Chapter 38
“No, Your Majesty.”
Theodor responded curtly to Roshignol’s question.
What followed was Roshignol’s laughter.
“I could have sworn I just saw Lord Leithner glaring at Kintzel like he was about to devour her in one bite. How strange. Was it a dream?”
“……”
“By the way, Lord Leithner. Even if we are outside the Capital’s jurisdiction, is it really acceptable to just grab an unrelated woman’s wrist like that? Ah, I’m not being sarcastic. I’m genuinely asking because I’m not well-versed in the Holy Capital’s precepts.”
Even without the added explanation, it sounded perfectly sarcastic.
“……”
As no answer came from Theodor, the Emperor’s crimson eyes turned toward Ivienne.
“Or perhaps, is it because our young lady is so charming that even a paladin who has sworn to devote everything to God was swayed? What were you two doing? Why are you both so quiet?”
Roshignol recited slowly, twisting the corner of his mouth upward.
He walked slowly toward the two.
In the meantime… *Pfft*… Ivienne, who had been hanging her head, subtly turned to glance at Theodor, signaling him.
*You’re the one who stopped the person trying to leave, so say something.*
But the paladin remained tight-lipped, saying nothing.
He simply kept his head raised straight, looking directly at the Emperor.
‘Wow, this is insane.’
The sight of the tall Theodor standing eye-to-eye with the Emperor, who was about the same height, felt like two colossal walls facing each other, radiating an overwhelming sense of pressure.
Sweating profusely in the middle of it all was the innocent youngest daughter of a necromancer family.
‘…Are you really going to stay silent? In this awkward atmosphere?’
Muttering every thought imaginable inwardly, Ivienne, unable to bear the prolonged silence any longer, finally opened her mouth first, addressing the Emperor.
“I was about to fall, and Lord Leithner caught me, Your Majesty.”
At Ivienne’s excuse, the Emperor’s gaze returned to her.
It was a colder look than she had ever seen before.
“You were the one who personally called me all the way here.”
Ah, don’t.
Don’t…!
For some reason, a foreboding premonition that things would only get worse once the Emperor spoke.
“And here you are, fooling around with another man?”
Roshignol’s giggling was absolutely not a good sign.
“What, did you do it on purpose to make me jealous?”
Roshignol wiped all traces of a smile from his noble face as he asked Ivienne.
So, yes, as if gently persuading a lover who had run off after falling for someone else to come back to him, in an affectionate tone.
At Roshignol’s mockery, Theodor frowned slightly and looked at the woman, while Ivienne was left speechless, looking back and forth between the two men.
‘No, why are both of you giving me a hard time…? What did I even do wrong?!’
All she had done was diligently serve food, went to the backyard with laundry to help after finishing serving, played with the kids… that was it…
‘I can’t panic here. Get a grip. I mustn’t get caught up in their strange power struggle… Wait, power struggle?’
Ivienne paused for a moment.
The fact that the two were in a微妙ly confrontational stance didn’t make sense by general fantasy common sense.
The Emperor and a knight.
The class difference between them was too vast.
How dare a mere paladin look an Emperor directly in the eye?
‘But, in this original story’s worldview, it’s a different tale.’
The imperial authority of the Whig Empire was precariously balanced between the Holy Capital and the moderate nobility faction. Moreover, Theodor currently had higher public support among the commoners than the Emperor.
Therefore, in the eyes of an infinitely rigid paladin, an Emperor who held his position solely by name, without honor or pride, would seem like someone not worth acknowledging.
‘Above all, he wouldn’t appear worthy of respect.’
Anyway, it was an awkward situation.
‘If this leads to unnecessary conflict between the Emperor and Theodor… then it’ll be truly unsolvable.’
Having concluded her thoughts, Ivienne hastily stepped in to mediate.
“I’m sorry. It was because I hurriedly moved the laundry and missed my footing.”
She began picking up the children’s clothes scattered on the ground and putting them back into the basket.
In the process, she didn’t forget to glance at Theodor.
“Thank you for your help earlier. I’m fine now, so please go ahead on your way! It seems quiet around here, so Saint Pavella must have started her sermon.”
*Go now, go! Hurry up!*
Her voice was almost desperate, as if forcefully pushing him away.
Theodor looked at Ivienne with an odd expression for a moment, then turned his back on her and gave a slight nod toward the young Emperor who was still glaring at him.
“……”
That was the only greeting.
Without waiting for the Emperor’s response, Theodor strode across the backyard with his long legs and left.
“Ha.”
Watching the paladin’s retreating back after a simple nod, Roshignol simply laughed.
He seemed dumbfounded.
His laughter contained something closer to self-deprecation than anger.
