IBMLS

Chapter 18

Seeing how furious I was, Davin answered firmly as well.

“What I said was only an explanation of the past. I did not mean that you should forgive His Majesty the Emperor. I also think you absolutely should not let what happened to you today slide.”

His strong sympathy eased my crumpled mood a little. He was just as angry at the Emperor as I was.

“Then what do you think I should do about the Emperor?”

“You should get as much support from His Majesty as possible. Things like having the enemies arrested, or receiving even stronger protection than before.”

“Hmm…”

What kind of help could I only get from the Emperor?

Maybe I should ask him to speed up my emigration…

The first thing that came to mind was moving abroad, but before that I would have to break off the engagement with the Emperor. I wasn’t sure he would make that easy.

I lightly scratched my cheek with my index finger. Then my eyes caught sight of Davin’s left sleeve, pierced by a blade. Through the torn sleeve, I could see his arm wrapped heavily in bandages.

Right, when my neck was injured, Davin’s arm was badly hurt too!

Once again, I had almost overlooked the fact that he had sacrificed himself for me. Feeling guilty, I asked him,

“Is your arm okay?”

When the assassin stabbed at my neck, I had felt Davin’s arm instantly move to shield me. Seeing blood seeping through his bandages made my eyes tremble. Noticing my worried expression, Davin smiled reassuringly and answered,

“I’m fine. It’s not a serious injury. The doctor said it should heal soon.”

“Really?”

Even though I had completely failed to notice all the care he had shown me until now, Davin apologized to me with genuine regret on his face.

“I’m sorry. Because of my lack of ability, I failed to properly protect you, Lady Anise.”

What nonsense was that? I was dumbfounded.

“No, there were too many enemies to begin with. I’m just grateful that you kept me alive. If it weren’t for you, I would’ve died right there.”

Even though I was defending him instead, Davin’s expression darkened as he looked at the large bandage on the back of my neck.

“I left them alone for too long before they got close. If I had gone out first and stopped them…”

But at the time, I had been confronting the Emperor. How could Davin have left my side?

More importantly, if Davin had secretly dealt with the assassins outside without the Emperor knowing, the Emperor probably would have concluded that everything really had been a scheme staged by me, since there would’ve been no evidence.

“Impossible things are impossible. How could you have left my side back then?”

Besides, there had also been imperial knights outside guarding the horses and carriage. If Davin had gone out and dealt with the assassins, they would have noticed him. Then they might have investigated why an ordinary knight serving a count’s family was hiding such overwhelming strength.

I remembered a line from the original novel:

“Knights at the level of Sword Master are specially monitored by the Empire.”

That was also why people in the original story constantly asked why Davin hid his abilities and worked merely as a noble’s guard knight.

I simply smiled at Davin.

“Well, you said neither of us was seriously hurt, right? Then that’s good enough.”

Still, Davin looked displeased for a moment. It seemed the mere fact that I had been hurt bothered him deeply.

But I really was okay. At the time, I truly felt like I was dying, but now, aside from the stinging pain where the blade had pierced me, I wasn’t too uncomfortable.

“Fine, fine! Since you won’t believe me anyway, think whatever you want!”

I had lashed out at Davin in anger, yet he had badly injured his arm trying to protect me. I sincerely felt sorry toward him.

“I’m sorry for saying such harsh things this morning.”

When I suddenly apologized, Davin looked startled.

“Huh? What do you mean…?”

“…I mean when I snapped and said I wouldn’t trust even you, right before His Majesty arrived.”

“Ah, that.”

Davin looked as though he hadn’t thought much of it at all. When I apologized, he chuckled softly.

“It’s fine. When you were upset in the past, Lady Anise, you sometimes acted like that too. I know you didn’t mean it.”

I flinched at those words. So the previous Anise had acted that way too…

“No, I don’t usually go around throwing tantrums like that… Anyway, I really do mean my apology…”

Feeling heat rise to my face, I mumbled awkwardly. Then I saw Davin smiling gently at me, and I let out a deep sigh.

After that, feeling somewhat more at ease, I listened to him talk about various things.

He told me that Lana had received treatment and was now resting in her room. He said imperial knights would continue guarding the mansion from now on, and since the enemy side had also suffered enormous losses this time, there likely wouldn’t be another assassin attack for a while.

He even mentioned that from now on, the Imperial Palace would prepare all my meals.

As I listened, my tension finally faded, and before I knew it, I drifted off to sleep.

And when I woke up, the Emperor came to see me again. Looking anxious, he spoke to me.

“I really have to go now. There’s too much work piled up.”

Yeah, please leave quickly.

I kept my mouth shut and wore an annoyed expression. Seeing my crooked look, the Emperor sighed.

“I’ve been thinking. In a situation where I’ve lost your trust like this, how could I make you believe in me again?”

No matter what he said, I had no intention of opening my heart to him, so I merely looked at him indifferently.

“Everyone except Sir Joshua and Sir Davin, leave for a moment.”

At the Emperor’s sudden order, the people from the Imperial Palace looked over in surprise before quickly filing out of my room like a receding tide.

“Sir Joshua, the ring.”

As the Emperor held out his palm, Joshua widened his eyes in shock, then quietly removed the ring from his left ring finger and placed it in the Emperor’s hand.

“Huh? No way…”

I suddenly remembered what the ring worn by the Emperor’s knight had been in the original novel, and I stiffened.

Then the Emperor removed the thin bracelet from his own left wrist and held it out to me together with the ring he had received from Joshua.

“I’ll give these to you, Anise.”

Caught completely off guard, I blinked in confusion.

In the original story, the artifacts the Emperor carried changed frequently, but among them was one artifact that ultimately caused Davin to suffer a fatal wound near the end of the novel.

It was a bracelet artifact that allowed the Emperor to instantly summon his guard knight to his side no matter how far away they were.

Davin, unaware of the existence of this artifact, had suddenly been ambushed by a Sword Master summoned right behind him, and that fatal injury eventually led to his death.

The knight’s ring and the Emperor’s bracelet were a set. If the jewel tassel attached to the bracelet was pulled, the person wearing the ring would teleport to the Emperor’s side.

As I stared wide-eyed at the artifact the Emperor offered me, he sighed deeply, apparently misunderstanding my reaction.

“So you know what this bracelet is. Did the Dowager Empress tell you about this too?”

“Ah…”

Flustered, I couldn’t answer, but the Emperor seemed to come to his own conclusion and placed the bracelet and ring into my hands.

“There are other artifacts that seem necessary for you as well. There’s one that blocks all attacks, but it used up all its defensive charges during yesterday’s battle… I’ll have it recharged at the Imperial Palace and sent to you. For now, keep these with you first.”

Even though I had no intention whatsoever of viewing the Emperor favorably, the artifacts he offered were far too precious, so I hurriedly accepted them.

Feeling the cool metallic weight of the artifacts in my palm made my heart pound wildly.

If this is in my hands, Davin might not die.

It was a completely unexpected stroke of fortune.