Chapter 8 Part 1

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They were, as the maids said, the perfect couple. They were wonderful on their own, but together they were so full of light that even the glittering pile of gold would have to yield its shine. The light was almost divine. How can two people who look so good together be so numb?

Hui just couldn’t understand it at all.

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A cold chill filled the conference room. The nobles, seated around a large round table, glanced at each other and broke into a cold sweat. Cahir, who sat in the biggest and highest chair, his fingers twitching. The pompous Marquis Su advanced in front of him like an arrow shot from the bow and kneeled down. He slammed and slammed his forehead on the marble floor. Cahir stared at the marble floor stained with the blood from his forehead. Rosaline felt worse and worse.

“Hui, get the mop. Quick.”

Rosaline whispered into Hui’s ear. Hui hurried out and brought a rag to clean the blood. Rosaline meanwhile called out the guards to prevent Marquis Su from staining the marble floor any more with his blood. The guards grasped his arms tightly.

“Your Majesty, I have sinned to die. I am blinded by the money before me! Give information to the general of the enemy”.

“You’re not a fool at all, are you? Then you’ll die.”

The face of the splendid Marquis Su turned pale. He looked back at Rosaline with wistful eyes. Rosaline sighed.

‘Yes, you did as I said. Why did you bang your head on the marble floor?’ 

Rosaline already knew all about the future of Marquis Su. In the original story, he was hanged. She came to him yesterday and told him how to avoid death. First, he must confess his crime. He must return to the Empire ten times the unjust profits he had taken. Half of his lands must be returned to the empire. And never to defile the marble. But he ignored all Rosaline’s words and did only one thing.

“What are you doing? Rosaline, collect the evidence.”

“I have enough evidence, Your Majesty,” said Rosaline, holding out the documents she had brought. The Marquis’s movements, the time he met the enemy general, the dialogue they had, and the sudden increase of his fortune…

The pompous Marquis had been in league with the enemy’s generals, hoping to make a small profit from the war that Cahir slightly warmed up. The military travel routes, which he thought were confidential, were in fact a false leak by Cahir. Kahir was able to end the war more easily thanks to his handing over the false information to the enemy.

But even if the information was false, it was unforgivable that he had sold it to the enemy. The man shuddered at the sight of Rosaline. Until last night she had acted as if she was trying to help him. The Marquis looked somber and miserable, as if he had been betrayed by his first love.

“That’s enough. Pull him out and execute him immediately. No, it’s a luxury for him to be executed. It doesn’t sit well with me. Give me your sword.”

In response to Cahir’s cold words, one of the knights handed over his sword. The sword slipped out easily. It was an ordinary sword, common among the knights, but when Cahir lifted it, it looked like a precious sword. Cahir’s cool sword wrapped around the blade. No one could withstand it. With one swing of the sword, it will separate the man’s head and his body.

“Your Majesty, wait a moment,” said Rosaline, standing in front of Cahir.

The terrifying sword shook. Cahir held the sword and waited for Rosaline to speak next.

Your Majesty, what the Marquis did is a crime for which he clearly deserves to die…..”

With a gulp, the pompous man swallowed his spit. Rosaline looked down at the tear-stained, snot-stained face of the man and wrinkled her brows. She really didn’t don’t want to help him. But when she thought of all the people who died in Cahir’s hands.

‘…. Ahh. No, no, no. I do good things in life, too. The man also does good things in life. I believe that.’

She looked at Cahir with a firm grip on her shaken heart. He smiled at her. She felt a shiver run down her spine at the look on his face.

“Killing is a very light punishment. Your Majesty, it’s a small price to pay for the crimes he had committed against the people of heaven.”

Before she knew it, Cahir had handed the sword back to the knight. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked at Rosaline, who was spitting venom with her clean lips. “Try harder,” his eyes  seemed to say. His eyes were talking, as if he was expecting a very interesting scene.

Cahir liked the rough language coming from Rosaline’s mouth. He was always amused by the outlandish punishments that she put forward in place of the death penalty. Rosaline, who knew this, let out a breath.

“By the way, isn’t it also a problem that the Marquis’s dirty blood stains the pure white marble? It is the sin of ours, the servants, to put the Marquis’s disgusting image in your beautiful eyes, Your Majesty. Please forgive our sins.”

She’s a good speaker. The nobles applauded heartily when they saw Rosaline pointing out facts to Cahir. The mere fact that she was not present at the meeting of the nobility was enough to make them cringe. After a long pause, Rosaline drew her breath.

“So?”

Cahir urged her to speak quickly. Everyone stared at her breathlessly. The fate of the man would be decided by what words came from her red lips.

“I would like to confiscate his property and return his lands to the Empire.”

“And the nobleman will retain his position?”

With a grin, Rosaline smiled. Cahir was convinced. She would make the man look more gloomy and miserable than he wanted. Cahir didn’t have to ask, he knew. Because there is no more pitiful tribe than the nobility without money.

After all, Rosaline was Cahir’s favourite. He wondered why she only chose pretty words. Cahir nodded pleasantly. Meanwhile, The Marquis put his fist in his mouth and swallowed the words, “Just kill me.”

“Rosaline.”

