Chapter 8

“However…..does it work?”

“Huh? What are you talking about? It’s a blessing of Heaven that His Highness is very good at using magic. What do you think? The morale of every person goes high up every time he shows up. He is like a fireball. But, I heard he had a hard time this time. I’m jealous of those who are able to see him in person.”

The man explained excitedly before moving to talk with another person.

‘The battlefield decides the ability of the person, right? I’ve never been out there before. But, I’ve heard Serek bragging about it a few times before.’

‘So he went that far for that? No, he fought again? Will he be injured again?’

When she saw the Emperor’s red blemishes on his back, she was really wondering if a man could be so calm. His people relied on him so much when he was just a human.

‘Is he the type who can’t sit still after giving orders? Or….does he just likes to annihilate, just as what is described in the rumors? Or does he need to prove himself to someone? But he’s the Emperor.’

While she was busy thinking about him— she heard a shriek from afar.

As she lifted her head, she saw him riding one conspicuous black horse among all of the white and brown horses. They were all so sturdy and bulky that they stood out from afar. Being escorted by soldiers with horribly long weapons on all his sides, it was great not to be daunted at all.

He was obviously the man who ruled this Empire.

Celestia couldn’t see well because she was standing very far from the central road. Also, many people were waving, clapping, and cheering in front of her. But, as the procession passed by, she had no choice but to look stunned.

Whom did she dare to pity? When she was just doing the chores and vaguely wondering where and what he was doing, he was wielding a sword for his people.

She could see the determined look on his face, who was looking nowhere but straight ahead. He kept his dignity as he should.

But she did not miss noticing him wearing long sleeves. But without a frame, he was probably not normal right now.

It took quite a long time to get back through the crowd. Perhaps, if it weren’t for the Imperial horse cart, she wouldn’t have arrived at sunset.

As soon as she got out of the carriage and entered the building, a servant approached her. He informed her that the Emperor was looking for her. When she saw the parade, she felt afraid, but she didn’t have any other choice.

She thought that her room was quite a great place, but the place where the Emperor lived was at a different level. The walls around the boulevard leading to his room were already filled with colorful tapestries and portraits of complete strangers looking down the hall.

When she reached the end of the corridor, the guard, who was escorting her, opened a huge door which was almost twice her height.

The Emperor’s room really had a different level of glamour.

Everywhere her eyes went, there were flashing objects. As she was told in advance, she passed by the big room and saw a huge red bed with a canopy made of gold. She saw a glimpse of a man’s shadow.

“Your Majesty.”

Remembering what Serena had told her, she gave a perfect example of the precept, but no answer came back. The Emperor had to answer something so that she could raise her head.

She repeated, nodding her head.

“Your Majesty, have you called for me?”

“…….Come closer.”

‘His voice seems bad.’

Even though he was good at magic, his voice was ringing in her ears. So, he was like a fireball? Well, that man was not wrong. But of course, he was not feeling well when he used magic again.

She felt like she was going to cry, but she lifted herself out of that feeling.

She walked up to his side, as the Emperor had ordered.

He was lying unkempt over his bedclothes, his face looking pale.

Seeing him like that with his shoes on, she thought he must have exhausted all his strength as soon as he got back. It was completely an opposite sight of him, who looked so proud, during the march.

Also, he was wearing long-sleeved robes that covered his fingertips and toes. His neat face was covered with sweat.

“Do you mind if I take a look, Your Majesty?”

“…..Yeah.”

He replied with a hoarse voice.

The heat seemed to be transmitted to her, as she sat close to him. Fortunately, the cloth was buttoned up, so it was not that difficult to peel it off.

‘It’s messier than the last time I saw it. Did he try to utilize his full power when that heck of a situation could be subsided naturally? How did this get this far……’

She rolled up his sleeves before putting her hands on his back, which caused him to groan. It probably was very painful. She had never experienced it herself because she couldn’t use mana. Now she regretted that she had tears in her eyes when Serek had only a small wound, which was even less than one-hundredth of this.

She tried to relieve the pain as quickly as she could.

She also needed to know the kind of magic that was used and for how long…..in order to count backwards.

Seeing how different magic was, unlike Serek, this man seemed to be a problem because he had such a high understanding of magic. That’s why he was using too much capacity.

