BLMLS~10

Chapter 10

From outside came the sound of carriage wheels rolling to a stop, along with the murmur of many voices.

Just as Davin had said, it seemed the Emperor had arrived.

“Alright. Let’s go greet him.”

I pulled my hand from Davin’s grasp and turned, but Davin urgently called out to me.

“Lady Anise, please promise me something.”

When I looked back, he spoke with barely concealed anxiety.

“Until this situation is over and you are safe again… promise me you won’t trust just anyone.”

Hearing him refer to Lana as “just anyone” again made anger surge inside me.

“Then should I stop trusting you too, Davin?”

At my sharp question, Davin’s eyes widened.

He stared at me in clear surprise for a moment. I saw his gaze tremble, but I was too upset to back down and only glared more stubbornly.

Soon, Davin slowly nodded.

“…Yes. If you ever find me suspicious, then don’t trust me either.”

The moment I heard that, my anger truly exploded.

“Fine! Then I won’t trust you anymore either, so remember that!”

I spun around and stormed out of the office.

As I stomped angrily down the hallway, I could hear Davin following behind me, but I refused to look back.

How could Davin say that?! How could he be so cold to Lana?!

My heart ached for her.

As a fan of the original story, I simply couldn’t accept this.

Then again… he had been like this in the original too.

At critical moments, Davin would save Lana—but in everyday life, he always seemed singularly focused on revenge and strangely cold toward her.

That was why so many readers had refused to acknowledge him as the true male lead.

A tsundere male lead was charming when I was reading about him, but seeing it in real life? Absolutely not!

For some reason, I felt miserable enough to cry.

The moment I transmigrated, my life had been in danger.

The reason I had been able to calm down so quickly was because the protagonists were by my side.

I knew what they had done for Anise over seven years in the original story.

They were people I could trust.

But now Davin was telling me not to trust Lana—and not even to trust him?

I simply couldn’t do that.

I wasn’t strong enough to survive this situation alone without trusting anyone.

When I reached the grand staircase leading from the second floor to the first-floor hall, I saw a knight in an imperial uniform embroidered with the royal crest.

He was standing awkwardly in the hall, clearly flustered that no one had come to greet him.

The moment our eyes met, he greeted me warmly.

“Ah, Count Miller. Good day.”

Though my face had been red from anger just moments before, I quickly composed myself and smiled sweetly.

But who is this?

Behind me, Davin quietly whispered:

“Joshua Loretta. Second son of Count Loretta’s family and vice-captain of the Imperial Knights. He serves as His Majesty’s escort, so I’ve met him a few times.”

I see.

I approached Joshua with a smile.

“It’s nice to meet you, Sir Joshua. Has His Majesty arrived?”

“Yes, he is outside. However…”

Apparently, seeing only Davin and me in this enormous mansion was deeply bewildering to him.

I answered smoothly.

“Ah… all the servants have quit. Could you please escort His Majesty to the first-floor drawing room?”

“Ah, yes. Then I shall bring His Majesty inside.”

Joshua immediately headed back outside.

I could hear horses shifting, knights talking, and bits of confused conversation about what to do with the horses since there was no stablehand.

Come to think of it… there really wasn’t anyone to handle them.

…Well, I’m sure they’ll figure it out.

The thought of facing the Emperor made me tense.

I clasped my hands tightly together.

Is the Emperor allied with the people trying to kill Anise… or not?

Soon, knights in imperial uniforms poured inside.

Once they lined up in the hall, the Emperor finally appeared.

The moment I saw the man dressed in extravagant luxury, I immediately knew who he was.

Black hair.

Blue eyes.

A face so pale it almost seemed deathly white.

It perfectly matched the original story’s description.

Adrian Logrant.

The final boss of the original novel.

The Emperor stepped into the hall and looked directly at me.

He immediately frowned deeply and strode toward me.

I stared at him in confusion.

I’d heard he and Anise were close, so why did he look so irritated?

…And how exactly am I supposed to greet him?

Thankfully, before I could panic further, the Emperor spoke first in an annoyed tone.

“You know very well how busy I am, yet you summoned me all the way here. I need to return quickly, so let’s go inside first.”

With that, he brushed past me and headed toward the drawing room as though he already knew the mansion well enough not to need guidance.

I pressed a hand briefly against my pounding chest before following him.

The Emperor sat in a plush chair by the window, glanced at me, and jerked his chin toward the seat opposite him.

“Sit.”

Anyone watching would think he was the owner of this house.

Though I found it absurd, I didn’t show it and quietly sat across from him.

The moment I sat down, the Emperor sighed and ran a hand through his bangs.

“…So. I heard all your workers quit?”

Apparently Joshua had already informed him of the mansion’s internal state.

I nodded.

The Emperor then asked:

“I also heard about the assassins arrested yesterday. What exactly is going on, Count Miller?”

Count Miller?

Was that how someone addressed their fiancée?

Was it just formality because he was the Emperor?

I stared at him for a moment.

He genuinely looked as though he had no idea what had happened to me.

Was he pretending to be ignorant… or did he truly not know?

Noticing that I was carefully observing him instead of answering, the Emperor’s expression soured.

“What happened yesterday in the city?”

“I understand Smith is your financial manager, so why was his office in complete chaos? And who were those assassins arrested there?”

Is he playing dumb… or does he really not know?

“…As you’ve already heard, they were assassins who came all the way there to kill me.”

At my answer, the Emperor frowned as though he genuinely couldn’t understand.

“I heard from Officer Thomas that there have been many attempts on your life. Is that true?”

“It is.”

I answered immediately, but the Emperor still looked skeptical.

“If that’s true, then why didn’t you inform me sooner?”

“I no longer had the means to send letters. As you can see, everyone has quit.”

At my reply, the Emperor’s brow twitched.

“You used to storm into the Imperial Palace over the slightest thing and bother me constantly, so why didn’t you come in person?”

Hearing that gave me a strange feeling.

His tone implied that Anise visiting the palace often had once been completely normal.

“…Because of the repeated threats, it became difficult for me to leave the house.”

It wasn’t exactly a lie.

Until I had gone to Smith’s office yesterday, I really had been staying inside the mansion the whole time.

But something about my answer seemed to bother him.

For a long while, he silently stared me down.

Under that piercing gaze, I unconsciously swallowed hard.

Then the Emperor suddenly made an unexpected demand.

“All this talking has made me thirsty. Do you not even offer water to a guest who came all this way?”

I flinched.

Now that I thought about it, no one in the Empire would dare fail to serve the Emperor refreshments after he personally visited.

But then I remembered the poison found on the cups in the kitchen.

There was no way I could serve him water in one of those.

For a moment, I considered telling him about the poisoned cups—

But then I realized Lana might also be dragged into that incident.

So instead, I made an excuse.

“…There are currently no servants employed at the estate. Please forgive me.”

“Then your guard knight can simply go to the kitchen.”

Pointing his chin toward Davin standing behind me, the Emperor fixed me with those piercing blue eyes.

My heart dropped.

Send Davin to the kitchen?

That would leave me alone in a drawing room full of the Emperor and Imperial Knights.

And until I knew for certain whether the Emperor was allied with my enemies or not…

I absolutely did not want that.

“…Davin is unfamiliar with kitchen work. Since this water is for Your Majesty, I shall personally go.”

As I began to rise, the Emperor let out a faint smirk.

“Count… are you perhaps wary of me?”