsciously put her hand on Leone’s cheek and then stopped.

‘It’s a terrible habit…’

Skinship became a habit. It was a truly miserable and immoral habit, in which no progress could be made. Anyway, as she was removing her hand from his cheek, Leone grabbed her hand and brought it back to his cheek. His body temperature was noticeably lower than usual.

“Trixie.”

“Yes, Leone.”

“Today… I want to rest.”

Leone’s face was not good.

“Okay. Let’s go and rest. I’ll tell them to prepare so you can rest. Get a good night’s sleep and wake up and you’ll be fine.”

“Stay by my side.”

Leone pulled her arm lightly. She approached him without resistance. He put his forehead on her shoulder.

“Please. Just for today, you can rest. You’ll be fine tomorrow.”

“…okay.”

She hugged a man much taller than her and comforted him for a while.