Chapter 17

But her body was shaking, so she couldn’t tell whether someone actually held her or it just felt that way.

Suddenly, it felt like she could hear murmurs in her dream.

“Is it not the duty of the head maid to take care of these matters?”

“I apologize, Your Highness.”

“Is this called being managed?”

“I’m very ashamed of my carelessness.”

“It’ll be enough if you stay alert.”

“I beg for your forgiveness, Your Highness.”

“And isn’t it the duty of the medical officer to treat people?”

“…….Please forgive me, Your Highness. I’m very confused as to why my healing spells are not having any effect on her body. But, from what I heard from the others…..I think this is a special condition.”

“You must remember that you’re being paid, so prepare to justify your incompetence.”

“Yes, Your Highness. Please allow me to make a couple of health supplements for the Miss.”

“Yeah. I hope you will not give any more excuses this time.”

Van murmured, a glint of anger hidden in his voice. Celestia felt like she was having a nightmare. It felt so real, but it couldn’t have been. The Emperor was on a business trip, and even if he had returned, he would have called for her instead of visiting her, she thought.

She kept on losing and gaining her consciousness again and again. After a few minutes, she felt a warm hand touching her forehead.

Then, she slipped into another dream in which the voice of the Duke of Thiaheb, who was the friend of the Emperor, floated in. It was set with the voice of the Emperor. The Emperor’s attractive face and the Duke’s hard-to-remember face were in her mind to match their voices.

“Is it the Lady from before? I wonder why she is so obsessed over her Academic results.”

“Well….”

“Is she that competent? Why does she need to study in that Academy? Wasn’t she already attractive enough to everyone?”

“I had to solve the problem that the Empress Dowager has created. I can’t live when the aristocrats of the kingdom have such views about their king.”

The Duke snickered.

“Don’t let anyone hear that. When did you ever say that you were alive?”

“Sounds funny to you, doesn’t it?”

“Yawn…So, do you want me to interfere with the Academy? Wouldn’t it be faster to just mark her passed in all her examinations?”

“I had the same thoughts as well, but this talented girl also has dreams.”

“……How did you even think about that? Are you a fake?”

“If you’re going to spat any more nonsense, please be my guest to leave this room.”

“Hmm, there must be something in her you really like. Ah, if you really have that ability.”

“That’s right. She’s very proficient.”

“Hmm…..If she’s that good, why don’t you reward her? Isn’t she worthy of that?”

The Emperor groaned as he knew the Duke was going to continue.

“Rather, it’ll be the best way to honor her when she earns her title the honest way.”

“I don’t know who developed those methods, but it takes a long time. Besides, it’s very annoying.”

“That’s what she wanted.”

The Emperor sighed.

“I’ve never had a proper rest since I inherited the throne.”

“Come on, you’ve got the whole world in your hands. You will be dead if something happens to it.”

“Where is it?”

“Here, right before your eyes. Your most valuable servant.”

“……Is that so?”

And she lost her consciousness again.

Time passed as she began to recover from her fever. The bed she was lying on felt so relaxing that she thought she was floating on a soft cloud. Her headache was also getting better.

But something felt wrong as she slowly gazed at the ceiling of her room.

‘What….?’

Confused, she raised herself.

Removing her blanket, she looked down at herself and found out she was soaking wet. Her eyes roamed around the room. The straw bed was nowhere to be found, and instead, there was a small but soft, luxurious wooden bed.

And the blanket she was covered in? It was not of inferior quality compared to the blankets in the rooms of the imperial palace or the quilt she had seen in the Emperor’s room.

‘Eh? Why am I lying here……? But I slept—’

Knock, Knock, Knock

Rearranging her dress, she answered.

“Come in.”

It was Luana who appeared behind the door. There was a warm porridge in her hand.

“You’re awake? How are you feeling?”

“Uh…..I feel like I’m dreaming?”

“Oh dear. Everyone was so worried because you were sick. Even Miss Serena visited you and took care of your fever.”

“Miss Serena?”

“Yes, she did. It was surprising to hear that the healer’s spells were not……effective on you.”

Luana nodded as Celestia’s eyes grew wider.

