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Seeing the senior administrator’s uneasy face, slick with cold sweat, Clayden replied irritably,
“No.”
“Ah… yes, Your Majesty.”
The senior administrator, who had been feeling unusually cheerful since morning thanks to the emperor’s smiling face, bowed with a slightly wounded expression.
Still, he was a senior administrator with thirty years of experience.
He lifted his head at once and spoke with force.
“As the senior administrator of the Locarso Imperial Court, I, Clanel, can only express my admiration and praise for the interest and effort Your Majesty has shown during this period of instruction. Through this training, there will surely be no difficulties when Your Majesty undertakes state affairs henceforth, and all imperial subjects will sing Your Majesty’s praises.”
Emilia, who had been looking out the window, quietly stood up as soon as the long speech began.
Clayden spoke sharply again.
“Senior Administrator. No questions.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
Only then did the senior administrator bow and withdraw.
He hid the slightly hurt look on his face, thinking of how much effort he had put into preparing the very first schedule after the glorious new emperor’s accession.
At the door, Emilia saw him out with a small smile.
“Senior Administrator, you worked very hard. It was truly a very informative education.”
“Ah… yes. Well. Hahaha.”
Surprised by the unexpected gratitude, the senior administrator left with a beaming smile.
Watching that scene, Clayden was dumbfounded.
She just smiled?
Just now, Emilia Valetta smiled for the first time today.
Not at him, with his perfect smile.
But that old senior administrator was soaked in sweat.
Clayden was horrified.
Where on earth are that woman’s eyes?!
Did she eat monster meat as a child and mess something up…?
“Ha…”
For the first time today, Clayden let his displeasure show.
What irritated him even more was Emilia walking toward him with a serious look.
“Your Majesty, are you feeling unwell?”
Unwell? Wouldn’t it be strange if I weren’t unwell right now?
Clayden narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at her, then recalled the chief steward’s words.
Perhaps Lady Emilia simply needs time, Your Majesty.
With the same perfect smile he had worn that morning, Clayden felt a light thrill inside.
The excitement of meeting a worthy rival—Emilia Valetta.
Grabbing the sword resting on the side desk, he said,
“Shall we go out, Emilia?”
Walking through the palace corridors, Emperor Clayden found himself wishing Emilia Valetta were a man.
To resist his smile like that—if she were such a strong-minded opponent, wouldn’t it be worth crossing swords with her?
The fact that he couldn’t only made the situation more challenging.
As emperor of the Locarso Empire, he had to distinguish between those to suppress and those to embrace.
The so-called military nobles were an alliance of aristocrats who had grown powerful by monopolizing privileges since the time of the former emperor.
They knew that an emperor who sought strong imperial authority would inevitably make enemies of them. That was why they had called for Clayden’s execution when he was exiled.
And now, that very man had returned as emperor.
Rather than seeking reconciliation with Clayden, they were reorganizing their power, splitting into factions loyal to the former emperor and the former empress.
They were prey—beasts that Clayden the predator would slowly hunt down.
At the same time, Clayden had to win over the lords who supplied food and resources to the empire, ensuring that wealth spread evenly throughout it.
And the importance of the northern margrave, who stood on the front lines against monsters—the greatest threat to humanity—went without saying.
In restoring relations with such a margrave, Emilia was the perfect diplomat.
That was part of the complicated reason he wanted reconciliation with her—though the strongest motive might have been restoring his pride as a man.
And as emperor, it was only natural that he wanted someone trustworthy close to him.
Still, he hadn’t expected it to be this difficult.
All of this must have been far too complex for his maid to understand.
As irritation and anger crept up on him, Clayden decided not to waste time anymore.
He would go straight at it.
Subtle looks, smiles given without reason—she was too ignorant to grasp their deeper meaning.
He would rescue her mind from the world of grim, fur-armored, taciturn barbarians.
You have to see His Majesty’s strengths often to be moved by them. Once that feeling builds up, expression will follow.
Recalling the chief steward’s words, Clayden twisted his lips into a crooked smile.
I’ll pile that emotion up like a mountain today. Even if you cry from being crushed, I won’t know.
He would collide directly with human instinct and shatter Emilia Valetta’s northern ignorance in one blow.
Of course, Clayden knew it was a harsh approach.
Whether she could withstand the shock…
But he was ready to take full responsibility for the result.
Ahead of him lay trials as high as mountains and as wide as the sea.
Before facing them, he had to prove that he was not an emperor who couldn’t even win his own maid’s heart.
Following his long strides at a hurried pace, Emilia suddenly stopped, recognizing where he was headed.
“Um, Your Majesty… this place is.”
