Cardan’s sharp gaze caught my eye at once.
“Duke.”
Cardan, who came to me at once, belatedly found Crown Prince Momad.
Crown Prince Momad also raised his eyebrows when he found Cardan.
The crown prince stood up unexpectedly and bowed briefly to Cardan.
“I see Your Majesty here.”
It was a very rude greeting to exchange with the Emperor of the Empire, but Cardan turned his eyes to me, ignoring him altogether.
“Why did you leave the Imperial Palace?”
He must have been in a rush, as he brushed his messy hair roughly.
I glanced at the crown prince.
It was the most terrible picture ever.
The day Princess Janet entered the palace, the Emperor was walking around the streets at night outside of the palace.
I quickly rolled my head in search of a way to save this situation.
“Knoxus.”
Knoxus approached with the jewel box as soon as I called him.
“Here you are, my Lord.”
But Cardan laughed as if he had interpreted my call differently.
“Did you really intend to run away with your lover at night?”
I freaked out inside.
That line sounds like he’s chasing after me because he’s afraid I’ll run away with another man.
(t/n: he is!!! ಥ_ಥ)
When I glanced at the crown prince with anxious eyes, he also narrowed his eyebrows as if he did not understand the situation well.
“I have obtained the jewels for Princess Janet, as Your Majesty instructed.”
Sending telepathy with all my might, I handed Cardan a jewel box.
“Haha, I thought I would bring it to you in the morning, but if I knew it was such an urgent matter, I would have returned to the palace immediately.”
I poured out my words rapidly like a rapid-fire canon.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t understand your desire to give your concubine a jewel as soon as possible.”
Fortunately, instead of responding that he didn’t understand what I was talking about, Cardan closed his mouth tightly to the point that the muscles of his chin stood out.
At first, I heard a slight grinding of his molars.
Instead of frowning, Crown Prince Momad also looked at Cardan with interesting eyes.
“I’m terribly sorry for the delay. I’ll return to the palace right away.”
I naturally nodded to the crown prince.
“I’m sorry something urgent happened, but I’ll see you next time, Crown Prince.”
“I look forward to the next opportunity.”
I quickly took a step back as Crown Prince Momad tried to grab my hand with that cheesy smile.
I almost got a kiss on my hand.
Instead, I pointed politely to the exit with a flamboyant gesture like a waiter at a five-star restaurant.
“I’ll take you to the Imperial Palace, Your Majesty.”
Cardan, who was staring at me in place, smiled at my hand gesture.
It was not until he took a careful grip on my arm that he strode away.
“Yes, since the Duke says she will guide me herself, I have to go. Is there anything I can do?”
While clutching the jewel box to the point his knuckles turned white, Cardan smiled with the long corners of his mouth stretched out.
“Haha, yes, the concubine will be waiting.”
The corners of Cardan’s mouth became more rigid, but he turned around silently and strode toward the store door.
I followed him quickly. I’ve never looked back, but somehow I couldn’t get rid of the feeling that the crown prince’s gaze was stuck on my back for a long time.
***
“Ugh.”
Janet woke up feeling a dull pain in her stiff muscles.
When she forcibly opened her heavy eyelids, she saw the wood grain of solid wood in front of her nose.
Frowning, she realized that she was lying on the table.
“Ugh…”
When she straightened her back, her body, which had been stiff in one position all night, screamed.
How did she fall asleep on the table, not on the bed?
She traced her memory, but she couldn’t think of anything.
Her last memory was just having a little sip of wine…….
“Are you up?”
A pleasant low voice tickled her ears.
Janet finally found Cardan sitting on the other side of the table.
“Y, Your Majesty.”
“I think you drank too much yesterday. You fell asleep right away.”
Janet blushed.
“Sorry, I’m sorry.”
Even though she was drunk and fell asleep, before she could question him why he left her on the table instead of moving her to her bed, Cardan pushed several boxes towards her.
“It’s a gift.”
When she opened the box that he had handed over, accessories that suited her taste appeared.
Fascinated by the color of the beautiful emerald, the muscle pain all over her body disappeared as if it had washed away.
“Do you like it?”
Janet nodded as she grabbed the piece to her chest.
