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Chapter – 24
“Are you okay?”
Before even greeting her, Bayern looked at Lafine with a worried face. His voice was full of concern.
“How did you get here—”
Lafine’s thoughts were suddenly cut off by his appearance, and she looked a little flustered. This was the first time she had seen him since he suddenly disappeared from her room last time.
For a moment, she just stood there blankly, staring at him.
Then Bayern called her again.
“Lafine?”
“Oh—come in first.”
She let him inside and continued speaking.
“No, more importantly… last time you disappeared without saying anything. How did you come again today?”
“Ah…”
“They say you’re His Majesty’s aide, but aren’t you acting a bit too freely?”
Lafine smirked and teased him, and Bayern smiled awkwardly.
“Sorry for disappearing without a word last time.”
“Do you know how shocked I was back then?”
“Sorry… but more importantly, are you okay?”
Bayern carefully looked at her face again.
Lafine wondered if she really needed to talk about what had just happened, so she gave an awkward smile.
“What do you mean, okay? About what?”
“Ah.”
“Why? Did something happen?”
When Lafine pretended not to know, Bayern hesitated for a moment before speaking with difficulty.
“Well… actually, I was on my way back after seeing His Majesty, and… your younger sister. Elizabeth, right?”
At his words, Lafine’s face stiffened slightly. Bayern quickly added an explanation.
“It seems His Majesty found it a bit strange. So he ordered the imperial physician to examine her closely.”
“Ah.”
In that instant, Lafine lost her strength and collapsed into the chair beside her.
She had thought something was strange.
The way the imperial physician pointed out Elizabeth’s illness so directly.
But if the Emperor had already given a hint beforehand, it made sense.
“Are you okay?”
Seeing her sit there stiffly, Bayern hurried over in surprise.
“So you already knew.”
Instead of answering, Lafine waved her hand and looked up at him calmly. For some reason, the way he looked at her with so much worry felt strange.
“Yeah. I was worried. And His Majesty told me to check on you too.”
As Bayern spoke gently, Lafine strangely felt her heart calm down.
But separate from his care, she felt uneasy about troubling the Emperor.
She wondered if she was being a burden.
Especially since she had already asked for help to break off her engagement—she felt like she was only piling up more debt.
“I feel complicated… It seems like His Majesty is taking too much care of me.”
“What are you talking about! A person with special abilities is like a valuable asset to the nation. Don’t feel burdened by His Majesty’s help.”
Bayern even used exaggerated gestures to reassure her.
Still uneasy, Lafine shrugged.
“But His Majesty dislikes this kind of thing, doesn’t he? It involves many people, it’s noisy and troublesome… Now that I think about it, I feel really sorry.”
“No. His Majesty isn’t like that.”
Bayern replied as if he were chanting a spell.
“But I heard His personality is very sharp.”
“His Majesty is not a bad person.”
“No, when did I ever say he was bad? Why are you jumping to conclusions?”
Lafine laughed in disbelief.
Like a spokesperson for the Emperor, Bayern refuted everything she said one by one.
“His Majesty is kind and gentle. And he can’t stand injustice. Look—he helped you too.”
“Well… that’s true.”
For some reason, Lafine felt that the Emperor people talked about and the Emperor Bayern knew were very different.
But she thought it made sense since Bayern was close to him, and she smiled.
“It seems like His Majesty treats you really well?”
“He’ll treat you well too.”
“Really?”
Bayern laughed awkwardly, and something about it felt a little strange. But Lafine realized this was not the time for idle talk.
Her expression suddenly hardened as she returned to the earlier topic.
“So… you’re saying His Majesty first thought Elizabeth’s condition was strange?”
“Yeah. And he was right, wasn’t he?”
“……”
Lafine couldn’t answer. She only nodded slightly and lowered her gaze.
“So I came because I was worried. To see if you were okay.”
“Thank you for that.”
Her voice had no strength.
Seeing that, Bayern’s expression also darkened.
“It feels more certain now.”
Lafine, who had been silent, suddenly raised her head.
Their eyes met.
Bayern, who had been quietly looking at her, smiled the moment their eyes met.
It was such a natural reaction that Lafine was a bit flustered.
“What? Why are you smiling like that?”
“Did I smile?”
“Yes. This isn’t a situation to smile.”
Embarrassed, Lafine spoke without thinking.
“Sorry. I guess I smiled without realizing when I saw you.”
“You… how can you say things like that so easily…”
His words made her even more flustered. Maybe because she was caught off guard, she felt her face heating up.
‘Why does he have to be so handsome for no reason!’
She swallowed her thoughts and cleared her throat.
“Then make a serious face again. Tell me what you were about to say.”
Bayern suddenly stiffened his face exaggeratedly and looked at her.
He looked like a boy, and she almost laughed, but barely held it in.
“Anyway… I was thinking I should leave the Marquis’s house. And do it quickly—”
“Oh! Actually, His Majesty mentioned that too.”
Bayern clapped his hands and interrupted her.
“His Majesty again?”
Lafine found it strange how he kept bringing up the Emperor, but she was curious.
“After hearing about Elizabeth, it seems he thought it would be difficult for you to stay in the Marquis’s house.”
Lafine nodded in agreement. At the same time, she still felt a strange gap between the Emperor’s public image and the considerate, gentle figure Bayern described.
But that was natural.
Bayern believed that one day she would learn he was the Emperor. So he was working hard to plant a good image of the Emperor in her mind.
Although she seemed suspicious, he decided to keep denying it.
Lafine just listened quietly despite her doubts.
“He said he could help you officially leave the Marquis’s house… and in return, he would ask for something.”
“A request?”
Lafine’s eyes widened.
“Yeah. A request.”
Remembering how she didn’t like feeling indebted, Bayern deliberately emphasized the word.
He knew better than anyone that Lafine hated owing others.
“And he said it’s something only someone with special abilities can do. That there’s no one but you who can help him.”
At those words, Lafine became interested.
If the Emperor could give her a reason to leave the Marquis’s house, it would be perfect.
And if she could help using her abilities, it wouldn’t feel like a burden.
Just as Bayern expected.
“What is it?”
As Lafine’s eyes lit up, Bayern smiled and began to speak.
“Well, you see—”
She didn’t know that this was Bayern’s clever plan.
To take her out of the Marquis’s house and send her somewhere safe, where he could continue to watch over her.
Lafine had no idea that all of this had been arranged by Bayern beforehand.
But at the same time, his words were not lies.
It was true that only Lafine could help.
Bayern carefully continued.
“Do you know the territory of Schlean?”