The knights’ training grounds.
Under the fluttering banner of the Locarso Empire, the imperial guard’s rough shouts, sweat, and rippling muscles filled the air.
Clayden glanced sideways at the startled Emilia with satisfaction.
In a more relaxed mood, he said,
“Why? Afraid because there are so many men?”
“No, Your Majesty, that’s not it…”
Her flustered 모습 gave Clayden a sense of fullness. The sturdy wall around her heart was clearly starting to crack.
“This isn’t a study.”
Emilia Valetta.
Ah… Emilia Valetta.
What am I supposed to do with you?
She was a study maid. That meant that here, at the training grounds, a male attendant should be accompanying the emperor—she was troubled by that.
Clenching his teeth, Clayden ordered,
“Just watch quietly.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
Leaving her awkward reply behind, Clayden lightly swung his sword and strode confidently into the training grounds.
Leaving behind just one line.
“Hmph. I’ll forgive you.”
By the time he was already far away, the startled Emilia had no chance to ask what she had done wrong.
She lacked the imagination to understand that what Clayden meant was,
I will forgive your eyes.
So Emilia, believing she had unknowingly offended the emperor, leaned against the tent wall with a sigh, feeling deeply troubled.
When the emperor appeared, the knight commander called out, and all the knights training scattered around stood and saluted at once.
The discipline and presence were truly impressive.
Contrary to Clayden’s concern, the training grounds were familiar to Emilia.
Being the margrave’s daughter in the North came with no special privileges.
While the margrave led knights into training or battle, preparing armor, daily necessities, and collecting supplies was mostly women’s work.
On top of that, Emilia took care of the finer details her father often missed.
Used to the rough Valetta Castle training grounds, where life-or-death struggles were routine, she admired the calm discipline of the imperial guard.
Even at a glance, the budget for armor and weapons was on a different level.
If only there were no monsters, Valetta’s situation would be so much better…
With a heavy heart, Emilia looked around the grounds.
While she was lost in thought, Clayden began sparring with a knight. All the others stopped training to watch.
The loud shouts of men. The crash of metal against metal.
The familiar sounds made Emilia miss the North, and she closed her eyes toward the clear sky.
Meanwhile, the knight facing the emperor was sent flying. Clayden shouted, gripping his sword.
“Next!”
“Your Majesty, please go easy on us.”
The next knight joked, but he meant it sincerely.
Emilia watched the new bout begin.
As the margrave’s daughter, she had an eye for swordsmanship.
She already knew it, but his skill was astonishing. If this was just warming up…
Yet she couldn’t focus properly, her nerves on edge because she still couldn’t figure out what she had done wrong.
Then she looked at the emperor’s face.
He was smiling.
His Majesty is smiling…
Without realizing it, Emilia smiled too.
Though she had watched him all day, it felt like the first time she’d seen him truly smile.
The sun was especially harsh today, and the two men were drenched in honest sweat.
The emperor’s sword strikes were refreshing yet razor-sharp. In that moment, Clayden had no stray thoughts—only complete focus.
He loved the sword.
Of that, Emilia was certain.
Just then, after kicking his opponent away, Clayden tore off his upper garment.
A low “Whoa…” rippled through the imperial guards.
In the North, men don’t react to men’s bodies—except to mock them.
But this cheer was clearly praise for the emperor.
A little flustered by the difference between the capital and the North, Emilia studied him closely.
Clayden’s upper body looked like finely tempered muscle, carved into living sculpture.
Sweat rolled along the grooves of his muscles, glittering like pearls in the sunlight.
When he swung his sword, every muscle surged together, releasing absurd power.
The clash of metal sounded like a declaration of victory from his body itself.
He was not only strong, but beautiful.
As far as Emilia knew, it was rare for one person to possess both.
In the empire, the emperor was believed to be chosen by the gods—a human representative entrusted with the world.
Watching him now, Emilia thought that might be true.
She silently wished that the once-unhappy crown prince would now become a great emperor.
At that moment, the emperor glanced back. Emilia quickly lowered her eyes, feeling as if her thoughts had been exposed.
Seeing her avert her gaze after staring at his body, Clayden felt a rush of pleasure.
With a crooked smile, he thought,
I already forgave you, Emilia.
Then he spun his sword and knocked his opponent’s blade into the air. Sparkling sweat sprayed into the sky.
He swung his sword deliberately wide—making his moment of victory look dramatically slow.
With a fresh smile, he sheathed his sword in an unnecessarily flashy motion and turned toward his maid.
Every eye in the training grounds followed Clayden’s gaze to her.
What they saw was the back of a maid, crouched low.
