Chapter 80
Noah had caught another bison today, in almost the exact same way and place as the day before—it felt like déjà vu.
It wasn’t just the servants who had enjoyed the delicious roast made from yesterday’s catch.
‘Isn’t this cool as hell?!’
Yet the nobles still showed no reaction, and that really annoyed Roje.
“Your Majesty! You’re amazing! Lady Christina! Did you see? His Majesty caught another bison in a single blow! Isn’t that incredible?”
“Yes, Roje, His Majesty is truly remarkable. I mean, how does he pierce the head so cleanly in one shot? Isn’t that right, Angelina?”
“Eh? Oh… Yes! He’s so impressive!”
So Roje amped up her applause and showered Noah with even more exaggerated praise than the day before, making sure to call Christina’s name loudly.
She winked at Christina, silently asking her to back her up, and Christina responded with a smile, nudging the young noble ladies beside her.
Only then did the girls—who had all been keeping their mouths tightly shut—start praising Noah one by one.
‘I knew it.’
At first, she thought they were just being fake because they were wary of Christina. But looking closely, that wasn’t it.
All those girls kept glancing shyly at Noah while checking their parents’ reactions—and their eyes were sparkling.
‘It’s not like their eyes are on the back of their heads. No way that face isn’t grabbing attention.’
Sure, they were being cautious because of the prophecy about red eyes. But apparently, his looks were still too powerful to ignore.
‘Ah! The prophecy!’
Come to think of it, she had meant to talk to Noah about the prophecy after he got back from the night hunt yesterday—but she’d totally forgotten. Roje subtly slipped over to Jonathan, leaving her reins with a servant.
“Jonathan.”
She looked around carefully before saying his name. Jonathan turned his head, sensing something was up. Roje spoke in a low whisper, still watching the people nearby.
“Did you get a chance to talk to His Majesty about the prophecy?”
Jonathan, realizing this wasn’t something to discuss openly, lowered his voice as well.
“You know better than I do what happened yesterday, Lady Roje.”
“Ah… Right. I guess there really wasn’t time.”
“I’ll bring it up later when we have a moment alone.”
“Okay.”
As the two whispered quietly, Noah noticed the hush-hush exchange and walked over, his gaze sharp.
“What’s going on?”
He clearly didn’t like being left out of a conversation again.
Roje leaned in close to Noah and gave him a sweet, playful smile, silently telling him not to be mad.
“Later—too many ears around right now.”
Just that small smile seemed to soften Noah’s expression quite a bit.
Is he really that into me? she thought distractedly.
‘Of course he is! Noah is totally devoted to me!’
But… that kind of “into me” probably wasn’t the kind she was thinking of.
Roje looked toward the priests praying around the bison and gave herself a firm slap on the cheek.
‘Get it together!’
The hunting festival wasn’t over yet. It was still unclear whether she’d be able to keep Duke Raymond by her side until the end of this arc. Nothing was certain, and now the prophecy issue was back on the table.
She couldn’t afford to be distracted at such a critical moment.
Once the morning hunt ended and lunchtime arrived, the groups naturally split up into nearly the same formations as the day before.
“Lady Aria! Over here!”
“I wonder what’s for lunch today? I heard Marchioness Dwelli put even more effort into it than yesterday.”
What kind of nonsense are they going to spout today?
Aria mentally braced herself for anything and sat down, ready to smile no matter what was said.
But then—
“…His Majesty really does have a striking appearance, doesn’t he?”
“In terms of looks alone, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone like him even across the continent.”
“Well, Lady Melissa’s beauty is truly in a league of her own, of course.”
“Speaking of which—have you seen his physique? If I were twenty years younger, it wouldn’t be my daughter Riche who was drooling—oh my, did I really just say that?”
Hearing everyone gushing about Noah, Aria couldn’t stop her expression from stiffening.
Zion is alive.
But to the world, Zion was dead—killed because of Noah.
Which meant that man, Noah, was the villain who had stolen the throne from the rightful heir.
So how could these people smile at him like that? Weren’t they angry?
Aria simply couldn’t understand it.
She didn’t even know if her own parents were still alive—that was thanks to the loyalty of her family’s vassals.
Why “thanks”?
