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Chapter 29
Flustered, she answered stupidly.
“At that time… at the magic tool shop. And I think I saw you once inside the palace a few days ago. Don’t you remember me?”
Because of his perfect, almost unreal beauty and powerful presence, anyone who saw Kaisertern even once found it hard to forget his face—emperor or not.
But at his words, Roabellin let out a small sigh of relief.
She tried to manage her expression and replied,
“Ah, y-yes, right… We meet again. What a coincidence. Haha.”
But Kaisertern did not let it go so easily.
“Why were you looking for the Master of the Mage Tower back then? What does that have to do with you?”
Roabellin rolled her eyes briefly, searching for an answer. There was no good excuse for having sought out the Mage Tower Master. Since she had no choice but to lie, she decided to mix truth into it so it would sound believable.
“Well… I had a little mana. Really just a tiny bit. But for some reason, I gradually lost the ability to use it. I didn’t know why or how to fix it, so… I thought someone like the Mage Tower Master might be able to help me. Looking back, it was reckless.”
Mana was an extremely rare talent, and even those with only a small amount usually lived by making full use of it. To Kaisertern, it was strange that someone with mana would be working in the laundry.
“So you really did have mana? Can’t you use it at all now?”
Roabellin waved both hands in denial.
“Ah, no, not at all. I can’t use it anymore—none of it. I barely had any to begin with, and now it’s completely gone. That’s the problem. On my way to Visentium, I stopped by the Mage Tower just in case, but gave up. Since working at the palace provides food and lodging, I’m just trying to save money and go back to my hometown.”
Worried about attracting attention, she emphasized that she now had absolutely no mana. Since people occasionally lost their innate mana for various reasons, Kaisertern seemed to accept it to some extent.
Instead, something else caught his attention: she was strikingly beautiful compared to the other laundry workers.
Her eye and hair color were different, yet somehow her impression reminded him of Hena.
“Were you the one who came to the Emperor’s Palace earlier?”
“Huh? Ah—yes.”
“Why you?”
What he really meant was: Why was it you, when the person I saw there had platinum-blond hair?
But Roabellin didn’t know that the Emperor’s Palace had a spell that nullified all magic except what the Emperor approved—meaning her disguise magic had been undone at that moment and she had returned to her original appearance. So she couldn’t understand his question.
What does he mean? Why is he asking why I went?
“Turn around.”
At Kaisertern’s order, Roabellin turned around without understanding.
Her hair was braided into a single plait, just like the woman he had seen earlier. But it was also a common hairstyle among palace maids for convenience.
From behind too, it’s clearly brown… Even under moonlight, I couldn’t have mistaken this for platinum blond.
Confused but still unwilling to give up, Kaisertern asked,
“What’s your name?”
“Y-Yuli.”
“You’re a foreigner. Where are you from?”
“Avery….”
At the mention of the same country Hena had claimed to be from, Kaisertern raised an eyebrow and examined her features more closely.
When she was Hena, she probably lied about her homeland too….
Seeing his reaction, Roabellin’s heart pounded. Is he getting more suspicious because I said Avery?
But after studying her face, Kaisertern withdrew his gaze.
“Alright. We’ll meet again.”
When Kaisertern and the Palace Administrator left, everyone in the laundry finally let out their breath.
“What was that about in the middle of the night?”
“Yuli, did you do something wrong? Why did we all have to suffer because of you?”
The tense workers vented their irritation at her.
“By the way, was the Chief Attendant always that young and handsome?”
“Right? He looks far too good just to serve the Emperor.”
“Exactly. It’s overflowing. Overflowing. Too much.”
“At that level, he shouldn’t be here—he should be in a job that steals women’s hearts. Like… an opera singer?”
Leaving the chattering behind, Roabellin hurried back to the laundry room. Her hands were still trembling from shock.
She grabbed the urgent clothes and resumed hand-washing, but her thoughts were full of Kai.
