Chapter 51

Chapter 51

The knight glanced at my hair one more time as if it was bothering him, likely because it marked me as Golddinian.

“When I say that you are free to express your opinion at any time, it does not mean that you should speak ill of the person I have expressly told you that I trust.”

“I’m sorry.”

In the midst of all this, I was speechless when I saw the influence the emperor’s words had. It was so easy for him to increase the number of his followers. It is said that the succession of blood itself was incredible, but this man was born an emperor.

The knight hurriedly opened his mouth. “It is said that the chief’s wife is being held hostage. If you let them go, they will release her.”

I looked at the emperor in amazement, but he didn’t look so surprised. Come to think of it, the last time I saw the eldest son of Duke Thiaheb was when he was asking about the incident.

Did he already know?

The emperor answered quickly, as if there was no room for reconsideration, “No way. I have no intention of negotiating for the lives of civilians, or with lunatics who have kidnapped civilians. Find out where the attackers are talking from.”

“I accept your orders.” The knight stepped down in a hurry. I felt from his steps that things were not going so well.

As soon as the door closed, the emperor stared at me. “You must think I’m being cruel.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Then why do you look so surprised?”

“I was wondering what the chief might have done, or if he’s asked the empress dowager for help to save his wife… I was just thinking vaguely… I never thought something on this scale would happen.”

“There’s not much I’ve heard from the Duke of Thiaheb. It was a threat from those who kidnapped and threatened the chief’s wife in order to raise money from our allotted military funds. I couldn’t pinpoint the exact group or location.”

“Are you saying that if they give the dowager the money, they will release the chief’s wife?”

The emperor grinned. “I didn’t say that exactly.

“No, but…”

“But?”

The chief of the court went to tell the secret of the emperor to the one who imprisoned his wife. I’d known of the wickedness of the empress dowager, but… I was resentful that the chief of staff had fallen for such a trick.

“Then I don’t know why he asked her to do it. I think it would have been better to speak to Your Majesty about it… To divulge information… if he had that kind of information on you, you’d have done your best to help him anyway.”

The emperor nodded. “It’s because the people know me well.”

I couldn’t understand what he meant at first. When I didn’t ask back or answer, the emperor shook out his black hair and took off his gown again, lying facedown on the bed. I approached the bedside and sat down.

As soon as I tried to touch his back, the answer came to me without prompting.

“Your Majesty will never compromise with a group that is willing to sacrifice that many people… and the chief knows that.”

“Yeah.”

It didn’t feel so unreasonable now. He knew that negotiating would only pave the way for repeat offenses.

“I believe in you and I support you. Even if I’m the one who’s kidnapped, you have to do it.”

He laughed, making my heart skip. “You won’t blame me?”

“How could I?”

“Alright then, I’ll gladly do that.”

That day, I was so busy that I could hardly close my eyes.

The nobles who realized that the emperor had visited the academy complained and harassed him, saying that he had been ‘aware of the plans of the armed group’ yet did not tell them. Meanwhile, the citizens praised him and hoped that he would take further steps to improve security.

It was not that I trusted Khun unconditionally, but for now, the empress dowager seemed to be the more likely culprit. Wherever we went, she and her powers followed us and tried to set traps.

Still, it was fortunate that there were no victims.

The emperor could not make a quick decision about who was behind it, and he fervently appealed not to inflict damage to any force or group by making a decision too quickly. It was not just an appeal, but it was also a command.

His words worked quite well, and although it took a long time, the meeting went well.

The emperor gave me permission to visit the intruder, but I could hardly afford it. It was only at dawn that I had time to spare.

12. Kidnapping

*This is the emperor’s POV btw (just putting it out here that his name is Van… I almost forgot it tbh)

It had been more than two weeks since Celestia became secretary. After only a short period of time, I quickly got used to working with her in an official capacity.

There were many people of importance that she didn’t know and that she had to adjust to, but she somehow did it well, and hardly anyone was inconvenienced by the retirement of the former secretary.