“Yes, I really like it.”
She started to tear up.
But the emperor only smiled affectionately.
“That’s a relief.”
She felt like blood from all over my body rushed into her face.
“T, thank you. Thank you for giving me this gift.…. I, I just fell asleep the first night…….”
She was embarrassed and wanted to cover her face then she peeked at Cardan’s face for a little longer.
“It’s the first night….”
Cardan blurted out the end of his words.
At first glance, his eyes seemed distorted, but after blinking his eyes, he returned to his friendly face.
When Cardan opened his mouth again, Janet was nervous, pursing her lips.
It was morning, but she wanted Cardan to try something now.
“I want to progress our relationship slowly. What about the princess?”
Janet had no choice but to wiggle her hand without saying a word because the end was unquestionable.
Cardan added gently, as if he had felt her hesitation.
“It’s because I don’t want to make a mistake with the princess.”
At that word, the momentary disappointment disappeared like melting snow, leaving only the tickling sensation of her heart.
“Yes…”
Janet smiled softly, fiddling with the jewels.
“I like it too.”
At her answer, Cardan stood up.
“Well, I’ll see you later.”
Janet repeated to herself, looking at Cardan’s back as he quickly moved away.
As expected, since he is the emperor, he is busy carrying out state affairs.
As he walked out of Janet’s bedroom, Cardan scrambled his hair with one hand.
He was determined, but he felt much more uncomfortable than he thought.
“Erina.”
Cardan widened his stride by briefly weighing her name as if cursing the source of all evil.
Obviously, he was no longer tied up by the contract and swayed by Erina, but he couldn’t erase the feeling that she was still playing with him.
He thought he had to bother Erina to offset this dirty feeling even a little.
Turning to the Duke of Baloa’s office, his steps became surprisingly light.
Arriving outside the door, he heard Erina’s voice vaguely from the inside.
“If you spread out in this position all day, won’t your back hurt? No matter how good a rascal is, that’s true.”
When he opened the door very slightly and looked into the gap, he saw Erina lying on the sofa and clicking her feet.
It was a very familiar position.
“What do you think, Knoxus? Do I look comfortable?”
“If I lie down like that all day, I will become lazy.”
When Knoxus answered, Erina raised a finger and nodded.
“I’m not getting lazy, I’m just lazy.”
“So now I’m planning to change my posture.”
When she declared that and he opened the door, Erina froze for a moment and quickly stood up.
“Are you here?”
If it had been before, she would have been busy explaining in confusion, but Erina’s eyes staring at him were quite confident.
A smirk leaked out.
Cardan nodded his head out of the door.
“You have to go to work not to be lazy.”
“Haha, what do you mean by work? What….”
“Taking over political affairs.”
When he strode to Erina, who only blinked with a stupid expression and dragged her hand gently, Knoxus approached him with a firm face.
“I’ll be back, Knoxus…….”
However, when Erina sighed and waved helplessly, Knoxus had no choice but to stop.
Cardan gave him an arrogant smile and squeezed Erina’s hand a bit tighter.
“There is no vacation until the transition is over.”
“You sound like you gave me a full vacation.”
When Erina answered half-heartedly, Cardan’s mouth relaxed lazily.
***
At that time, the Empress was enjoying a brief luncheon with Princess Janet and Crown Prince Momad.
He was the first guest to be invited to the palace in a long time since she was banned from having visitors.
“You must be tired, but I don’t know if I called you too early.”
The Empress Dowager looked suspiciously at Janet, who was moving her body as if something was uncomfortable.
Janet also blushed as if she had noticed the meaning of her question.
“Oh, no.”
A contented smile caught the Empress Dowager’s lips.
“Is the emperor treating you well? I don’t think he has a normal temper.”
When the crown prince suddenly asked in a vulgarly harsh tone, the Empress Dowager’s face cracked a little.
The Empress Dowager covered the back of her hand with a small nod to Janet.
“It’s too early to jump to conclusions. You must capture the emperor’s heart.”
Janet nodded again with a more determined look.
“But thanks to the Duke of Baloa, I think I know a little bit about how to approach His Majesty.”
“Really?”
When the Empress Dowager asked interestingly, Janet continued.