“Now even a minion of the Saintess ignores the Emperor.”
*Tch.* He muttered quietly as he sneered.
…Damn.
The words that followed were perhaps better left unheard.
Ivienne, who had no sense of timing, pretended not to hear and slowly picked up the laundry.
“Phew, got it all.”
As she slowly straightened her back and stood up, Roshignol’s crimson eyes rolled slowly toward her and fixed on her.
“So, you were looking for me? I’m sorry. I was passing through the backyard and got caught by the kids playing…”
“Is that really all?”
“Huh?”
“That you were about to fall, and that guy caught you.”
Ivienne froze on the spot at the Emperor’s demeanor, which seemed genuinely concerned about their earlier scene.
…What?
Why are you confirming that again?
What, are you really jealous?
Ivienne stared at Roshignol with astonished eyes.
“I… despise those who lie to me.”
Roshignol muttered that with an expression Ivienne had never seen before.
It was a lonely expression, like the pale moon hanging in a winter blue sky.
Looking at Roshignol’s face, Ivienne suddenly recalled his background from the original story.
A man raised not by family, but surrounded by enemies.
“Your Majesty is misunderstanding… It was absolutely not a romantic situation between a man and a woman.”
She didn’t really know why she had to explain this to Roshignol, but Ivienne nonetheless explained the situation once more.
*Swish.*
It was then that the Emperor reached out toward Ivienne.
“…?”
With his slender, straight fingers, he gently touched a flower petal stuck near her cheek.
“By the way, what are all these bizarre decorations?”
“Huh?”
“Have you truly lost your mind?”
…..
Right.
I’m crazy.
Really, with the way you talk!
Ivienne looked at the Emperor with a slightly pouting face.
She had tried to be considerate so the Emperor wouldn’t get hurt(?), and this is what she gets in return—mockery about being crazy.
“The kids decorated me.”
“You? Why?”
“They said I look like a princess…”
“Ha.”
Roshignol laughed openly.
“Did all the princesses in the world die young at the same time or something?”
“Haha.”
“You seem to find it funny too.”
Ivienne and the Emperor faced each other, letting out only laughter from their mouths.
“But Your Majesty, why were you jealous of us earlier?”
*Freeze.*
The Emperor’s hand, which had been lightly touching the flowers on Ivienne’s head, suddenly stopped.
As if genuinely caught off guard by Ivienne’s retort, delivered in a ‘*take that*’ manner.
“…It was because the sight of two grown men and women shamelessly carrying on like that in broad daylight, in a place open on all sides, was so brazen that I had to say something.”
“I see.”
“You’re not answering properly?”
“…? I just did…”
“It lacked sincerity.”
“Huh?”
“I said your answer lacked sincerity.”
“……”
As Ivienne looked at Roshignol as if he were absurd,
“Where does a mere daughter of a Duke get off opening her eyes wide in front of the Emperor…”
“But… aren’t people’s eyes naturally round?”
“What?”
“No, you just said I opened my eyes wide…”
“Are you talking back to me now?”
“You just told me to answer properly…!”
“Ah, fine, fine! You have to be on a similar level to even have a conversation or not.”
If it’s not, just say it’s not, why are you getting angry at me…?
Although Ivienne felt wronged, seeing Roshignol shouting at her, she had no choice but to purse her lips tightly.
If she said one more word, he would undoubtedly fly into a rage without yielding an inch.
“Yes, well then, I’ll be going to attend to my business now.”
*Bow.*
Ivienne politely bowed to the Emperor in a formal greeting.
“Where are you going?”
“To do the laundry.”
“Where to?”
“…To the washing area, of course?”
“Understood.”
“Yes.”
And so, on the way to the washing area.
*Step, step.*
*Step, step.*
Somehow, the footsteps seemed to overlap.
Whenever Ivienne stopped walking, wondering what it was, the shadow-like footsteps following her also stopped.
‘What is it?’
Thinking it might be her imagination, Ivienne tilted her head and started walking again…
*Step, step.*
The footsteps followed again.
*Thud.*
Finally, Ivienne put the laundry basket down on the ground and looked back.
“……”
“……”
“What are you doing?”
Ivienne bluntly asked Roshignol, who was standing a couple of steps behind her, hands clasped behind his back, gazing at the distant mountains.
“Hm, me?”
Roshignol pointed at his own chest with a long hand as he asked.
At his action, Ivienne looked at him as if he were ridiculous.
Yes.
You.
You.
You, Your Majesty, standing there with your hands behind your back.
“Who else is here besides Your Majesty…”
*Note: “complete traanslate this in english” was interpreted as a request to translate the provided Korean text completely into English. The translation aims to maintain the tone, nuances, and narrative style of the original text.*
