Episode 87

Chapter 87. Found you!

“Is that really true?”

Jerome’s secretary, Marquis Niklad, asked in astonishment.

“The one targeting Her Majesty… is none other than the Duke of Hastings?”

“Yes.”

Jerome nodded.

“And who uncovered this information?”

“Sir Leonard.”

“Ah…”

Marquis Niklad fell silent. If the information had come from Leonard, then it had to be true.

Jerome recalled the conversation he’d had with Leonard.

― So, what is it you’re here to report?

― …

― Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter if you have nothing to report. I figured this was just an excuse to get her out of here anyway.

Suddenly, Leonard had claimed he had something urgent to report. At first, Jerome had assumed it was just a flimsy pretext to get Helena away from the scene.

But the answer he received was far more shocking than expected.

― I found the one who targeted Her Majesty.

― …What? Who is it?

― If I tell you, what will Your Majesty give me in return?

He was, indeed, a shrewd negotiator.

In exchange for the information, Leonard demanded that the punishment of his subordinates be lifted and Cedric’s dismissal be overturned.

Marquis Niklad asked cautiously,

“Do you think Sir Leonard will actually… kill him?”

Jerome gave a faint chuckle. He’d asked Leonard a similar question himself.

― So, are you planning to kill him?

― Am I obligated to answer that?

― Probably not. My reputation’s already in ruins, so no one would care either way.

― …

― But your case is different, isn’t it?

At the time, Jerome had been confident that Leonard wouldn’t go through with it…

But now, he wasn’t so sure.

Leonard was always full of surprises.

And this wasn’t simply a matter of killing one duke. It ran deeper than that.

There’s definitely someone else behind this.

Leonard seemed to be aware of that much already.

Leaning back in his chair, Jerome spoke calmly.

“We’ll just have to wait and see. What choice he makes.”

Leonard had returned to his quarters and was unpacking his things.

Though it had once been a familiar room, it felt strangely unfamiliar after so long.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

At his permission, the door opened smoothly.

“This is unexpected. I didn’t think you’d be the one visiting my room, Sir Cedric.”

“I’m not here because I like you. Her Majesty told me to check on you, that’s all.”

Cedric grumbled as he stepped inside.

“I heard you got hurt? Let me see.”

“……”

“Come on, give me your hand. I already heard everything.”

Leonard reluctantly held out his hand.

Cedric frowned at the sight.

“You just left it like this?”

“I tend to heal quickly.”

“Seriously? What are you, a god? Wounds don’t just disappear like that.”

Tsk. Cedric clicked his tongue.

Still, Leonard hadn’t been wrong—his wound had already calmed down significantly in that short time.

Cedric examined the injury with a dissatisfied look, then took Leonard’s hand.

“Would you relax your expression? I don’t exactly enjoy touching your hand either.”

“This is just how my face looks.”

“Yeah, right. Sounds like a load of crap.”

Letting out a dry laugh, Cedric channeled his magic.

Leonard’s hand glowed with a mysterious green light.

A refreshing energy spread not only through his hand but throughout his entire body.

Thankfully, it hadn’t been a life-threatening wound—nothing Cedric’s powers couldn’t handle.

“Even if it looks like it’s healed, be careful for the next few days. I’m sure I don’t need to say that.”

Leonard nodded.

“Thank you.”

“How’d you even get hurt like this? Doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that’d happen to someone like you.”

“Did Her Majesty ask you to find out?”

“…How did you know?”

Leonard didn’t answer. He just smiled.

Lowering his gaze, he looked at his now-healed hand.

Just as Cedric suspected, the injury hadn’t come from someone else.

It had come from Leonard himself.

The snake-like voice of the Duke of Hastings echoed in his ears.

― Yes. You can’t harm me, Sir. Because…

― You’ve fallen for my daughter.

― What kind of daughter could love the man who killed her father?

That day, Leonard hadn’t been able to draw his sword.

Clang—!

Instead, he’d shattered a nearby flowerpot with his own hand.

― Take this as your warning, Duke. If you ever pull a stunt like this again—

― ……

― I’ll kill you myself without a second thought.

Leonard clenched his fist tightly.

After much deliberation, he had made his decision.

Whoever threatened her from now on—he would kill them without hesitation.

Even if it meant she might grow afraid of him… or hate him.

Her safety came first.

“What’s with that face all of a sudden? You look like you’re about to kill someone.”

Cedric tilted his head.

“Don’t tell me the wound still hurts? That can’t be.”

“No. I was just admiring your skill, Sir Cedric.”

Admiring, with that terrifying expression?

It made no sense, but Cedric let it slide.

“Still, this was your fault.”

“……”

“She might not have said anything, but I’m sure she was worried. She’s a deeply caring person, after all.”

“I know.”

“Then go and apologize properly.”

“I will.”

“Also… I heard you stopped me from being fired.”

Cedric hesitated, then continued. Honestly, that was one of the main reasons he’d come.

“Thank you. I owe you one, even if I didn’t mean to.”

