Episode 61

Episode 61: My People Aren’t Just Inside the Palace?

After returning to my room, I sat down in a chair.

Silence settled in after all the commotion.

But the words I’d heard just moments before wouldn’t leave my ears.

—It seems Sir Leonard has been seeing a certain lady lately.

Leonard… seeing a woman?

I couldn’t even imagine it.

Wasn’t Leonard the very definition of someone uninterested in women?

—They say it didn’t look like an ordinary meeting.

—Did you hear what Lady Erbel saw? She said she happened to spot Sir Leonard at the lakeside with a young lady…

—And you haven’t even heard Lady Karin’s story yet? Last time in the shopping district, Sir Leonard was seen…

I was sure they’d said even more outrageous things after that.

But I was so shocked I hadn’t been able to focus on their words.

“Sir Leonard would never do that!”

One of my ladies-in-waiting burst out indignantly beside me.

“Honestly, how could Sir Leonard do such a thing?”

“Exactly. To be with another woman while serving Her Majesty? If it’s true, it’s clearly betrayal.”

“Sir Leonard having an affair… oh, I’m so disappointed. Truly disappointed.”

Their vehement reactions made me grimace awkwardly.

I mean…

Was it really betrayal?

Leonard and I weren’t anything.

Strictly speaking, it was the relationship between the Empress and her escort knight.

Nothing more than that.

“Affair” was completely the wrong word.

Still, to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t exactly in a good mood either.

He was the one going on about wanting to be my lover…

Of course, I’d never actually intended to take him as one.

Not even for a moment.

And yet…

Why did I feel so let down?

It was ridiculous.

This is all his fault.

Saying such absurd things about being my lover; he’d planted weird ideas in my head, and that was the only reason I felt this way.

I was sinking deeper into thought when—

Knock knock.

A knock sounded at the door.

“Your Majesty. It’s Mary.”

When she entered moments later, she was out of breath as if she’d just run a great distance.

“What is it? Did something urgent happen?”

“I went to the Knights.”

“The Knights?”

“I couldn’t just sit still after hearing the rumors about Sir Leonard. So I went directly to the Knights and asked if he was there.”

In that short time?

Her initiative was honestly astounding.

It felt like my ladies-in-waiting were more worked up over Leonard than I was.

Countess Chloe spoke up.

“Was Sir Leonard there?”

Mary shook her head sadly.

“He wasn’t. They told me he’s been absent from the Knights except for essential meetings, saying something urgent came up at his family estate.”

“Good heavens!”

“Unbelievable.”

“But he told Your Majesty he was busy with Knight work…”

The ladies let out heavy sighs.

Honestly.

I didn’t care who he was meeting.

“This won’t do, Your Majesty.”

Countess Chloe’s voice was suddenly firm, her expression steely.

She was normally so calm; seeing her so resolved caught me off guard.

“What do you mean, ‘this won’t do’?”

“This is no time to sit idly by.”

“…Pardon?”

Sit idly by?

“We must catch him in the act—no, we have to confirm the truth behind these rumors.”

Catch him in the act?

“Wait, I keep telling you—there’s nothing between me and Sir Leonard!”

But my words no longer seemed to register with them.

Their faces were set with determination.

They exchanged meaningful looks, as if the investigation plan was already decided, and began assigning roles in rapid succession.

“I’ll head straight out to the shopping district and check the shops there. If Sir Leonard really met anyone, someone will know about it.”

“We have someone in his family estate, the Hilbert Marquessate. I’ll send a message and get word on any movements.”

“I’ll reach out to the attendants of the noblewomen who were at the tea party earlier. We need to check the social circles and gossip.”

Under Countess Chloe’s command, the ladies-in-waiting sprang into action with military precision.

Hold on. This really isn’t something to get this worked up about.

Wait a second. Did she say we have someone in Leonard’s family estate?

That was news to me.

The surprises just kept coming.

“There was someone in the Knights who knew Sir Leonard well, wasn’t there?”

“That would be Sir Conrad. I remember he was quite friendly.”

“Excellent. Please see if you can get more information from him. Lady Stephan, could I ask you?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll squeeze out every last detail!”

“Lady Carol. Your family deals in clothing, doesn’t it? We’ll need disguises. Nothing too flashy, but enough to avoid suspicion.”

“Leave it to me!”

What even was this situation?

Amid the chaos, the ladies-in-waiting moved smartly to their assigned roles.

Their eyes practically blazed with a strange, martial determination.

