Chapter 7
***
"I’m not acting, Your Majesty."
"You still are."
"I'm not really......."
"I should be recommending you to the troupe, not keeping the princess by my side."
"I'm willing to be a clown... if that's what Your Majesty wants."
As soon as Rosette finished speaking, Theodore’s lips slightly raised and he burst into laughter.
Something about this situation made her uncomfortable, but she stood as politely as she could. Regaining his expression, he spoke to Rosette.
“You know how to please. The princess makes me laugh many times. Life in the palace won’t be boring from now on.”
He took her offer to be a clown as a clever provocation, and he chuckled low. This time, he was somewhat right, but Rosette, no longer amused, tightened her grip on her hand.
“I will sincerely and wholeheartedly help Your Majesty.”
The Emperor, never one to trust people, would doubt her sincerity again and again. It was her task to clear that up first.
"You must, if you don't want to lose your beautiful homeland."
A chill ran down her spine at his nonchalant, upturned lips as he held her home hostage.
It was also the tragic future she would actually face.
Imagining it made her even more dizzy. Her already poor physical condition began to deteriorate rapidly. Now even her vision was gradually blurring in and out.
She shook her head from side to side, trying to clear her head, but to no avail. Rosette managed to speak through her confusion.
"No, that will never... ever... happen."
Theodore's expression flickered with surprise as he watched her, but she didn't have time to dwell on it.
She felt so dizzy... and now the world seemed to be spinning around her.
"I look forward to seeing you again, Princess."
"Yes, Your Majesty. Goodbye, then......."
And with that, she turned around, relieved. Her slender grip on consciousness snapped. At the same time, her entire body went limp. With one last glimpse of Theodore's furrowed brow and the startled faces of the knights, her vision faded to black.
***
Coughing, Rosette awoke to find her vision filled with an ornate lattice ceiling.
Where am I? Am I dreaming......? No. This is too vivid to be a dream. Yes, this is.......
"Are you awake?"
She heard a voice ask. Rosette slowly turned her head toward the source of the voice and saw a woman she didn't recognize smiling at her. Looking somewhat young, she nodded toward Rosette.
"I'm Charlotte Clyburn, the Princess’s attendant. Please call me Charlotte."
Charlotte could not have been more than seventeen years old, and her face was a pleasing mix of freckles and blush as she bowed shyly. Slowly, Rosette began to collect her thoughts, and it didn't take long for her to realize that this was the Kaisen Empire, not her native Hercia.
"You've been unconscious since yesterday, and the imperial doctor said you'd do better if you rested for a while."
Perhaps it was the prolonged time in the cold water during the encounter with Emperor Theodore in the desert. Indeed, Rosette had begun to suffer from a fever, and it was no wonder that she had lost her senses after such an arduous journey.
Coughing violently, Rosette drained the entire glass of lukewarm water Charlotte had given her, wiping the droplets from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve, and she asked.
"Have I... been out cold for a day?"
"Yes, Princess."
A person suddenly came to mind at Charlotte’s words. The last thing she remembered was seeing Theodore, who had sneered at her as she stepped out of the carriage. Rosette asked Charlotte with an uneasy glance.
"Then how did I get here... ?"
"The Emperor himself brought you here in his arms."
"What, what?"
Rosette had drained her glass of water in one swift gulp when she reached for another. It slipped from her grasp and fell to the marble floor with a loud clatter. Luckily, it was made of iron, so it didn't break, but the sound was loud enough to jolt her out of her reverie.
"The Emperor carried me? Why would he......?
Her face turned different colors in shock.
“Why... His Majesty didn't say anything else......?"
"Yes, not much else......."
For her to faint in front of everyone after talking to him, it was the sort of thing that would make others see it as he was mistreating the fragile princess, or worse, sow even more distrust in his already suspicious mind. She had to explain to him that it was a misunderstanding.......
No, the doctor had already been there, so the emperor already knew how she felt, right? The sudden onslaught of thoughts rushed through her mind, and Rosette gathered herself.
"Excuse me... I need to take a bath to clear my head."
"You shouldn't get up yet, the doctor told you to rest, so finish your soup and lie down for a while longer, Princess."
Hurrying away, Charlotte returned with a silver tray of hot soup. The warmth of the soup brought a sudden rush of hunger to Rosette, who had been out for a long time. Rosette picked up her spoon and gulped down the soup in front of her.
"Thank you... Charlotte."
That was her first impression of Charlotte: young, but mature and kind. The soup Rosette was frantically devouring tasted extraordinary, and the room she was in was as opulent as an imperial palace, but she didn't have time to appreciate it.
Yes, she must eat to live. She came here to live.
Her eyes were filled with a single thought, and they emitted a faint glow.
* * *
Not long ago, after returning from the war with the Kingdom of Hercia, Theodore had barely had time to rest before he set out on an expedition.
His destination was the northern part of the empire, where the monster subjugation was in full swing. When 'the time' came, Theodore would frantically search for a place where he could swing his sword and kill.
There was no rest for him these days, as his cycles had become rather irregular and he needed to quench his simmering need for destruction to forget the pain, if only for a moment.
His auror, one of the few swordmasters in the Empire, was red, the color of his eyes.
When he wielded it, from a distance, it resembled a blood feast, which made people fear him even more.
The sight of Theodore wielding his sword like a beast with nothing but instinct was enough to brand him as the Lord of Terror, and his notoriety grew with each passing day.
For days on end, Theodore would kill without sleep or rest. When he returned from slaughtering monsters, he resembled a demonic figure covered in blood.
Theodore's crimson, blood-stained appearance was one that Ian Douglas, his immediate handler and aide, thought inwardly.
Theodore had spent a long time cleaning himself up and dressing, and he was a far cry from the beast he had been just moments before. His face was spotlessly clean. His eyes were flawless, and he had a harmonious aura about him. Ian swallowed hard as he realized that his lord was the kind of man who made everyone around him nervous, covered in blood or not.
His brow creased as he sat in his office, receiving a private briefing from Ian. Theodore made no secret of his sharp anticipation.
"What about the job?"
“We are spreading montages throughout the empire and doing our utmost to search, but there is no progress.”
“The more we do, the more he will hide. It will be useless.”
"Yes."
"He's not that easy. We have to change our tactics."
Running a rough hand through his hair, Theodore gave Ian new instructions.
"Collect all the montages, organize an elite force, and search the place quietly, pretending to have no further interest in the matter."
"Yes, sire, as you wish."
"Expand the search to Aylestone and Bennon, where the sea lanes meet. Use all the manpower you can afford. We need to find him as soon as possible."
"Yes, sire, I will send a search party in that radius."
With that, Ian quickly disappeared to carry out Theodore's new orders.
"You little rat."
As long as the bastard existed under the same sky, his position was precarious. Theodore's eyes took on an unusually sharp glint.
***
[Prelude to the Journey]
After a few days of rest and recuperation, Rosette woke up on the first day of the week perfectly well.
Now almost back to her normal self, she gave herself a quick grooming and left the room. She made her way slowly down the long hallway to the right, intent on familiarizing herself with the layout of the palace and exploring its opulent interior, just in case.
At Rosette's side was Charlotte, excited about her first outing. Rosette turned to Charlotte and asked.
"Charlotte. How long have you been working here?"
"Uh... a little over a year."
"A year... Do you have a family?"
"No."
***
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