IBMLS 10

Chapter 10

From outside came the sound of carriage wheels rolling and the murmur of people talking. Just as Dayvin had said, it seemed the Emperor had arrived.

“Alright, let’s go greet him.”

I pulled my hand free from his grasp and turned away, but Dayvin called out to me urgently.

“Lady Anise, please promise me something.”

When I looked back at him, Dayvin spoke with undisguised anxiety.

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

Hearing him refer to Rana as “just anyone” again made anger surge inside me, and I snapped back.

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

At my aggressive question, Dayvin’s eyes widened. He stared at me in momentary bewilderment. I could see his eyes trembling, but still upset, I stubbornly glared back at him.

After a moment, Dayvin slowly nodded.

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

The moment I heard that, real anger flared up and I shouted at him.

“Fine! Then I won’t trust you anymore either!”

I spun around and stormed out of the office.

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

How could Dayvin say that? How could he be so cold to Rana?

Thinking about Rana made my chest ache. As a fan of the original story, I simply couldn’t accept this situation.

Then again, this was how it had been in the original too. Dayvin would always save Rana at critical moments, but most of the time he seemed obsessed only with revenge and strangely cold toward her. There had even been many readers who refused to accept Dayvin as the male lead because of it.

A tsundere male lead might be charming in writing, but seeing it happen in real life was awful.

For some reason, I felt wronged enough to cry.

The moment I possessed this body, my life had been threatened. The only reason I’d 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 he was telling me not to trust Rana—or even Dayvin himself? I couldn’t do that. I wasn’t strong enough to survive this situation alone without trusting anyone.

As I reached the large staircase leading from the second floor down to the first-floor hall, I saw a knight standing below in a uniform embroidered with the imperial crest. Since no one had come to greet him, he looked around awkwardly, but when our eyes met, he greeted me brightly.

“Ah, Count Miller. Good day.”

I quickly composed the expression that had been red with emotion moments ago and smiled at the man.

But who was he?

Behind me, Dayvin whispered quietly.

“Joshua Loretta. The second son of the Count Loretta family and vice commander of the Imperial Knights. I’ve met him several times because he serves as His Majesty’s guard.”

I see.

I walked toward Joshua with a smile.

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

“Yes, he’s outside. However…”

He looked understandably bewildered since in this enormous mansion, the only people visible were me and Dayvin.

I answered him.

“Ah, all the servants quit… Would you escort His Majesty to the first-floor drawing room?”

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

Joshua immediately went back outside. I could hear horses moving and knights talking among themselves. From what I could make out, they were discussing what to do with the horses since there was no stablemaster.

Come to think of it, there really wasn’t anyone left to tend the horses.

…Well, they’ll figure it out somehow.

The thought of meeting the Emperor soon made me tense. I clasped my hands tightly together.

Was the Emperor allied with the enemies trying to kill Anise—or not?

Soon, a group of knights in Imperial Knight uniforms entered the hall. Once they lined up neatly inside, the Emperor finally appeared.

The moment I saw the man dressed in extravagantly luxurious clothing, I instantly knew he was the Emperor.

Black hair. Blue eyes. A face so pale it almost looked bloodless.

His appearance perfectly matched the original novel’s description.

Adrian Logrant, the final boss of the story.

The Emperor stepped into the hall and immediately fixed his gaze on me. He frowned deeply and strode toward me. Startled by the grim expression on the face of someone supposedly close to Anise, I froze.

…What am I even supposed to say to him?

Fortunately, while I panicked inwardly, the Emperor spoke first in an irritated tone.

“You called me all the way here despite knowing how busy I am. I need to return quickly, so let’s go inside first.”

With that, the Emperor walked past me toward the drawing room. Judging by how naturally he moved, it seemed he had visited this mansion many times before and needed no guide.

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

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

“Sit.”

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

Though I found it a little absurd, I hid my feelings and sat across from him. The moment I sat down, the Emperor sighed and swept his bangs back.

“So. I heard all the servants quit?”

Apparently Joshua had already briefed him on the mansion’s situation. I nodded, and the Emperor asked:

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

Count Miller?

Did engaged couples really address each other like that? Or was he simply being formal because he was the Emperor?

I stared at him quietly for a moment.

The Emperor looked completely unaware of everything that had happened to me. I couldn’t tell whether he was allied with my enemies or genuinely ignorant of the situation.

Perhaps noticing how closely I was scrutinizing him instead of answering, the Emperor frowned unpleasantly and pressed further.

“And what happened in the city yesterday? I understand Smith is your financial manager, so why was his office in ruins, and who were the assassins arrested there?”

Was he pretending not to know, or did he truly have no idea?

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

The Emperor frowned as though he couldn’t understand and asked again.

“I heard from an officer named Thomas that you claimed many people have been targeting your life. Is that true?”

“It is.”

I answered immediately, but the Emperor still looked unconvinced.

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

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

At my answer, the Emperor’s brow twitched.

“You used to storm into the Imperial Palace whenever you pleased and bother me endlessly, so why didn’t you simply come tell me in person?”

His words gave me a strange feeling.

The way he said it made it sound perfectly normal—and frequent—for Anise to visit the palace.

“…After receiving so many threats, it became difficult to leave the mansion.”

That wasn’t exactly a lie. Until yesterday, when I went into town to visit Mr. Smith’s office, I really had stayed inside the estate the entire time.

Still, something seemed to bother the Emperor, because he stared at me silently for a long while.

Under that gaze, I unconsciously swallowed nervously.

Then the Emperor suddenly made an unexpected request.

“Talking this much has made me thirsty. Don’t you 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 receive the Emperor without serving him something. But then I remembered the poison found on the cups in the kitchen. I couldn’t possibly serve the Emperor water in one of those cups.

For a moment, I considered telling him about the poisoned cups. But then I realized Rana, who had been caught up in that incident, might not come out unharmed either.

So instead, I made an excuse.

“…There are no servants employed at the estate right now. Please understand.”

“In that case, your guard knight can simply fetch some from the kitchen.”

Pointing his chin toward Dayvin, who stood behind me, the Emperor stared straight at me with his vivid blue eyes.

My heart dropped.

He wanted Dayvin to go to the kitchen?

That would leave me alone in the drawing room, surrounded by the Emperor and the Imperial Knights. And since I still didn’t know whether the Emperor was allied with my enemies, I didn’t want that.

“…Dayvin doesn’t know his way around a kitchen. Since it’s water for Your Majesty, I’ll go myself.”

As I started to rise from my seat, the Emperor let out a faint laugh and said:

“Count, are you perhaps wary of me?”