35. The Emperor’s Most Powerful Sword (2)
When I came to my senses again, I was alone with the Emperor.
No, fortunately, it seems to have already ended. The emperor put down his empty teacup and stood up.
I don’t dare sit while the emperor is getting up. As I pushed the chair forward and stood up, he stood for a moment and looked at me.
“There must have been a lot of things to worry about over there, so why not participate in the banquet to relieve stress? Of course, I don’t intend to force you, so you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”
I don’t know what it is, but fortunately, it seems like the crisis has been passed.
Otherwise, there would be no way for him to live like this and stand alone with the emperor.
He even made such a considerate offer! I said I had no intention of forcing it, but I had no choice as I didn’t know how the matter was resolved and whether any lingering resentment was resolved or whether everything was resolved.
“no. “I will participate.”
Originally, the superiors’ ‘You don’t have to do it if you don’t like it’ meant ‘You must do it even if you don’t like it.’ If I refused without notice here, it would be obvious what would happen to my life.
As expected, he raised the corner of his mouth as if he had made the right choice, as if the emperor could not see it.
He looked me up and down and spoke with a faint smile in his voice.
“In that way?”
“…ah.”
“I can’t help it. I’ll prepare clothes for you, so you can wash them and participate in the banquet. “I will tell the head maid.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
He roughly nods at my thanks and turns away as if he has nothing more to do.
Then, before he could take a few steps, he turned around again as if he remembered something.
“Are those clothes important?”
“…yes?”
Oh, it’s extremely rude to question the emperor’s words.
I quickly closed my mouth and lowered my head.
Fortunately, a voice with a steady tone, as if it wasn’t unpleasant, kindly followed suit to explain.
“Are these clothes worth throwing away?”
“Ah…”
Well, I don’t know anything about clothes, so…
I don’t even know how much it costs, so it’s pointless to talk about it carelessly.
So instead, I thought of the maids who worked hard to choose clothes for me before coming here.
In addition to the images of them holding on to their clothes while having a heated discussion, they also looked like they were concentrating on decorating with bloodshot eyes.
That topic was ruined before we even arrived at the banquet hall.
‘Maybe they’ll resent it?’
Even if you don’t resent it, you’ll probably be quite disappointed.
So at least it would be better not to throw away your clothes. Of course, looking at the way it is now, it seems impossible to get rid of it without throwing it away…
Still, the only thing the emperor asked was ‘Are the clothes worth throwing away?’ So I hesitated for a moment and then slowly opened my mouth.
“I think it would be a bit of a waste to throw it away.”
“It’s ambiguous. Anyway, I understand.”
“yes.”
…But you understood for a moment? what?
The emperor turns around without regret and leaves the drawing room. Suddenly left alone, I sat back down on the chair in front of the table to gather my thoughts.
But no time was given to think.
“Nice to meet you, Count.”
Because the maids swarmed into the parlor.
The momentum is almost like that of a well-trained corps.
As I looked at them with a shocked and questioning expression, a maid took a step forward.
“My name is Bella, the head maid. “I heard you are participating in the banquet.”
“Yes, it is.”
The eyes looking at me are scary. Perhaps because of my mood, their gazes on the chair I was sitting on seemed cold for a moment.
I wonder what he might do to me, but…
“First… I think I should take a bath first. “Please come here.”
“yes.”
scared…!
His words are polite, but his actions are firm. Among the maids who surrounded me, I had no choice but to walk sloppily, matching their pace.
And the series of events that followed were so great that the previous occupants of the count’s residence looked cute.
As soon as I arrived at the bathhouse, I was stripped of my clothes by the waiting attendants and forcibly washed… before a doctor came running.
It left scars all over my body. All kinds of wounds that I don’t even know about, such as bruises and scabs.
Even upon examination, it was discovered that he had suffered internal injuries.
“What is urgent is internal injuries. “This is almost like crashing into a carriage. Did you fall off a cliff somewhere?”
I definitely didn’t fall off the cliff, and there was no collision with a carriage…
I definitely don’t remember it, but it feels uncomfortable.
what. Did I throw myself into the carriage? Or did someone throw me into the carriage?
Anyway, the people here who were in a hurry every minute didn’t even give me time to think and started washing me again as soon as the treatment was over.
He was in such a hurry that he didn’t even give me a chance to warm up, saying I didn’t have time.
I immediately poured water on it to wash off the blood and rubbed it all over my body…
‘It was an experience I would never want to go through twice…’
The next time the emperor asked again, it would be silent pressure and I would immediately refuse. I will!
With that promise, I was half-fazed and dragged by their hands into a room.
What I saw there were none other than my clothes, which I had decided would definitely be thrown away.
The moment I saw it neatly folded and neatly laid out, I couldn’t help but be taken aback.
‘Nonsense. how?’
It was obviously covered in blood. So much so that there is no other way than to throw it away.
Even if you somehow manage to wash it cleanly, it will take time to dry.
‘Magic? Is it magic? It’s not. Humans can’t use magic… so what about witchcraft?’
Was it possible to dry clothes quickly through witchcraft?
Witchcraft is the exclusive property of humans, created to counter the magic of demons.
If magic breaks the rules of the world, witchcraft is about paying a price and slightly twisting the rules of the world to use it to your advantage.