Cahir called. He and Rosaline were the only ones left in the vacant conference chamber. The nobles left the place after witnessing the arrogant and pompous Marquis dragged away by the knights.

Rosaline recapped, summarized and published the events that occurred in the meeting. She inevitably stayed till the end of the meeting since it was quicker to finish in the conference room than to travel to her office. Cahir had to stay with Rosaline as she organized the announcements and documents; he had to approve them and put the King’s seal on them

All the time, Cahir waited and stayed with Rosaline till the very end of the task. It was quite an unusual scene for the emperor to wait for his secretary, although it had changed in the last five years, so Derek and the palace staff got used to it.

“Rosaline,” Cahir called her again.

“What? What? Your Majesty?”

Rosaline raised her head. Cahir had unbuttoned his shirt, as if it was too tight around his neck. Her heart skipped a beat. Cahir approached her with a lazy smile. These days, Cahir often smiled at her. It seemed to be a purposeful smile. However, she had no clue what that purpose was. It seemed uncomfortable. She felt like she knew everything about Cahir but then to find out she didn’t.

There was also another reason for Rosaline’s discomfort; she thought that Cahir was strangely sexy. As Rosaline tried to think of something she might be missing, Cahir flicked a finger in front of her. Their gazes collided.

“Rosaline, I’m bored. Shall we have another war?”

‘What’s wrong with him again?’ Rosaline sighed. It had been barely four months since they had started the war. It wasn’t a big war, and thanks to Cahir’s efforts, it had ended without much damage, but the post-war work was not completed until now. Yet, he is asking for another war?

‘It means he doesn’t feel very well at the moment.’  Rosaline thought. Her eyes widened. She folded up the documents she had been working on.

“Your Majesty, shall we go rest?”

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The hot springs where Cahir soaked his body and rested when he was tired was located in a separate building between the main palace where the emperor resides and the first detached palace, originally the residence of the empress. Surrounded by a high wall around a small detached building, it had an outdoor bath surrounded by green trees, an indoor bath for several people at the same time, and a private bath for the emperor alone.

When the weather was fine, he would use the outdoor baths, but on days when he had much to think about, he would rest in the private bath. Today, Cahir went to his private bath, where the floor and walls were golden-colored.

While he was in the bath, Rosaline sat on a sofa in the waiting room and rested. She was seriously concerned about Cahir’s sexuality, which had been fervid lately. This had led to a gradual increase in the number of aides who have their heartbroken.

There was also a spate of scams involving noblewomen who had fallen in love with Cahir. This was an obvious problem. How had Cahir become such a flirtatious emperor? Rosaline’s eyebrows contracted. At that moment, a fact suddenly crossed her mind.

‘His Majesty’s male hormone! How could I miss that important thing!’

Rosaline hit her head. Cahir was full of carnal desire. It was a long novel, but there was a mention in a chapter about it. Before meeting the female protagonist, he had an affair with a number of noblewomen and met them on a light night, and after meeting the female protagonist Ella…. Rosaline’s face turned red as the thought came to her mind. Her heart grew heavy.

“Oh, are you hot? Shall I bring you a glass of cold ice water?”

Rosaline nodded. She gladly accepted Hui’s offer.

During the past five years she worked, Cahir had somehow managed to keep women at a distance. At one point, Derek was seriously concerned about Cahir’s ‘fertility’. Although, it was true that Cahir was sexually frustrated.

To relieve Cahir’s frustration, and to save many women of the empire from the incurable disease of infatuation, a heroine was always needed. Rosaline made up her mind to find Ella again.

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She was leaning on the back of the sofa in the lounge right next to Cahir who was wet after soaking in the hot water. Rosaline sat down in front of Cahir with a tray of rehydrating tea.

“Your Majesty, I would like to hold a birthday feast for the Empress next month.” Rosaline said, sipping her tea and saying it like it was no big deal.

Cahir, who had been reaching for his teacup, stopped abruptly. He stared at her. Rosaline stopped breathing. At times, it seemed she stopped breathing when Cahir looked at her with a little narrowing of the brows, or like when he washed his head roughly and smiled lazily at her….

In five years, he had gone from twenty-three to twenty-eight. Originally hailed as “God-given beauty”, Cahir had withstood the weight of the emperor over the years, and had acquired an assortment of masculine and sexy features. From afar, all the ladies of the Empire took a liking to him. His beauty, his power and the fact that he was always cold and selfish, but almost always defeated by the female Rosaline, drove them crazy.

‘If he keeps going on like this, I’m going mad, aren’t I?’

Rosaline knew how insanely obsessed he would become if he fell in love.

‘Let’s hurry up and find the heroine.’

“What’s the matter with you all of a sudden? You haven’t held up a birthday party for five years?” Cahir said.

Rosaline had a faint spirit with Cahir’s crooked tone. She smiled.

“You had destroyed one of the noble families that had supported the empress.”

“Who? There are too many to tell.”

“Marquis Su. You said that you would kill him yourself.”

“Yes, I remember. I pulled out the sword right away, but you blocked the way. He belongs to the Empress? We need to catch him again.”

Cahir’s face grew darker. Rosaline waved her hand hurriedly.

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