“He likes people who give him faith because he had a rough childhood. On the outside, he likes a true and pure impression.”
“Just like you, Janet.”
The Empress Dowager was pleased, not knowing that Janet had left out another fact about severing family ties.
“I can’t believe that the day when the Duke of Baloa is helpful has come. She was enthusiastic about appointing a concubine.”
She sipped the tea with a thin smile.
“It wouldn’t be bad to wait and see for the time being.”
“I’ll ask her more about His Majesty as I get to know the Duke.”
The Empress Dowager smiled satisfactorily and patted the back of Janet’s hand, who only spoke praisefully.
The crown prince snorted at it.
“What can we get from that sly woman once you get close enough?”
The wrinkled face of the Empress Dowager was unconcerned, and Crown Prince Momad leaned against his back and put on airs.
“Yesterday, I saw she was not a reliable person, playing tricks.”
The Empress Dowager crumpled her face completely.
“You met the Duke yesterday?”
“Well, I ran into her.”
The crown prince shrugged his shoulders.
“She was interested in me. She said my jawline is handsome. No, I think it would be faster for me than Janet to get close to her and get information.”
The Empress Dowager laughed.
“Are you trying to seduce the duke?”
“I think I have already seduced her.”
With the confidence of the crown prince, the Empress Dowager twisted her mouth even more fishily.
“Nonsense. She is a strong human being who never blinked even when all the nobles of the Empire were in the face of the emperor and floundered. How can you do that?”
The crown prince smoothed his chin.
“I’m the kind of person who everyone falls in love with, Aunt.”
The Empress Dowager’s face became scarier due to his overly familiar title.
“Don’t do anything useless. Go back to Esland and get ready.”
Then the crown prince calmly raised his legs on the table.
“Preparation, it’s going well. Isn’t it good for Aunt if we catch the Duke properly?”
The Empress Dowager clutched her trembling hands in anger.
“By what means?”
“There’s a way.”
He gave a meaningful smile.
“All women are the same. They want a prince on a white horse who will save them when they are most vulnerable.”
!Report Chapter
Cardan’s sharp gaze caught my eye at once.
“Duke.”
Cardan, who came to me at once, belatedly found Crown Prince Momad.
Crown Prince Momad also raised his eyebrows when he found Cardan.
The crown prince stood up unexpectedly and bowed briefly to Cardan.
“I see Your Majesty here.”
It was a very rude greeting to exchange with the Emperor of the Empire, but Cardan turned his eyes to me, ignoring him altogether.
“Why did you leave the Imperial Palace?”
He must have been in a rush, as he brushed his messy hair roughly.
I glanced at the crown prince.
It was the most terrible picture ever.
The day Princess Janet entered the palace, the Emperor was walking around the streets at night outside of the palace.
I quickly rolled my head in search of a way to save this situation.
“Knoxus.”
Knoxus approached with the jewel box as soon as I called him.
“Here you are, my Lord.”
But Cardan laughed as if he had interpreted my call differently.
“Did you really intend to run away with your lover at night?”
I freaked out inside.
That line sounds like he’s chasing after me because he’s afraid I’ll run away with another man.
(t/n: he is!!! ಥ_ಥ)
When I glanced at the crown prince with anxious eyes, he also narrowed his eyebrows as if he did not understand the situation well.
“I have obtained the jewels for Princess Janet, as Your Majesty instructed.”
Sending telepathy with all my might, I handed Cardan a jewel box.
“Haha, I thought I would bring it to you in the morning, but if I knew it was such an urgent matter, I would have returned to the palace immediately.”
I poured out my words rapidly like a rapid-fire canon.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t understand your desire to give your concubine a jewel as soon as possible.”
Fortunately, instead of responding that he didn’t understand what I was talking about, Cardan closed his mouth tightly to the point that the muscles of his chin stood out.
At first, I heard a slight grinding of his molars.
Instead of frowning, Crown Prince Momad also looked at Cardan with interesting eyes.
“I’m terribly sorry for the delay. I’ll return to the palace right away.”
I naturally nodded to the crown prince.
“I’m sorry something urgent happened, but I’ll see you next time, Crown Prince.”
