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CHAPTER 82…………………….
— “He’s Really Amazing”
Twenty minutes to the second after the black-helmed knights had stormed into Count Stone’s manor without restraint, a carriage carrying Empress Hailey stopped in front of the estate.
Hailey, who had smiled faintly when she saw the broken front gate, strode boldly into the house. Just then, the butler Hans — his clothes and hair a mess — came running out.
“Hans. Have you been well?”
Hans hurriedly stepped in front of her.
“This place is dangerous. The Count is out, and ruffians have broken in. For now, Your Majesty, you should—”
“Who dared to wreck Count Stone’s manor like this? I’ll teach them a lesson. Where are they?”
“Your Majesty!!”
“Where are they?”
“…On the third floor.”
Hailey smiled slightly and marched up to the third floor without hesitation. Hans, who had been stamping his feet anxiously, scrambled after her.
But an entirely unexpected scene awaited her in the third-floor corridor. The black knights gathered in a cluster in front of the study door, looking at one another with anxious, awkward expressions.
“What are you lot doing right now?”
Hailey’s sharp voice echoed down the corridor, and the knights all turned to look at her.
While Hans watched her nervously with worried eyes, the man who led the black knights stepped forward to Hailey.
“Explain the situation.”
Seeing them bow before Hailey and plead, Hans, startled, retreated a step. Hailey, who gave Hans a slight, dismissive smile, glared back at the knights.
“Well… when we opened the study door, Viscount Stone and Queen Preetan were… together…” the leader trailed off.
Hailey’s annoyance flared at his faltering words.
“Robby and Lea… what?”
“They were entwined with each other—” he swallowed hard as if he couldn’t bring himself to say more.
“Are you spouting nonsense?”
Only then did Hailey grasp what he meant; she approached the study door in disbelief.
Just as she reached for the handle to fling the door open, a strange chorus of moans and a thud, like something falling to the floor, came from inside.
From that sound alone she could roughly guess what was happening within, and Hailey turned to the knights with a flustered look.
“Are you saying Robby and Lea are doing that in there?”
“Absolutely. We compared them with the portrait you gave us and the likeness matched. It was definitely the same faces.”
Hailey let out a hollow laugh at the idea that the two of them were tangled together in broad daylight.
“How long have they been like that?”
“When we arrived, it was already in full swing.”
“Ha! So you’ve been standing here doing nothing all this time?”
Hailey glared at the knights accusingly; they immediately dropped their heads. Irritated, Hailey pounded the study door.
“Robby, Robby!!”
The ruckus inside stopped as if struck dumb; everything went quiet.
“I know Lea’s in there. I’ll count to thirteen and then open the door, so handle it yourself. One, two, three…”
After counting ten at the door, she opened it and walked in.
“Your Majesty, the manor has quieted down.”
Millie, Freddy, and I were still hiding inside the secret passage of Count Stone’s manor. Right before we were going to escape through the passage, the estate had become quite chaotic.
Rather than risk being discovered while making a hasty escape, we decided to trust Robby and wait for the situation to calm down.
In the meantime, we planned our escape to the Kingdom of Preetan.
“Sir Freddy, moving during the day is risky. How about we stay hidden here and leave at night?”
“Staying at this manor too long is far too dangerous.”
“But going out right now seems risky as well.”
“I’ll go ahead, find a place to hide until night and a carriage, then come back.”
It seemed wiser for Freddy to move alone — no one in Haren’s capital would recognize him by face.
“While you’re at it, pick up some hair dye.”
“Hair dye?”
Freddy looked at me curiously, and when he noticed my platinum hair glinting even in the dark, he nodded as if he understood.
“I was thinking of Princess Shine’s disguise trick. It’d be better to change my hair color.”
“All right.”
After answering briskly, Freddy quietly opened the secret passage door and slipped outside. Millie and I anxiously prayed he would return safely.
Hailey counted to thirteen in front of the study and strode in without hesitation.
Inside, Robby, wearing only a shirt, was hurriedly pulling on his trousers; the woman had her naked back turned to the room, covering herself with a large shawl and sitting facing the bookshelves.
A rug on the floor was strewn with dresses and undergarments, books from the shelves were scattered all over the floor. The crashing sound earlier had apparently been the books falling off the shelf.
Robby, having hurried to dress properly, turned to Hailey with a face full of concern.
“What’s the matter, all of a sudden?”
“You didn’t keep your promise, so I came to find you.”
“Promise? I didn’t—”
“Don’t play dumb,” Hailey snapped.
Hailey turned from Robby to address the woman sitting in front of the bookcase.
“Long time no see, Lea. I never thought I’d meet you under such embarrassing circumstances.”
From the way she sat with long platinum hair draped down and head bowed, Hailey was sure it was Lea.
“Ah, this is infuriating!!”
But the reply that came from the woman completely upended Hailey’s expectation.
“Sweetheart, what’s this about? You seduced me promising an amazing time, and to be interrupted not once but twice!”
“Sorry. It was unexpected and I was flustered. Calm down, okay?”
Robby hurried over to pat her cheek and soothe her.
At the sight of her profile, Hailey’s eyes widened. It wasn’t Lea.
Hailey shoved Robby roughly to the side and grabbed the woman’s shoulder.
“Who are you?”
“And who are you?”
Unfazed by Hailey’s presence, Shine — arrogant and composed — returned the question.
Hailey looked closely at Shine’s face. She had platinum hair and skin as pale as snow, but her features did not match Lea’s at all. And those pointed ears — proof she was a demon.