It felt less like a palace staff meeting and more like they were forming a search party to raid a cheating lover.

No, seriously…

I don’t plan on going anywhere.

In the end, I came out.

Ah, rather I was dragged out by the ladies-in-waiting.

Wearing a wig on my head and a thick robe wrapped around me.

Countess Chloe and Mary were by my side.

Following their lead, we arrived at a bustling shopping district lined with stores selling expensive clothes and jewelry.

“So Leonard is supposed to come here?”

“Yes. We got word from the Hilbert Marquessate, so it must be true.”

The ladies’ intelligence network far exceeded what I had imagined.

In such a short time, they had pinpointed Leonard’s whereabouts precisely.

Though I’d been pushed out by the ladies, it still felt surreal.

That Leonard wasn’t with the Knights.

That he hadn’t told me the truth.

And yet, it all seemed understandable.

After all, was he even obligated to tell me the truth?

“Look! There! There he is!”

Mary exclaimed excitedly.

I followed the direction of her finger and saw familiar black hair.

A man whose appearance caught the eye even from a distance.

Leonard.

He wasn’t alone.

Beside him stood a woman.

Even from afar, she was strikingly beautiful.

Leonard was escorting her.

What could be so delightful?

A gentle smile lingered on Leonard’s face as he treated her.

Countess Chloe, who was watching me closely, asked,

“Your Majesty, what shall we do?”

“Let’s go.”

The moment I saw him, my feet moved before my mind could catch up.

So, we began to tail Leonard.

“My goodness, this is the restaurant you have to book two months in advance just to get in!”

Mary stood in front of the massive building, her mouth agape in astonishment.

The restaurant named Max’s Kitchen was clearly a high-end establishment at first glance.

According to Mary’s explanation, it was run by a famous chef.

Fresh ingredients were delivered every morning, and the dishes were said to be so rare and exquisite that a single bite would leave an unforgettable taste.

Anyway, it was one of the most renowned restaurants in the capital.

The problem was that Leonard and the beautiful woman had just entered this very place.

“Sir Leonard… could it be…?”

“This is really suspicious.”

Mary and Countess Chloe’s expressions turned serious.

Their steps toward the main entrance showed no hesitation.

But they were soon stopped by a guard standing at the door.

“Sorry, but entry is restricted to guests with prior reservations.”

Taken aback by the unexpected rejection, Countess Chloe furrowed her brows and spoke sharply.

“Do you know who we are?”

Mary, standing beside her, boldly added,

“We’re escorting someone important, so please don’t be rude and kindly step aside.”

“Important, you say?”

“Of course, our H—”

“Ahem, hem.”

“O-our Rena, Your Majesty.”

At my dry cough, Mary quickly corrected herself from saying “Empress Helena” to “Lena.”

‘Lena’ was the name used to refer to me.

Because I couldn’t be called Empress in public, this was a temporary title I had settled on.

Naturally, the guard had no idea who Lena was.

“I’m sorry. This is the restaurant’s policy. We ask for your understanding.”

“You’re making a huge mistake!”

Mary raised her voice again, but the guard remained firm.

“If you continue causing a disturbance, I will have to call for help.”

It was only natural.

From the guard’s perspective, these unknown people were causing a fuss out of nowhere.

Granting their demands would be the strange thing to do.

“Let’s stop and go back.”

I didn’t want to cause any more trouble.

Although I was a little curious about the rumors surrounding Leonard, I had no intention of following him any further by causing a scene.

Just as I was calming the excited Mary and preparing to leave,

“Ah! So you’re here.”

A man dressed as a chef appeared from inside the restaurant.

There was something familiar about him.

“This is the same chef who brought food to my room before…”

Right, I remembered.

He was the one who had secretly handed me a strange vial of medicine, saying it was difficult to obtain.

“Why are you here?”

“Haha, didn’t you know? This place is run by my son.”

It turned out that the famous chef operating this restaurant was the son of this very man.

In fact, the restaurant was named after him.

“I was preparing everything in a hurry, so I’m sorry for being late to come out and greet you.”

“Do you know them?”

The guard looked flustered.

“They’re my guests. I hope no offense has been done to them.”

“Not at all.”

The chef, Max, bowed politely to the guard.

“It’s an honor to serve you. Please allow me to show you to the private room.”

I looked at Countess Chloe with a puzzled expression.

She smiled gently and said,

“He’s also one of our people. I happened to remember he was here, so I called him.”

No, wait…

So that means…

My people weren’t only in the palace?