Chapter 85
The next day, in the afternoon.
Eleusis entered Chanellica’s room with his usual soft smile.
No one could tell how much tension was surging inside him.
“Oh—Your Majesty! What brings you here at this hour?”
Seeing Eleusis in the middle of the day was a pleasant surprise for Chanellica. Lately, they’d only been meeting briefly in the evenings for short conversations, so this was unexpected.
“I had a bit of free time, so I came by.”
“Hmm… really? Still, if the nobles find out you came here at this hour, they’ll throw a fit.”
“They already know I sometimes stop by at night. Besides, I think they’ll let it slide today. I scolded them quite harshly this morning.”
Eleusis shrugged and sat down on the sofa, casually talking about what had happened earlier.
Apparently, one of the nobles had mishandled an important task, causing chaos in an ongoing project.
“Your Majesty, you get angry?”
“You think I don’t?”
“No, it’s just… hard to imagine. With that handsome face of yours?”
“…I do get angry, but my expression doesn’t change much.”
“Oh! Then you get angry while smiling?”
Chanellica’s eyes sparkled.
She didn’t say it out loud, but her face clearly begged, ‘Please, just once, show me!’
Eleusis turned his head slightly away.
“Why would I ever be angry with Miss Chanel?”
“Just once! I’m curious!”
“I’ll never have a reason to be angry with you—for as long as I live.”
He wasn’t just saying that. He meant it.
Even setting aside his affection for her as a woman, Chanellica was someone precious to him as a person. The more he saw her, the more he wanted to cherish her. She was that kind of person—someone he could never bring himself to hurt, no matter what.
And now she was asking him to pretend to be angry?
That was impossible.
Eleusis, who rarely ever lost his temper, could never even fake anger toward Chanellica. She already occupied every corner of his heart.
“Would you take a look at this?”
He quickly changed the subject and pulled out a folded piece of paper from the inside pocket of his jacket.
“What’s that?”
“It’s been a while… A quiz for Miss Chanel.”
“Wow!”
Chanellica’s face lit up with delight.
Since beginning her queen’s education, their little quiz sessions had been put on hold, but today, Eleusis had brought her a new one.
Unlike her bright expression, however, Eleusis’s heart felt heavy.
This was the real reason he’d come during the day, despite his busy schedule.
“This time, though, I didn’t make it myself. To be honest… I came here to ask for your help.”
“My help?”
“This is written in Kuhil language. Our intelligence agents urgently obtained this letter from the Kuhil tribe, but I can’t read Kuhil. I heard that you can.”
Chanellica nodded slightly.
She was known to speak five languages. The first time she met Lydia, she’d simultaneously interpreted five languages—one of which was Kuhil.
The Kuhil tongue belonged to the nomadic Kuhil tribe, who roamed across the western continent. They were traders as well as herders, running massive merchant caravans. Their goods were vast, their prices fair, and so every nation on the continent tried to stay on good terms with them.
“There’s no one in the royal palace who can read Kuhil?”
“It’s not that they don’t understand Kuhil—they just can’t read its script.”
“What do you mean?”
Eleusis explained, “Since the Kuhil are traveling merchants, they rarely send letters written in their own language. To be considerate, they use the language of the country they’re writing to.”
“But when they came to the banquet, they spoke in Kuhil.”
That’s right—she had interpreted for them.
Now that she thought about it, it was probably Stern who made her do it, just to confirm whether she really was a dragon.
“Yes. I can speak basic Kuhil too. I just don’t know the written script. You’ve never translated a Kuhil text before, have you?”
“Uh…”
Chanellica thought for a moment.
“You’re right. I haven’t.”
During her time at the palace, she’d only been asked to translate three languages: Baren, Garion, and Larta.
Including her native Campton tongue and Kuhil, that made five in total—but come to think of it, she had never translated anything written in Kuhil before.
“You said before that you could read it. Can you read this letter?”
Chanellica hesitated.
According to Eleusis, this might be the first time she’d ever actually seen the Kuhil script. Not that it mattered—she knew her dragon tongue would automatically translate it anyway.