She knew it too but she couldn’t give up that efficiency when someone could use large-scale magic. Because if he did his best, he would be able to save the lives of his people.

‘How can you do this?’

But, she was not qualified to call the Emperor stupid. But still, she couldn’t believe he was doing this. She was dumbfounded.

She was so furious that she almost cried. But she focused her mind, moving her hands over his wounds while forcing back her tears.

“…..Are you a twit?”

“You’re saying as if I’m too sick.”

The Emperor didn’t seem like he was angry, but before he glanced at her with a tired face, he frowned. She was afraid as it seemed like she was in trouble.

“….Why are you crying?”

“Just because.”

“Is it because of me?”

“Please don’t talk now, or my head is going to explode. I’m afraid I might do something wrong with someone who already has some kind of weird effect.”

She didn’t think that he would shut his mouth just because she told him to, but the Emperor, who always would not listen to her, began to talk earnestly.

“What’s your name?”

‘Really, that was fast. Why are you asking for it anyway?’

She had never felt bad that her name was eight letters long, but it was true that when she heard such a question from him, she had difficulty in saying that name.

“It’s Celestia.”

“I see. Have you met your brother? It seemed like servant Zhang was saying something, but I was out of my mind at that time.”

“Thank you for assigning a doctor for him…..That’s the first time I’ve seen him looking so bright. Thank you very much.”

“Yeah.”

She was annoyed because he suddenly became so friendly. While she was talking, she burst into tears. Because of that, she wasn’t able to complete her calculations. She felt irritated, wiping away her tears that kept coming up with her sleeves.

“Who uses magic so carelessly? Don’t you know why these marks are appearing?”

His face twisted into a smile, but she couldn’t say whether it was for the funny remark of a slave or if he felt better as the pain was a little relieved.

“Is it because of your poor understanding of magic?”

“The problem is not my knowledge but that you use too much intensity. Please use it in moderation.”

His red eyes turned towards her.

“You’re funny. Golddina’s Academy system doesn’t seem to be too bad. I don’t know what the curriculum is like, but I’m a little surprised to understand it’s levels. I don’t know if there’s a place you can apply to in the Empire.”

‘Why are you talking about that now?’

“….I didn’t. I didn’t attend any.”

“What?”

“Academy.”

He went silent for a moment.

“Then how did you know this?”

“Self-study.”

“Is that possible? Why didn’t you go in the first place? Didn’t you say that magic can’t be just made up in any way? It wouldn’t have been that expensive if it was an academy dealing with magic. Golddina is said to be a culture of high academic zeal.”

She cried so hard to the point that she wasn’t able to hold back saying her thoughts. Otherwise, she would never have brought this up.

“It was because of Serek.”

She didn’t realize that he was waiting for her explanation. After not hearing a reply for quite some time, he added.

“Serek? A person? Golddina must really be different.”

Indeed, she couldn’t guess the Emperor’s interests. She answered seriously without having a second thought.

“His original name is Serangueban.”

“Hmm.”

She thought he would let it slip, but the Emperor had to pry at it again. She tried to ignore it, but it was too late.

“He promised that he would marry me, but after I spent all my savings for that chameleon, I didn’t have anything left to spend for my dreams.”

“You were a fool.”

“Don’t be so conclusive.”

“No, he was the stupid one. You were smart, but you spent all of your money on him for a better return. And instead, you tried to self-study.”

It was like a compliment. She was rather ungrateful of his praise or admiration, but she could say his aspect was good. It made her feel better.

“It’s because there’s a trick to make it easier to raise your status in Golddina. The identity system was not something that can be overcome so easily.”

“Hmm….I see. Maybe. I heard Golddina is a bit worse than our country. But our country has less talented people compared to Golddina’s. It’s good that the Queen of Golddina is the wisest among her ancestors.”

“Sometimes, I wanted to study properly. I wanted to go to the academy, study, and pray to be a greater person.”

“So you wanted to impress Serek?”

She seemed to be a bit annoyed because of his languid voice, who acted as if he knew everything.

But, she couldn’t blame His Highness for her foolish love affair.

She didn’t know why she was even talking about it. Frankly, it was useless to stop here.

“He became ashamed of me when he became better than me. But now, I want to be an even better person than him. I want to make him regret what he has done to me.”