Episode 22
When the previous emperor was still alive, Kyle got engaged to Eilene Cowet. Back then, her family was like a shield protecting him from the emperor, so he had no choice. He had to grab onto even the weakest support from the nobles to survive.
But deep down, Kyle didn’t like Eilene. She was quiet, stiff, and always too proper. Being around her made him feel frustrated. So, once he became emperor, he planned to break off the engagement at the right moment.
But after the kidnapping incident, something about Eilene had changed. He couldn’t explain it, but she seemed more lively. Kyle liked that change.
Then came the event that pushed him to make a decision: losing both his spy and the special unit at once. If he couldn’t secretly get rid of Raymond, he needed to strengthen his political position. That’s when he decided to use Lady Cowet. If people thought the emperor would marry soon, it could help stabilize his rule.
To look close with her, Kyle started calling her by name and went with her to parties, trying to show off their “good relationship.” The more affectionate he looked, the better. But the day of the party, when Kyle heard five of his elite soldiers were defeated, he instantly lost control. He stormed out of the party in a rage. Even though Eilene stood by the exit, he was so furious he didn’t even see her.
“Damn it. A noble lady doesn’t matter right now!”
“Five of the best! Five, damn it!”
Back at the palace, Kyle yelled at his servants in fury. He had sent five elites because Raymond was strong—and now they were all defeated? He couldn’t take it.
“A double ambush?! And you didn’t check for that?!”
Furious, Kyle’s mind instinctively copied what he had seen the previous emperor do. He walked over to his guards, grabbed a sword, and started swinging wildly. Ministers ducked or ran, but a few were slashed on their arms and legs. It was like his father’s cruel habits had awakened inside him.
“Y-Your Majesty… please calm down…”
The ministers were terrified. The ghost of the previous emperor seemed to return through Kyle. The age of fear was back. Kyle’s mask was cracking.
After midnight, like Cinderella after the magic wore off, I collapsed onto my bed. The party had been exhausting. Maybe they thought I was just tired from the outing, so no one bothered me, and I finally had a quiet afternoon.
I used the time to go over the original novel in my head. What more could I tell the Grand Duke to help him? As I thought and thought, I suddenly pictured his face.
His black hair like the universe, and deep blue eyes like the sky.
Strong shoulders I wanted to lean on, and that gentle, warm smile…
My beloved is up so high…
Ah, I miss Raymond…
I shut my eyes tightly, tired of all the sparkle and longing instead for the one who made me feel safe. That’s when—
Tap tap tap. A light knock on the window.
“It’s Oki!”
I jumped up and ran to open the window. The big and adorable owl Oki ran over to me and lifted one leg. Another message from my favorite person—what perfect timing!
I untied the note, poured water into a cup for Oki, and placed it on the table. Oki flapped her wings and landed lightly to drink.
“Clever Oki~ Drink up!”
“Ook, ook, ook!”
Oki hooted back as if replying, then dipped her beak in the water. I read the note:
[Eilene, I have something to tell you. I’d rather say it in person. I’ll send Koa to get you tomorrow.]
Tomorrow?! That means I’ll see Raymond tomorrow! It hadn’t even been that many days, but it felt like forever. I was so happy.
The whole afternoon, I was like the fox waiting for the little prince, filled with excitement for the next day.
“I have two pieces of news,”
Raymond said right away after I sat down in our secret pub’s upstairs room. His face was flushed with excitement.
“What are they?”
“The gold mine in Hano collapsed.”
“Ah… it really did, huh.”
So it happened just like in the novel. I sighed and listened carefully.
“Thankfully, the people were evacuated in time—thanks to you. But the lord hired professional miners instead, and they got trapped when it collapsed. They’re doing rescue work now.”
“Oh no…”
I truly felt sorry. The foolish lord had ignored Raymond’s warning about the dangerous mine, and now people got hurt.
“I hope they’re all saved.”
“Yeah, me too.”
I prayed silently for a moment, then asked for the second news.
“So what’s the second one?”
“The emperor really did put spies on me.”
“Gasp! Really? What happened?!”
Another part of the story that played out like the novel. But clearly, not everything was the same—Raymond was standing right in front of me, safe.
“Like you said, I had my men wait in the red metasequoia forest. I pretended to be alone, and then five masked attackers jumped out. But I had fifteen knights hidden nearby.”
Raymond explained how, as soon as he pretended to be alone, rustling came from the bushes and five masked men attacked. They were very skilled—clearly elite soldiers.
But when Raymond’s knights revealed themselves, the attackers were clearly shocked. They didn’t know this was Raymond’s territory and that he could set a second ambush.
“In the end, we avoided danger and took care of the enemies. All thanks to you, Eilene.”
He grinned at me like a proud kid wanting praise.
“Wow! Amazing!”
I jumped up and grabbed his cheeks without thinking—it was instinct. When a kid listens well, you have to reward them!
“Good job, Raymond~ You did so well!”
I playfully rubbed his cheeks, but then I saw his startled eyes.
“O-ow, Eilene…”
“Ah, sorry!!”
Oops… I quickly let go and sat down like nothing happened. His cheeks were bright red. We awkwardly cleared our throats.
“R-Raymond.”
“Y-Yeah?”
“When did that happen?”
“Yesterday. Around noon.”
“Huh?!”
I gasped. That was when I was at the marquis’s party with the emperor. I suddenly remembered how angry he was when he stormed out.
So that’s why Kyle lost it.
I had been planning to look into it, but now the pieces fit. Kyle couldn’t handle things not going his way. He always got obsessed with one thing—just like in the original story, before the real female lead appeared.
While I was deep in thought, Raymond looked worried.
“Eilene, is something wrong?”
“Oh! No, nothing, Raymond.”
I smiled on purpose. I didn’t want to tell him about attending the party with the emperor. Even if it couldn’t be helped, spending time with the enemy could ruin his trust. I hoped he’d never find out… or at least not until far in the future.
I needed to focus on more important things.
“By the way, Raymond. You had 15 people and they had 5, so that’s a 3 to 1 ratio. Was that enough?”
“Uh… well…”
Raymond couldn’t answer right away—just like I expected.
Of course. Even though he had more people, the emperor’s side sent elite fighters. They wouldn’t have been easy to beat. This mission was secret and serious—they wouldn’t have sent just anyone.
And Kyle didn’t want to show the world that he was trying to kill Raymond. He wanted to look generous and kind on the surface.
But the important thing was: Kyle was surrounded by skilled people. If Raymond went head-to-head with him, he’d lose.
Which meant he needed more strong allies.
So I gave my advice without hesitation:
“Raymond. Recruit Neverest.”