“You can’t believe it either, do you? Anyway, to be honest, I was moved by their meticulous behavior into healing you. I never thought they’d care so much about you.”

“I see…… Do you know how this bed came into existence?”

Luana’s eyes glistened.

“Wait, is this a wooden bed?”

Celestia nodded, smiling at her sparkly eyes admiring the bed’s structure.

“Oh my, where did this come from? It’s so much more comfortable than it was before.”

Luana grinned, covering her mouth with her palm as if Celestia was making a funny joke.

She wanted to laugh along with her, but she couldn’t.

“Just how much are you earning? It must be—”

“…..Do I even have the authority to buy such a bed in the imperial palace?”

Luana burst out laughing again.

‘If Luana doesn’t know it……is it the…..Emperor?’

However, the question was not resolved, and from what Luana had said, she recovered with herbal tonics.

As time passed, she was attending the academy again. Whenever she was alone, she kept thinking about this phenomenon. She wanted to ask the Emperor, but he did not call her even though she heard he had already returned to the Imperial city.

‘Come to think of it, I’ve never asked about the law of the Emperor.’

She felt frustrated when she did not get a single call from him for a few days. She even thought of asking for him to meet her, but it seemed a little strange to do so.

‘Hah! Why would he meet me? I’m not yet his secretary, and to put it simply, I’m just a level 1 servant, aren’t I ?’

‘He’d call me anyway. I guess he’s just busy.’

Meanwhile, time flowed like an arrow. Surprisingly, the call from the Emperor was not yet made.

Luana stopped by her room to chat with her covered in a light, fluffy and warm blanket.

“Did you get the test results yet? You’ve studied really hard.”

“I guess they’re still checking the papers. It takes a long time for the instructors to grade according to the results. But I think it’d be out sometime later this week.”

“Oh, really?”

“Huh?”

“Did you not hear about the coalition with a distant country? I heard the Emperor has scouted some of the magic officers from that country. Didn’t your instructors inform you?”

Celestia tilted her head.

‘Scouting a magic officer…….?’

“He is bringing in magic officers from that country?”

“Yes. I heard one of them used to be a commoner. He’s already popular among the ladies because of his handsome face.”

Celestia wasn’t very interested in this matter, but Luana’s shining eyes forced her to be.

“Is he that handsome?”

“Well, I don’t know. I’ve only heard the rumors. I heard they’ll be appearing in the banquet that will be held in the celebration of the coalition. I hope I can at least see Mr. Serangueban’s divine face.”

Her eyes rose at the name that escaped from Luana’s lips.

‘There’s another magic officer with the….same name, right?’

“Which…..country was it again?”

“Oh, it was, Gole….no, Go….uh, I don’t remember. Oh, but it was a magical kingdom.”

“Was it………Goldina?”

“Ah, yes! That’s right! It was Goldina!”

Serangueban, a magic officer from Goldina.

Her head was all hazy.

‘Is it because of my bad luck? Why is it him again?’

After bidding Luana goodbye, she paced in her small room several times before lying down on her bed.

‘Serangueban? Serek? That jerk?’

She had once decided to give him a good slap if she ever had the opportunity to meet him again. Moreover, she could make him feel jealous by becoming a person of a higher rank than him, but she never expected to hear his name again.

A lot seemed to have happened since she had started joining the Academy. It was now clear that the Empire’s coalition was a success, and it’s target included her home country, Goldina.

If she had asked the Emperor about his journey, she wouldn’t have been so clueless. But even if she knew, she couldn’t have done anything about it.

Goldina was now the suzerain of the Burg Empire. However, the Goldinian Queen, who was recently in debt due to a riot caused by the discrimination in the country and a series of bad harvests, seemed to have finally given up her sovereignty.

It might now be possible to prevent the selling of the poor into slavery. The financial crisis seemed to have finally opened her eyes.

Well, the problem was that she was so proud of herself for ruling a magical kingdom that she spent all her riches in debt. Since the Burg Empire had lost its hegemony in the recent years, the wars between small countries had been slow and the demands of magic had continued to rise. However, the biggest source of revenue had disappeared.

‘Perhaps, that was the biggest reason.’