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Chapter : 16. She Didn’t Look Like a Sick Person
“Sir Leonard. What brings you here…?”
“I received a report that there was trouble at a nearby guard post. I heard that four knights—not even soldiers—had been taken down, so I rushed over… but I never imagined that Her Majesty the Empress would be here.”
As Leonard spoke calmly, his eyes suddenly sharpened.
“What kind of insolence did that man commit against Her Majesty the Empress?”
Leonard’s gaze, fixed on the red-haired man, flickered with chilling killing intent.
Yet the man receiving that cold stare looked utterly dumbfounded.
“Empress?”
He alternated his gaze between Leonard and me, then frowned.
“You… were you really the Empress?”
“Watch your tongue.”
Leonard drew his sword.
“For daring to be rude to Her Majesty the Empress, this will not end with your life alone.”
The blade in his hand gleamed coldly beneath the moonlight.
“The Empire’s sense of etiquette is truly unique,” the red-haired man chuckled.
“Everyone I meet pulls a sword first thing.”
“If we’re talking about etiquette, you too have committed a grave offense—one worthy of extermination of your entire clan, at that…”
Shing. Shrrrk.
The red-haired man drew the sword at his waist.
Two curved blades—one long, one short.
“It’s rare to encounter an opponent like you. I can’t just let this pass.”
The two men took their stances, glaring at each other.
The air grew so ominous it made my chest ache.
“Please step back for a moment, Your Majesty,” Leonard said.
“Yes. That would be best,” the red-haired man replied lightly.
“If you were to get hurt, it would really damage my pride.”
Neither of them looked willing to back down.
Rather, cold smiles spread across their lips.
It was a hair-trigger situation—one that could explode at any moment.
“Wait.”
I jumped between them.
“It’s dangerous.”
“Move aside, benefactor.”
Their low voices reached me, but I shook my head and spoke firmly.
“No. I can’t.”
The moment I stepped back, these two would clash without restraint.
That much was obvious.
And that was something I had to stop.
This wouldn’t end as simply as the earlier fight with the four knights.
“Why are you two suddenly trying to fight?”
“He is one who dared to insult Her Majesty the Empress.”
“I’ve found an excellent opponent. I’ll honor my promise to you after enjoying myself with him for a bit.”
“Sir Leonard, this person didn’t really insult me. There was just… a misunderstanding.
And you, sir—what promise did you supposedly make to me?”
“I said I’d make sure you left safely.”
“Don’t you see? There’s no one here who would threaten me. Because of you, I’ve only ended up causing needless misunderstandings.”
“A misunderstanding?”
“Anyway, let’s end it here for today. There’s an important banquet tomorrow, and I won’t tolerate fighting over pointless misunderstandings.
Sir Leonard, this man is an important guest. Please lower your sword.”
“……”
After a brief hesitation, Leonard lowered the tip of his blade.
The red-haired man clicked his tongue softly.
“Looks like testing your skill won’t be possible after all.”
After sheathing his swords, he looked at me with a curious gaze.
“Thanks to you, today was quite enjoyable. Let’s meet again sometime, benefactor.”
At his casual salute—one arm draped at his waist—I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.
Next time?
Next time?!
He’d practically forced a random passerby to guide him around…
What enjoyable time?
Please. Let’s never meet again.
I prayed silently.
The red-haired man waved and disappeared.
I was watching his retreating figure when—
“Your Majesty.”
Leonard called out to me from beside me.
His expression was still stiff.
“For what reason… were you here?”
“Well…”
A flower-loving wanderer barged into my bedroom, I escorted him out safely, and then I got caught by yet another lost guest and panicked.
There was no way I could honestly explain all that.
“I was just… feeling stifled, so I went for a short walk.”
“Without even a guard knight?”
His voice sounded… angry.
“…I didn’t want to trouble the maids. And I didn’t think anything would happen.”
Aside from the part about taking a walk, it wasn’t exactly a lie.
“More importantly, Sir Leonard—it seems you were looking for me. How did you know I was gone?”
“There were traces of an intruder in the Empress’s palace.”
“…!”
The flower lover.
He must have found his trail.
“The traces led to Your Majesty’s bedchamber. When we confirmed that you were not inside, I searched everywhere.”
Now that I thought about it, when Leonard first appeared, he’d been breathing heavily.
The thought that he had run all over the palace searching for me made me feel guilty.
Leonard looked at me silently.
“…I see.”
Ah. I shouldn’t have asked.
The atmosphere suddenly turned heavy.
“I—I think I should head back now. Thank you for today. Please return safely as well.”
I hurried to leave.
“…Please.”
No—I would have, if not for the voice behind me.
“Please don’t ever do something this reckless again.”
He whispered through clenched restraint.
“Unless you want to see someone completely lose their mind.”
* * *
Step. Step.
The red-haired man walked down the long corridor of the imperial palace.
“So this is where you were.”
A man appeared before him.
He was a young man with dark green hair and crimson eyes.
“Do you have any idea how long I’ve been looking for you? I only took my eyes off you for a moment—where on earth have you been?”
“Oh. Momo. You were here.”
“This is no time to be so casual. Have you forgotten that this isn’t some royal castle, but the Imperial Palace of the Empire? If you get caught up in unnecessary trouble, do you know how exhausting that makes things for me?”
“Ahh. Right. That’s true.”
“You forgot again. More importantly, where were you all this time?”
“Just… here and there?”
“You didn’t cause any trouble, did you?”
“Hm.”
“Do you know how anxious you make me when you go silent like that? What is it this time? What incident did you stir up now? Did you barge into the knight order and challenge them to a sword duel?”
“Something like that might’ve happened.”
“My goodness. Where? Let’s go resolve it immediately.”
“It’s fine. It wasn’t that serious. It didn’t even turn into a real fight.”
Momo covered his face with both hands.
“Ah… how did I end up serving someone like this…”
“That’s a serious act of disrespect toward royalty.”
“Please just have me executed. It’d be easier on my heart.”
“Dismissed. It’d be annoying without you.”
“I’m glad you’re aware of that. So—where did you cause trouble?”
“It’s fine. It seems like it’ll resolve itself.”
“That’s impossible.”
“I’m serious. I came to an agreement with someone of fairly high status.”
“A high-ranking person?”
“A rather taciturn benefactor. In any case, it’s not something you need to worry about, Momo.”
“You really came to an agreement?”
“They looked like they wanted to end things peacefully, so they’ll probably take care of it.”
“If you put it that way, I suppose I’ll take your word for it.”
“Good, good. Trust me.”
“Still, you’ve clearly had quite a bit to drink. What do you plan to do about tomorrow’s banquet after drinking like this?”
“A banquet? Forget it. Such a hassle. No need to bother.”
“Since you’re already here, wouldn’t it be good to at least show your face briefly? I hear Her Majesty the Empress will be attending.”
“The Empress?”
“Yes. Apparently, she’s been in very poor health and hasn’t attended a single official event since her coronation…”
“…She didn’t look like a sick person.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
“You say that, but it only makes me more uneasy.”
Momo narrowed his eyes.
“There isn’t something else—besides the knight issue—that I should know about, is there?”
“What do you take me for?”
“I’ve been fooled too many times for that to mean anything. If something happened, please just tell me honestly.”
“And if I do?”
Momo replied with a serious expression.
“Even if it leads to a war with the Empire, I won’t be surprised.”
“You’re serious?”
“If it’s Your Highness, even something worse wouldn’t be out of character. But still—you haven’t actually decided to go to war with the Empire, have you?”
“No. It’s just…”
The man shook his head and continued.
“There was something… very interesting.”