“I look forward to the next opportunity.”
I quickly took a step back as Crown Prince Momad tried to grab my hand with that cheesy smile.
I almost got a kiss on my hand.
Instead, I pointed politely to the exit with a flamboyant gesture like a waiter at a five-star restaurant.
“I’ll take you to the Imperial Palace, Your Majesty.”
Cardan, who was staring at me in place, smiled at my hand gesture.
It was not until he took a careful grip on my arm that he strode away.
“Yes, since the Duke says she will guide me herself, I have to go. Is there anything I can do?”
While clutching the jewel box to the point his knuckles turned white, Cardan smiled with the long corners of his mouth stretched out.
“Haha, yes, the concubine will be waiting.”
The corners of Cardan’s mouth became more rigid, but he turned around silently and strode toward the store door.
I followed him quickly. I’ve never looked back, but somehow I couldn’t get rid of the feeling that the crown prince’s gaze was stuck on my back for a long time.
***
“Ugh.”
Janet woke up feeling a dull pain in her stiff muscles.
When she forcibly opened her heavy eyelids, she saw the wood grain of solid wood in front of her nose.
Frowning, she realized that she was lying on the table.
“Ugh…”
When she straightened her back, her body, which had been stiff in one position all night, screamed.
How did she fall asleep on the table, not on the bed?
She traced her memory, but she couldn’t think of anything.
Her last memory was just having a little sip of wine…….
“Are you up?”
A pleasant low voice tickled her ears.
Janet finally found Cardan sitting on the other side of the table.
“Y, Your Majesty.”
“I think you drank too much yesterday. You fell asleep right away.”
Janet blushed.
“Sorry, I’m sorry.”
Even though she was drunk and fell asleep, before she could question him why he left her on the table instead of moving her to her bed, Cardan pushed several boxes towards her.
“It’s a gift.”
When she opened the box that he had handed over, accessories that suited her taste appeared.
Fascinated by the color of the beautiful emerald, the muscle pain all over her body disappeared as if it had washed away.
“Do you like it?”
Janet nodded as she grabbed the piece to her chest.
“Yes, I really like it.”
She started to tear up.
But the emperor only smiled affectionately.
“That’s a relief.”
She felt like blood from all over my body rushed into her face.
“T, thank you. Thank you for giving me this gift.…. I, I just fell asleep the first night…….”
She was embarrassed and wanted to cover her face then she peeked at Cardan’s face for a little longer.
“It’s the first night….”
Cardan blurted out the end of his words.
At first glance, his eyes seemed distorted, but after blinking his eyes, he returned to his friendly face.
When Cardan opened his mouth again, Janet was nervous, pursing her lips.
It was morning, but she wanted Cardan to try something now.
“I want to progress our relationship slowly. What about the princess?”
Janet had no choice but to wiggle her hand without saying a word because the end was unquestionable.
Cardan added gently, as if he had felt her hesitation.
“It’s because I don’t want to make a mistake with the princess.”
At that word, the momentary disappointment disappeared like melting snow, leaving only the tickling sensation of her heart.
“Yes…”
Janet smiled softly, fiddling with the jewels.
“I like it too.”
At her answer, Cardan stood up.
“Well, I’ll see you later.”
Janet repeated to herself, looking at Cardan’s back as he quickly moved away.
As expected, since he is the emperor, he is busy carrying out state affairs.
As he walked out of Janet’s bedroom, Cardan scrambled his hair with one hand.
He was determined, but he felt much more uncomfortable than he thought.
“Erina.”
Cardan widened his stride by briefly weighing her name as if cursing the source of all evil.
Obviously, he was no longer tied up by the contract and swayed by Erina, but he couldn’t erase the feeling that she was still playing with him.
He thought he had to bother Erina to offset this dirty feeling even a little.
Turning to the Duke of Baloa’s office, his steps became surprisingly light.
Arriving outside the door, he heard Erina’s voice vaguely from the inside.
“If you spread out in this position all day, won’t your back hurt? No matter how good a rascal is, that’s true.”
When he opened the door very slightly and looked into the gap, he saw Erina lying on the sofa and clicking her feet.
It was a very familiar position.
