Chapter 5 …..
There were, besides him, many other men who had entanglements with Sinope and Jeushia.
Fennel, Lavender, Vanilla, Monarda, Verbena, Ginger, Sage, Anise… and so on.
As I’d already guessed while reading as a reader, it seemed the male leads’ names were all taken from spices.
Their surnames were as peculiar as their first names, too — most were related to parts of the body.
“Thanks to that, I remember all the main cast’s names.”
I focused again and, without even taking a sip of water, scribbled down information about the main and supporting characters like mad.
I wrote about their appearance and personalities, of course, but also little habits and family relationships.
Only when Klein said it was bedtime did I stop taking notes and scamper down to the bedroom.
I slipped the papers I was keeping for the secret vault into my clothes as if hiding them in my bosom.
I didn’t forget the meticulous little touch of hugging my battered rabbit doll, Tosuni, tight to hide my heavy belly.
Today was the perfect day to do it — Jeushia was leaving the capital to negotiate the return of prisoners.
He hadn’t crossed paths with me in six years, but after all, the whole palace was Jeushia’s territory, so it was safer to be cautious!
After narrowly avoiding sleep several times, I finally heard Senya snoring and quietly rose.
I camouflaged the items as a person under the blankets, slipped out the window, and landed nimbly.
The only light was the full moon shining overhead, but I wasn’t afraid at all.
I’d been training my stamina and nerve for this since I learned to walk.
“Make it through tonight in one piece! Eight more years of hard work, Lira.”
I murmured the name my real father had left me and strode confidently toward the “secret vault.”
Tonight — I had no idea this evening would become anything but routine in six years.
Of course I wasn’t foolish enough to make only one secret vault.
I had a lot of portfolio material gathered over time, and it would be too risky to store everything in one place.
After drawing the palace plans and thinking it over for days, I picked about a dozen spots to use as secret vaults.
Among them, the “Secret Vault A” I was visiting tonight was an important place that held only top-level documents.
Secret Vault A was located in the Creta Garden inside the palace — Jeushia’s private garden.
“Though the garden’s owner, Jeushia, has never once come here.”
The garden was practically abandoned, but because it was property of the emperor it was filled with all kinds of rare flowers and decorations.
Which meant it was a perfect place to hide things.
Also, since only the minimum staff necessary to maintain its appearance came in and out, the chance of discovery was low.
“Being close to the imperial palace is the one problem, but Jeushia is away, so it’s fine.”
I swallowed hard and slipped into the underground passage that connected to the Creta Garden.
The reason I knew this passage inside out was simple.
Legendary scenes in “The Mad Emperor’s Crimson Bedchamber” had unfolded in this very underground waterway.
In the story’s timeline, eight years ago nothing had happened here yet… but maybe because I knew the future, the place felt already full of foreboding.
“Let’s get out of here quickly — the atmosphere is way too gloomy!”
I whimpered and wriggled out behind a garden ornament, stretching my short arms in a yawn.
“When I first passed through here I needed a step-ladder,”
I could sense my body growing little by little as I headed toward the Creta Lake where Secret Vault A was.
The lake at the edge of the garden was almost neglected — perfect for a vault.
I pulled the trowel I’d stuck in the bushes near the water and quietly started digging.
After a little while, a wooden box buried in the ground came into view.
That wooden box, full of jewels, was actually a decoy.
I tossed the box aside and dug deeper.
My hand brushed something like a rope in the tunnel, and without hesitation I grabbed and pulled.
At the end of the rope — camouflaged so it would blend with the earth — hung a shabby sack.
If you weren’t practically jobless you’d never find that sack; that was my Secret Vault A.
“Now that’s what I call double, triple security.”
It was so analog it could make you cry, but anyway.
I folded the documents I’d brought into the sack one by one and hurriedly reactivated the triple security system.
Of course I had to operate it myself.
“This is killing me, but I’m doing it for Senya and Klein…and me.”
After covering the hole and re-camouflaging it, I dusted my dirt-streaked hands.
All that was left was to put the trowel back where I’d found it!
I wanted to get back to bed and catch some sleep.
“Tomorrow I’ll analyze last year’s financials for my investments and make a list of businesses to invest in this year. Oh — and I need to write that request to send to the Mage Tower.”
When I stepped toward the lake to replace the trowel, something odd caught my eye.
“Huh…?”
At the far diagonal end of where I stood there was an unfamiliar silhouette.
“There were no signs of anyone. When did they get there…? Wait.”
Looking closer, that person wasn’t standing outside the lake like me; they were inside the lake.
It was midwinter — the coldest dawn. The feel of the air was below freezing.
Proving my instinct right, there was a thin sheet of ice along the lake’s edge.
“A… is it a water-spirit or something?”
Instinctively I was about to step back when —
“Hey.”
The water-spirit stopped me with a voice that scratched at the ear — husky and oddly familiar.
“How did you get in here?”
At that voice I realized I couldn’t be mistaken.
That wasn’t a ghost or water-spirit.
That woman was…
“Jeushia!”
The thought hit me hard as the moonlight that didn’t notice anything illuminated the place she stood, forcing me to confirm my guess.
“Crap, I’m done for.”
If the emperor, who was supposed to be away, was enjoying a midnight dip at this hour — and in the very lake he had never once visited before — then my life was over.
“One more step and I’ll cut off your ankles.”
The moment I unconsciously took a step backward, Jeushia’s warning seized my thin ankle.
“I’m going to die. I’m definitely going to die.”
That gut feeling that my life ended here was stronger than ever.
“Why now, after hiding so well this whole time? What went wrong?”
Was it a mistake to bury those papers near the annex?
“But Klein cleans that place every day, so that’s dangerous.”
Should they have been in the sack with the other documents earlier?
“No — that would have been like burying myself alive.”
Memories flashed past like a slideshow as I made excuses to myself, and then I realized the original problem was that I’d been incarnated into this world in the first place.
Everything was a mistake. Damn it.
While I kept piling up regrets, Jeushia had moved close enough that I could make out her features.
“…”
She didn’t say anything; she just stared at me.
Six years since we’d last met, Jeushia hadn’t changed a bit except for being soaked in icy water.
Her black hair swayed at her waist, her violet eyes shone with a terrifying clarity, her exquisitely gorgeous face and a figure that would make a mannequin cry — all exactly as before.
The thin slip she wore was saturated and clung to her, but rather than looking cold she seemed like a work of art.
“Stunning boss…”
But that angelic, stunning boss was the Reaper.
“I’ll send you off in one go.”
PTSD, incoming.
Even though Jeushia was the coldest person here — having been in the ice lake — for some reason my face started turning pale.
“Should I beg for my life now? Or call her ‘mother’ and act charming? How did other protagonists in romance novels do it?”
My thought process froze and I couldn’t come up with a plan to survive.
Just as I was scratching for a way out, Jeushia cut the cold silence and spoke.
“…Calliope?”