For a moment, she considered pretending not to know it—to save herself from future trouble. But then she changed her mind.
If she admitted that she could speak but not read Kuhil, the nobles would mock her again. And judging by Eleusis’s serious expression, this must be something very important.
He’d come all this way just for this.
Eleusis had always been generous and kind to her.
If she could help him, she would.
“Yes, I can read it. Please, give it to me.”
He handed her the letter. Chanellica unfolded it without hesitation and let her eyes skim the page.
Immediately, the words began to shift in her vision—automatically translated into the dragon’s tongue.
“Can you tell what it says?” Eleusis asked, his voice betraying a hint of anxiety.
“Hmm… It says that something’s gone wrong with the salt fields in the southern part of the western continent. Salt production and distribution will be disrupted for a while, so the Kuhil are planning to hold an emergency council.”
“…The salt fields, huh.”
Eleusis’s expression darkened.
“Nothing else?”
“That’s all. Is it something serious?”
“…The Kuhil supply most of our salt. If that’s true, prices will skyrocket. We’ll need to take countermeasures.”
Chanellica looked at him with concern. She didn’t really care about salt prices—but she could tell this was important to him.
“I’m sorry, Miss Chanel, but I’ll have to go.”
“Of course. Go ahead.”
Eleusis rose, took the letter back, bowed slightly, and left in haste.
So it’s that serious? she thought. Well, money is everything to humans, after all.
She turned her gaze away from the door with a shrug.
That evening.
Eleusis, wearing a dark hood, entered the Turil Tavern near the royal palace with Glyn, who was disguised as well.
It had been the king’s sudden whim—he wanted to drink good wine in a crowded place for once. Though Glyn wasn’t even off duty, he’d been dragged along helplessly.
“You’re paying, right, brother?”
“If you have to ask, you don’t know me at all.”
Outside the palace and surrounded by people, Glyn addressed him as “brother.”
“Drink as much as you want.”
Glyn knew this side of Eleusis.
Even back when he was still a prince, he occasionally liked sneaking out to mingle with ordinary people. That’s why Glyn didn’t protest.
They drank fruit-scented liquor while the tavern buzzed with laughter and chatter around them.
“I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll come with—”
“Not this time. Don’t follow me—not even to the restroom.”
Eleusis lightly patted Glyn’s shoulder twice, pressing him back down. When Glyn tried to rise again, he shook his head firmly. The look in his eyes said clearly: Don’t follow.
Glyn hesitated but sat back down. When Eleusis made that face, it was best to respect his wishes.
After all, a royal bodyguard didn’t have to shadow every single move. Other guards were already stationed outside and on the roof; there was no need to worry.
It wasn’t like this was the first time the king had slipped out of the palace alone.
Chuckling, Glyn downed the rest of his drink.
Meanwhile, Eleusis walked past the restroom and further down a narrow corridor.
He circled around the back of the tavern—to where the tavernkeeper lived.
Knock, knock, knock.
Eleusis pulled his hood lower and rapped on the door.
“Who is it?”
“I’ve come to retrieve the letter that was left here.”
According to a letter Stern had sent him some time ago, if Eleusis wanted to learn “the truth,” he should come to the Turil Tavern and say exactly those words to the owner.
He hadn’t planned on coming.
The letter had arrived a few days earlier, delivered by a terrified young page.
The boy had said that a masked stranger handed him the letter—and threatened to kill his family if he didn’t deliver it to the king.
It had been a crisis.
The royal security had been breached.
Eleusis had almost called his guards immediately—until he saw the sender’s name written on the envelope: Stern Miache.
He stopped.
After strictly warning the page to keep silent, Eleusis stared down at the letter.
If the palace’s defenses had been breached, that was one thing.
But for Stern—of all people—to go so far, using threats just to deliver a message, meant there was something he desperately wanted to say.
Eleusis had been wondering about him anyway.
Why had that loyal man done such cruel things to Chanellica?
Why escape without a word, only to send a letter later?
When he finally opened it, Eleusis felt the blood drain from his face.
Inside was a story—so shocking he could hardly believe it.