Maybe I didn’t need to do much, but she did adapt to me quickly, the smart girl that she was. It seemed like nothing had changed.

Whatever she heard and learned from the former secretary, Celestia gave her all to learn. He also guided her with the names, personalities, and characteristics of foreign VIPs that she had never seen before. She had the natural aptitude for it, so it was convenient for her to memorize all the habits and tastes of the people she met.

However, I never thought she would be so skillful in dealing with emergencies. She organized inquiries from the Parliament, the square in front of the palace, as well as from the academy and the other aristocrats into categories of urgency.

My schedule was clear, so much that I could hardly see how much work was required behind the scenes because she was blocking it. To be honest, it was more than I expected.

However, the fact that the work was being done properly and that the work can be done in order did not mean that the number of complaints that I had to deal with was reduced. It was really tiring that half of them were desperately anxious because they didn’t know when the empress dowager would try something like this again.

It was not easy to take care of panic-stricken citizens. Fortunately, however, I was credited with preventing the first attack.

And as it was the capital of the empire, a magic defense system was well installed here. It was not possible to keep the shield active all the time, but if an attack was predicted, it was possible to temporarily activate it in case of an emergency.

By the time I used it as an excuse to appease the nobles and citizens, it was already two in the morning.

At the end of a tiring day, the way back to the room suddenly felt empty. I rubbed the back of my neck and looked back. The reason for the emptiness could be easily identified. There was no slender shadow with red hair that should have been guarding my back. Whenever I tried to find her, she was there one step ahead. That’s why I was able to get a good night’s sleep.

It felt strangely lonely that she wasn’t there.

But thinking about it, today was an unusually busy day, so there must have been other things to do. I couldn’t be the only one who had been busy.

As I entered the room, I said to the attendant standing next to me, “Call Celestia.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Without changing clothes, I lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling for a moment. This was the first pocket of spare time I’d had all day after what happened at the academy.

Time to think.

Well, it wasn’t that I couldn’t fall asleep otherwise, but I still wanted to keep my head organized.

As long as I was in this position, I could have some assurance that things would be done properly, but I wouldn’t be able to control everything. I had to constantly remind myself of that, lest I drowned in guilt or regret.

But after a long time, I started truly regretting what I had done.

It wasn’t that serious, but…

How could someone not treat women seriously when he saw his father die because of his penchant for women? In his later years, his judgment blurred and he acted as if he would give up anything for a beautiful woman’s words, whether it was liver, gallbladder, property, or country. I only succeeded the throne because he had died before he realized the trap he had gotten himself in.

Perhaps that’s why I felt nauseous when I saw those whose hands reached for maids who couldn’t say no in the first place, or those who had mistresses. Of course, I felt desire too—I liked seeing beautiful women too. It just wasn’t enough to compromise my duty.

That’s why it hadn’t happened so far.

I chewed my lips with annoyance. Impulsive kisses were anomalies.

Though… I did know it was more than just that. Celestia seemed to have already guessed my condition and why I did it. When we visited the cave, I said it was okay to hug and kiss if I needed it to heal.

But that last kiss… Such a thing was not to be dismissed as merely part of work. I couldn’t fool my secretary when I was in need, like everyone else taking their medicine.

Apologizing was not a problem. If I could apologize and not do it in the future, then it wouldn’t be a problem.

That was exactly my problem.

Could I resist doing that again in the future? If Celestia was right next to me in the same situation in the future, would I be able to say that I wouldn’t do it again?

At that moment, I was clearly conscious. I wanted to deny it, but it seemed too sweet for a moment, and I wanted her. When I thought she’d turn her eyes away, she reached out, but the next moment she rejected me. That was the only way one of us could come to our senses.

I looked up at my palm.

Although the crescents of my nails had dug into the palm of my hand earlier, trying not to repeat the same thing in the wagon, there was no mark of it now; so quickly did I heal with Celestia’s magic.

Then I rolled up my sleeves and smoothed my hands and arms. There were no traces of wounds there either.