“What do you think, Knoxus? Do I look comfortable?”
“If I lie down like that all day, I will become lazy.”
When Knoxus answered, Erina raised a finger and nodded.
“I’m not getting lazy, I’m just lazy.”
“So now I’m planning to change my posture.”
When she declared that and he opened the door, Erina froze for a moment and quickly stood up.
“Are you here?”
If it had been before, she would have been busy explaining in confusion, but Erina’s eyes staring at him were quite confident.
A smirk leaked out.
Cardan nodded his head out of the door.
“You have to go to work not to be lazy.”
“Haha, what do you mean by work? What….”
“Taking over political affairs.”
When he strode to Erina, who only blinked with a stupid expression and dragged her hand gently, Knoxus approached him with a firm face.
“I’ll be back, Knoxus…….”
However, when Erina sighed and waved helplessly, Knoxus had no choice but to stop.
Cardan gave him an arrogant smile and squeezed Erina’s hand a bit tighter.
“There is no vacation until the transition is over.”
“You sound like you gave me a full vacation.”
When Erina answered half-heartedly, Cardan’s mouth relaxed lazily.
***
At that time, the Empress was enjoying a brief luncheon with Princess Janet and Crown Prince Momad.
He was the first guest to be invited to the palace in a long time since she was banned from having visitors.
“You must be tired, but I don’t know if I called you too early.”
The Empress Dowager looked suspiciously at Janet, who was moving her body as if something was uncomfortable.
Janet also blushed as if she had noticed the meaning of her question.
“Oh, no.”
A contented smile caught the Empress Dowager’s lips.
“Is the emperor treating you well? I don’t think he has a normal temper.”
When the crown prince suddenly asked in a vulgarly harsh tone, the Empress Dowager’s face cracked a little.
The Empress Dowager covered the back of her hand with a small nod to Janet.
“It’s too early to jump to conclusions. You must capture the emperor’s heart.”
Janet nodded again with a more determined look.
“But thanks to the Duke of Baloa, I think I know a little bit about how to approach His Majesty.”
“Really?”
When the Empress Dowager asked interestingly, Janet continued.
“He likes people who give him faith because he had a rough childhood. On the outside, he likes a true and pure impression.”
“Just like you, Janet.”
The Empress Dowager was pleased, not knowing that Janet had left out another fact about severing family ties.
“I can’t believe that the day when the Duke of Baloa is helpful has come. She was enthusiastic about appointing a concubine.”
She sipped the tea with a thin smile.
“It wouldn’t be bad to wait and see for the time being.”
“I’ll ask her more about His Majesty as I get to know the Duke.”
The Empress Dowager smiled satisfactorily and patted the back of Janet’s hand, who only spoke praisefully.
The crown prince snorted at it.
“What can we get from that sly woman once you get close enough?”
The wrinkled face of the Empress Dowager was unconcerned, and Crown Prince Momad leaned against his back and put on airs.
“Yesterday, I saw she was not a reliable person, playing tricks.”
The Empress Dowager crumpled her face completely.
“You met the Duke yesterday?”
“Well, I ran into her.”
The crown prince shrugged his shoulders.
“She was interested in me. She said my jawline is handsome. No, I think it would be faster for me than Janet to get close to her and get information.”
The Empress Dowager laughed.
“Are you trying to seduce the duke?”
“I think I have already seduced her.”
With the confidence of the crown prince, the Empress Dowager twisted her mouth even more fishily.
“Nonsense. She is a strong human being who never blinked even when all the nobles of the Empire were in the face of the emperor and floundered. How can you do that?”
The crown prince smoothed his chin.
“I’m the kind of person who everyone falls in love with, Aunt.”
The Empress Dowager’s face became scarier due to his overly familiar title.
“Don’t do anything useless. Go back to Esland and get ready.”
Then the crown prince calmly raised his legs on the table.
“Preparation, it’s going well. Isn’t it good for Aunt if we catch the Duke properly?”
The Empress Dowager clutched her trembling hands in anger.
“By what means?”
“There’s a way.”
He gave a meaningful smile.
“All women are the same. They want a prince on a white horse who will save them when they are most vulnerable.”
!Report Chapter