—“Your Highness, you must flee. If even you survive, there is still hope for the future.”
Because of them, Aria had managed to escape the empire’s forces and cross the border into the Kingdom of Lewin unharmed.
Even after losing her country, she was able to grow up proud of her heritage, as Lewin’s one and only princess. That too was because of them.
Some had even lost their noble titles, now that their country was a vassal state of the empire. But they never lost their loyalty to their former ruler.
So it was simply incomprehensible.
How could the nobles here smile at Noah—the man who took their lord away?
Then again, it was precisely because of that disloyalty that none of them had shown true allegiance to Noah either.
Which is why Aria believed it wouldn’t be so hard to reclaim Zion’s rightful throne.
Still, she had no intention of understanding them—nor did she want to.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
“Are you going somewhere?”
“I just had some bread and it’s not sitting well. I thought I’d walk a bit.”
“Oh no… You should eat slower next time.”
Unable to endure the endless praise for Noah, Aria finally stood up and left the table. As she did, she saw Roje slip into the forest with a priest, wearing a curious, meaningful expression.
Of course. As if that woman would settle for just the emperor.
That much had been within expectations.
What wasn’t expected, though, was Noah and Jonathan quietly following her.
Whatever they’re up to…
“This is too suspicious.”
Aria couldn’t explain it, but she often had these faint, cold feelings—gut instincts.
What was Roje discussing with the priest in secret? And why would the emperor join in?
“I have to find out.”
“She wanted to hear what Your Majesty said yesterday directly from you.”
Liam had agreed to talk briefly with Roje, but when Jonathan—and then Noah—showed up, his face went pale.
He knew the prophecy was suspicious, but this was Noah, with the infamous red eyes. Maybe he’d heard some rumor again about Noah…
“It’s an honor to see the sun of the empire up close like this.”
No—more than anything, Liam seemed nervous because Noah was the emperor.
Despite now being a priest, Liam had once been a noble. And to someone like him, an emperor was still a terrifying figure.
He repeated what he’d told Roje, sweating profusely.
Noah gave a quiet, somewhat hollow laugh.
It was the first time, as far as Roje could remember, that she’d heard Noah laugh out loud in front of others.
Liam only spoke of the possibility that the prophecy might be false, but Noah was sure of it.
He knew it was false.
“It’s strange… isn’t it, Your Majesty?”
Hadn’t he ever thought from the beginning that the prophecy might simply be wrong?
He felt a bit foolish for never considering it.
“There’s also the tithe, or whatever it’s called. I heard about it from Jonathan—you don’t even need to come to the temple. Just praying at home means you owe money? That doesn’t sound right.”
Even if it didn’t bother someone like Noah—who inherited the blood of a warmonger and a schemer—
“Liam says no one even knows where the tithe money goes. Meanwhile, the priests are fasting and praying to end the drought. Isn’t that all very strange?”
A person like Roje, who could feel genuine frustration and ask these kinds of questions—there was no way she could be cursed.
If anything, through Noah’s eyes, Roje was a blessing to the empire.
Back when he had no power, he might not have noticed.
But now that a single word from him could mean someone’s death…
Those same nobles, who once constantly tried to undermine him, were still alive.
Not because they deserved to be—but because of Roje.
Without her, Noah wouldn’t have been able to suppress the anger that still simmered inside him.
“Your Majesty… You’re listening, right?”
Lost in thought, Noah placed his hand on Roje’s head, thinking how precious she was.
Everyone’s eyes turned toward him in surprise at the gesture. Only then did he lower his hand and speak.
“I’m listening.”
“Anyway, don’t you think we should look into all of this more seriously? With the drought, people are already struggling just to survive.”
Noah had briefly been lost in thought, but his certainty about the false prophecy wasn’t just emotional.
“Yes. We’ll investigate.”
As emperor, Noah wanted to make this empire a better place.
So he sought to understand everything about it.
Which provinces were rich and which were not, what crops and livestock were raised where, and whether people could live on that.
Even down to whether roads were properly maintained—he wanted to know every detail of his citizens’ lives.
And whatever affected those lives, no matter how small, he wanted to know.
That’s why he had created the Imperial Inspection Office—an organization directly under the emperor’s authority.