Hailey glanced at Robby in confusion. Robby hastily introduced them.
“This is Princess Shine of the Malau Kingdom. And you—this is Her Majesty Empress Hailey of the Haren Empire.”
“So the Haren Empress thinks it’s fine to barge into someone’s home uninvited? Are you his lover?”
“Absolutely not! I only have eyes for him.”
Robby, with gooey adoration, patted her cheek and tried to calm things down.
“Your Majesty must have had her reasons. I’ll apologize on his behalf.”
When his eyes met Robby’s, Shine suddenly clung to his neck and began kissing him.
“You’re so… kind.”
Her shawl slipped down off her shoulders from the movement, but Shine didn’t care in the least.
Robby was inwardly embarrassed by Shine’s unexpected action, but he went with it calmly and draped the shawl affectionately back around her shoulders.
“Sorry — let’s finish what we were doing in the bedroom later, okay? Be good.”
Shine pouted cutely then nodded. Robby looked back at Hailey with a reproachful expression.
“Please step aside. You came rushing in and our baby—no, Shine—didn’t finish getting dressed.”
“Huh??”
Hailey stared at Robby in disbelief. His ears were reddened, but he didn’t avoid her gaze.
“You can look if you want. My chest’s much prettier anyway.”
Shine provocatively lifted her dress, taunting Hailey, and rage and fury rose inside Hailey. She turned and left, slamming the study door so hard it seemed like it would break.
Outside the study, Shine and Robby froze as if they’d been rooted to the spot.
A moment later, Hailey’s furious shout could be heard. Shine breathed a sigh of relief.
“Phew~ I think she bought it, right?”
Shine whispered in a tiny voice, and Robby nodded slightly.
Shine, who quickly started dressing, couldn’t stop grinning. When Robby raised an eyebrow in puzzlement, Shine, glancing toward the door, whispered.
“Viscount Stone is a surprisingly good actor.”
“Oh…”
“You mean he acts well, or he’s really that good in real life?”
“What…??”
Robby almost shouted, but Shine quickly clapped her hand over his mouth in alarm.
“Quiet. What if we get discovered!”
Robby kept his mouth shut and shot her a reproachful look; Shine’s eyes lit up mischievously again.
“Next time, will you perform like this in front of my fiancé?”
Robby flinched violently; Shine pressed her hand harder over his mouth.
“Don’t say that! He’d be furious.”
When Robby tore her hand from his mouth and scolded her sharply, Shine frowned in displeasure.
“Still, it’s cheap of him. To trick me and disappear alone. I hope that jerk rots.”
Robby found himself feeling a strange pity for Shine’s fiancé, someone he’d never met. Unable to handle the conversation any longer, he changed the subject.
“Are you dressed? Shall we go now?”
“Okay.”
Shine pressed herself to Robby like a magnet; he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Taking a deep breath, Robby took Shine in his arms and opened the study door.
Leaving Robby and Shine behind, Hailey strode up to the leader of the waiting knights and slapped him across the face without warning.
The leader’s face flushed with wounded pride rather than surprise, and his subordinates froze in shock at what they had just seen.
“The woman in there is Lea?”
“Yes. She was clearly Your Majesty’s sister.”
The leader produced the portrait of Lea Hailey had given and showed it to her.
“We confirmed that the woman in the painting and the one we saw were the same.”
“Your eyes make everything the same if the hair color matches, huh? Can’t you see pointed ears or lifted brows at all? If those are your eyes, you’d be better off gouging them out.”
Hailey’s harsh words made the entire knight company bristle woundedly. None of them understood why she was so worked up.
Just then, Robby and Shine emerged from the study, properly dressed and clinging to each other.
The captain’s eyes widened involuntarily when he saw her face. Earlier, the woman matched the portrait exactly — but the woman before him now looked nothing like the painting.
Robby gently stroked Shine’s cheek and whispered.
“Go wait in my chamber on the second floor.”
“Come quickly, darling~”
She planted a tiny kiss on Robby’s lips. Robby’s face overflowed with adoration as if he couldn’t help it.
When Hans tried to escort Princess Shine to the second floor, Hailey stopped her.
“Wait. You owe me an explanation.”
Shine tilted her head as if to ask what was wrong, and Hailey turned to Robby.
“I received a report that Lea had arrived at the Stone manor. Where did you hide her?”
“I don’t know what you mean, Hailey. The only guest who visited today is Princess Shine. Hans, did Lea arrive without my knowledge?”
“Completely unheard of, my lord.”
Hans blinked and answered with an innocent tone.
“Someone must have mistaken Princess Shine for Lea. If Lea had arrived, I would not have failed to report it to Your Majesty.”
Robby’s answer didn’t sit well with Hailey, but she couldn’t find a concrete accusation, so she asked Shine directly.
“Princess Shine, why are you here?”
“Because I wanted to see him. I missed the night we spent together at Preetan Castle.”
Shine leaned close and whispered to Hailey.
“He’s really… amazing.”
“……”
Hailey stepped back, flustered. Shine chirped playfully to Robby.
“Darling, tidy up a bit and come to the bedroom~”
“I will, just wait a moment.”
Robby soothed Shine, escorting her down the stairs. As they reached the bottom, he leaned closer to Hans and whispered so only he could hear.
“Hans, I think there’s a rat among the servants. Catch it and make sure no one notices.”
“Yes, my lord.”