“Well, I didn’t do it out of pure goodwill.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s just say I had my reasons.”

Leonard gave a faint chuckle.

The truth was, Leonard didn’t care whether Cedric was dismissed or not.

In fact, if he had to choose, he would’ve preferred the man disappear.

But he hadn’t made that choice for one simple reason.

Because she…

Helena would have been sad.

“More importantly, what brought you back here?”

“Sounds like you didn’t want me back.”

Leonard raised an eyebrow at Cedric’s question.

“I just thought maybe you’d gone off on a romantic—uh, I mean, a meaningful trip with someone special.”

Cedric caught himself, rephrasing just in time.

“Someone special?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know.”

Cedric waved off the need for secrecy.

“Didn’t I see you out on a date with some woman before? You were even picking out jewelry together.”

“Ah.”

Leonard chuckled, finally understanding what Cedric meant.

The day Helena had secretly followed him—he had been with someone else then.

“Looks like you misunderstood. That was my aunt.”

“…Your aunt?!”

Cedric looked horrified.

“Don’t lie!”

“I’m serious.”

“So then, all this time I’ve been…!”

What the hell have I been imagining?

Cedric’s face turned pale.

And so, at long last, the melodramatic soap opera that had been playing out in Cedric’s mind came to a close.

Two months passed swiftly.

“The weather’s gotten quite cool.”

Autumn had arrived before I realized it. The once lush green leaves were now gradually turning red. It had already been over half a year since I possessed this body in this world.

It really does feel like I’ve lived here my whole life now.

Sometimes, I even forgot that this was a fictional world from a novel.

Humans really are creatures of adaptation.

Anyway, these days I was pouring my energy into preparations for the highlight of the autumn festivities: the hunting festival. With an extravagant pre-festival banquet as well, there were far too many things to take care of.

Honestly, I hadn’t intended to work this hard.

In the past, I’d even entertained the idea of slacking off so much that Jerome would grow tired of me.

But—

It turns out things don’t just conveniently fall apart if I let go of them…

The people around me were simply too capable, and that was the problem. If I didn’t do the work, it was very possible my ladies-in-waiting—or someone else entirely—would step in and take over my duties.

That had already happened quite visibly during the last Foundation Day festival, and the same thing kept occurring at smaller events ever since. Even if I told them it wasn’t necessary, no one listened.

So in the end, I tearfully accepted my fate and threw myself into fulfilling the Empress’s responsibilities.

“Alright, then let’s revise the budget proposal like this. Ah, right—have the invitations all been sent out?”

Since we needed to invite key foreign dignitaries as well, the invitations had to be sent in advance.

At my question, Countess Chloe nodded.

“Yes, we sent them all out last week. They should be arriving one by one right about now.”

At that very moment—
In the Kingdom of Calus.

A deep sigh echoed through a large training ground.

“Ahh… I’m so bored.”

“After putting all those soldiers through the wringer, Your Highness is still bored?”

Moritz, Karssen’s secretary, glanced around as he spoke.

Soldiers were sprawled across the grounds like laundry hung out to dry—poor souls who had been tormented by Karssen since morning.

“It’s not like I did it for my own amusement. I was helping them improve their skills, obviously.”

“Yes, I’m sure that’s exactly what it was.”

Moritz shrugged, exasperated.

“Isn’t there anywhere we can go to have some fun? Feels like I’ve done nothing but work lately.”

It was a casual question, but Moritz’s eyes sharpened.

“Don’t tell me… If you had to name somewhere fun, it wouldn’t happen to be the Empire of Pentrian, would it?”

“As expected of my secretary. Sharp as ever.”

“I am pretty sharp—wait, no. Are you out of your mind?”

“Tsk. That sharp tongue again.”

“Do you see me in a state to be speaking gently, Your Highness? Please. What exactly do you think a secretary’s job is?”

I’m not your romance counselor, you know? Moritz silently despaired.

Karssen, naturally, responded without a hint of guilt.

“To worry with me when I have worries, and to offer advice on how to solve them. Isn’t that what a secretary is for?”

“……”

Framed like that, Moritz couldn’t argue.

“Well, there is one possible option…”

Reluctantly, Moritz pulled a single sheet of paper from a stack of documents.

“Really? If you had something like that, you should’ve said so sooner.”

Come on, hand it over.

Karssen grinned and reached out.

But the paper never made it into his hand—Moritz pulled it back at the last second.

“Ha… I honestly don’t know if I should be giving this to you.”

Moritz hesitated for real this time.
What’s truly in my superior’s best interest…?

“No, I can’t do it. Let’s pretend this never happened.”

“Too late. I already saw it.”

“No, Your Highness didn’t see a thing. It was a hallucination.”

“Give it, Momo.”

“I’ve told you—it’s Moritz.”

“Tsk, Momo worries too much.”

Karssen swiftly snatched the paper from Moritz’s hand.

“…!”

A glint of amusement sparked in his pale gray eyes as he scanned its contents.

Found it. Something fun.