I tilted my head inwardly because little was known about witchcraft as witchdoctors were rare.
The maids, not knowing how fast I was, just handed me clothes and pushed my back to tell me to quickly put them on and come out…
‘…Okay, whatever. ‘My clothes are much better than the clothes the emperor gives me.’
It’s not burdensome either.
At this time, I didn’t know. While I was washing, designers from all the clothing stores in the capital were brought to the imperial palace with their students.
And when they left, they all trudged out with blank faces, as if they had stayed up all night for a week.
At this time, I also did not hear the aside that someone screamed when they saw all the hundred or so people hurriedly leaving the imperial palace with blank faces.
[It’s 30 minutes. Make it exactly like this within 30 minutes.]
[Did you say it was impossible? Is it really impossible when there are so many people?]
If it can’t be done, make it happen.
I had forgotten for a moment that this was what the emperor said whenever he had the chance.
***
Although there was clearly a commotion, the banquet hall quickly regained peace as if something like that had never happened before.
The attendants quickly wiped away the red footprints and blood drops that were clearly on the floor, the music started playing again, and people gathered in groups of twos and threes and started chatting.
The scenery was no different from before the commotion.
However, one thing that was different was that the eyes of those chatting were all directed to a certain direction.
At the end of their gaze, a white-haired man wearing a neat white uniform was sitting on a nearby chair, resting his chin and drowsily lowering his eyes as if he was bored.
On the outside, he was just a nobleman from a certain family, but those who knew his true identity could not get close to him and could only glance at him.
“The dark circles are gone. “I remember the last time I saw you, there was a lot of shadow under your eyes.”
“I heard you went on a monster-slaying trip. Could it be because you saw blood?”
“Then, are the rumors about him being a vampire true?”
“I think it’s true that His Majesty is so protective of him. Otherwise, there would be no need to keep information about him secret…”
Honorary Count Deonhardt.
An unprecedented man who made a remarkable contribution as a leader in the 8-year war and collected the body of a warrior as a comrade.
In fact, he was a good topic of conversation in social circles, with all kinds of rumors rife, including the story that the emperor tried to give him a status higher than ‘honorary count’, which was the title of grand victor, but he himself refused.
In particular, one of the topics that is mentioned very often is….
“Then he is also the one responsible for the destruction of the Hart family…”
“Shhh, lower your voice.”
The Hart family extinction incident where no one knows the full story of the incident.
The incident in which the Hart family, who had been loyal to the imperial family for generations, disappeared one day without anyone noticing, caused a great shock to the aristocratic society.
I don’t know the full story of the incident, but that doesn’t mean I can’t speculate. The nobles were putting together a fairly plausible hypothesis by summing up all the revealed information.
For example, ‘There was some sort of deal between Deonhardt and the Emperor.’
The grounds were sufficient.
The emperor remained silent even though the dog, which had followed the blood of Desert for generations, died.
The Hart family is a loyal family. He was not even a baron or a viscount, but a count.
A family like that disappeared overnight, but you remain silent? This was suspicious to anyone.
“From the beginning, His Majesty, who cherishes talented people, only gave him the title of honorary count…” “
Yes, it was award-winning. “They even delayed recognizing him as an official hero.”
Deonhardt, who returned after the Eight Year War, was recognized for his contributions and met with the emperor alone.
No one knows what conversation took place there, but as a result, he was only awarded the title of ‘honorary count’, unlike other heroes who received the title of marquis. This did not fit the emperor’s characteristic of caring for talented people.
In fact, it was not enough to receive a huge financial reward in addition to the title of ‘Honorary Count’, and from that time to the present, the Metallurgy fiefdom was transferred, so he currently has a fiefdom comparable in size to that of a marquess, but in the end, the most important ‘title’ Didn’t this kind of unfortunate result come out?
So this speculation arose.
[Deon Hardt refused the high title offered by the emperor, but instead wanted the destruction of the Hart family.]
Deon Hardt is the family’s mutant.
Pure white hair, red eyes, and pale skin. Maybe he really picked up a young vampire from somewhere and raised him.
The truth is unknown, but both mutants and vampires are equally repulsed, so the family must have been reluctant to him.
So he may have been abused.
Since he never stepped out of the mansion before participating in the Eight Year War, this assumption was not entirely unreasonable.
“So, for revenge, I went to the Hart family…”
“It’s amazing that we’re talking about this while knowing who the main character of this banquet is.”
“Go Duke!”
Starbe Illuster smiled softly as he waved his hand at those who greeted him in surprise.
The person standing behind him is none other than Cruel Hart, the protagonist of this banquet.
He silently bowed his head to those who were looking at him with a perplexed expression, and left without any change in his expression, as if he didn’t care.
Just as an awkward silence was about to arrive, Duke Stave, who clapped his hands a couple of times as if turning his gaze towards Cruel, smiled and opened his mouth.
“It’s a joke. Actually, it’s a famous story that everyone knows, right? So there is no need to be that surprised. Lord Cruel probably already knows everything.”
“….”
Yes, you probably know very well. Because the person who helped investigate the rumor was Cruel and no one else.
This is a story that anyone who has been in the social world for a while will know.
It was an uninteresting rumor to the Duke, who roughly understood the situation, but Cruel, his subordinate and a person directly involved in the incident, had doubts, so he used him to dig deeper into the case.