Why… why did he come? Wait, was Kai the chief attendant?
Thinking about it, she remembered him saying he often came to the palace for work.
Ah, that’s why. That’s incredible—he’s the Emperor’s closest aide?
Then her past foolish words came back to her.
Wait… I told the Emperor’s closest aide that I’d seduce the Emperor? Oh my god…!
Her head spun.
And if he’s the chief attendant, he’ll recognize me when I approach the Emperor. I’m doomed….
After clutching her head in despair, she came up with her own plan.
No matter what, I deny everything. I don’t remember that night. I was drunk. I remember nothing.
Of course, she knew best that this wouldn’t really work. But she had no other card to play.
“Aaahhh—!”
She couldn’t sleep that night, kicking her blanket again and again while replaying her own foolish words.
Back at the Emperor’s Palace, Kaisertern kept thinking about Yuli.
Strange. What I saw was definitely platinum blond, but Yuli is clearly brown-haired. And there’s no platinum-blond person in the laundry at all… Did I really see wrong because it was night?
Her face—far too beautiful for the laundry—came to mind.
She wanted to meet the Mage Tower Master to find her mana. She had mana, but lost it… Why? And why is someone like that working in the imperial laundry?
No matter how he thought about it, too many things were suspicious.
This won’t do. I’ll have to watch her more closely. Personally.
The next morning, Kaisertern looked toward the palace entrance several times, wondering if Yuli would come to deliver laundry again.
But the cleaned clothes were delivered by another maid instead. The seniors had scolded Yuli, saying something else might happen if she went again.
Instead, Roabellin spent the entire day collecting laundry from other palaces, stomping on wet blankets, and hanging up dry clothes until her body felt like it would break.
Radak, who had returned to the palace after a long time, greeted Kaisertern and then wandered around like an idle noble. Though he looked carefree, his mind was full of thoughts.
Some departments have moved… and the palaces meant for concubines have been repurposed entirely. Is he really determined not to take concubines? If it were me, I’d fill every palace with beauties. That Kai—does he really have no interest in women, like the rumors say?
Radak liked women by nature, so he paid attention to the palace women as he walked.
With his smooth features and status as a grand duke, he drew attention even without trying.
For an imperial palace, there are really too few beauties. Even in the main palaces.
After touring the Emperor’s Palace, Empress’s Palace, and the Main Palace, he began strolling through the outer palaces as well—an idle man’s choice.
With the Vincent Festival over and the rainy season arrived, drying laundry properly became an exhausting task for the laundry workers.
As bodies grew tired, tempers grew sharper. Some seniors began to pick on Yuli even more.
To make matters worse, the Main Palace sent word that they were changing all the curtains for the season and wanted the old ones washed.
“Yuli, everyone suffered last night because of you, so you go handle this.”
The Main Palace’s curtains were long and numerous—far too much for one woman to manage alone. But Roabellin had no power to refuse.
She loaded the heavy curtains onto a cart and dragged it back to the laundry with great effort. Caught in a sudden downpour, she arrived soaked, and by afternoon she felt chills run through her body. But the laundry was always short-handed, and she was the newest recruit, so no one let her rest.
The next morning, when Roabellin opened her eyes, she knew she had come down with a full feverish cold. Her whole body ached as if she had been beaten, and her vision swam.
I can’t possibly work like this… Just one day. I just want one day off….
But it was the busiest season, and she was already disliked because of the previous incident. She didn’t even dare to say she was sick and silently forced herself up.
“Why is it raining all day like this?”
Radak, holding an umbrella, wandered leisurely through the outer palace and ended up near the laundry.
“Huh… even way out here, the departments are packed in neatly. I lived in the palace until I was eighteen, but I’ve never been to this side.”
Then he noticed something strange: a palace maid walking as if she might collapse at any moment. At first his gaze was indifferent, but when he realized the maid was a young woman, his eyes changed slightly.
